Viral News: US Olympic teams are losing members to virus protocols as the Olympic village in Tokyo begins to swell with athletes. Two US gymnasts are in quarantine.

  More than two dozen athletes from around the world have tested positive for the virus, including three cases inside the Olympic Village. And as many as 33 Japanese staff members or contractors working on the Games have tested positive.

  As the pandemic resurges, cases in the US are up 198 percent in the past two weeks and deaths are up 75 percent. Stirring further political controversy over the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control has recommended that all children 2 and up should wear masks when they return to school, even if they are vaccinated.

The Social Networks: Twitter suspended Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for 12 hours for posting false information about the coronavirus.

  Greene has opposed vaccines and masks as a way to stop the pandemic. In the last two days she argued that Covid-19 was not dangerous for people unless they were obese or over age 65, and said vaccines should not be required.

  Meanwhile, the White House and other federal agencies are pushing Facebook to hand over data about how anti-vaccine information spreads online, and have accused the company of withholding key information. President Biden last week accused the company of “killing people” by allowing false information to circulate. “Anyone listening to it is getting hurt by it,” Biden said. He said he hoped that instead of “taking it personally,” Facebook would “do something about the misinformation.”

  In protest, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted that “From now on, all Facebook posts will end with: ‘I’m Joe Biden, and I approve this message.’”

Free Press: In a big win for the American press, Attorney General Merrick Garland reversed department policy and formally prohibited federal prosecutors from seizing the records of reporters in leak investigations. He reserved some limited exceptions. 

  Previously, if someone in government leaked secure or embarrassing information, government investigators could attempt to identify them by seizing the records and data of reporters who delivered the story.

  Announcing his decision, Garland cited “the important national interest in protecting journalists from compelled disclosure of information revealing their sources, sources they need to apprise the American people of the workings of their government.”

The Fires This Time: The Oregon wildfire named the Bootleg Fire is so big and so hot that it’s creating its own weather.

  The fire that has already burned 530 square miles of forest and grasslands has created ferocious winds drawn toward the heat and sparked lightning strikes. Whole stands of trees enveloped in heat and showered with sparks have exploded in flame. Smoke from the fire is reaching 30,000 feet into the air.

  On some days, the Bootleg Fire has grown by 80,000 square miles. Marcus Kauffman, a spokesman for the Oregon forestry department, told The NY Times that “Normally the weather predicts what the fire will do. In this case, the fire is predicting what the weather will do.”

The Spin Rack: Ben & Jerry’s, the socially conscious ice cream company, is ending sales in the Israeli-occupied territories.  “We believe it is inconsistent with our values for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the company said in a statement. — Amazon fonder Jeff Bezos is aiming to become the second billionaire in space this morning. He joked with reporters about having his “last meal” before the flight. —  In the first sentencing of a Capitol rioter, Florida crane operator Paul Hodgkins was sentenced to eight months in federal prison and two years of supervised release. He broke into the Senate floor wearing a Trump 2020 t-shirt with a Trump flag on a pole leaning on his shoulder. — Thousands of communities suing the opioid drug makers that spawned a nationwide scourge of addiction are on the verge of reaching a $21 billion settlement.

Political Spin: White House press secretary Jen Psaki threw out the first pitch at Nationals Park on Sunday, one day after a shooting outside the stadium stopped a game in the sixth inning. It turns out she’s a right winger.

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