California's Death Valley sizzles as brutal heat wave continues
DEATH VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Long the hottest place on Earth, Death Valley put a sizzling exclamation point Sunday on a record warm summer that is baking nearly the entire globe by flirting with some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded, meteorologists said.
Temperatures in Death Valley, which runs along part of central California's border with Nevada, reached 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53.33 degrees Celsius) on Sunday at the aptly named Furnace Creek, the National Weather Service said.
The hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth was 134 F (56.67 C) in July 1913 at Furnace Creek, said Randy Ceverny of the World Meteorological Organization, the body recognized as keeper of world records. Temperatures at or above 130 F (54.44 C) have only been recorded on Earth a handful of times, mostly in Death Valley.
“With global warming, such temperatures are becoming more and more likely to occur,” Ceverny, the World Meteorological Organization’s records coordinator, said in an email. “Long-term: Global warming is causing higher and more frequent temperature extremes. Short-term: This particular weekend is being driven by a very very strong upper-level ridge of high pressure over the Western U.S.”
Furnace Creek is an unincorporated community within Death Valley National Park. It's home to the park's visitor center, which includes a digital thermometer popular with tourists. On Sunday afternoon, dozens of people gathered at the thermometer — some wearing fur coats as a joke — hoping to snap a picture with a temperature reading that would shock their friends and family.
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Heavy rains swamp Northeast again as flash flooding claims at least 5 lives in Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. (AP) — Heavy rains pounded an already saturated Northeast on Sunday for the second time in a week, spurring another round of flash flooding, cancelled airline flights and power outages. In Pennsylvania, a sudden flash flood late Saturday afternoon claimed at least five lives.
Officials in Bucks County's Upper Makefield Township in Pennsylvania said torrential rains occurred around 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the Washington Crossing area, sweeping away several cars. At least five people died and two childen, a 9-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sister, remained missing, authorities said.
Other parts of the East Coast were experiencing heavy rain, including Vermont. Authorities there said landslides could become a problem Sunday as the state copes with more rain following days of flooding.
“There are flash flood warnings throughout the state today. Remain vigilant and be prepared,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said.
Sunday’s strong storms led to hundreds of flight cancellations at airports in the New York City area, according to the tracking service FlightAware. More than 350 flights were canceled at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey alone, while more than 280 flights were canceled at Kennedy International Airport in New York. Hundreds of flights were delayed.
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China's economy grew a lower than expected 6.3% in the second quarter, as post-COVID recovery slowed
HONG KONG (AP) — China’s economy grew at a 6.3% annual pace in the April-June quarter, much lower than analysts had forecast given the slow pace of growth the year before.
The world’s second-largest economy is expected to slow further in coming months given slack consumer demand in China and weaker demand for Chinese exports in other economies as their post-pandemic recoveries lose momentum.
The 6.3% growth in China’s gross domestic product from April to June outpaced a 4.5% rate of growth in the previous quarter, according to government data released Monday.
In quarterly terms, the economy grew 0.8% compared to the first three months of the year.
The still robust growth is largely due to the economy growing just 0.4% a year earlier amid strict lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities during major outbreaks of COVID-19.
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Alabama woman who disappeared after reporting child on highway returns home following two-day search
HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — A 25-year-old Alabama woman returned home late Saturday after being the focus of a two-day search by police and family members who reported her missing after she stopped to check on a child who was walking along a highway.
Police said Carlethia “Carlee” Nichole Russell had returned to the home she shares with her parents in Hoover, AL.com reported late Saturday night.
Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis said Russell arrived home alone and was brought to a hospital for evaluation, AL.com reported.
Russell's whereabouts were not immediately clear since around 10:45 p.m. Thursday when she called 911 and a family member to say she saw a young child walking on the side of Interstate 459.
Police found Russell's car and her cellphone but were unable to find her or a child in the area.
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Suspect in 4 Georgia deaths is killed in shootout with police, 3 officers wounded, authorities say
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Officers on Sunday shot and killed a man wanted in four weekend killings near Atlanta during an exchange of gunfire, with a sheriff's deputy and two police officers wounded while trying to take the suspect into custody, authorities said.
Officials said Andre Longmore was shot during an intense manhunt for the 40-year-old suspect. The exchange of gunfire came a day after Saturday morning's shootings rocked a bucolic acsubdivision in Hampton, south of Georgia's main city.
Officials said Longmore was killed about 15 miles (25 kilometers) to the north of Hampton in suburban Jonesboro. Clayton County police said a Henry County sheriff's deputy saw the SUV that Longmore stole from one of the victims and began chasing him, calling for help. After exchanging gunfire with Longmore, Clayton police said he ran away.
Justin Robinson told told WANF-TV that Longmore entered the backyard of a townhouse.
“He had a gun, he was bleeding, he was naked,” Robinson said.
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1 dead, 1 critically injured after being knocked from gondola at Quebec resort
MONTREAL (AP) — One person died and another was critically injured when they were knocked out of a sightseeing gondola Sunday at the popular Mont-Tremblant resort, authorities said.
