AP News Digest 7 a.m.
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ONLY ON AP
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MYANMAR-WAR ON DOCTORS — In Myanmar the military has declared war on health care workers. Medics were early and fierce opponents of the military’s takeover of the nation’s government in February. Security forces are arresting, attacking and killing medical workers and have dubbed them enemies of the state. Medics have been driven underground amid a global pandemic and the country’s already fragile healthcare system is crumbling. Myanmar is now one of the most dangerous places on earth for healthcare workers, with 240 attacks this year. That’s nearly half of the 508 globally tracked by the World Health Organization and by far the highest of any country. By Kristen Gelineau and Victoria Milko. SENT: 2,670 words, photos, video. An abridged version of this story is available.
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TOP STORIES
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VIRUS OUTBREAK — The pressure of hosting an Olympics during a pandemic is evident in Japan The Games begin July 23, with organizers determined to hold them, even with no spectators watching. While Japan has made remarkable progress to vaccinate its population against COVID-19, the drive is losing steam because of supply shortages. Tens of thousands of visitors are coming to a country that is only 13.8% fully vaccinated, and gaps in border controls have emerged, highlighted by two members of the newly arrived team from Uganda testing positive for the highly contagious delta variant. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga says the country “must stay on high alert.” By Mari Yamaguchi. SENT: 1,160 words, photos.
BUILDING COLLAPSE-MIAMI — A ramped-up rescue effort at the collapsed South Florida condo building is facing new threats from the weather as a tropical storm approaches the state. Officials say lightning forced crews to pause the search Monday for victims of the June 24 collapse in Surfside, and a garage area in the rubble filled with water. The latest forecasts showed Tropical Storm Elsa moving westward, mostly sparing South Florida. By Adriana Gomez Licon and Bobby Caina Calvan. SENT: 400 words, photos, video. WITH: BUILDING COLLAPSE-LEGAL FALLOUT — The legal fallout from the deadly building collapse in Surfside, Florida, is already underway. It includes at least five lawsuits and a planned grand jury investigation. The litigation comes even as rescuers remain at the site hoping to find survivors. By MaryClaire Dale and Curt Anderson. SENT: 850 words, photos,
Find more on the building collapse in the AP Newsroom hub.
CAPITOL BREACH-STILL WANTED — Six months after the Capitol insurrection, the Justice Department is still hunting for scores of rioters, even as the first of more than 500 people already arrested have pled guilty. The struggle reflects the massive scale of the investigation and the grueling work still ahead for authorities. By Alanna Durkin Richer and Michael Kunzelman. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN-LAST FOOTHOLDS — As America’s “forever war” rapidly winds down, the U.S. Embassy and other diplomatic missions in Kabul are looking at a worsening security situation and how to respond. In the countryside, districts are quickly falling to Taliban insurgents and America’s warlord allies are re-arming their militias. Meanwhile, there is still no deal on securing operations at Kabul’s international airport, a prerequisite for a continued presence of foreign diplomats and aid workers in Afghanistan By Kathy Gannon. SENT 1,100 words, photos. WITH AFGHANISTAN — A surge of Taliban wins in northern Afghanistan has caused some countries to close their consulates in the region, while across the border in Tajikistan, reservists are being called up to reinforce the southern border, according to officials and reports on Tuesday. (SENT.)
RUSSIA PLANE — Russia’s state aviation agency said that wreckage from of a plane that went missing Tuesday in the Far East region of Kamchatka has been found around five kilometers (three miles) away from a runway in an airport on the Okhotsk Sea coast where it was supposed to land. An Antonov An-26 plane with 22 passengers and six crew members, flying from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the town of Palana, missed a scheduled communication and disappeared from radar as it was on approach for landing. SENT: 420 words, photos.
VATICAN-POPE SURGERY — Pope Francis ate breakfast Tuesday, read the newspapers and took a walk as he continued recovering from intestinal surgery, the Vatican said, declaring his post-operative checks to be “good” and normal. A statement from the Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said Francis had slept well during the night following the Sunday surgery. By Nicole Winfield. SENT: 470 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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GERMANY-DRUG RAIDS — German security officials said Tuesday they made more than 750 arrests and seized large amounts of drugs after gaining access to extensive chat data of encrypted cellphones. SENT: 130 words, photos.
NEW ZEALAND-CHINA TWITTER — A New Zealand academic says Twitter temporarily restricted her account after she mocked Chinese President Xi Jinping. SENT: 550 words, photos.
WIMBLEDON-MCENROE— Former tennis star John McEnroe’s reaction on the BBC’s broadcast to British teenager Emma Raducanu’s mid-match retirement at Wimbledon has put him in the spotlight. SENT: 210 words, photos.
PEOPLE-GWEN STEFANI-BLAKE SHELTON — “The Voice” coaches Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton celebrate their nuptials during a weekend wedding in Oklahoma. SENT: 170 words, photo.
TV-ELMO-GETS A PUPPY — “Sesame Street” is about to get a whole lot cuter. Elmo, Grover, Abby Cadabby and the rest of the Muppet gang are introducing a new character to the show this summer, a white-and-brown puppy named Tango. SENT: 740 words, photo.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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SENATE-SINEMA — Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is known for doing the unthinkable in Washington: spending time on the Republican side of the aisle. A holdout to changing the Senate’s filibuster rules, she faces enormous pressure to act as voting rights in her own state and others hang in the balance. SENT: 1,290 words, photos.
