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| Good morning, Daily Briefing readers! President Joe Biden is expected to tell millions of federal workers they must prove they're vaxxed or submit to regular COVID-19-tests. And the women's all-around gymnastics competition will take place in Tokyo without Simone Biles. Jade Carey will take her place in the eagerly-anticipated event. Go Team USA! |
| It's Steve and Jane with Thursday's news. |
| ✈ New this morning: In 1972, Melvin McNair helped hijack a plane to join the Black Panthers in Algeria. Still wanted by U.S. authorities, he tells USA TODAY's Kim Hjemgaard: "I am at peace with what I did." |
| 🔴 Big quake: A tsunami warning was issued for parts of Alaska after a magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck the peninsula. A tsunami warning issued for Hawaii was canceled. |
| 🔵 New poll: Satisfaction with the way Asian Americans are treated in the U.S. has plummeted after a year of rising hate crimes and instances of racism. |
| ✋ "Enough": There's a story unfolding at the Tokyo Olympics. Women are rejecting a culture of silence that many no longer view as the price of competition. |
| 🔴 A growing share of U.S. adults say they know someone who is transgender or goes by gender-neutral pronouns, a Pew Research Center survey finds. |
| 💼 America Reopened: With the reopening of American businesses and public spaces, financial forecasters predict a swift economic recovery that may rise above pre-pandemic expectations. |
 | | "America Reopened" graphic. | | USA TODAY | |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear what's in the bipartisan infrastructure bill that's finally made progress. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| Here's what's happening today: |
Biden expected to announce vaccine proof push for federal workers |
| President Joe Biden is expected to announce Thursday that millions of federal workers must show proof they've received a coronavirus vaccine or submit to regular testing and stringent social distancing and masking, the Associated Press reports. A source told the AP the new guidance is not a vaccine mandate for the employees and those who decide not to get vaccinated aren't at risk of being fired. The new policy amounts to a recognition by the administration that the government — the nation's biggest employer — must do more to boost sluggish vaccination rates. Biden said Tuesday his administration had been considering requiring all federal workers to get the shots amid a surge of cases caused by the highly infectious delta variant. |
Team USA takes home more swimming medals ahead of gymnastics |
| Gymnast Simone Biles continues to be the main topic of discussion at the Tokyo Olympics after she withdrew from the women's all-around competition to focus on her mental health. Jade Carey will take Biles' place for Team USA in Thursday's event. There was lots of action in the pool earlier as Bobby Finke grabbed an unexpected gold in the men's 800-meter freestyle. And Caeleb Dressel set an Olympic record to win gold in the men's 100 free final. The women's 4x200 freestyle relay team, anchored by Katie Ledecky, won silver. Elsewhere, the men's individual golf competition has begun with with opening round play. |
| 🏅The inside scoop on the Tokyo Olympics, texted right to you. Sign up for USA TODAY's Olympic texts, where we'll be your official guide to the Games. |
| 🗣LIVE Q+A WITH REPORTER RACHEL AXON: Get your women's gymnastics questions answered. |
 | | USA TODAY will host a live chat with reporter Rachel Axon during the women's gymnastics all-around final on July 29 at 6:50 a.m. ET. | | Jace Evans | |
Some more news we thought you could use: |
| 🌉 "Two parties can still work together": The Senate could pass the largest transportation bill in U.S. history by this weekend after it cleared an important procedural hurdle Wednesday. |
| 📚 The Education Department plans a review after a USA TODAY report revealed a massage school that is accused of ties to prostitution. |
| 📺 "He's going to be okay": Bob Odenkirk is in stable condition after a 'heart-related' collapse on the set of "Better Call Saul" in New Mexico. |
Apple to require masks in half of its US stores |
| Apple will require shoppers to wear masks again at half of its U.S. stores beginning Thursday . Stores that will require masks are in COVID-19 hotspots or in areas that have local or state mandates. The company became the first retailer to confirm a change to its masking policy on Wednesday, two days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines recommending vaccinated people start wearing masks indoors again in areas with substantial or high transmission of COVID-19. The new CDC mask guidance also recommends that people with underlying conditions that may make them more susceptible to the coronavirus wear masks, along with anyone residing with vulnerable people. |
