HOT AIR BALLOON FLIGHT

By Remy Tumin

Welcome to the Weekend Briefing. We're covering a summer surge in virus cases, the state of the infrastructure bill and the closing of the Summer Games.

1. For the first time since February, the U.S. is averaging more than 100,000 new cases a day.

Infections and hospitalizations are increasing rapidly as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads. The outlook is especially dire in the South. Louisiana is leading the nation in an explosion of new cases, and hospitals are overflowing and admitting more young people than before. But the crisis is also driving some to get vaccinated.

Right behind Louisiana is Florida, which is averaging more than 19,000 new cases a day. Gov. Ron DeSantis has been unyielding in his resistance to mask mandates. Now record Covid hospitalizations are raising the stakes — and could affect his political perch as a Republican Party front-runner.

And in Texas, cases driven by Delta swamped hospitals while officials were prevented from issuing mask mandates by order of Gov. Greg Abbott.

Vaccination rates have been slowly rising since the middle of July, and 58 percent of eligible Americans have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Here's how Delta is changing advice for the vaccinated.

2. The Delta variant is looming over the economy and the new school year.

A booming July jobs report offered good news for the country's recovery: 943,000 jobs were added last month, the best showing in nearly a year. Yet sectors where the most growth occurred — leisure and hospitality — are especially vulnerable to Delta. Diners are flocking back to New York City restaurants, but the biggest concern for restaurateurs is that Delta's advance in coming months could imperil the rebound in revenue they had hoped for.

Tens of thousands of 5-year-olds from the country's poorest neighborhoods didn't enroll in kindergarten last year, new data shows, hardening inequities in education. The challenge now is to re-establish relations between the schools and families who left them. That task is made harder by continued anxiety about infection in classrooms.

3. After two weeks of elite competition, the Olympic cauldron will be extinguished this morning, ending a Summer Games like no other.

The closing ceremony begins at 7 a.m. Eastern. There will be music and speeches, and a handoff to Paris for the 2024 Games. For all of the worry over hosting the event amid a pandemic, the Games have been a showcase for the beauty of resilience, our sports columnist writes.

Here's a recap of the final weekend:

• Allyson Felix is the most decorated American Olympian in track and field after the U.S. took gold in 4x400 women's relay. Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, the world's most decorated marathoner, won gold in the men's marathon to defend his title as Olympic champion.
• The U.S. also captured gold in men's and women's basketball and women's water polo.
• Japan beat the U.S. to win its first gold medal in baseball. Brazil beat Spain in extra time to repeat as the Olympic men's soccer champion.
• Catch up on all of the action with seven Olympic moments worth revisiting, our best Olympic photos and spectacular moments, frame by frame.

4. As the #MeToo movement swept the world, Gov. Andrew Cuomo cast himself as an ally. But in private, he was committing new offenses, according to a report.

Even as the New York governor signed protections and surrounded himself with feminists, he resumed his unwelcome pursuit of a female state trooper and asked a young aide to play strip poker, according to the report by the state's attorney general last week, which detailed accusations of sexual harassment by 11 women.

The report was meant to be an investigation into Cuomo's actions, but it also exposed the limits of what has been achieved since 2017, when the revelations about sexual misconduct by the producer Harvey Weinstein broke, our reporters write in a news analysis.

Cuomo and his lawyers have until Friday to submit any evidence in the governor's defense to the New York State Assembly, which seems headed for a vote on impeachment.

ADVERTISEMENT

5. The Senate is one step closer to passing the $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

The bipartisan bill cleared a key procedural vote on Saturday, breaking a filibuster to end debate on the deal before turning to an agreement on amendments. The vote was 67 to 27. The legislation, which would make far-reaching investments in the nation's public works system, appears ready to pass with a small but significant share of Republican support — possibly even including Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader.

The bill has largely survived because most of the key Republican senators involved are not operating under Donald Trump's influence, our congressional reporters write in an analysis. Can that last?

Times subscribers make our coverage of the Olympics possible, allowing us to bring you behind-the-scenes stories and expert coverage from on the ground in Tokyo. Become a subscriber today with a special offer.

6. The Dixie Fire is now the largest blaze in the U.S., and the third-largest wildfire on record in California.

The town of Greenville has been reduced to scattered bricks. By Saturday afternoon, the fire was just 21 percent contained and 448,000 acres had burned, according to a Times wildfire tracker. Five people are missing, but some residents in a nearby town have refused to heed evacuation orders.

As southern Europe faces one of its worst heat waves in decades, firefighters battle blazes across Greece, prompting thousands more people to flee their homes and hundreds to be evacuated by sea.

7. The Taliban captured two Afghan provincial capitals in two days last week as international forces begin their withdrawal, and overran a third on Sunday.

Sheberghan, the capital of Jowzjan Province, collapsed less than 24 hours after Zaranj, a city of 160,000 people on the Afghanistan-Iran border, was also taken over. The Taliban victories come despite continued American air support and are the result of a strategy that has exhausted Afghan government forces.

The Taliban also seized Kunduz, a major city in northern Afghanistan that would be a significant military and political prize for the insurgents.

The Biden administration had pinned its hopes on a peace deal that would halt the violence with a power-sharing agreement. But the prospects of a negotiated outcome, which could partly salvage the 20-year American project in Afghanistan, appear to be fading fast.

8. "We have no idea what life really smells like."

After experiencing phantosmia, a condition also known as olfactory hallucination, Ernesto Collado lost his ability to smell except for a single, unpleasant scent. He was told he would have to relearn how to smell through practice, and started with a sprig of rosemary. Now, the actor turned fragrance maker is an evangelist of the nose and life's authentic smells. He aims to recover what he calls "smelling culture."

Our reporter recently accompanied Collado on one of his smelling tours through a landscape in Catalonia painted by Dalí.

9. How do you celebrate a first birthday? With strawberry baby cakes, of course.

Our dessert columnist Dorie Greenspan was entrusted with making her granddaughter's first birthday cake, but in the end, she went simple — and small. Her strawberry cupcakes are made in mini-muffin tins and finished with a white-chocolate glaze. "The tins make cakes that are small enough for chubby baby hands to grab and just big enough to hold one candle," Dorie writes.

For something savory, consider the versatile plantain. Maximizing plantains' qualities requires treating them slightly differently when they're green and firm, and when they're spotted yellow and black. Here's what makes this starch so exceptional.

And to wash it all down, look past the pale rosé for one of these darker-hued pinks, our wine critic suggests.

10. And finally, weekend reading to get engrossed in.

The 25 most significant works of postwar architecture. The chiropractor to Olympic track stars. The Australian mountain range that can swallow up visitors without a sound. Catch up on the latest edition of The Weekender.

Our editors also suggest these 11 new books, "U.F.O." on Showtime, The Weeknd's disco fever and more new songs.

Did you follow the news this week? Test your knowledge. And here's the front page of our Sunday paper, the Sunday Review from Opinion and today's Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. If you're in the mood to play more, find all of our games here.

Have a restorative week.

David Poller compiled photos for this briefing.

Your Weekend Briefing is published Sundays at 6:30 a.m. Eastern.

Did a friend forward you the briefing? You can sign up here.

What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.

Browse our full range of Times newsletters here.

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance.

You received this email because you signed up for The Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account.

To stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe or manage your email preferences.

Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app

Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices

The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018