Heat 'apocalypse' broils Europe

Laura L. Davis, USA TODAY
·5 min read

Europe and the U.K. bake under searing hot summer temperatures. Details emerge after a deadly shooting at a shopping mall in Indiana. And what's keeping the U.S. from recovering all the jobs lost during the pandemic?

👋 It's Laura Davis. It's Monday. And this is the news you need to know.

But first, you go girl! ⛵️ A 14-year-old girl sailing her first Bayview Mackinac Race with her father won the race in Michigan on Sunday night after 33 hours of nonstop work. Read all about it here.

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Extreme heat wave broils Europe

An extreme heat wave that meteorologists are calling an "apocalypse" continued to broil much of Europe and the United Kingdom on Monday, and authorities issued dire warnings as temperatures were forecast to reach 104 degrees in southern Britain.

What you should know:

  • All-time heat in Britain? Meteorologists say the all-time high-temperature record could be surpassed on Tuesday. The current record stands at 102 degrees, set on July 25, 2019.

  • Why is heat such a big deal? Yes, it's summer, but in Britain and across most of Europe, few homes, apartments or schools have air conditioning, making residents particularly vulnerable.

  • Is climate change to blame? In short, yes: climate scientists say heat waves are more intense and more frequent because of human-caused warming.

Elsewhere in Europe, hundreds of people may have died because of record high temperatures and ferocious wildfires: At least 748 heat-related deaths have been reported in the heat wave in Spain and neighboring Portugal. Keep reading.

A police officer gives water to a British soldier wearing a traditional bearskin hat, on guard duty outside Buckingham Palace, during hot weather in London. The British government has issued its first-ever "red" warning for extreme heat.
A police officer gives water to a British soldier wearing a traditional bearskin hat, on guard duty outside Buckingham Palace, during hot weather in London. The British government has issued its first-ever "red" warning for extreme heat.

🌤 What's the weather up to in your neck of the woods? Check your local forecast here.

Victims' names emerge as officials investigate Indiana mall shooting

Authorities on Monday released more information about those killed in a deadly shooting at an Indiana mall. The shooter, identified as a 20-year-old Greenwood resident, opened fire in the Greenwood Park Mall food court Sunday just before closing time, police said. The gunman was killed by Elisjsha Dicken, 22, who was legally carrying a gun, authorities said. On Monday, the Johnson County Coroner's Office released the names and ages of the Indianapolis residents who died: Pedro Pineda, 56, Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37, and Victor Gomez, 30. Two other people were injured. What we know about the Greenwood Park Mall shooting.

FBI agents gather at the scene of a deadly shooting on July 17, 2022, in Greenwood, Ind.
FBI agents gather at the scene of a deadly shooting on July 17, 2022, in Greenwood, Ind.

What everyone's talking about

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Body camera video released from Uvalde school shooting

Officials released police body camera footage from seven Uvalde, Texas, police officers who responded to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, including one who approached the classroom minutes behind the gunman, only to be pushed back by gunfire that sent him and other officers scrambling for cover. That sense of urgency was somehow lost amid the arrival of hundreds of officers from multiple agencies, as more than an hour passed before a U.S. Border Patrol team led the way into the classroom and killed the gunman. City officials had held off on making the footage public, but Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin said he believed that Sunday's release of the first in-depth investigative report into the shooting changed the situation. Keep reading.

A young boy walks past a makeshift memorial on July 12, 2022, honoring those recently killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
A young boy walks past a makeshift memorial on July 12, 2022, honoring those recently killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Why hasn't the US recovered all the jobs lost during COVID-19?

Businesses have been more than pulling their weight in the nation's struggle to recover all 22 million jobs wiped out in the spring of 2020 because of COVID-19-related shutdowns. The public sector? Not so much. In June, the private sector not only reclaimed its pre-pandemic employment level, but blew past it by 140,000, the Labor Department said. Yet that still left U.S. payrolls 524,000 jobs short of their pre-crisis mark. The culprit is the much smaller public sector — state and local governments — which remains 664,000 jobs below its peak before the pandemic. Keep reading for the latest numbers.

Real quick

Sentencing begins for Parkland school shooter

It took seven minutes for a gunman to kill 17 people inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. It'll take at least four months to know whether he'll die because of it. Monday, a 12-person jury and a Florida judge will set out to decide the fate of the 23-year-old gunman, who has pleaded guilty to 17 counts of premeditated first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. What to expect from the sentencing phase of the trial.

What you should know:

  • The jury must unanimously recommend the death sentence or the shooter will be sentenced to life in prison.

  • More than 1,000 potential witnesses, including survivors and family members of the victims, could take the stand.

  • The trial, which has been delayed for months, is expected to last until October.

Mourners bring flowers to a memorial for victims of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Seventeen students and staff were killed in 2018 in the mass shooting on Valentine's Day.
Mourners bring flowers to a memorial for victims of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Seventeen students and staff were killed in 2018 in the mass shooting on Valentine's Day.

A break from the news

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Laura L. Davis is an Audience Editor at USA TODAY. Send her an email at laura@usatoday.com or follow along with her adventures – and misadventures – on Twitter. Support quality journalism like this? Subscribe to USA TODAY here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Heat wave in Europe, Indiana mall shooting, US jobs, Parkland shooter sentencing trial. It's Monday's news.