News Wrap: Jurors recommended death penalty for Pittsburgh synagogue gunman

Geoff Bennett:

To the day's other news.

A federal jury recommended the death penalty for Robert Bowers, the gunman who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Bowers opened fire at the Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018. It was the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. And prosecutors said today the courts tried to deliver justice.

Eric G. Olshan, District Attorney, Western Pennsylvania:

While today's verdict may mean many things to people, it cannot change what happened on October 27, 2018. It cannot bring back any of the 11 victims. No verdict can set things right or restore what was lost that morning.

Geoff Bennett:

The presiding judge will hear from victims' families tomorrow before formally imposing the death sentence.

New findings on July's extreme heat point to a new link to manmade global warming. The science nonprofit Climate Central says it was hotter than normal for 80 percent of the world's population at least one day during the month. It says climate change was responsible. Hardest hit were some two billion people in tropical and desert regions, who endured extreme heat daily. The findings are based on a study of 4,700 cities.

In China, Beijing and the surrounding region are awash in severe flooding after days of the heaviest rain in 140 years. A typhoon dumped 29 inches on the city said Saturday. The flooding is blamed for 21 deaths, and rescue efforts are continuing, with the military delivering aid by helicopter. Outside, the city roads are washed out and crops destroyed.

Liu Jiwen, China Resident (through interpreter):

This has affected our family. People where I'm from grow corn, and they were all hit by the disaster. This is a total failure of harvest. There's nothing we can do. It's a natural disaster.

Geoff Bennett:

Meantime, another typhoon battered Okinawa and another — Japanese islands today and headed for China. And, in South Korea, an ongoing heat wave pushed a weather warning to its highest level, with at least 22 people killed there so far.

The U.S. State Department says the American Embassy in Niger will stay open, despite the military coup there, but officials would not confirm reports that the U.S. will evacuate most embassy staffers and their families. The first French evacuation flights landed in Paris today. And, in Niger's capital, French soldiers registered evacuees as they formed long lines.

In Ukraine, Russian attack drones badly damaged a vital port today in another blow to grain shipments. The Port of Izmail sits on the Danube River in the Odesa region along the border with Romania. It's part of a key route for the grain trade. After the attack, crews worked to douse major fires. It's the latest such attacks since Russia ended a deal allowing grain traffic through the Black Sea.

Pope Francis has arrived in Portugal and rebuked the nation's Roman Catholic clergy after a damning report on sexual abuse of minors. The pope said the church must purify itself and listen to victims. He arrived earlier at the presidential palace in Lisbon to attend the first Catholic World Youth Day since the pandemic. It's his first major trip since intestinal surgery back in June.

And Wall Street had its worst day in months a day after Fitch cut the U.S. government's credit rating. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 348 points, or 1 percent, to close at 35282. The Nasdaq fell 2 percent. The S&P 500 slipped 1.4 percent.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Judy Woodruff explores the connection between the decline in local newspapers and the nation's political divides; and a look at the lasting influence of the late Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor.