5 things you need to know this morning: July 22, 2021

Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.

Five things you need to know

1. Olympics show director fired for making Holocaust joke in 1990s

The director of the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony has been fired over a joke he made involving the Holocaust in the 1990s. Kentaro Kobayashi was dismissed for joking about "painful facts of history."

The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee has fired the director of the opening ceremony because of a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998. https://t.co/gCqjfgECRs

— The Associated Press (@AP) July 22, 2021

2. Biden admits feeling self-conscious as president

President Joe Biden has admitted he has felt self-conscious about being the US head of state. But the gaffe-prone politician told a CNN-run town hall show: "I am not self-conscious about the power that comes with the office."

Joe Biden says he's self-conscious as president https://t.co/MOkKRhPKB7

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) July 22, 2021

3. China puts up more obstacles as WHO tries to find origins of COVID-19

China is continuing to refuse to cooperate with the World Health Organization as the UN body attempts to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic began. The authoritarian communist dictatorship said the WHO showed "disrespect for common sense and arrogance toward science."

China rejects WHO's call for transparency in COVID-19 origin probe https://t.co/B8iUMhfkfB pic.twitter.com/C6E3kwPoTf

— New York Post (@nypost) July 22, 2021

4. Youngest Olympian, 12, ready for Tokyo

The youngest Olympian – a 12-year-old table tennis player – is preparing to make her debut in Tokyo. Hend Zaza is from Syria.

Remember what you were doing when you were 12?

Syrian table tennis player is making her Olympic debut, the youngest athlete @Tokyo2020@ittfworld

Read her inspiring story here:https://t.co/x1ghaQ2xQ7

— Olympics (@Olympics) July 20, 2021

5. US officials monitoring hundreds of people amid monkeypox scare

Hundreds of people are being monitored for potential monkeypox infections, American health officials have said. A man is thought to have brought the disease to Texas from Nigeria this month.

CDC is monitoring about 200 people in 27 states for possible exposure to monkeypox after they came in contact with a Dallas man who contracted the disease this month during Nigeria trip https://t.co/kPOEi4B491

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) July 22, 2021