Viral News: US tennis star Coco Gauff announced on Twitter that she had tested positive for the coronavirus and would not be competing in the Tokyo Olympics. It’s another disruption in the pandemic games.

  Gauff was expected to be a leader for a team of 12 US tennis players. She didn’t say whether she had been vaccinated.

  This comes in addition to two other athletes living in the Olympic village who tested positive for the virus, bringing to three the number of cases inside the compound, which is closed off to the public. So far, 55 people associated with the games have tested positive.

  With 1,000 new cases a day, Tokyo is under a state of emergency.

  In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-isolating after being exposed to the coronavirus.

  And here in the US as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads, cases are up 140 percent and deaths increased 33 percent. Tests are down 13 percent.   Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said, “I am worried about what is to come because we are seeing increasing cases among the unvaccinated in particular.” 

  Blame it on the stupid states like Missouri, where  Rep. Jason Smith posted that, “The Biden administration wants to knock down your door KGB-style to force people to get vaccinated. We must oppose forced vaccination!”

  No one … no one has proposed forced vaccination and yet Republican politicians have reacted as if the government is tattooing Americans with serial numbers. The population of Michigan is 48 percent vaccinated against Covid-10. They’re not the worst, but cases in Michigan are up 30 percent in the last two weeks.

  New cases in Alabama are up 310 percent and deaths up 86 percent. Georgia; cases up 193 percent, deaths up 54 percent. 

  Live free and die. 

The China Hack: The United States, European Union, NATO, and other world powers today formally accused the Chinese government of committing international cyber-attacks, blaming its Ministry of State Security and affiliated criminal networks for a sophisticated attack on Microsoft’s widely used email server software earlier this year.

  It’s the first time NATO, a 30-nation alliance, has called out Beijing for hacking. 

  It is, however, a toothless condemnation. It carries with it no repercussions for China, the world’s second largest economy. 

Capitol Crimes: A Florida man who breached the US Senate chamber carrying a Trump flag is set today to become the first January 6th rioter sentenced for a felony, possibly establishing a benchmark penalty. Prosecutors want Paul Allard Hodgkins to serve 18 months in prison, saying in a recent filing that he, “like each rioter, contributed to the collective threat to democracy.” 

  Video footage shows the 38-year-old Hodgkins inside the Senate wearing a Trump 2020 T-shirt, the flag flung over a shoulder and eye goggles around his neck. 

The Spin Rack: Four people were wounded Saturday night in  a shooting outside Nationals Park that stopped a Washington home game against the San Diego Padres during the 6^th inning. The park emptied out and the game was completed yesterday. — Britney Spears announced via Instagram that she will not perform in public again while her father is still in control of her life. “I’m not gonna be performing on any stages anytime soon with my dad handling what I wear, say, do, or think,” the singer wrote. — Mat George, the 26-year-old co-host of the podcast “She Rates Dogs” known for his humorous takes on dating, pop culture, and being gay, was killed in a hit-and-run in Los Angeles Saturday as he crossed a street at 2:20 in the morning. Pedestrians have the right of way in California even in unmarked crosswalks.

Bottoms Up: The Norwegian women’s national beach handball team has been fighting the league rule that requires them to wear a bikini while competing. They recently attempted to play in a two piece outfit wearing something similar to skin-tight bicycle shorts that came to just below the navel. They were threatened with fines and disqualification.

  Beach handball is a team sport in which the ball can be held with one hand and the goal is a net about a third the size of a soccer goal.

  The rules say the women must wear a sports bra top with deep cutouts under the arms and a bottom no more than 10 centimeters wide at the side. That’s just shy of four inches.

  The men wear shorts and sleeveless t-shirts.

  The rules for women are justified on the grounds that clothing helps athletes perform and is “in line with the sporty and appealing image of the sport”. It’s obviously a rule made for male spectators, not female competitors.