Should You Worry?

CNN News : Top Stories

• The spike in Covid-19 cases right now is twice what the hospital saw in the pandemic's initial surge last year, doctor says
  A children's hospital in Louisiana is experiencing a wave of Covid-19 hospitalizations as the Delta variant pervades the region.
  
  
• White House frustrated with 'hyperbolic' and 'irresponsible' Delta variant coverage, sources say
  A version of this article first appeared in the "Reliable Sources" newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.
  
  
• 'There's been enough time': Frustration builds with vaccinated
  As stricter rules and mask mandates return, frustration is building particularly among those who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus. CNN's Dan Simon reports how some California residents say they feel they're being punished for the inaction of others.
  
  
• ER Doctor: 'What a senseless, self-inflicted wound'
  During my final months of residency training in Florida this past spring, I lost count of how many young, healthy Covid-19 patients I cared for in the emergency room who just never imagined that they -- of all people -- could become seriously ill.
  
  
• CDC shares 'pivotal discovery'
  A new study shows the Delta Covid-19 variant produced similar amounts of virus in vaccinated and unvaccinated people if they get infected -- illustrating a key motivation behind the federal guidance that now recommends most fully vaccinated Americans wear masks indoors.
  
  
• As Covid-19 cases surge in Florida, governor says parents should decide whether their children wear masks to school
  While Covid-19 cases are once again surging in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Friday directing the state's health and education departments to issue rules preventing the implementation of school mask mandates.
  
  
• Simone Biles withdraws from vault and uneven bars finals
  • Caeleb Dressel wins gold in men's 100m butterfly with a world record • Ledecky wins women's 800 meter freestyle • The best photos from the Tokyo Games
  
  
• Biden's Justice Department says IRS 'must' hand over Trump tax returns to Congress
  • Trump to DOJ last December: 'Just say that the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me'
  
  
• Multiple people injured after Boston transit trains collide
  Multiple people are being evaluated by Boston EMS for injuries, according to a tweet from the Boston Fire Department, after the Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority said two B Line trains collided with one another on the Commonwealth Avenue rail line.
  
  
• Sinema strikes big bipartisan infrastructure deal and suffers a Democratic backlash
  When a group of 22 senators negotiates a $1 trillion bill, conversations can go off track. And when they did — "far too many (times) to recount," joked one senior staffer — Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema would urge them to finish the job, even if that required some liquid courage.
  
  
• MyPillow CEO pulls ads from Fox News
  After Fox News rejected a promo from MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for a live streamed event that seeks to prove that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election, Lindell has pulled his ads from the network. CNN's Brian Stelter has the story.
  
  
• Video shows Texas sheriff's deputy on top of teen and then detaining mother
  Video taken by a family member shows a Kaufman County, Texas, sheriff's deputy on top of an 18-year-old woman, and then arresting her mother during a police encounter on Tuesday afternoon in Forney, Texas.
  
  
• Biden nominates Khizr Khan, a Gold Star father and Trump critic, to post
  President Joe Biden announced Friday that he was appointing Khizr Khan, a Gold Star father who drew then-candidate Donald Trump's ire when he spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
  
  
• 600 tons of marine life have washed up on Florida's shores
  Red tide, a toxic algae bloom, has killed more than 600 tons of marine life in Florida. CNN's Nick Valencia reports that the Florida government and environmentalists are at odds over the cause of the bloom.
  
  
• Biden administration sues Texas
  The Biden administration is taking Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to court over an executive order he issued earlier this week targeting the transport of migrants recently released from US Customs and Border Protection custody.
  
  
• Keilar: Rubio took a swing, missed and hit himself in the face
  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) tweeted that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was participating in "embarrassing Covid theater" by wearing a mask and face shield on his trip to the Philippines, where masks and face shields are government mandated.
  
  
• Opinion: January 6 rioters followed Trump's blueprint
  When Congressman Mo Brooks attended Donald Trump's "Save America Rally" at the Ellipse Wednesday, January 6 -- the day Trump loyalists attacked the US Capitol and tried to overturn the 2020 election -- the Alabama Republican's big punchline was, "Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass." Faced, now, with a lawsuit alleging that he incited the violence that ensued, Brooks claimed he never advocated for violence. And he has said that his comment about "kicking ass" was about the 2022 and 2024 elections.
  
  
• Bone confirmed to be remains of missing British hiker Esther Dingley
  A bone found in the Pyrenees mountains has been identified as belonging to missing British hiker Esther Dingley, the charity representing her family said in a statement Friday.
  
  
• Boris Johnson's umbrella struggle makes Prince Charles laugh
  CNN's John Berman pokes fun at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson after the world leader engaged in an epic struggle with an umbrella.
  
  
• Russian Olympic Committee hits back after US swimmer questions whether gold medal winner was '100% clean'
  The issue of doping reared its head at Tokyo 2020 on Friday as the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) hit back at comments from American swimmer Ryan Murphy which questioned whether Evgeny Rylov's 200m backstroke gold medal was "100% clean."
  
  
• California braces for flash flooding as drought worsens
  Rain is a good thing for the drought-parched Southwest, but too much at one time is fueling worries about significant flooding beginning Friday through the weekend.
  
