Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Monday, June 28, 2021:
MIAMI BUILDING COLLAPSE
THE LATEST: The death toll in the Miami condo collapse has risen to 9, with more than 150 still unaccounted for. The last person to be pulled from the rubble alive was Thursday as hopes fade for those still missing. An engineer warned in 2018 that he had seen “major structural damage” to a concrete slab below the pool deck of the Champlain Towers South building that had not been fixed at the time of the collapse. WASH POST
THE VICTIMS: The victims of the disaster reflected Miami’s diverse international population. South American immigrants, Orthodox Jews and foreign retirees are among those killed or missing. Israel says as many as 20 of the missing residents were citizens of that country. Another two dozen were from Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Families were allowed to visit the site over the weekend as search-and-rescue operations continued. AP
HOT, HOT, HOT
Portland is recovering from the hottest day ever recorded in the city -- 112, breaking the record of 108 set a day earlier -- amid an unrelenting heat wave that’s still baking the Pacific Northwest. Seattle hit 102, a new record for June, and Canada recorded its highest temperature ever: 115 in a town in British Columbia. More records are expected to fall today. The Northeast will also see the mercury rise this week, though nothing compared to what’s happening out West. ACCUWEATHER
MIDEAST AIRSTRIKES
President Biden ordered airstrikes against Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq that the Pentagon said had been using drones to attack U.S. targets in Iraq in recent weeks. It’s the second time this administration has carried out bombings in the region. The militias have been launching small drones filled with explosives that then divebomb into their targets; no Americans have been injured in the attacks but the Pentagon is said to be concerned about the new form of warfare used by Iranian proxies. NBC NEWS
TRUMP RETURN
Former President Trump held his first rally since the one that led to the storming of the Capitol, traveling to Ohio to endorse a challenger to a GOP congressman who voted to impeach him. The rally came amid reports that the Trump family business could be indicted in New York as soon as this week, as well as an interview with Bill Barr in which the former attorney general broke with Trump by calling his claims of election fraud “bullshit.” AXIOS
COVID-19 LATEST
Sydney, Australia is under a new two-week lockdown in response to rising cases fueled by the Delta variant. That variant continues to make up an increasing percentage of the new cases seen in the U.S., particularly in the rural South where vaccination rates are low. Both the Pfizer and Moderna shots continue to show extremely strong efficacy against the Delta strain, though there’s not enough data on the J&J vaccine to conclude how well it’s working against that mutation. CNN
ROAD TO TOKYO
TENNIS: Serena Williams is the latest player to say she’s not going to the Olympics. Williams would not tell reporters at her pre-Wimbledon press conference why she’s decided to sit out the Games this year, though she had previously said that the travel restrictions would prevent her from taking her 3-year-old daughter, Olympia, with her. AP
GYMNASTICS: Team USA is set for Tokyo. Sam Mikulak will lead the U.S. men’s gymnastics team, the third Olympics for the six-time national champ. He will be joined by Brody Malone, Yul Moldauer and Shane Wiskus. On the women’s side, Simone Biles leads five first-time Olympians: Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum, Jade Carey and MyKayla Skinner as they look to match the 2016 team's record medal haul. YAHOO SPORTS
'SIGN LADY' ON LAM
The woman who accidentally caused the biggest pile-up in Tour de France history is still at large from both police, who want to question her, and the Tour itself, which wants to sue her. “Sign lady,” as she’s become known on social media, was holding up a cardboard sign for a TV camera when German cyclist Tony Martin rode right into it, causing a domino effect that left dozens of riders piled up on top of each other during the first stage of the race. WATCH IT HAPPEN
BOX OFFICE
The new Fast & Furious movie, F9, blew the doors off the North American box office, bringing in $70 million in its debut weekend. That’s not just the best opening of the pandemic by far, but solid even by pre-pandemic standards. The industry’s next big test comes in two weeks, when Marvel’s Black Widow premieres in theaters and on Disney+. VARIETY
SPOTTED...
...Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, Stevie Van Zandt and Brian Williams among the crowd at the Bruce Springsteen show reopening Broadway: SEE PICS
...John Mulaney and Olivia Munn, stepping out in L.A. for the first time as a couple: SEE PICS
...Madonna, rocking fishnets and leather for an impromptu show to kick off NYC Pride: SEE PICS
...Lil Nas X, kissing one of his male backup dancers on stage at the BET Awards: SEE IT
LEFTOVERS: ANIMAL CROSSING
Transportation officials in Iowa and Illinois are seriously considering a proposal by an environmentalist to turn a section of I-80 that crosses the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities into a bison preserve that would become the largest manmade wildlife crossing in the world. Chad Pregracke has been campaigning to raise money to transform the decrepit bridge -- slated to be torn down -- into a grassy meadow and introducing a herd of bison to roam and graze to their hearts’ content. The idea had been waved off as crazy, but local residents and politicians have taken up the cause and the “Bison Bridge” could break ground within 5 years. GUARDIAN
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