Quebec provincial police said the crash occurred shortly before noon when a piece of construction equipment struck the gondola at the mountain resort around 105 kilometers (65 miles) northwest of Montreal.
Police said in an email that the other passenger was taken to a Montreal-area hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Investigators from the major crimes division were sent to the scene.
The Tremblant Resort Association declined to comment on the accident, but said in a post on Facebook that activities at the mountain were suspended after the accident.
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Tour de France teams ask fans to behave better after mass pileup in 15th stage
SAINT-GERVAIS MONT-BLANC, France (AP) — Tour de France overall leader Jonas Vingegaard is calling on fans to behave better at cycling’s biggest race after another mass crash marred the 15th stage on Sunday.
“I’d like to tell the spectators to enjoy the race and be there to cheer for us without standing on the road or pouring beers on us," Vingegaard said. "Please, just enjoy the race.”
The Danish rider leads Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia by only 10 seconds with the race about to enter its final week.
The incident, which involved around two dozen riders, led to appeals from several teams at the Tour.
“Please be careful. So that the party remains a party for the riders, but also for you. You don’t need a cell phone to create mind-blowing memories,” the Cofidis team said amid unverified reports that the spectator who caused the crash was taking a selfie.
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Mexico beats Panama 1-0 in CONCACAF Gold Cup final as Giménez scores 88th-minute goal
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Santiago Giménez scored after an electrifying sprint in the 88th minute, and Mexico won the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the record ninth time with a 1-0 victory over Panama on Sunday night.
After Edson Álvarez slid to block Iván Anderson's cross in the Mexico penalty area, Orbelín Pineda dribbled away and made a tremendous pass into the center circle. Giménez, 22-year-old Feyenoord forward, dribbled past Harold Cummings and outraced Cummings and Fidel Escobar into the penalty area. Giménez scuffed a bouncing left-foot shot over goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera for his fourth goal in 18 international appearances and his second of the tournament.
The goal by the Argentina-born Giménez, who came on as a substitute only three minutes earlier, set off a frenzied celebration at SoFi Stadium, packed with fans celebrating Mexico's dramatic revival in this biennial CONCACAF tournament.
Several months after Mexico crashed out of the World Cup with its worst performance in nearly half a century, El Tri rebounded with an excellent tournament under interim manager Jaime Lozano, who took over the beleaguered program only a month ago.
Mexico, which allowed just two goals in its matches, has won this tournament more than all other nations combined. The U.S. has seven Gold Cup titles and Canada one.
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‘Mission: Impossible’ debuts with $80M over five days, igniting box office but missing expectations
NEW YORK (AP) — After a globe-trotting publicity blitz by star Tom Cruise, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” launched with a franchise-best $80 million over five days, though it came in shy of industry expectations with a $56.2 million haul over the three-day weekend, according to studio estimates.
The Paramount Pictures debut was boosted by strong overseas sales of $155 million from 70 markets. But while a $235 million worldwide launch marked one of the best global openings of the year, “Dead Reckoning” couldn’t approach the high-speed velocity of last summer’s top film, “Top Gun: Maverick.”
“Dead Reckoning Part One,” the seventh film in the 27-year-old series, had been forecast to better the franchise high of the previous installment, “Fallout,” which opened with $61 million domestically in 2018. Instead, it also fell short of the $57.8 million “Mission: Impossible II” debuted with in 2000.
That puts the film's opening-weekend tally very close to the tepid launch of Disney's “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” which opened in U.S. and Canadian theaters with $82 million over five days and $60 million over the three-day weekend. Paramount and Skydance had higher hopes for the action extravaganza of “Dead Reckoning,” which cost $290 million to make, not counting marketing expenses.
Those costs were inflated, in part, by the pandemic. “Dead Reckoning,” directed by Christopher McQuarrie, was among the first major productions shut down by COVID-19. It was preparing to shoot in Italy in March 2020. When the film got back on track, McQuarrie and Cruise helped lead the industry-wide recovery back to film sets – albeit with some well-publicized friction over protocols along the way.
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Putin says Russia has ‘sufficient stockpile’ of cluster bombs as Ukraine gets its own supply from US
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview published Sunday that Moscow has a “sufficient stockpile” of cluster munitions, and warned that Russia “reserves the right to take reciprocal action” if Ukraine uses the controversial weapons.
In his first comments on the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine from the U.S., Putin said that Russia hasn't used cluster bombs in the war with Ukraine so far. But the use of cluster bombs by both Russia and Ukraine has been widely documented, including by The Associated Press and international humanitarian organizations, and cluster rounds have been found in the aftermath of Russian strikes.
“Until now, we have not done this, we have not used it, and we have not had such a need,” he said.
Rossiya TV reporter Pavel Zarubin published excerpts of the interview to his Telegram channel Sunday before a scheduled broadcast on Sunday night.
The Pentagon said Thursday that cluster munitions provided by the United States had arrived in Ukraine.
The Associated Press
