AP News Digest 3 a.m.
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ONLY ON AP
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IMMIGRATION-ASYLUM — The Biden administration has quietly tasked six humanitarian groups with recommending which migrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S. instead of being rapidly expelled from the country under federal pandemic-related powers that block people from seeking asylum. The groups will determine who is most vulnerable in Mexico, and their criteria has not been made public. It comes as large numbers of people are crossing the southern border and as the government faces intensifying pressure to lift the public health powers instituted by former President Donald Trump and kept in place by President Joe Biden during the coronavirus pandemic. By Elliot Spagat and Julie Watson. SENT: 970 words, photos.
ETHIOPIA-TIGRAY-CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE — Shops remained shuttered, some government workers hadn’t been paid and the town’s main hospital was utterly laid to waste. But the Tigrayan fighters still claimed victory, swaggering through the streets of Hawzen with their guns. It wouldn’t last long. Hawzen, a rural town in the ethnic Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, is a microcosm of the challenge facing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — and a warning that the war here is unlikely to end anytime soon. By Rodney Muhumuza. SENT: 1,320 words, photos.
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TOP STORIES
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HONG-KONG-TIANANMEN-ANNIVERSARY — Police arrested an organizer of Hong Kong’s annual candlelight vigil commemorating the deadly Tiananmen Square crackdown and warned people not to attend the banned event as the city mutes its pro-democracy voices. Hong Kong had been the last place on Chinese soil where the June 4, 1989, event was publicly commemorated, and tens of thousands of people gathered in Victoria Park in past years to honor the victims who died when China’s military put down student-led pro-democracy protests. By Zen Soo. SENT: 870 words, photos, video.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-KIDS-HEART-INFLAMMATION — Health authorities are trying to determine whether heart inflammation that can occur along with many types of infections could also be a rare side effect in teens and young adults after the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. By Medical Writers Lindsey Tanner and Lauran Neergaard. SENT: 520 words, photos.
ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-JERUSALEM-EVICTIONS — A long-running campaign by Jewish settlers to evict dozens of Palestinian families in east Jerusalem is still underway, even after it fueled weeks of unrest and helped ignite an 11-day Gaza war. An intervention by Israel’s attorney general at the height of the unrest has put the most imminent evictions on hold. But rights groups say evictions could still proceed in the coming months as international attention wanes, potentially igniting another round of bloodshed. By Joseph Krauss. SENT: 1,100 words, photos. With ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-UN UN agency withdraws director from Gaza after threats.
CONGRESS-RUSSIA PROBE — The House Judiciary Committee is set to question former White House counsel Don McGahn two years after Democrats originally sought his testimony as part of investigations into former President Donald Trump. By Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker. SENT: 570 words, photo. UPCOMING: 800 words after 9 a.m. hearing.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK — With U.S. businesses scrambling to fill millions of jobs as the economy reopens much faster than many had expected, Friday’s jobs report for May will help show whether their efforts are succeeding. By Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber. SENT: 760 words, photos.
OREGON WILDFIRES-CLIMATE CHANGE — Drought in the U.S. West has made Oregon even drier this year, and experts say the state’s recent experience is a taste of the future as climate change makes destructive blazes more likely in the lush Pacific Northwest. By Gillian Flaccus. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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FACEBOOK-POLITICIANS-MODERATION — Reports: Facebook to end rule exemptions for politicians. SENT: 260 words, photo.
MISSION-IMPOSSIBLE-COVID-SHUTDOWN — COVID-19 spurs shutdown of “Mission Impossible” set. SENT: 160 words, photos.
CRUISE-LINES-FLORIDA-ALASKA — CDC says Florida lawsuit imperils summer cruises to Alaska. SENT: 310 words, photo.
CHINA-TRAIN-CRASH — Train strikes, kills nine workers on track in northwest China. SENT: 120 words.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BIDEN — Biden announced the U.S. will swiftly donate an initial allotment of 25 million doses of surplus vaccine overseas through the United Nations-backed COVAX program, promising infusions for South and Central America, Asia, Africa and others at a time of glaring shortages abroad and more than ample supplies at home. SENT: 990 words, photos, video.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA — Conflicted California workplace regulators approved controversial rules that allow workers to go maskless only if every employee in a room is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. SENT: 910 words, photos. With VIRUS-OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.
MEXICO-VACCINES — Mexican officials say the United States is donating a million doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine that will be used mainly along the border and at resorts frequented by Americans. SENT: 420 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-COLOMBIA — Colombia moved to reactivate its economy by easing several lockdown measures even though it is still fighting a third peak in the pandemic, which has been aggravated by a month of crowded antigovernment street protests. SENT: 330 words, photo.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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VOTING BILLS-ANTI-DEMOCRATIC FEARS — Democracy advocates say the persistence of the GOP’s election denial shows how the Republican Party is increasingly open to bucking democratic norms. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT-REPORTERS’ RECORDS — Biden’s commitment not to spy on reporters won plaudits from press freedom groups, but it remains unclear whether he can keep that pledge because it clashes with another: to uphold the traditional independence of the Justice Department. SENT: 830 words, photo.
PENCE — Former Vice President Mike Pence says he isn’t sure he and Trump will ever see “eye to eye” over what happened at the Capitol on Jan. 6 but he will “always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years.” SENT: 850 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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BELARUS-POLITICAL PRISONERS — Human rights activists and relatives of those jailed for political protests in Belarus say authorities are using harsh tactics against those prisoners and are even sewing yellow tags on their clothes to single them out. SENT: 1,040 words, photos.
SRI-LANKA-SHIP-FIRE — Authorities in Sri Lanka are trying to head off a potential environmental disaster as a fire-damaged container ship that had been carrying chemicals was sinking off of the country’s main port. SENT: 620 words, photos.
UNITED NATIONS-SYRIA-CHEMICAL WEAPONS — The head of the international chemical weapons watchdog told the U.N. Security Council that its experts have investigated 77 allegations against Syria and concluded that in 17 cases chemical weapons were likely or definitely used. SENT: 720 words, photo.
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NATIONAL
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GIULIANI-INVESTIGATION — A former federal judge who ensured attorney-client privilege was protected in a review of materials seized from Trump’s personal lawyer three years ago is again the favorite to do the same chore after raids on Rudolph Giuliani’s home and office, prosecutors say. SENT: 530 words.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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GLOBAL-TAXATION-EXPLAINER — The Biden administration is pushing for agreement on a global minimum tax. By Business Writer David McHugh. SENT: 1,040 words, photos.
CHINA-US-SECURITIES-INVESTMENTS — Biden has nearly doubled the list of Chinese companies whose shares are off-limits to U.S. investors in the latest sign he is not softening Washington’s stance toward Beijing. By Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach. SENT: 520 words, photos.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian shares mostly slipped, dragged lower by a decline in technology stocks on Wall Street. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 600 words, photos.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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HONG KONG-DJ LEGEND HONG KONG — In a storied career spanning over 70 years in Hong Kong, Ray Cordeiro considers himself the luckiest radio DJ in the world. SENT: 600 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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FRENCH OPEN-SILENT NIGHTS — There has not been much in the way of cheers, chants or applause at the French Open because spectators are ushered off the tournament grounds each day to meet a 9 p.m. COVID curfew. By Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire. SENT: 700 words, photos.
TOKYO-YAMAGUCHI — One of Japan’s best-known Olympians and an executive member of the Japanese Olympic Committee says Tokyo has been “cornered” into holding during the COVID-19 pandemic. By Sports Writer Stephen Wade. SENT: 570 words, photo.
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