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| It's Monday again, Daily Briefing readers! If you're in the western United States, blockbusting temperatures are still here – and forecast to reach up to 130 degrees in Death Valley. |
| It's Jane, with today's news. |
| 🔵 'We are fed up': Thousands of Cubans protested against food and medicine shortages in what's said to be the biggest anti-government protest in 30 years. |
| 💉 Pfizer representatives and federal health officials, who sent out conflicting signals about the need for vaccine booster shots, are planning to meet. |
| 🌴 'We get cussed at every day': The number of tourists in Maui is approaching pre-pandemic levels, creating challenges for residents and visitors. |
| ⚽️ Nail-biting finale: Italy won the European Championship for the second time Sunday, beating England 3-2 on penalties. |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, hear the latest from the debate on booster shots for COVID-19. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
Extreme heat wave in West breaks more records |
| A large swath of the West baked during the weekend in triple-digit temperatures that were expected to continue into the start of the work week. The California Independent System Operator that manages the state's power grid issued a five-hour "flex alert" starting at 4 p.m. Monday and asked consumers to "conserve as much electricity as possible" to avoid any outages. An excessive heat warning remains in place for Death Valley – where temperatures of 125 to 130 degrees are expected until 8 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Accuweather.com said. The area's daily record high is 129. The world record high is 134 degrees. |
Amid heat, wildfires continue to burn in western US |
| Multiple fires continue to burn in the West , with more than 300,000 acres blazing across six states as of late Sunday. The largest of the blazes, the Bootleg Fire, burned across 143,607 acres in Oregon. The Beckwourth Complex Fire measured 134 square miles, raging near California's border with Nevada and was 20% contained. In Arizona, two firefighters died after a plane responding to a wildfire crashed on Saturday, according to the federal Bureau of Land Management. California and other parts of the West are sinking deeper into drought and that has sent fire danger sky high in many areas. |
What else people are reading: |
| 🔴 Three years ago, Florida lawyer Eric Glazer offered a dire warning: The state's condo buildings faced an "absolutely avoidable" maintenance crisis stemming from years of willfully neglected maintenance combined with lax government oversight. |
| 🚀 'Just magical': Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson's dream of space travel was realized Sunday as Virgin Galactic's rocket ship reached the edge of space. |
| ❤️ It's a comedy royalty love story for the eldest children of Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. Jasmin Lawrence, 25, revealed she is dating Eric Murphy, 32. |
| 👙 Fans applauded Amy Schumer for honoring National Bikini Day with a graphic photo of her son's birth. |
| 🎳 On a normal day, most people don't expect to find a bowling ball sitting on their back step, but one Michigan man found more than 158 beneath his. |
State of emergency takes effect in Tokyo ahead of Olympics |
| A state of emergency for Tokyo, Japan, takes effect Monday until Aug. 22 as the city experiences an uptick in COVID-19 infections ahead of the Olympics. While a state of emergency sounds dire, it does not mean Tokyo is under lockdown — bars and restaurants, as well as schools and businesses, will still remain open. Along with the emergency declaration, there will be no fans at the Olympics: Tokyo organizers and the International Olympic Committee also barred the public from Tokyo-area stadiums and arenas. |
Ex-Nickelodeon star Drake Bell faces sentencing on felony charge |
| Drake Bell, the former star of the popular Nickelodeon show "Drake & Josh," faces sentencing Monday after pleading guilty to attempted child endangerment and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. The charges against Bell relate to a girl who met him online and attended one of his concerts in Cleveland in 2017, when she was 15. Tyler Sinclair, a spokesperson for the prosecutor's office, said the attempted endangering children charge relates to the concert, where Bell "violated his duty of care." The disseminating harmful material charge concerns Bell having sent the girl "inappropriate social media messages." |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday |
| 🔵 COVID-19 infections rise in 42 states as Fauci says it's "horrifying" to see people cheer a lack of vaccinations. |
| 🔵 With all the build-up surrounding the main event of UFC 264 between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor, fans knew they were in for a shocking ending. |
| 🔵 The DOE canceled an additional $55.6 million in student loan debt, bringing the total amount canceled by the Biden administration to $1.5 billion. |
| 🔵 7-Eleven's birthday freebie is here for 7/11 and beyond. But unlike past years, the free Slurpee giveaway isn't a one-day deal but rather a monthlong offer. |
Are you ready for the 2021 Home Run Derby? |
| After a year off due to the pandemic, Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby returns at Coors Field in Denver on Monday as part of baseball's All-Star festivities. Players and fans alike are excited to see how far homers will go in the famously hitter-friendly ballpark. The Mets' Pete Alonso won the 2019 event in Cleveland and will return to defend his crown against a field of baseball's top sluggers. Shohei Ohtani, leading the majors in home runs at the break, is the No. 1 overall seed in the bracket and will face 22-year-old Nationals star Juan Soto in the first round. Alonso is the only player in the group who has participated in the event before. |
📸 Wimbledon 2021: Top photos from the grass-court Grand Slam 📸 |
 | | Jul 10: Ashleigh Barty (AUS) seen at the net after beating Karolina Pliskova (CZE) in the Wimbledon women's singles final at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. | | Peter van den Berg, Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Spo | |
| Novak Djokovic defeated Matteo Berrettini in the Wimbledon men's singles final to win his 20th Grand Slam and third consecutive Wimbledon title Sunday, tying the record held by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the most career Grand Slam singles titles in men's tennis history. |
| A day before in the women's championship, Australian Ashleigh Barty defeated Karolina Pliskova to claim her first Wimbledon title. See all the best photos from the tournament here. |
| 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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