The 2024 WNBA season is here. Caitlin Clark's pro era is officially underway. And the defending champion Las Vegas Aces, Connecticut Sun, New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx opened with victories Tuesday.

Clark and the Indiana Fever tipped off the season on the road, falling 92-71 at Connecticut, as Alyssa Thomas, the Sun's perennial MVP candidate, tallied a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.

Clark, the No. 1 pick in April's WNBA draft and the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer, finished with 20 points, 3 assists and 2 steals in her WNBA debut. But she struggled much of the night, committing 10 turnovers and shooting 5-for-15 from the field and 4-for-11 on 3-pointers. At halftime, she had five turnovers and seven points.

Clark's 20 points ranks second in franchise history behind Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings (23 in 2002) for a Fever player debut. Candace Parker had the highest point total for any WNBA player in her debut, with 34 in 2008. Among No. 1 picks in the past decade, Clark is second to Breanna Stewart (23 points) in 2016.

How did the Aces, Liberty, Lynx and Sun start the season in the win column? How did absences from injured center Brittney Griner of the Phoenix Mercury and point guard Chelsea Gray of Las Vegas impact their teams' games? And how did the Storm look with Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith making their Seattle debuts?

ESPN breaks down opening night.

Voepel: It says something about how over-the-top the expectations are for Clark that she had a team-high 20 points in her professional debut but the performance will be defined by many as a "struggle," primarily for the turnovers.

That's to be expected, though, for any rookie point guard, considering just how much quicker and experienced the defense is at this level.

Still, the turnovers have to be what will bother Clark most about her first game, because they prevented possible scoring opportunities for the Fever. Connecticut guard DiJonai Carrington made things hard on Clark, who had eight of her turnovers against the fourth-year pro. Clark was also 2-of-10 shooting against Carrington.

Still, Clark didn't seem to lose confidence or aggression. That's key. Clark -- who played a team-high 31 minutes -- knew there was going to be a learning curve, as everything comes at young players very fast, especially for one who will be handling the ball as much as she will. Clark will figure out how to better calibrate her passing.

Voepel: Things worked best for Indiana in the second and third quarters, when the Fever were able to hang with Connecticut. The Sun pulled away in the fourth quarter, and that's something Fever coach Christie Sides will emphasize to her team.

There were some real positives about how the Fever connected when they ran their offense well -- but with 25 turnovers, there were times that just didn't happen.

So realistically, they showed they could execute at a high level against a veteran squad that is expected to finish in the top four in the league. The Fever have a chance to hold their own against teams that aren't quite at the level of the Sun.

Voepel: Gray's absence -- the Aces won't say how long they expect her to be out with a foot injury -- was evident in moments, especially when Las Vegas didn't attack Phoenix's zone as well as it wanted in an 89-80 win.

"I think we have to get used to defenses switching up as long as Chelsea's not out there," Aces coach Becky Hammon said. "They're going to put pressure on [us] to constantly make reads. It's a really great growth opportunity for the rest of the team -- whether that's organizing us, making reads."

Still, guard Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum combined for 42 points and 11 assists with just three turnovers. And A'ja Wilson -- who looked in MVP form despite being critical of herself for shooting 10-of-22 from the field -- showed her leadership on the court along with the big stats she put up (30 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks).

"My message was just that I think we lost sight of who we are because it's the first game," Wilson said. "I feel like we were all just trying to put on that Superman cape. So I just helped my teammates understand that we can do that and still make each other better."

Pelton: In an 83-70 home loss to Minnesota that saw them get outscored 20-10 in the fourth quarter, the Storm looked very much like a team with only two weeks of practice together. Seattle committed 17 turnovers and shot just 37% from the field -- 31% after halftime.

"I think generally, offensively, we had no flow," Seattle coach Noelle Quinn said postgame. "We had no ball reversals. We made it easy for Minnesota to defend us. I would start there. Offensively, we weren't in sync."

The result was too many difficult shots for Storm guard Jewell Loyd, whose 3-of-19 shooting (16%) was the worst accuracy in franchise history by a player who took at least 15 shots, per ESPN Stats & Information.

According to Second Spectrum tracking, Loyd's quantified shot quality of 34% -- the effective field goal percentage we'd expect based on the location of her shots, their type and the distance to nearby defenders -- was the lowest of any player with at least five attempts on Tuesday.

After Loyd set a single-season WNBA record for total points last season (on a Storm team that finished 11-29), the arrival of Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike was supposed to change that. But Quinn felt her team reverted under pressure from the Lynx and an opening night crowd.

