AP News Digest 3:10 am

Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan.

————————————

TOP STORIES

————————————

CANADA-WILFIRES-AIR QUALITY-GREAT LAKES — The haze of unhealthy air that settled over Chicago and other Great Lakes cities reminded U.S. residents from the Midwest to the Northeast and as far south as Kentucky to brace for more depending on which way the wind blows as Canadian wildfires rage on. By Melina Walling, Melissa Winder and Trisha Ahmed. SENT: 850 words, photos, video.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — The death toll from a Russian missile attack that struck a popular restaurant in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk rose to eight, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. Dozens were also wounded in the attack on a local eatery frequented by journalists and aid workers. SENT: 180 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing, will be updated.

CONGRESS-IMPEACHMENT-STIGMA — Driven by the demands of hard-right members, Republicans in the House are threatening impeachment against President Joe Biden and his top Cabinet officials. The moves are creating a backbeat of chatter about “high crimes and misdemeanors” that is driving legislative action, spurring committee investigations, raking in fundraising money and complicating the plans of Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his leadership team. By Stephen Groves and Farnoush Amiri. SENT: 940 words, photo.

SUPREME COURT-ELECTIONS — The U.S. Supreme Court shot down a controversial legal theory that could have changed the way elections are run across the country, but left the door open to more limited challenges that could increase its role in deciding voting disputes during the 2024 presidential election. By Nicholas Riccardi and David A. Lieb. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.

MEDICAID-FAMILY CAREGIVERS — Families of severely disabled children across the country are worried about the future of crucial Medicaid payments they started receiving to provide care during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the public health emergency over, some states have already stopped the payments while others have yet to make them permanent. By Tom Murphy and Amanda Seitz. SENT: 990 words, photos.

FRANCE-DRIVER KILLED — A 17-year-old delivery driver was shot and killed by a police officer in a Paris suburb, according to his family’s lawyers. The death unleashed tensions between angry residents setting barricades on fire and police firing tear gas. The police officer was detained on suspicion of manslaughter, according to the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. It said the shooting took place during a traffic check. SENT: 300 words, photos, video.

——————————————————-

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR

——————————————————

RUSSIA-CRIME AND PUNISHMENT — Mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led an armed rebellion against the Russian military — and walked free. Others who merely voiced criticism against the Kremlin weren’t so lucky. SENT: 1,120 words, photos.

AFRICA-RUSSIA-WAGNER — The Russian mercenary group that briefly threatened President Vladimir Putin’s authority has for years been a ruthless force-for-hire across Africa, protecting rulers at the expense of the masses. SENT: 850 words, photos.

WAGNER GROUP-SANCTIONS — The U.S. imposed sanctions on four firms and one individual connected to the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenaries that led a brief revolt against the Kremlin. SENT: 500 words, photos.

——————————————————-

SPOTLIGHTING VOICES

——————————————————-

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-JERUSALEM EVICTION — Few places in Jerusalem speak of the larger conflict being waged over the city more than the apartment of 68-year-old Nora Ghaith-Sub Laban. As the last remaining Palestinians in a building filled with Israeli settlers, the Ghaith-Sub Labans have battled Israeli attempts to evict them from their Old City home for over 45 years. That legal battle ended earlier this year, when the Israeli Supreme Court struck down the family’s final motion for an appeal. Now, Israeli authorities have ordered the eviction of Nora and her husband Mustafa to take place by July 13. By Isabel Debre. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.

——————————

MORE NEWS

——————————

TV-RYAN SEACREST — Ryan Seacrest will host “Wheel of Fortune” after Pat Sajak retires next year. SENT: 350 words, photo.

BRITAIN-PAUL MCCARTNEY-PHOTOS — Paul McCartney’s rediscovered photos show Beatlemania from the inside. SENT: 790 words, photos, video.

ITALY-COLOSSEUM-VANDALS — American who filmed tourist carving name in Colosseum “dumbfounded” as hunt for culprit intensifies. SENT: 590 words, photos.

BRITAIN-KEVIN SPACEY-TRIAL — Kevin Spacey faces sex assault trial in London on allegations over a decade old. SENT: 430 words, photos.

ITALY-POMPEII-PIZZA — That’s no pizza: A wall painting found in Pompeii doesn’t depict Italy’s iconic dish. SENT: 315 words, photos.

