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 at https://newsroom.ap.org.
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ONLY ON AP
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AP POLL-MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES — A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows an upheaval in priorities just months before critical midterm elections. Concerns about inflation and personal finances have surged while COVID has evaporated as a top issue for Americans. Many U.S. adults also prioritize other issues, including abortion, women’s rights and gun policy. By Hannah Fingerhut. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
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TOP STORIES
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JAPAN-ABE-SHOT — Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says ex-leader Shinzo Abe is in “severe condition” after being shot and he hopes Abe will survive. Abe was shot while giving a campaign speech in western Japan. Local fire department official Makoto Morimoto said the 67-year-old Abe was not breathing and his heart stopped while being airlifted to a hospital. By Mari Yamaguchi. SENT:850 words, photos. With JAPAN-ABE-TIMELINE — A timeline of the career of former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe (sent).
ELECTION 2022-DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS — As President Joe Biden runs up against the limits of what he can do on abortion, gun control and other issues, some in his party want more fire and boldness. Lately, the outrage and energy are coming from outside Washington, as blue-state governors offer the most aggressive responses on hot-button matters. By Michelle L. Price. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.
INDONESIA-G20-FOREIGN-MINISTERS-MEETING — Deeply divided top diplomats from the world’s richest and largest developing nations opened talks with an appeal from the Indonesian host for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. By Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.
BRITAIN-POLITICS — Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation Thursday after droves of top government officials quit over the latest scandal to engulf him, marking an end to three tumultuous years in which he tried to bluster his way through one ethical lapse after another. By Danica Kirka, Jill Lawless and Sylvia Hui. SENT: 1,120 words, photos, videos.
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TRENDING
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SHOOTING-JULY-FOURTH-PARADE — Memorial services and funerals for three of the seven people killed when a gunman opened fire on a July 4 parade are scheduled Friday, the first formal opportunity to grieve the deaths of two beloved grandfathers and a former synagogue preschool teacher shot Monday during the annual event in the northern Chicago suburb of Highland Park. SENT: 300 words, photos.
OFFICER-HIRED-TAMIR-RICE — The former Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 withdrew from the police force of a Pennsylvania town amid backlash and media coverage over his hiring. SENT: 580 words.
TULSA-ACTIVIST-KILLED — A Black business leader and community activist who joined Tulsa civic leaders in fighting then-President Donald Trump’s plan to hold a campaign rally on Juneteenth in a city known as the site of one of the nation’s deadliest white-on-Black mob attacks has been killed in what police describe as a domestic incident at her home. SENT: 360 words.
SACHA-BARON-COHEN-ROY-MOORE — An appeals court rejected a $95 million defamation lawsuit against Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen filed by former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who said he was tricked into a television appearance that lampooned sexual misconduct accusations against him. SENT: 490 words, photos, audio.
SQUEEGEE WORKER SHOOTING — A man was shot and killed after he swung a baseball bat at a person who cleans windshields at intersections for cash, Baltimore’s police commissioner says. SENT: 430 words, photos.
ITALY-AVALANCHE-HIKERS KILLED — Rescue crews in northern Italy recovered a tenth body and said they were looking for just one more hiker following a deadly avalanche sparked by the collapse of a chunk of melting glacier. SENT: 160 words, photos.
MEXICO-PANDA-DEATH — Shuan Shuan, the oldest panda in Mexico, has died at the age of 35. Mexico City’s Environment Department said the panda died at the Chapultepec Zoo in the capital. The department did not list a cause of death. SENT: 100 words, photo.
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MORE ON JAPAN ABE SHOT
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JAPAN-ABE-WORLD-REACTION — World leaders expressed shock and anguish over the shooting of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a campaign speech and prayed for his quick recovery. SENT: 600 words, photos.
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds into its fifth month, some residents close to the front lines remain in shattered and nearly abandoned neighborhoods. One such place is Kharkiv’s neighborhood of Saltivka, once home to about half a million people. Only perhaps dozens live there now, in apartment blocks with no running water and little electricity. While some towns and villages around the capital, Kyiv, have begun rebuilding, other places cannot. By Cara Anna and Vasilisa Stepanenko. SENT: 800 words, photos, video. With: RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-DEVELOPMENTS (sent).
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VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHINA — The Chinese capital Beijing appears to have backed off a plan to launch a vaccine mandate for entry into certain public spaces after pushback from residents. SENT: 300 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-URUGUAY-VACCINATIONS — Uruguay stopped administering coronavirus vaccine to children under age 13 after a judge ordered on Thursday that all inoculations in that age group halt until officials present documents relating to contracts signed with vaccine manufacturers. SENT: 340 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-KID VACCINES — Nearly 300,000 children under 5 have received COVID-19 shots in the two weeks since they became available, a slower pace than for older groups. But the White House says that was expected for the eligible U.S. population of about 18 million kids. SENT: 660 words, photo.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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BIDEN-CIA — President Biden visits the CIA at a time when his administration’s support for Ukraine has pushed the normally secretive intelligence agencies into the limelight. Biden will commemorate the agency’s 75th anniversary since its founding after World War II. By Nomaan Merchant and Aamer Madhani. SENT: 720 words, photos. UPCOMING: 900 words after 2:15 p.m. visit.