What else people are reading: |
| 🔴 Olympic record: American Caeleb Dressel won the gold medal in the men's 100 freestyle in Tokyo. |
| 🔴 U.S. pole vaulter Sam Kendricks will not compete in the Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19, which led to a short, but intense, burst of worry for the Australian track and field team. |
| 🔵 New COVID-19 study: Nearly 3% of medical workers in an Israeli study contracted COVID-19 despite being vaccinated, and 19% of them still had symptoms six weeks later. |
| 🔵 Fact check: A video claiming an NBC producer was caught on a hot mic at the Olympics saying "60% of people in this stadium will be dead within 10 days" isn't real. |
| 🔵 "Warping space": For the first time, astronomers have spotted X-ray light emissions coming from directly behind a black hole at the center of a distant galaxy. |
Teams look to build future at NBA Draft |
| Many NBA teams and players will take a significant step Thursday when the 2021 NBA Draft takes place. The Detroit Pistons hold the No. 1 overall pick and are expected to draft guard Cade Cunningham from Oklahoma State. The draft will start picking up momentum with the Houston Rockets picking at No. 2, where analysts believe they are considering a number of players — primarily Jalen Suggs, Evan Mobley and Jalen Green. There will also be room for trades in the top half of the NBA Draft, with the New Orleans Pelicans already trading the No. 10 pick in a package deal that netted them the No. 17 overall pick and center Jonas Valanciunas. The draft will air on ESPN starting at 8 p.m. ET. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Simone Biles says, 'Thank you' |
 | | U.S. gymnast Simone Biles at the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021 | | Photo: The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Images; USA TODAY Sports graphic | |
| Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles took to Twitter on Thursday to express her gratitude for the support she has received since withdrawing from the team and all-around competitions. |
| Biles has been widely praised by fellow gymnasts, other Olympic athletes and mental health experts for her decision to withdraw from the team competition after one event, saying she wasn't in a good headspace and was concerned for her physical safety. |
Lollapalooza music festival returns |
| Crowds will descend on Chicago's Grant Park on Thursday, when the four-day Lollapalooza music festival starts. It's the first major multi-genre music festival in the U.S. since March 2020, and the largest mass gathering event in the country since that time, with an expected 100,000 fans a day. Foo Fighters, Post Malone, Tyler, The Creator and Miley Cyrus are set to lead the lineup. Attendees will have to show proof they've had COVID-19 vaccinations or have tested negative within the last three days. |
Goodbye, old friend: Final 'Arthur' episodes to air in 2022 |
| The final new episodes of the PBS Kids animated series "Arthur" will air next year, bringing the show to a close after an unprecedented 25-season run. |
 | | Arthur Read, the anthropomorphic aardvark from the PBS Kids series, walks on the world. | | GBH photo; USA TODAY graphic | |
| The series, which debuted in 1996 and revolves around the life of an 8-year-old anthropomorphic aardvark named Arthur Read, became known for portraying matters such as diabetes awareness and gay marriage. |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories published Wednesday |
| 🗳 A falling stock? A candidate backed by former President Donald Trump lost a House special election to Republican Jake Ellzey. |
| 🔴 "The Olympics is overwhelming": Michael Phelps says he can relate to Simone Biles' situation in Tokyo. |
| 🎭 "New masculine spirit": In a new ad for Burberry, actor Adam Driver transforms into a centaur and that sent social media into a frenzy. |
📸 Photo of the day: U.S. swimmer celebrates stunning victory 📸 |
 | | Robert Finke (USA) celebrates after winning in the men's 800m freestyle final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 28, 2021. | | Rob Schumacher, USA TODAY Sports | |
| After spending almost the entirety of the men's 800-meter freestyle final in the middle of the pack, 21-year-old University of Florida student Bobby Finke surged past Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri and Ukraine's Mykhailo Romanchuk to, unexpectedly, win gold at the Tokyo Olympics Thursday. |
| Tap here to see more of the best photos from the men's and women's swimming events and head here to check out images of agony and ecstasy from the Tokyo Olympics. |
| The Daily Briefing is free, but several stories we link to in this edition are subscriber-only. Please support our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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