GALESBURG VOICES-AMERICAN CROSSROADS — In the small Illinois city of Galesburg, people aren’t talking about the arguments consuming the nation’s capital. They’re talking about local crime, race, post-pandemic life and whether they can still get along with each other in divisive times. Galesburg is in one of only a few dozen swing districts in the U.S. SENT: 1,250 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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HONG KONG — Nine people, including six secondary school students, were arrested in Hong Kong on Tuesday for allegedly plotting to set off homemade bombs in courts, tunnels and trash cans as political tensions rise in the city where China is tightening its grip. Police said they were detained on suspicion of engaging in terrorist activity under a harsh national security law that Beijing imposed a year ago as part of a crackdown on dissent in the former British colony that has long enjoyed freedoms not seen on the Chinese mainland. By Zen Soo. SENT: 510 words, photos.
ISRAEL-DISCRIMINATORY LAW — Israel’s parliament has not renewed a temporary law first enacted in 2003 that bars Arab citizens of Israel from extending citizenship or even residency to spouses from the occupied West Bank and Gaza. The 59-59 vote early on Tuesday means the law is poised to expire at midnight. SENT: 920 words, photos.
NUCLEAR-IRAN — Iran is accusing Israel of a sabotage attack in June that reportedly targeted a civilian nuclear facility near Tehran. The official IRNA news agency on Tuesday quoted the country’s Cabinet spokesman as saying the alleged attack sought to thwart ongoing talks in Vienna on reviving Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers. SENT: 500 words, photos.
IRAQ-MILITIA COMMANDER — The leader of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia has vowed to retaliate against America for the deaths of four of his men in a U.S. airstrike along the Iraq-Syria border last month. He says it will be a military operation everyone will talk about. SENT: 900 words, photos.
JAPAN MUDSLIDE — Rescue workers dig through sludge and debris looking for more than 20 people who may be trapped after a torrent of mud, trees and rocks ripped with a roar through a Japanese seaside resort town, killing at least four people. SENT: 780 words, photos.
BELARUS POLITICS — The Supreme Court in Belarus has sentenced a former contender in the 2020 presidential race to 14 years in prison on corruption charges in a case that has been widely seen as politically motivated. SENT: 230 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ISRAEL-SOUTH KOREA — Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says Israel is sending thousands of coronavirus vaccine doses to South Korea in exchange for a future shipment of the jabs. SENT: 350 words.
ONE GOOD THING-ROMANIA MONUMENTS — Romania’s Ambulance for Monuments has a simple task: to race around the country giving critical care to as many historical buildings as possible that are in an advanced state of decay, or pre-collapse — before it’s too late. SENT: 1,040 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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TROPICAL WEATHER-ATLANTIC — According to the National Hurricane Center, the conditions in southern Florida have begun to deteriorate as Tropical Storm Elsa took aim at the Florida Keys early Tuesday, prompting a hurricane watch for portions of the west coast of state. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday expanded an existing state of emergency to cover a dozen counties that span an area of Florida where Elsa is expected to make a swift passage on Wednesday. By Andrea Rodriguez. SENT: 670 words, photos.
FARM RULES — The Biden administration plans to issue a new rule to protect the rights of farmers who raise cows, chickens and hogs against the country’s largest meat processors as part of a plan to encourage more competition in the agriculture sector. The new rule that will make it easier for farmers to sue companies they contract with over unfair practices. SENT: 550 words, photos.
DROUGHT-GREAT SALT LAKE — The Great Salt Lake in Utah has been shrinking for years, and a drought gripping the American West could make this year the worst yet. The receding water is already affecting nesting pelicans that are among millions of birds dependent on the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River. Sailboats have been hoisted out of the water to keep them from getting stuck in the mud. SENT: 1,210 words, photos, video.
GALESBURG VOICES-AMERICAN CROSSROADS — In the small Illinois city of Galesburg, people aren’t talking about the arguments consuming the nation’s capital. They’re talking about local crime, race, post-pandemic life and whether they can still get along with each other in divisive times. Those concerns stood out in nearly 30 interviews with residents. SENT: 1,350 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-NEIGHBOR ARRESTED — A white man who is seen in video footage pushing a Black neighbor with his chest and using racist slurs to address the neighbor and others on Friday has been arrested. Edward Mathews was arrested on Monday evening after protesters gathered outside of his Mount Laurel home for multiple hours. SENT: 270 words, photos.
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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
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CANNES FILM FESTIVAL — The 74th Cannes Film Festival gets underway with the premiere of “Annette,” starring Adam Driver. By Film Writer Jake Coyle. UPCOMING: 1,100 words by 11 a.m., photos, video. Updates through the day.
OBIT-RICHARD DONNER — The filmmaker who turned Christopher Reeve into “Superman” and Mel Gibson and Danny Glover into cop buddies in “Lethal Weapon” has died. Richard Donner was 91. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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STANLEY CUP — Josh Anderson scored his second goal 3:57 into overtime, and the Montreal Canadiens avoided elimination by defeating the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. Pat Maroon and Barclay Goodrow scored for the Lightning who are attempting to become the NHL’s second team to win consecutive titles in the NHL’s salary-cap era. The series shifts to Tampa Bay for Game 5 on Wednesday night. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
WIMBLEDON — 2018 Wimbledon champ Angelique Kerber meets Karolina Muchova in one quarterfinal Tuesday, while six women who’ve never been this far at the All England Club also try to get to the semifinals. By Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos. Play starts 8 a.m.
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HOW TO REACH US
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