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
——————————
CONGRESS-OVERSIGHT-HUNTER BIDEN-EXPLAINER — The Republican chairmen of three key House committees are joining forces to probe the Justice Department’s handling of charges against Hunter Biden after making sweeping claims about misconduct at the agency. By Farnoush Amiri. SENT: 1,000 words, photo.
THREATNED-METEOROLOGISTS — TV meteorologist Chris Gloninger faced intensifying harassment as he did more reporting on climate change during local newscasts. A man who sent him a series of threatening emails was charged with third-degree harassment. The Des Moines station where he worked asked him to dial back his coverage, facing what he called an understandable pressure to maintain ratings. So on June 21, he announced that he was leaving KCCI — and his 18-year career in broadcast journalism altogether. Gloninger’s experience is all too common among meteorologists across the country who are encountering reactions from viewers as they tie climate change to extreme temperatures, blizzards, tornadoes and floods in their local newscasts. By Hannah Fingerhut, Heather Hollingsworth and Summer Ballentine. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
NATO-LITHUANIA — One of the smallest members of NATO is preparing to hold one of the most important summits in the alliance’s 74-year history. Russia’s war on Ukraine has dragged on for 17 months. Like its Baltic neighbors, Lithuania is among the strongest backers of Ukraine. And it’s one of the loudest advocates for protecting NATO’s eastern borders against any future Russian aggression. By Liudas Dapkus. SENT: 880 words, photos.
WHISKEY-HANGOVER — The whiskey and bourbon makers of Tennessee and Kentucky have long been beloved in their communities, where they provide jobs and the pride of a successful homegrown industry. But the distillers’ runaway success in recent years and accompanying rapid growth has led to conflicts. In Kentucky, where 95% of the world’s bourbon is manufactured, counties are revolting after the legislature voted to phase out a tax they have depended on to fund schools, roads and utilities. By Travis Loller. SENT: 1,240 words, photos.
HEAT-FARMWORKER-EXPOSURE — As Earth this week set and then repeatedly broke unofficial records for average global heat, it served as a reminder of a danger that climate change is making steadily worse for farmworkers and others who labor outside. Farm workers are 35 times more likely to die of heat exposure than workers in other industries, according to the National Institutes of Health. But there is no federal heat standard that ensures their health and safety. California is one of the few states that has adopted its own standards, including keeping fresh and cool water nearby and providing access to shade. By Melina Walling. SENT: 910 words, photos.
——————————
MORE NEWS
——————————
TEXAS-SHOOTING — Two men were arrested in a shooting that killed three people and injured eight others as a crowd of hundreds gathered in a Texas neighborhood on the eve of the Fourth of July, police say. SENT: 420 words, photos, video, audio.
MANSON-FOLLOWER-PAROLE — California’s governor announces that he won’t ask the state Supreme Court to block parole for Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, paving the way for her release after serving 53 years in prison for two infamous murders. SENT: 470 words, photo, audio.
LIBRARY-BOOK-119-YEARS-OVERDUE — A Massachusetts library is celebrating the return of a book more than a century after it was last checked out. On Feb. 14, 1904, someone curious about the emerging possibilities of a key force of nature checked out James Clerk Maxwell’s “An Elementary Treatise on Electricity” from the New Bedford Free Public Library. It would take 119 years and the sharp eyes of a librarian in West Virginia before the scientific text finally found its way back to the Massachusetts library. SENT: 470 words, photos.
BIDEN-REPORTER — White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said the U.S. has been in contact with Russian officials to press for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich as Friday marked the 100th day of the journalist being detained by the Russian government. SENT: 330 words, photo.
BKN-SPURS-WEMBANYAMA-SPEARS — No charges will be filed following a brief investigation of the altercation involving pop star Britney Spears, San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama and a member of the player’s security team, Las Vegas police say. SENT: 500 words, photos, audio.
———————————————————-
WASHINGTON/ POLITICS
———————————————————-
TRUMP-CLASSIFIED-DOCUMENTS — Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations of former President Donald Trump’s retention of classified records and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election have cost more than $9 million over the first several months, according to documents. SENT: 480 words, photos, audio.