"It surprised me, but then it made sense to me because this is first-game atmosphere, all those things," Quinn said. "You revert back to your habit and we have some habit building that needs to take place and it's hard to break some habits in a week and a half."

One particular long-range concern: Seattle generating more 3-point attempts. The Storm's one made triple was their fewest since the 2016 season opener (a 96-66 loss at Los Angeles in Stewart's WNBA debut) and their nine attempts their fewest since 2019. Minnesota -- which got a combined 42 points and 20 rebounds from Napheesa Collier and Alanna Smith -- held a 21-3 advantage in scoring beyond the arc.

After losing their home opener, the Storm now head on the road for a three-game road trip starting Friday in Minneapolis. Ten of the team's first 16 games will come away from Seattle, something coach Noelle Quinn said she likes before the game.

"For this group in particular," Quinn said, "I think it's a great thing because we need to work out some kinks and I like the fact that we can do it in a tough environment."

Voepel: Both the Sun (48.5%) and the Fever (48.0%) shot about the same percentage from the field, but Connecticut got 16 more shots and had 10 fewer turnovers. And while we have come to expect ageless DeWanna Bonner (20 points, six rebounds) and Thomas to play well every game, it's also great for the Sun to see the progress of Tyasha Harris and Carrington in the backcourt. They combined for 32 points, plus Sun reserve guard Rachel Banham had 10. Add Carrington's offense Tuesday to her exceptional job on defense, and she really stood out on opening night.

And then there was the return of Brionna Jones, who suffered a right Achilles injury last June. She had eight points and three rebounds, and the Sun are thrilled to have her back.

Voepel: The Liberty took advantage of a stronger defensive performance in the fourth quarter as well as the fact that Jonquel Jones and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton really came to play. They combined for 45 points and 12 rebounds and were at the forefront of the Liberty's defense in an 85-80 victory.

Last year, Jones wasn't fully healthy at the start of the season, and it took a while for her to get up to full speed. This year, she's ready right now.

"Where I was last year vs. where I am this year -- I don't take it for granted," said Jones, who is in her second season in New York. "I appreciate these moments and love going out there and playing hard."

It wasn't necessarily a strong debut offensively for Stewart, who was 3-of-9 from the field for 8 points, but she had 8 rebounds.

"It wasn't a pretty game, and I thought Washington threw a lot at us," New York coach Sandy Brondello said. "We found some rhythm."

For Washington, Shakira Austin looked strong after being limited to 19 games last season due to injury. She had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. She chastised herself for missing a late putback, but there was a lot the Mystics had to like about how Austin played.

"It's amazing just to be out there," Austin said. "I was pretty poised and felt like I played to my strengths. Coming into this year, I wanted to expand that."

The worst bird flu outbreak in US history continues with strange new developments. Bird flu is now infecting cows, the FDA found viral genetic material in milk, and a second human was recently infected.

H5N1 — the strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza circulating — currently poses little threat to people as spillover from animals to humans is rare, as is human-to-human transmission. But the recent spillover from birds to cows has triggered new fears that the virus could potentially mutate and cause a deadly human pandemic.

In the past two years, more than 90 million poultry birds from 48 US states have died from the virus or were killed in an attempt to slow the spread of the disease. (Wild birds and some mammals including sea lions and cats have gotten sick, too.)

Historically, farmers and poultry producers have used three main strategies to slow the spread: kill entire flocks of chickens and turkeys at the earliest sign of infection, surveil the movement of the virus, and improve biosecurity measures. This approach, sometimes referred to as “stamping out,” has thus far failed to curb bird flu and has raised concerns around animal cruelty. But as the virus continues to spread among livestock animals such as cows, relying on mass culling may not be as tenable.

“This virus is not going away,” said Carol Cardona, a professor at the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “And I’m not sure how sustainable this approach that we’re using is.”

Given the record-shattering infection rates among poultry and the unprecedented recent spillover to a wide range of other species, some bird flu experts and wildlife researchers are calling for renewed efforts to develop, test, and deploy a vaccine for poultry and potentially other species. Short of triggering a human pandemic, continued spread of bird flu among livestock could further threaten national and global food security.

“The current virus is being spread by wild birds. It is evident that the biosecurity arrangements on some farms, especially chicken layer and turkey farms, are not sufficient to prevent all virus incursions,” said Leslie Sims, the director of the Asia Pacific Veterinary Information Services. “Vaccination, if used, would add an additional layer of protection.”

