AP News Digest 3:40 a.m.
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ONLY ON AP
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PANDEMIC-AFRICA-MALAWI-CHILDBIRTH — Health officials in Malawi say fewer women are getting prenatal care amid the COVID-19 pandemic. At risk are the developing country’s gains on its poor rate of maternal deaths. Many women fear contracting coronavirus in hospitals and instead turn to traditional birth attendants who administer herbal treatments. Hospitals report a rise in labor complications, saying women often seek help only when it’s too late. By Gregory Gondwe. SENT: 1,520 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,060 words is available.
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TOP STORIES
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BUILDING-COLLAPSE-MIAMI — The slow work of sifting through the remnants of a collapsed Florida condo building stretches into a sixth day, as families desperate for progress endured a wrenching wait for answers. The work has been deliberate and treacherous. Just two additional bodies were found, raising the count of confirmed dead to 11. That leaves 150 people still unaccounted for in the community of Surfside, just outside Miami By Russ Bynum. SENT: 590 words, photos, graphic, videos.
BUILDING COLLAPSE-SISTER BUILDING — About a block from the Miami-area beachfront condominium tower that collapsed sits its sister building. It was erected a year later by the same company, using the same materials and a similar design. This has made some residents of Champlain Towers North worried enough to leave, though most have remained, saying they are confident their almost 40-year-old, 12-story building is better maintained. They say their building doesn’t have the same problems with cracking in support beams and in the pool area that 2018 engineering reports show the south tower had. By Terry Spencer and Russ Bynum. SENT: 800 words, photo. With BUILDING-COLLAPSE-MIAMI-VIGNETTES.
Find more stories on the collapse near Miami here.
BIDEN-INFRASTRUCTURE — President Joe Biden aims to sell voters on the economic benefits of the $973 billion infrastructure package when he travels to Wisconsin. He hopes the trip will boost the bipartisan agreement that is held together in large part by the promise of millions of new jobs. By Josh Boak. SENT: 830 words, photos, video. UPCOMING: 1,100 words after 2 p.m. remarks.
ETHIOPIA-TIGRAY CRISIS — Ethiopia’s government has declared an immediate, unilateral cease-fire in its Tigray region after nearly eight months of deadly conflict as Tigray fighters occupy the regional capital and government soldiers retreat. The cease-fire could calm a war that has destabilized Africa’s second most populous country and threatened to do the same in the wider Horn of Africa Hundreds of thousands of people in Tigray are gripped in the world’s worst famine crisis. By Cara Anna. SENT: 820 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN-GOODBYE BAGRAM — Bagram Airfield has been the heart of American military power in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years. It was a sprawling mini-city behind fences and blast walls just an hour’s drive north of Kabul. In just a matter of days, the last U.S. soldiers will depart the base. They are leaving behind a mixed legacy. By Kathy Gannon. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.
NASA-DWINDLING DELTAS — NASA is using high-tech airborne systems along with boats and mud-slogging work on islands for a $15 million study of two parts of Louisiana’s river delta system. One is hitched to a river and growing, the other disconnected and dying. Scientists from NASA and a half-dozen universities aim to create computer models that can be used with satellite data to let countries around the world learn which parts of their dwindling deltas can be shored up. By Janet McConnaughey. SENT: 1,110 words, photos, video. With NASA-DWINDLING DELTAS-PHOTO GALLERY.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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HONG-KONG-JULY-1-PHOTO-GALLERY — The rise and fall of Hong Kong’s July 1 protests. SENT: 270 words, photo.
YANKEES-70-YEAR-OLD-BAT-GIRL — She’s up! Bat girl 60 years in making reaches Yankee Stadium. SENT: 620 words, photos.
TEXAS GAS LINE EXPLOSION — Officials: Two killed in gas line explosion in Texas. SENT: 190 words.
CALIFORNIA CHILDREN SUSPICIOUS DEATHS — Deaths of three young children under investigation as suspicious. SENT: 170 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-AUSTRALIA — Australia is offering AstraZeneca to all adults in a bid to rapidly ramp up sluggish vaccination rates as more of the country locked down against the spread of COVID-19. SENT: 530 words, photos. With VIRUS-OUTBREAK-THE-LATEST.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FIJI — A growing coronavirus outbreak in Fiji is stretching the health system and devastating the economy. SENT: 520 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDONESIA — Indonesia needs to urgently increase medical care, testing and vaccinations as the number of new infections in the country has rapidly increased and left it “on the edge of a COVID-19 catastrophe,” the Red Cross says. SENT: 280 words, photos.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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REPUBLICANS 2024 — Republicans eyeing a 2024 White House run are wasting no time in jockeying for a strong position in what could be an extremely crowded field of contenders. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
CAPITOL BREACH-INVESTIGATION — A new House committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol would have 13 members and the power to subpoena witnesses, according to legislation released by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. SENT: 810 words, photo.
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NATIONAL
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MIGRANT-CHILDREN-SHELTER — The number of migrant children housed at the Biden administration’s largest emergency shelter for those who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone has dropped by more than 40% since mid-June, a top U.S. official says, touting progress at the facility that has been criticized by child welfare advocates. SENT: 710 words, photos.
TROPICAL WEATHER-ATLANTIC — Tropical Storm Danny weakened to a tropical depression hours after it made landfall on South Carolina’s coast but the system continued to dump heavy rains on the state and portions of Georgia. SENT: 420 words, photo. With TROPICAL-WEATHER Tropical Storm Enrique heads for resorts in southern Baja.
OBIT-GREG-NOLL — Greg “Da Bull” Noll, who became a surfing legend by combining a gregarious, outsized personality with the courage and skill to ride bigger, more powerful waves than anyone had ever attempted, has died. He was 84. SENT: 930 words, photos.
NEWSPAPER-SHOOTING-TRIAL — Opening statements are scheduled in the second phase of a trial to determine whether the man who killed five people at a Maryland newspaper was legally sane at the time of the mass shooting. SENT: 290 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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MYANMAR-JADE — The military takeover in Myanmar has given the junta full control of the country’s lucrative and conflict-ridden jade mining, providing it with profits and leverage for consolidating power, researchers say. SENT: 750 words, photos.
PHILIPPINES-DUTERTE — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he may consider running for vice president next year when his term ends “if there is a space for me,” although opponents have described such a prospect as “a joke of the worst kind.” SENT: 530 words, photo.
CHINA-POLITICS — Amid celebrations over the centenary of the ruling Communist Party, Chinese President Xi Jinping has awarded loyal party members with medals and called for adherence to Marxism. SENT: 390 words, photos.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Asian stock markets declined for a second day as investors looked ahead to U.S. employment data for indications of possible inflation pressures. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. SENT: 470 words, photos.
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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
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FASHION-MARC-JACOBS — The fashion world gathered to join another New York fixture, designer Marc Jacobs, and celebrate a return to live runway shows. By National Writer Jocelyn Noveck. SENT: 530 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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STANLEY-CUP — Three days after returning from an injury to help the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning get back to hockey’s grandest stage, playoff scoring leader Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist to pace a 5-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. By Sports Writer Fred Goodall. SENT: 920 words, photos.
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