CAPITOL RIOT-SENTENCINGS — A Florida man prosecutors say is affiliated with the Proud Boys extremist group has been sentenced to five years in prison for attacking police officers with pepper spray as they tried to defend the U.S. Capitol against supporters of President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. SENT: 650 words, photo.
——————————
NATIONAL
——————————
PHILADELPHIA-SHOOTING — Prosecutors and others say in the weeks before Kimbrady Carriker opened fire at random with an AR-15 in Philadelphia killing five people, the few people close to him saw him grow increasingly agitated and erratic. Now, in the wake of Monday’s bloodshed, officials are urging people to call police or the city’s mental health resource line when they see suspicious social media posts or think somebody might need help. And as Carriker’s possible mental health issues increasingly come into focus, the community he left shattered is trying to find ways to heal their own psychological trauma. SENT: 910 words, photos, video.
IMMIGRATION-TEXAS-BUOYS — Texas has began rolling out what is set to become a new floating barrier on the Rio Grande in the latest escalation of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s multibillion-dollar effort to secure the U.S. border with Mexico, which already has included bussing migrants to liberal states and authorizing the National Guard to make arrests. SENT: 910 words, photos.
GREAT-SALT-LAKE-BOATING — After years of sailboats being hoisted out of the shrinking Great Salt Lake amid fears they might not return, sailors are back this summer. That’s thanks to an abnormally wet winter that has raised the lake 6 feet from last November’s historic low. Sailors are just one group whose enjoyment of the lake is imperiled by climate change, drought and diversion of water to cities and farms. By Sam Metz. SENT: 840 words, photos, video.
TRAIN-DERAILMENT-VIRGINIA — The union that represents locomotive engineers says a Thursday night coal train derailment in Virginia is renewing questions about Norfolk Southern’s safety practices. SENT: 800 words, photo.
CALIFORNIA-WILDFIRES-UTILITIES — Southern California Edison and two other companies have paid $22 million to settle U.S. government claims that they caused a 2016 wildfire that burned thousands of acres of national forest, it was announced. SENT: 340 words, photo.
—————————————
INTERNATIONAL
—————————————
GERMANY-FAR-RIGHT — The election of the first head of a county administration by the far-right Alternative of Germany in a rural eastern region recently has lead to concern among opponents of the party. The recent win comes as national polls show support for the party at record levels. Even the fact that the party is under surveillance by the domestic state intelligence agency for its close ties to far-right extremists didn’t stop a majority in Sonneberg county from voting for them. SENT: 990 words, photos.
CHINA-TAIWAN-US — China’s People’s Liberation Army sent 13 aircraft and 6 vessels into airspace and waters around Taiwan over the past 24 hours, overlapping with United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s visit to Beijing aimed at mending strained relations. SENT: 340 words, photos.
UNITED-NATIONS-ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS — Israel’s United Nations ambassador has called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to retract his condemnation of the country for its excessive use of force in its largest military operation in two decades targeting a refugee camp in the West Bank. SENT: 350 words, photos.
UNITED-NATIONS-SYRIA-CROSS-BORDER-RAID — The U.N. Security Council is to vote Monday on extending aid deliveries from Turkey to Syria’s rebel-held northwest, with a resolution sponsored by Brazil and Switzerland calling for a 12-month extension and a rival Russia resolution limiting a renewal to just six months. SENT: 410 words.
———————————
BUSINESS
——————————-
CN-PORT-STRIKE-IMPACT — Canadian consumers aren’t yet feeling the impact of the weekold port strike in British Columbia, but businesses are beginning to be pinched by the shutdown of docks that handle 25% of the country’s foreign trade, experts say. SENT: 370 words, photos.
————————
SPORTS
———————
BKN-ON BASKETBALL-SPURS-WEMBANYAMA — The final numbers for Victor Wembanyama in his Summer League debut: nine points on 2-for-13 shooting, eight rebounds, five blocked shots, three assists. None of it mattered much. SENT: 920 words, photos.
——————————————-
HOW TO REACH US
——————————————-
At The Nerve Center, Vincent K. Willis can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, (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.
