AP News Digest 3:35 am
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TOP STORIES
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK — Millions more Americans can get a COVID-19 booster and choose a different company’s vaccine for that next shot, federal health officials say. Certain people who received Pfizer vaccinations months ago already are eligible for a booster and now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says specific Moderna and Johnson & Johnson recipients qualify, too. And in a bigger change, the agency is allowing the flexibility of “mixing and matching” that extra dose regardless of which type people received first. By Medical Writers Lauran Neergaard and Mike Stobbe. SENT: 660 words, photo, video. With VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BOOSTERS-Q&A — Is it time to get a COVID-19 booster, and if so, which one?
VIRUS OUTBREAK-RUSSIA-HOSPITAL — In Russia’s fifth-largest city, Nizhny Novgorod, seriously ill coronavirus patients at an infectious disease hospital lie in crowded wards with little space between beds. By Yaroslav Gunin. SENT: 680 words, photos.
CAPITOL BREACH-SUBPOENAS — The House votes to hold Steve Bannon a longtime ally and aide to former President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress after he defied a subpoena from the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. By Mary Clare Jalonick, Michael Balsamo and Eric Tucker. SENT: 1,100 words, photos, video.
PROP-FIREARM-MOVIE-SET — A prop firearm discharged by veteran actor Alec Baldwin who is starring and producing a Western movie, killed his director of photography and injured the director on the set in New Mexico, authorities say. Halyna Hutchins, director of photography for the movie “Rust,” was fatally shot and director Joel Souza injured. By Morgan Lee and Walter Berry. SENT: 680 words, photos, video.
CONGRESS-BUDGET — The White House and Democrats are hurriedly reworking key aspects of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion domestic policy plan. They’re trimming social services and climate change programs and they’re reconsidering new taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for the package. By Lisa Mascaro, Darlene Superville and Alan Fram. SENT: 1,190 words, photos, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-JOBLESS AID CUTOFF — For months this year, an insistent cry arose from business leaders and Republican governors: Cut off a $300-a-week federal supplement for unemployed Americans. Many more people, they argued, would stream back into the workforce and take the millions of jobs that employers have been desperate to fill. Yet three months after about half the states began ending that federal payment, which allowed some recipients to receive more money than when they worked, there's been no significant influx of job seekers. By Christopher Rugaber and Casey Smith. UPCOMING: 1,300 words by 8 a.m., photos, graphic. With AP data distribution.
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TRENDING NEWS
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IRAN-WARHOL IN TEHRAN — Warhol in Tehran: Iranians flock to American pop art exhibit. UPCOMING: 700 words by 4 a.m., photos.
RAPE-ON-TRAIN — Official: Narrative of riders filming Philadelphia train rape is false. SENT: 640 words, photo.
NBA-CHINA RELATIONSHIP — After Kanter’s Tibet comments, Celtics blacked out in China. SENT: 570 words, photos.
POLICE-CURSING-COLORADO — Suburban Denver cop suspended after cursing at teen driver. SENT: 480 words.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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VIRGINIA GOVERNOR-MCAULIFFE — Terry McAuliffe’s brand of personal politics relies on decades-old friendships, backslapping charisma and tell-it-like-it-is authenticity, but in the closing days of the Virginia’s gubernatorial election, it’s unclear whether those tactics can still excite voters. By National Political Writer Steve Peoples. SENT: 1,370 words, photos. With VIRGINIA GOVERNOR-YOUNGKIN — Blank slate to best hope: Can Youngkin rescue the Virginia GOP? VIRGINIA GOVERNOR-BLANDING — Princess Blanding makes her voice heard in Virginia governor’s race. Abridged versions of all three stories are available.