———————————————————-

WASHINGTON/ POLITICS

———————————————————-

ELECTION 2024-COMMUNIST-IMMIGRATION-EXPLAINER – Donald Trump’s campaign proposal to bar communists and Marxists from entering the country raises questions about whether a decades-old law could be used to do this, how it would work and why Trump is so focused on seeding fears that communists are poised to take over the country. SENT: 1,280 words, photo.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT-JAN 6 — Rudy Giuliani, who as a member of Trump’s legal team sought to overturn 2020 presidential election results in battleground states, was interviewed recently by investigators with the Justice Department special counsel’s office. SENT: 320 words, photo.

TRUMP-HUSH MONEY — The hush money case against Trump appears headed back to a New York court after a federal judge showed little inclination to let the former president move the history-making prosecution to federal court. SENT: 710 words, photo.

——————————

NATIONAL

——————————

MAINE LEGISLATURE-ABORTION — The Maine House voted to enact a bill to expand access to abortions, putting the proposal one final vote away from going to the governor for her signature. SENT: 570 words, photos.

MALARIA-FLORIDA — The Florida Department of Health has issued a statewide mosquito-borne illness advisory after four locally contracted cases of malaria were reported along the Gulf Coast south of Tampa. SENT: 670 words, photos, video.

TRACTOR TRAILER-MIGRANT DEATHS — U.S. authorities announced the arrests of four men they say were part of a human smuggling effort last year that ended in the deaths of 53 migrants, including eight children, who were left in a tractor-trailer in the scorching Texas summer. SENT: 630 words, photos.

MISSISSIPPI DEPUTIES-INVESTIGATION — All five Mississippi deputy sheriffs who responded to an incident where two Black men accused the deputies of beating and sexually assaulting them before shooting one of them in the mouth have been fired or resigned, authorities said. SENT: 620 words, photos.

—————————————

INTERNATIONAL

—————————————

HONG KONG-SAME SEX MARRIAGE — An activist detained in Hong Kong began his final appeal seeking recognition for his same-sex marriage registered overseas, in a landmark case for the city’s LGBTQ+ community. SENT: 480 words, photos.

SYRIA-CHILD RECRUITMENT — A U.N. report says armed groups across Syria are recruiting children into their ranks in growing numbers, even as fighting is subsiding. SENT: 980 words, photo.

MEXICO-POLICE ABDUCTION — Armed men abducted 14 state police officers in southern Mexico, prompting a heavy deployment of federal and local forces, authorities said. SENT: 260 words.

GUATEMALA-ELECTION — Bernardo Arévalo, the surprise candidate in Guatemala’s first round of presidential voting, says the choice in the country’s Aug. 20 runoff is a clear one: Continue living under a corrupt system with his rival or rebuild the country’s democracy with him. SENT: 750 words, photos, video.

JAPAN-NUCLEAR-FUKUSHIMA — Japanese regulators began the final inspection before treated radioactive wastewater is released from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific. SENT: 410 words, photos.

—————————————————

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

—————————————————

CHINA-RACE FOR LITHIUM — Threatened by possible shortages of lithium for electric car batteries, automakers are racing to lock in supplies of the once-obscure “white gold” in a politically and environmentally fraught competition from China to Nevada to Chile. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. SENT: 1,450 words, photos. An abridged version of 890 words is available.

FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Asian shares were mixed despite a rally on Wall Street driven by optimism over reports suggesting the American economy is in better shape than feared. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 630 words, photos.

—————————————

ENTERTAINMENT

—————————————

OBIT-JULIAN SANDS — Authorities have confirmed that British actor Julian Sands died while hiking on a Southern California mountain. SENT: 780 words, photos.

————————-

SPORTS

—————————

WIMBLEDON-SWIATEK’S CHALLENGE — Wimbledon has been French Open champion Iga Swiatek’s least successful Grand Slam tournament so far. By Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich. UPCOMING: 650 words, photos by 6 a.m.

NWSL-YOUTH MOVEMENT — There’s a youth movement in the National Women’s Soccer League. Eighteen-year-old Alyssa Thompson was the No. 1 overall draft pick in the league right out of high school and she earned a spot on the U.S. team that plays in this summer’s World Cup. By Anne M. Peterson. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 6 a.m.

——————————————-

HOW TO REACH US

——————————————-

At the Nerve Center, Jerome Minerva and Lorian Belanger can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Masayo Yoshida (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.