Effective bird flu vaccines for poultry have existed for years and are even used routinely in other countries. But, in stark contrast to the Covid-19 pandemic when new vaccines were rapidly developed and rolled out, the US has yet to adopt vaccination as a disease control strategy for bird flu. The US Department of Agriculture reported promising results from clinical trials of several vaccine candidates, but despite this breakthrough, a slew of logistical, political, and economic challenges might prohibit their use.

A brief history of bird flu vaccines

Avian influenza vaccines have long been used around the world with varying degrees of success. In some countries, such as Egypt and China where bird flu is enzootic (meaning it is consistently present in animals), vaccination is routine.

In China, several vaccines have been developed. One study found that vaccinating against H5 and H7 subtypes reduced the number of cases in poultry, but another study pointed out that China continues to suffer recurrent outbreaks while others have suggested that culling would be a more cost-effective strategy. In Egypt, vaccination efforts have largely been unsuccessful, in part because it is the only disease control method used in the country.

Last year, Mexico, Guatemala, and other countries hit hard by the ongoing epidemic also started vaccinating against H5N1. In late 2022, Mexico began vaccinating broiler chickens and other birds in high-risk zones; almost one year later, the government declared the country free of influenza before reporting an outbreak in one flock on a commercial farm about a month later.

Only in the past year did some Western countries begin focusing on vaccination. In March 2023, the Dutch government announced that it had developed two bird flu vaccines and that laboratory trials revealed those vaccines to be effective at preventing infection and disease transmission. Italy and the Netherlands are also testing vaccines. In October, the French government started vaccinating ducks for avian influenza and has since vaccinated more than 21 million. According to a press release from France’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, there have been only 10 outbreaks since vaccination began compared to 315 outbreaks during the same time in the previous year. (The EU is dividing research among member states.)

“Vaccination has played a very important role in the prevention of avian influenza elsewhere,” Sims said, adding that widespread preventive vaccination has also been used successfully in Hong Kong since 2003. In both France and Hong Kong, “the decision was taken to vaccinate because existing strengthened measures based around biosecurity could not prevent all cases of infection,” Sims explained.

Scientific, economic, and logistical challenges of mass bird flu vaccination

The US government has at least considered vaccination before.

During the 2014-2015 bird flu outbreak when more than 50 million chickens and turkeys died or were culled, the USDA stockpiled a bird flu vaccine. However, those vaccines were not deployed; the epidemic was instead brought under control through the stamping-out approach.

Following that outbreak, the USDA developed policies and guidance regarding the use of bird flu vaccines. A 2016 policy brief stated that controlled vaccination for flocks at risk should be included in a multi-prong control strategy alongside enhanced biosecurity, an eradication plan, monitoring, and a repopulation plan.

In a 2016 report, the USDA reported that the stockpiled vaccine wasn’t “well matched” to then-circulating strains. Like influenza in humans, bird flu is a quickly evolving virus. Ensuring that a vaccine is highly effective against H5N1 is the first critical step in a successful vaccination campaign. In 2023, the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service began testing five vaccine candidates. According to the USDA’s website, studies show the candidates provided near 100 percent clinical protection in chickens. (The USDA has also started to “assess the potential to develop” an H5N1 vaccine for cows.) The USDA has not released further information about the clinical trials.

However, despite seemingly having an effective vaccine in hand, as of late April, the USDA is still not pursuing bird flu vaccination as a disease control strategy. “While USDA is exploring the possibility of developing a poultry H5N1 vaccine to stock and use in an emergency, we are not moving forward with a HPAI vaccination program at this time,” a USDA spokesperson told Vox.

Given the scale of the ongoing outbreak, some experts feel that the lack of a vaccine push from the USDA is hamstringing disease control efforts. “I’m a poultry veterinarian, and as a veterinarian, I don’t like the idea that you tell me to go fight the biggest fight of my career and you say, here’s your gun; first, let’s unload it. Now, go,” said Cardona. “A vaccine is simply a tool, and how we use it can be very effective.”

The USDA and industry stakeholders have cited a slew of various challenges that would hinder vaccination.

The biggest sticking point is around trade. The US exported more than $5 billion in poultry meat and products on average every year for the past three years. The USDA enters into trade agreements with each individual country it trades with, explained Upali Galketi Aratchilage, a senior economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Each agreement outlines specific biosafety and production requirements that both countries agree to follow. The USDA said, in an email to Vox, that many of those agreements do not allow bird flu vaccination. “For now, biosecurity is the best defense against HPAI,” a USDA spokesperson wrote.