BIDEN-FACT-CHECK — Biden botched the numbers behind the COVID-19 vaccine rollout as he stretched to take all the credit for the surge of shots once he was in office. SENT: 540 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRAL QUESTIONS-NEW VARIANT — British scientists have identified a relative of the delta variant. By Medical Writer Maria Cheng. SENT: 310 words, graphic.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHINA — China’s capital Beijing has begun offering booster shots against COVID-19, four months before the city and surrounding regions are to host the Winter Olympics. SENT: 270 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ITALY — Amnesty International is calling for an independent parliamentary inquiry into COVID-19 deaths in Italian nursing homes and reports of retaliation against nursing home staff who spoke out about unsafe conditions there. SENT: 620 words.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-INDIA — Movie theaters in India’s entertainment capital Mumbai reopen after more than 18 months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, the last of the many virus restrictions to go amid a decline in infections. SENT: 450 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-NEW-ZEALAND — New Zealand’s government set an ambitious target of fully vaccinating 90% of all eligible people to end coronavirus lockdowns. SENT: 460 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-AUSTRALIA — Qantas Airways brings forward its plans to restart international travel from Sydney as the country’s prime minister predicted tourists would be welcomed back to Australia this year. SENT: 420 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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MISSING-TRAVELER — The FBI identified human remains found in a Florida nature preserve as those of Brian Laundrie, a person of interest in the death of girlfriend Gabby Petito while the couple was on a cross-country road trip. SENT: 620 words, photos.
SCHOOL BUSES-GOING ELECTRIC — Efforts to make school buses greener are gaining momentum thanks to billions of dollars in spending in the federal infrastructure plan. SENT: 1,050 words, photos, video.
CALIFORNIA-OIL DRILLING — Environmental groups were cautiously optimistic about the California governor’s proposal to ban new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of schools and homes, but the oil industry and labor allies warned the plan would raise California energy prices and potentially bring political consequences for Gavin Newsom. SENT: 910 words, photos.
ALABAMA-EXECUTION — An Alabama man who avoided execution in February was put to death for the 1991 killing of a woman who was abducted during a robbery and then shot in a cemetery. SENT: 780 words, photo.
CAPITOL-BREACH-ALABAMA — An Alabama native whom a judge alleged was “leading the charge” during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was denied release in an Alaska courtroom while his case proceeds. SENT: 630 words, photo.
NASA-WESTERN-DROUGHT — NASA launched an online platform with information on how much water evaporates into the atmosphere from plants, soils and other surfaces in the U.S. West, data it says could help water managers, farmers and state officials better manage resources in the parched region. SENT: 510 words.
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INTERNATIONAL
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MIGRATION-CYPRUS-ASYLUM LIMBO — Limbo in a blue tent: African asylum-seekers stuck on Cyprus. UPCOMING: 730 words by 5 a.m., photos.
HAITI-US-KIDNAPPED MISSIONARIES — The boss of a notorious Haitian gang accused of kidnapping 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group last weekend is warning that the hostages will be killed if his demands aren’t met. SENT: 820 words, photos.
SOUTH SUDAN-CLIMATE-FLOODING — Parts of South Sudan are experiencing their worst floods in 60 years, and the United Nations has linked the situation to climate change. SENT: 450 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN-FAWZIA-KOOFI — Two months after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, one of the country’s once-prominent female leaders is visiting the United Nations, not as a representative of her government but as a woman in exile. By Thalia Beaty. SENT: 850 words, photos.
UNITED NATIONS-MYANMAR — The U.N. special envoy for Myanmar has warned that February’s military takeover has led to armed conflict and if power isn’t returned to the people in a democratic way the country “will go in the direction of a failed state.” SENT: 810 words, photo.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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JAPAN-CARLOS-GHOSN — Carlos Ghosn, the former auto industry superstar whose career screeched to a halt with his arrest three years ago, isn’t about to settle into quiet retirement. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 890 words, photo.
FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Asian shares were mixed after a late-in-the-day wave of buying pushed the S&P 500 to a fresh record high. By Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach. SENT: 620 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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ON BASKETBALL-TOP 75 — The 75th NBA anniversary all NBA team has been revealed by the league and for the most part, the voters got this right. By Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds. SENT: 730 words, photos.
ROWING-COACH RESIGNS — Longtime U.S. rowing coach Mike Teti, who has been criticized by some of his former athletes as being emotionally abusive and using physical intimidation, has resigned but immediately accepted a position funded by a large donor leading a new high-performance training club that still has ties to the national program ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris. By Sports Writer Janie McCauley. SENT: 990 words, photo.
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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
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MUSIC-SWEDISH-HOUSE-MAFIA — DJ supergroup Swedish House Mafia, known for bringing house music to the masses with their arena shows, are ready to turn the crowd up with a new collaboration with The Weeknd and a global tour on the horizon. By Entertainment Writer Kristin M. Hall. SENT: 700 words, photo.
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HOW TO REACH US
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