BIDEN-ABORTION — President Biden is expected to take executive action Friday to protect access to abortion, as he faces mounting pressure from Democrats to be more forceful on the subject after the Supreme Court ended a constitutional right to the procedure two weeks ago. By Zeke Miller. SENT: 600 words, photo. UPCOMING: 800 words after 11:30 a.m. remarks.
ELECTION 2022-NEVADA-SENATE-ABORTION — Sandwiched between supporters holding “BANS OFF OUR BODIES” signs and TV cameras, U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto portrayed her reelection campaign as a defining moment in a decades-long fight for reproductive freedom, even in pro-abortion rights Nevada. SENT: 770 words, photos.
ELECTION 2022-MICHIGAN GOVERNOR — The Republican primary for Michigan governor is shaping up as a battle of whose personal baggage is the least disqualifying. In an otherwise favorable election year for Republicans, the spectacle surrounding the Aug. 2 contest could hobble the party’s effort to defeat Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. By Brian Slodysko, Sara Burnett and Thomas Beaumont. SENT: 1,460 words, photos.
TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE-TAX AUDIT — The commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service asks the Treasury Department’s inspector general to immediately review the circumstances surrounding intensive tax audits that targeted ex-FBI Director James Comey and ex-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Both were frequent targets of Donald Trump’s ire. SENT: 650 words, photos.
BIDEN-MEDAL-OF-FREEDOM — President Joe Biden presented the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to 17 people, including gymnast Simone Biles, the late John McCain, the Arizona Republican whom Biden served with in the Senate, and gun-control advocate Gabby Giffords. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
ELECTION OFFICIALS-CYBERSECURITY — Election officials preparing for the upcoming midterms face a myriad of threats, both foreign and domestic, as they look to protect voting systems and run a smooth election while fighting a wave of misinformation. SENT: 650 words, photos.
UNITED STATES-MIDEAST ALLIANCE — Once-unthinkable coordination between Israeli and Arab militaries is in the spotlight as Joe Biden makes his first Middle East trip as president, heightening debates over whether the U.S.-backed initiative between former enemies strengthens defenses against Iran or makes a regional war more likely. SENT: 1,040 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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NORTH-MACEDONIA-BULGARIA-EXPLAINER — Nightly protests in North Macedonia over the past week have left dozens injured. At the heart of the turmoil is the small Balkan country’s long-running quest to join the European Union, a process that has faced one hurdle after the other. SENT: 910 words, photos.
SAUDI ARABIA-HAJJ — Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims from around the world raised their hands to heaven and offered prayers of repentance on the sacred hill of Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia on Friday, an intense day of worship considered to be the climax of the annual hajj. SENT: 690 words, photos.
JAPAN-MATCHBOOK-MAKER — Nittosha, a small Japanese manufacturer, is stopping the production of matchbooks. The company, which employs 130 people, is a testament to the hard work and dedication at small and medium-size companies that are the backbones of large economies, including the U.S. and Japan. It’s also a story of a family, the firstborn Onishi sons, who have inherited the business through four generations. SENT: 820 words, photos.
UNITED NATIONS-SYRIA-AID — The U.N. Security Council has called a meeting after having to put off a vote on extending humanitarian aid deliveries to rebel-held northwest Syria from Turkey when no compromise could be reach on how long it would run. SENT: 660 words, photos.
JAPAN-YU-GI-OH!-DEATH — Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of the “Yu-Gi-Oh!” manga comic and trading card game, has died, apparently while snorkeling in southwestern Japan, the coast guard says. SENT: 600 words, photos.
AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND — Australia and New Zealand’s prime ministers agree that the security implications of China’s burgeoning influence must be discussed at a meeting of western Pacific leaders next week. SENT: 550 words, photos.
CHINA-US-MILITARY — China has demanded the U.S. cease military “collusion” with Taiwan during a virtual meeting between the joint chiefs of staff from the two countries whose relationship has grown increasingly fractious. SENT: 480 words, photo.
UNITED-NATIONS-EUROPEAN-UNION-TALKS — The European Commission president and United Nations chief opened the first EU-U.N. high-level dialogue by saying the need to work together is critical, especially at a time when the war in Ukraine has created a global food and energy crisis. SENT: 290 words.