One main reason is the potential to import infected poultry. Vaccination does not prevent infection; it prevents severe disease and death by priming the immune system to better squash pathogens upon infection. By preventing overt flu symptoms such as sneezing, coughing, or reduced egg production, infected birds might then inadvertently enter the food chain. Importing an infected bird could set off new outbreaks, threatening the local supply chain.

But, Cardona explained, the industry no longer relies on diagnosing sick poultry based on visible signs and symptoms but on strict protocols that utilize molecular testing.

Take eggs, for example. Before eggs can enter the food chain, the hens that laid the eggs are tested twice for influenza. Farmers collect samples from the hens the day they lay the eggs and then two days later (the virus spreads so fast that it could be detected in that time). The samples that are collected undergo molecular testing, meaning that scientists look for the genetic fingerprints of the virus in the samples which would be found even in asymptomatic chickens. Not every single hen can be tested, but a random and representative selection is tested each time.

“Markets have been negotiated based on not using vaccination ... based on, frankly, older data [that] there could be a chance that you would import the virus in an animal or in a product that has vaccine in it,” Cardona said.

Another concern is differentiating infected from vaccinated animals, the so-called “DIVA” problem. It’s the challenge of identifying whether a bird is actually sick or just has antibodies after vaccination, as Kenny Torrella has previously explained. Again, this seems like an outdated concern as newer technology is capable of differentiating between animals infected with flu versus those that received the vaccine.

Then there’s the logistical challenge that the USDA and other stakeholders cite. The vaccines currently undergoing trials “continue to rely on a two-dose regimen, which can be impractical for distribution to flocks,” the USDA website states. This hurdle does not seem insurmountable, the experts Vox spoke with said, since poultry already receive several vaccines such as those for Newcastle disease, salmonella, and bronchitis. Some vaccines are given through the poultry’s water supply or sprayed in the air. There is even a method where the vaccine is poked through the eggshell and injected into a chicken embryo during development at the hatchery.

Even with biological, technological, and logistical hurdles surpassed, the decision around vaccination seems to be a monetary one. Beyond the cost of vaccination, there’s the potential of losing key trade partners. Trade agreements, especially for meat, are notoriously delicate, in part because of the risk of introducing infectious diseases and pests into a country’s food chain but more so because governments need to protect the agricultural industry from foreign competition. The National Chicken Council is opposed to vaccination efforts. The National Turkey Federation says unilateral vaccination “would have a severe impact on exports” but that it has urged — and continues to urge — the federal government to “move as rapidly as possible to try to develop new agreements” with trading partners.

“Meat is a highly politically sensitive issue for many countries, and the entire livestock industry is protected in many countries for various reasons,” said Aratchilage. Introducing bird flu vaccines is not going to be easy, he added. “It’s a political decision more than a scientific decision.”

Tokyo (AFP): Troubled Japanese industrial giant Toshiba said Thursday that it plans to cut up to 4,000 jobs domestically as part of a restructuring programme.

The announcement follows the delisting of the firm’s shares in September after being taken private by a consortium in the wake of multiple crises.

The headcount reduction will be achieved by November by offering employees aged over 50 who meet specific criteria voluntary early retirement.

“It was a tough decision for the management to make. But we believe these measures are essential to putting Toshiba back on the trajectory of recovery and growth,” a company spokeswoman told AFP without wishing to be named.

Large-scale layoffs are rare in Japan but such use of early retirement schemes or voluntary redundancy has risen sharply.

The firm also said it is targeting operating profit of 380 billion yen ($2.5 billion) and a return on sales of 10 percent in fiscal 2026, Bloomberg News reported.

It will move also head office functions from Tokyo’s Hamamatsucho area to Kawasaki outside the Japanese capital in the first half of fiscal 2025.

Toshiba traces its roots back to 1875 and evolved into a vast conglomerate in the 20th century synonymous with Japan’s postwar economic revival.

The firm became a household name in Japan and beyond, making everything from early laptop computers, elevators and nuclear power stations to microchips.

But it has lurched from crisis to crisis in recent years, including a huge accounting scandal in 2015 and billions of dollars in losses from US nuclear subsidiary Westinghouse.

Pressure from activist shareholders and a takeover offer from private equity group CVC prompted aborted attempts to split the company first into three, and then into two.

Finally, Toshiba’s board accepted in March 2023 the takeover bid worth around $14 billion by the consortium that included around 20 Japanese banks and other firms.

Its shares were then delisted in September after more than 70 years being traded on the Tokyo bourse.

The saga was closely watched in business circles for clues about what could become of other huge, diversified conglomerates in Japan and elsewhere.