  
• NASA's Insight Lander reveals new data about Mars
  Three years after NASA's Insight Lander arrived on Mars, its data reveals that Mars is larger, lighter and has a more liquid core than previously thought. CNN's Kristin Fisher reports.
  
  
• Opinion: Texas offers Americans a stark history lesson
  There have been three critical moments where Texas has proved decisive for democracy and voting rights in this country. The first two, in 1890 and 1965, afford us key insights into how we can make the most of the third one -- taking place right now.
  
  
• Your new sofa might not arrive until 2022. Here's why
  Get ready to wait months, maybe even into 2022, for that new sofa to arrive at your doorstep.
  
  
• Author Daniel Silva tells Anderson why he became a character in 'The Cellist'
  Anderson learns why he is a character in best-selling author Daniel Silva's latest book "The Cellist". Watch "Full Circle" Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6p E.T.
  
  
• Xi Jinping's Communist party is under fire overseas. Millions of young Chinese are still joining
  In a meeting room decorated with a stylized hammer and sickle flag, Kelly Hu detailed her shortcomings.
  
  
• Opinion: The CCP at 100: How to think about China's ruling party
  A hundred years ago, sometime in July 1921, 13 young men gathered in the Chinese city of Shanghai to found a tiny political grouping: the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Today that party rules a quarter of humanity, presiding over the second biggest economy and second-best funded military in the world.
  
  
• 100 years of the Chinese Communist Party
  
  
  
• Analysis: Xi Jinping set out to save the Communist Party. But critics say he made himself its biggest threat
  In January 2013, months after taking the helm of China's ruling party, Xi Jinping gathered the country's top politicians and asked them why the Communist Party of the Soviet Union had collapsed.
  
  
• Chinese people ordered to think like Xi as Communist Party aims to tighten control
  Days after entering its second century, the Chinese Communist Party has set out its priority for the new era -- tightening ideological control over 1.4 billion Chinese people.
  
  
• Bob Odenkirk thanks fans for 'outpouring of love' following recent health scare
  Bob Odenkirk thanked his fans on Friday after his health scare earlier this week.
  
  
• DaBaby comments spark backlash from Elton John, Dua Lipa and other celebrities
  DaBaby has attracted some high-profile critics.
  
  
• Amanda Knox claims 'Stillwater' is profiting off her
  Amanda Knox is claiming the new Matt Damon film "Stillwater" is profiting off her life and her struggle for a wrongful murder conviction.
  
  
• Lady Gaga is the epitome of 90s glamour in new 'House of Gucci' trailer
  In the new trailer for Ridley Scott's "House of Gucci," Lady Gaga strides through an Italian side street shrouded in furs and dripping in gold. "It was a name that sounded so sweet," she says in a vocal fry, "so seductive."
  
  
• Rover promises a network of 'trusted sitters and dog walkers.' That wasn't enough to save these pets
  Like many new pandemic pet owners, Nia Morgan knew her puppy, Zorro, had grown very attached to her due to all the time she spent at home with him. So she was understandably hesitant about leaving him for the first time with a sitter she'd hired through Rover, a popular platform for booking dog and cat sitters.
  
  
• Neighbors capture video of house crashing into the ocean
  This house on Argentina's Atlantic coast collapsed into the ocean. Argentina is one of the many countries facing rising sea levels. 
  
  
• TikTok: How one user went viral after sharing his Tinder hack to virtually connect with Olympians
  The Tokyo Olympics are officially underway with thousands of the world's most able-bodied people competing against each other in one convenient location for one enterprising TikToker.
  
  
• Goldman Sachs draws a line in the sand on employee vaccination
  All eyes are on Wall Street as the Covid-19 Delta variant continues to spread and Corporate America starts rolling out vaccination policies.
  
  
• Analysis: Corporate America to workers: Either get a Covid vaccine or leave
  Get the shot or take a hike.
  
  
• Famed restaurateur: If you want to be unvaccinated, 'you can dine somewhere else'
  Danny Meyer, restaurateur and CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, is requiring his employees and all customers at his restaurants to prove that they've been vaccinated against Covid-19.
  
  
• Pioneering TV pitchman Ron Popeil dies at age 86
  Infomercial king Ron Popeil died "suddenly and peacefully" Wednesday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to a statement provided to CNN by Popeil representative Eric Ortner.
  
  
• Is a cast-iron skillet actually worth it? Absolutely. These 2 are our favorites
  
  
  
• This $30 gadget is a no-brainer addition to any home with a garage
  
  
  
• We tested water bottles for months. Only two stood out
  
  
  
• Does a soundbar actually make a difference? Absolutely. Here are the best options we've tried
  
  
  
• Are Swedish dishcloths worth it? Absolutely. Here's why
  
  
  
• The best cooling sheets for hot sleepers, according to experts
  
  
  
• 20 items from Nordstrom's massive sale worth the splurge
  
  
  
• 13 kitchen gadgets that make meal prepping even easier
  
  
  
• The MacBook Air rarely goes on sale but today it's $150 off — here's how to snag one