MEXICO-PRIESTS-KILLED — Prosecutors say that soldiers found two men who were kidnapped in June by a drug gang boss who is alleged to have gone on to kill two Jesuit priests and a tour guide. SENT: 250 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN — Unseasonal rains and flooding have killed at least 10 people -- including two children -- in Afghanistan’s northern and eastern provinces, the United Nations said Friday. SENT: 170 words.
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NATIONAL
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HAWAII-GENDER-FLUID-HEALERS — A new exhibit at Bishop Museum in Honolulu is drawing attention to a more than 500-year-old story about four high-ranking visitors from Tahiti who healed the sick. The healers were mahu, which in Hawaiian language and culture refers to someone with dual male and female spirit and a mixture of gender traits. Hawaiians placed four boulders on a beach in Waikiki to honor the visitors when it came time for them to go home. But the monument has been neglected for many years as Christian missionaries and other colonizers suppressed the role of mahu in society. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
THERANOS-FRAUD-TRIAL — A jury convicted former Theranos executive Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani of collaborating with disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes in a massive fraud involving the blood-testing company that once enthralled Silicon Valley. By Michael Liedtke. SENT: 820 words, photos.
US-IMMIGRATION-TEXAS — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has authorized state forces to apprehend migrants and return them to the U.S.-Mexico border, pushing the boundaries of their enforcement powers and the Republican’s escalating efforts to curb the rising number of crossings. SENT: 870 words, photo.
SCHOOL-VOUCHERS-ARIZONA — Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed a massive expansion of the state’s private school voucher system, even as he faced a promised effort by public school advocates to block the bill and ask voters to erase it during November’s election. SENT: 850 words, photos.
SHOOTING-JULY-4TH-PARADE — Memorial services and funerals for three of the seven people killed when a gunman opened fire on a July 4 parade are scheduled Friday, the first formal opportunity to grieve the deaths of two beloved grandfathers and a former synagogue preschool teacher shot Monday during the annual event in the northern Chicago suburb of Highland Park.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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SCI-DARK-MATTER-SEARCH — In a former gold mine a mile underground, inside a titanium tank filled with a rare liquified gas, scientists have begun the search for what so far has been unfindable: dark matter. Scientists are pretty sure the invisible stuff makes up most of the universe’s mass and say we wouldn’t be here without it — but they don’t know what it is. The race to solve this enormous mystery has brought one team to the depths under Lead, South Dakota. SENT: 830 words, photos.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher after two Federal Reserve officials said the U.S. economy might avoid a recession and a news report said China might boost construction spending to stimulate its struggling economy. SENT: 640 words, photos.
ECONOMY-JOBS-REPORT — U.S. employers likely downshifted their pace of hiring in June, but to a level that remains solid despite fears that the economy faces the growing risk of a recession. By Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber. SENT: 780 words, photos.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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OBIT-JAMES-CAAN — James Caan, the curly-haired tough guy known to movie fans as the hotheaded Sonny Corleone of “The Godfather” and to television audiences as both the dying football player in the classic weeper “Brian’s Song” and the casino boss in “Las Vegas,” has died. He was 82. By Lindsey Bahr. SENT: 1,080 words, photos. With OBIT-JAMES-CAAN-REACTION — Caan’s death drew tributes and expressions of grief from industry colleagues and fans. SENT: 410 words, photos.
FILM-MURINA — Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s debut feature “Murina,” about a 17-year-old girl with a domineering father living in a sun-soaked paradise on the Adriatic, has been likened to a Patricia Highsmith thriller. Kusijanović says “Misogyny and disrespect of women is the same everywhere. It just has different names.” The film, produced by Martin Scorsese and starring Gracija Filipović, won Kusijanović a prize for best first feature at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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TEN--WIMBLEDON-NADAL WITHDRAWALS — Rafael Nadal withdraws from Wimbledon because of a torn abdominal muscle, announcing his decision a day before he was supposed to play in the semifinals. The 22-time Grand Slam champion was scheduled to face Nick Kyrgios for a berth in the final on Friday. Kyrgios advanced to his first final at a major tournament. He will meet either Novak Djokovic or Cam Norrie for the championship on Sunday. By Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich. SENT: 690 words, photos. With TEN--Wimbledon Glance (sent).
TEN--WIMBLEDON — Ons Jabeur has reached her first Grand Slam final with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 victory over good friend Tatjana Maria at Wimbledon. Jabeur is a 27-year-old from Tunisia who is the first African woman and Arab woman to get to the title match at a major tennis tournament. The third-seeded Jabeur will face 17th-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan for the championship on Saturday. Rybakina overwhelmed 2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 in the second semifinal. She also will be making her major final debut. By Howard Fendrich. SENT: 940 words, photos. With TEN—Wimbledon-Coaching Is Coming (sent).
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HOW TO REACH US
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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 http://newsroom.ap.org. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.
