AP News Digest 2 p.m.
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TOP STORIES
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AFGHANISTAN — At least four planes chartered to evacuate several hundred people seeking to escape the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan have been unable to leave the country for days, officials said Sunday, with conflicting accounts emerging about who the flights were for as pressure ramps up on the United States to help those left behind to flee. By Kathy Gannon. SENT: 990 words, photos.
HURRICANE IDA-NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS — When Ida knocked out power and dumped buckets of rain in their streets, hurricane-hardened residents of New Orleans did what they always do: They banded together to help each other out. Restaurants and amateur chefs dished out free food, residents with generators charged their neighbors’ cellphones and revved up chain saws to clear downed trees, and volunteers at a local church handed out bags of cleaning supplies and boxes of diapers. By Kevin McGill. SENT: 850 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MISSISSIPPI — As patients stream into Mississippi hospitals one after another, doctors and nurses have become all too accustomed to the rampant denial and misinformation about COVID-19 in the nation’s least vaccinated state. People in denial about the severity of their own illness or the virus itself, with visitors frequently trying to enter hospitals without masks. The painful look of recognition on patients’ faces when they realize they made a mistake not getting vaccinated. “We try not to preach and lecture them,” one hospital official said. “Some of them are so sick they can barely even speak to us.” By Leah Willingham. SENT: 870 words, photos.
SEPT 11-THE WAY WE REMEMBER — The act of remembering is a complex one, particularly when it comes to an event like 9/11. Memory can be filled with emotion, with politics, with anger and with a desire to make sure that certain stories are told. As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, it highlights a moment when the immediacy of recent memory starts to blend with the notion that a historic event is slowly becoming a historical one. By Ted Anthony. SENT: 1,770 words, photos, 1,070-word abridged version.
GUINEA-POLITICAL CRISIS — A Guinean army colonel seized control of state television and declared that President Alpha Conde’s government had been dissolved in the West African nation, an announcement that came after hours of heavy gunfire near the presidential palace. The dramatic developments Sunday bore all the hallmarks of a West African coup d’etat. However, the Defense Ministry put out a statement of its own saying that the attack had been repelled. By Boubacar Diallo and Krista Larson. SENT: 620 words, photo.
CENSUS-BOOMTOWN — The fastest-growing county in the U.S. is in the oil fields of North Dakota. That’s according to new figures from the Census Bureau. The first newcomers to arrive in McKenzie County were oil workers drawn by the drilling boom. Soon they brought families who needed housing, schools and places to shop. Before long the community was transformed from a quiet farming region to a bustling center of the energy industry. By Matthew Brown. SENT: 1,260 words, photos. This is the Monday Spotlight
AUTOS-HIGH PRICES TO STAY? -- Back in the spring, a shortage of computer chips that had sent auto prices soaring appeared, finally, to be easing. That hope has now dimmed. A surge in COVID-19 cases from the delta variant in several Asian countries that are the main producers of auto-grade chips is worsening the supply shortage. And that means, analysts say, that record-high consumer prices for vehicles — new and used, as well as rental cars — will extend into next year and might not fall back toward earth until 2023. By Tom Krisher. SENT: 1,110 words, photos.
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WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
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FILM-BOX OFFICE — On what’s traditionally one of the sleepiest weekends at the movies, the Marvel film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” smashed the record for Labor Day openings with an estimated $71.4 million in ticket sales. SENT: 810 words, photos.
OBIT-BRITAIN-SARAH HARDING — Singer Sarah Harding of the British pop group Girls Aloud has died at 39 after a battle with breast cancer. Her mother announced the death Sunday. SENT: 270 words, photos.
ITALY-WIN AND RUN — Police at Rome airport say they prevented a Naples tobacco shop owner suspected of running off with a customer’s winning game card ticket from boarding a flight abroad on Sunday. SENT: 220 words.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-SAFETY NET — Labor Day 2021 represents a perilous crossroads for millions of Americans. The pandemic social safety net is clearly shrinking, with the government’s $300 weekly jobless benefit boost ending Monday and a federal eviction moratorium already expired. SENT: 1,240 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-A FATHER'S LEGACY — The night before Alan Arellano died of COVID, his wife recorded a short audio message with their two youngest sons. Doctors had placed the 49-year-old Miami man in a coma, but Karyn Arellano believed he could still hear their voices. SENT: 910 words, photos.
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MORE ON IDA
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HURRICANE IDA — Amid the dramatic devastation caused by Hurricane Ida there was at least one bright light Sunday outside of New Orleans: Parishioners found that electricity had been restored to their church, a small improvement as residents of Louisiana struggle to regain some aspects of normal life. SENT: 800 words, photos.
TROPICAL WEATHER-INFRASTRUCTURE — The destruction left by the remnants of Hurricane Ida have officials and experts agreeing that infrastructure including roads, sewers and housing in New York and New Jersey must be quickly improved. SENT: 770 words, photos.
