•  Rescuers are still hopeful of finding survivors in a collapsed Florida condo
• In the Middle East, the U.S. has launched airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militias near the border between Syria and Iraq.
• Venezuelan migrants are crossing the U.S. border in record numbers
• The Pacific Northwest is in the grips of an historic heatwave bringing triple-digit temperatures.
• Still in the U.S., a bipartisan deal for a 1 trillion dollar infrastructure plan is back on track.
• Over in Australia, authorities are battling to contain new COVID-19 clusters in what’s seen as the country’s “most dangerous” pandemic stage.
• U.S. experts try to persuade unvaccinated people to get the shot amid a rise in a COVID-19 variant.
• And Palestinians protest their unpopular president and what they perceive as a corrupt government.

Menelaos Hadjicostis

The Associated Press

The Rundown

Rescuers stay hopeful about finding more survivors in rubble

SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) — Rescue workers digging feverishly for a fifth day Monday stressed that they could still find survivors in the rubble of a collapsed Florida condo building, a hope family members clung to even though no one has been pulled out…Read More

US airstrikes target Iran-backed militias in Syria, Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military, under the direction of President Joe Biden, has conducted airstrikes against what it said were “facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups” near the border between Iraq and Syria. …Read More

Uprooted again: Venezuela migrants cross US border in droves

DEL RIO, Texas (AP) — Marianela Rojas huddles in prayer with her fellow migrants, a tearful respite after trudging across a slow-flowing stretch of the Rio Grande and nearly collapsing onto someone’s backyard lawn, where, seconds before, she stepp…Read More

‘Not fun’: Northwest heat wave builds, all-time records fall

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s largest city broke its all-time heat record on Saturday. It could beat the new mark on Sunday. Forecasters say many Pacific Northwest communities may sweat through the hottest days in their histories as as temperatur…Read More

Cesar Chavez’s legacy lives on in Biden’s staff, Oval Office

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Barack Obama flew to California to dedicate a national monument to Latino labor leader Cesar Chavez nearly a decade ago, a group of the activist’s relatives were invited to pose for photos with the president. …Read More

OTHER TOP STORIES

Australia battles several clusters in new pandemic phase

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia was battling to contain several COVID-19 clusters around the country on Monday in what some experts have described as the nation’s…Read More

Bipartisan infrastructure deal back on track after walk-back

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan deal to invest nearly $1 trillion in the nation’s infrastructure appeared to be back on track Sunday after a stark walk-back by Preside…Read More

EXPLAINER: Why are Palestinians protesting against Abbas?

JERUSALEM (AP) — Thousands of Palestinians have taken to the streets in recent days to protest against President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, whose sec…Read More

As variant rises, vaccine plan targets ‘movable middle’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thrown off-stride to reach its COVID-19 vaccination goal, the Biden administration is sending A-list officials across the country, devising ads for n…Read More