JUNE SETS TEMPERATURE RECORD.  Last month was the hottest on record in North America, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  NOAA adds the exceptional heat waves that swept the western U.S. helped push June 2021 to the top of the list after 127 years of record keeping. Average June temperature across the contiguous U.S. was more than four degrees above average at 72.6 degrees Fahrenheit. 

MASSIVE DIAMOND UNEARTHED.  An enormous 1,174-carat diamond is unearthed in Botswana, the second massive diamond to be found in the country in the space of a few weeks.

HELICOPTER LIFTS TRAPPED HORSE.  Caliifornia’s Orange county firefighters use a helicopter to lift a trapped-on-its-back horse to safety after the spooked equine flees from its rider becomes stuck in concrete debris.

PYTHON ESCAPES FROM MALL ENCLOSURE.  Authorities search for a 12-foot white Burmese python that slithers out of its enclosure inside Louisiana’s largest shopping mall in Baton Rouge.

MEDIA GROUP TO HIRE 250 JOURNALISTS.  Overstory Media Group, a startup media group that operates newsletter-based journalism outlets in British Columbia, says it plans to hire 250 journalists and launch 50 outlets by 2023.

ILLINOIS SCHOOLS TO TEACH ASIAN AMERICAN HISTORY.  With hate crimes against Asxian-Americans in the news, Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker signs a law that requires public schools to teach a unit of Asian American History, a move education experts say is the first of its kind nationwide.

NINE YEAR OLD GIRL BECOMES PUBLISHER.  A nine-year-old girl in Monroeville, Pa. is publishing a neighborhood newspaper that spotlights uplifting stories and important information to neighbors.