MISSISSIPPI-HIGHWAY COLLAPSE — A teenager describes how she and her mother survived after their truck plunged into a muddy pit created when torrential rain from Hurricane Ida erased a section of Mississippi highway. SENT: 510 words, photos.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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GULF-UNITED STATES-AFGHANISTAN — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are heading to the Persian Gulf to begin managing a transition to post-Afghan war relationships with traditional allies in the Middle East and beyond who were partners in the failed war against the Taliban and the concluding evacuation. SENT: 950 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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WESTERN WILDFIRES-ABANDONED ADVENTURES — Wildfires burning in the U.S. this summer have upended plans for countless outdoor adventures. Campers, hikers, rafters and other outdoor enthusiasts have had to scrap or change trips or endure thick smoke. SENT: 1,100 words, photos. With WESTERN WILDFIRES — A firefighter has died of an illness while assigned to one of California’s largest wildfires. Fire officials announced the death this weekend but didn’t provide details. SENT: 490 words.
FLORIDA SHOOTING-FAMILY KILLED — Four people are dead including a mother who was still cradling her now-deceased baby in what Florida sheriff’s deputies are calling a massive gunbattle with a suspect they said was “ready for battle.” SENT: 310 words.
FATAL SHOOTINGS-HOUSTON — Authorities say firefighters found two adults and two children dead of apparent gunshot wounds after extinguishing a blaze at a Houston home. SENT: 130 words.
NAVY-HELICOPTER CRASH — The U.S. Navy has identified five sailors who died when a helicopter crashed in the Pacific Ocean off of Southern California. SENT: 200 words, photo.
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INTERNATIONAL
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NEW ZEALAND-SUPERMARKET TERROR ATTACK — The Islamic State-inspired extremist who attacked shoppers in a New Zealand supermarket had been fighting deportation for immigration fraud, leaving the nation’s leader expressing frustration at the process. SENT: 420 words, photos. With SRI LANKA-NEW ZEALAND-SUPERMARKET TERROR ATTACK — The mother of an Islamic State-inspired extremist who stabbed shoppers in a New Zealand supermarket said her son was radicalized there by people from Syria and Iraq who helped him recover from an injury. SENT: 620 words, photos.
MONTENEGRO-TENSIONS-CHURCH — Riot police in Montenegro have fired tear gas at protesters who fired gunshots in the air and hurled bottles and stones during the inauguration of the new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the small Balkan nation. SENT: 620 words, photos.
INDIA-KASHMIR-GEELANI — Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir charged family members of late resistance leader Syed Ali Geelani under a harsh anti-terror law for raising anti-India slogans and wrapping his body in the Pakistani flag, officials said Sunday. SENT: 620 words, photo.
EMIRATES — The United Arab Emirates has announced a major plan to stimulate its economy and liberalize residency for expatriates, as the country seeks to overhaul its finances and attract foreign capital and residents SENT: 650 words, photo.
CANADA-CHINA-US-HUAWEI — As two Canadians mark 1,000 days in separate Chinese prisons, their supporters are marching Ottawa to push for their freedom. SENT: 400 words, photo.
BOLIVIA-CLIMBER-DEATH — The body of a U.S. man who died while climbing one of Bolivia’s highest peaks has arrived in the country’s capital after a two-day recovery effort. Rescue workers say 24-year-old Daniel Granberg died atop the Illimani mountain. SENT: 200 words.
BRITAIN-EX-ROYAL AIDE — A former close aide to Prince Charles has stepped down temporarily from his role as chief executive of a royal charity amid reports that he helped secure an honor for a Saudi donor. SENT: 200 words, photo.
HONG KONG — The group behind the annual Tiananmen Square memorial vigil in Hong Kong says it will not cooperate with a national security investigation into the group’s activities. SENT: 500 words, photos.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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CHANGING ECONOMY-AUTOMATION-JOBS — The pandemic didn’t just threaten Americans’ health when it slammed the U.S. in 2020 -- it may also have posed a long-term threat to many of their jobs. Faced with worker shortages and higher labor costs, companies are starting to automate service sector jobs that economists once considered safe because they provided customers with human contact. Past experience suggests that such automation waves eventually create more jobs than they destroy, but the growing pains for the U.S. economy could be severe in the meantime. By Matt O'Brien and Paul Wiseman. SENT: 1,260 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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GLF—TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP — Patrick Cantlay leads Jon Rahm by two shots going into the final day of the Tour Championship, with the FedEx Cup and its $15 million prize at stake. Justin Thomas was five shots back and still in the mix. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 7 p.m.
TEN—US OPEN — The question each day at the U.S. Open has become: Who will pull off a surprise or earn a career-best victory this time? A tournament of upsets begins the fourth round. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos. Play started at 11 a.m. ET; night session starts at 7 p.m. ET. With TEN—US Open-The Latest (developing), TEN—US Open-Preparing for Djokovic (upcoming), TEN—US Open Notebook (upcoming) and TEN—US Open Glance.
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