AP News Digest 7 a.m.
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ONLY ON AP
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ETHIOPIA-COUNTING THE DEAD — Ethiopia’s war is now one year old. Its dead are in the handwritten lists of names smuggled out of a region cut off from the world. They’re in images of people shot and tossed off a cliff, tortured and pushed into a river, left unburied for days. No one knows how many thousands of people have been killed. But one ethnic Tigrayan in the diaspora has been compiling a list of names, more than 3,000 so far. An ethnic Amhara group has a separate list of almost 2,000. Experts say that’s just a small fraction of the real toll. By Cara Anna and Richard Keyton. SENT: 2,730 words, photos, video. There is an abridged version available. WITH: ETHIOPIA-COUNTING THE DEAD-VINGNETTES. (sent).
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TOP STORIES
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UNITED STATES-CHINA — As President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping prepare to hold their first presidential summit, the troubled U.S.-China relationship is demonstrating that the power of one of Biden’s greatest professed strengths as a politician -- the ability to connect -- has its limits. By Aamer Madhani. SENT: 1,070 words, photos. Virtual meeting scheduled for 7:45 p.m. EST.
BIDEN-INFRASTUCTURE — The $1 trillion infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signs into law represents a historic achievement at a time of deeply fractured politics. But the compromises needed to bridge the political divide suggest that the spending might not be as transformative as Biden has promised for the U.S. economy. By Josh Boak. SENT: 1,190 words, photos. Signing ceremony scheduled for 3 p.m. EST. With BIDEN-INFRASTRUCTURE-GLANCE. A breakdown of the bill. SENT: 670 words, photos.
MYANMAR-US JOURNALIST — Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson says American journalist Danny Fenster, sentenced only days ago to 11 years hard labor in Myanmar, has been freed and is on his way home. SENT: 600 words, photos.
MUSIC FESTIVAL DEATHS-VICTIMS — A 9-year-old Dallas boy has died from injuries during a crowd surge at Astroworld, bringing the death toll from the Houston music festival to 10. A 9-year-old Dallas boy has died from injuries during a crowd surge at Astroworld, bringing the death toll from the Houston music festival to 10. By Randall Chase and Mike Catalini. SENT: 1,550 words, photos. WITH: MUSIC FESTIVAL DEATHS-CHILD (sent)
KENOSHA-PROTEST SHOOTINGS — Attorneys are set to make closing arguments at Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial in the shootings of three men during street unrest in Wisconsin. The arguments Monday will be the last word of some two weeks of courtroom drama before a jury begins deliberating in a case that underscored Americans’ bitter divisions on issues of guns, protests and policing. SENT: 570 words, photos.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN-MAXWELL TRIAL — Despite his suicide, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein will still be put on trial in a sense in the coming weeks by a proxy: his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. The 59-year-old Maxwell is to go before a federal jury in Manhattan later this month on charges she groomed underage victims to have unwanted sex with Epstein. By Tom Hays and Larry Neumeister. SENT: 980 words, photos.
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TRENDING NEWS
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ELDERLY DEATHS-TRIAL — A man charged with killing 18 older women in Dallas and its suburbs over a two-year span is going on trial in one of the deaths. SENT: 250 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN — Police say a roadside bomb has exploded on a busy avenue in the Afghan capital Kabul, wounding two people. SENT: 175 words, photos.
SWEDEN-CHILDREN FALL — Swedish police say they have arrested two adults on suspicion of murder after two children fell from “a great height” and one of them died. SENT: 110 words.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS -- International students are returning to U.S. colleges in stronger numbers this year, but the rebound has yet to make up for last year’s historic declines as COVID-19 continues to disrupt academic exchange, according to a new survey. SENT: 1,120 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA — China has confined nearly 1,500 university students to their dormitories and hotels following an outbreak of COVID-19 in the northwestern city of Dalian. The order was issued Sunday after several dozen new cases were reported at Zhuanghe University City. SENT: 370 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AUSTRIA — A nationwide lockdown has gone into effect in Austria for unvaccinated people who haven’t recently had COVID-19, and officials have signaled that further measures may follow amid soaring infection rates. SENT: 300 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDIA — India has began allowing fully vaccinated foreign tourists to enter the country on regular flights, in the latest easing of coronavirus restrictions as infections fall and vaccinations rise. SENT: 320 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CAMBODIA — Cambodia has reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers two weeks earlier than originally planned, as it emerges from a lengthy lockdown bolstered by one of the world’s highest rates of immunization against COVID-19. SENT: 300 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ITALY — Police in Italy are conducting searches against 17 anti-vaccine activists who were purportedly affiliated with a Telegram chat that espoused violence against government, medical and media figures for their perceived support of COVID-19 restrictions. SENT: 410 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GREECE — Greece’s premier film festival took an unexpected turn when anti-vaxxers showed up outside the theater in Thessaloniki where the awards ceremony was about to begin and shouted obscenities at arriving moviegoers and festival personnel. SENT: 260 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITIAN — Britain’s government extended its COVID-19 booster programs to younger people Monday, hoping to stave off a fresh wave of infections during the colder winter months. SENT: 130 words.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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CONGRESS-BUDGET-PAID LEAVE — Longtime advocates of paid family and medical leave are scrambling to make sure that the long-sought Democratic priority remains in a massive social and environmental spending bill after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revived it. But the outcome will likely come down to the support of one man, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. By Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 950 words, photos.
HUNGER IN AMERICA-MILITARY FAMILIES — As many as 160,000 active-duty U.S. military members are having trouble feeding their families. It’s a hidden crisis that’s existed for years inside one of the most well-funded institutions on the planet and has only worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. By Ashraf Khalil. SENT: 1,550 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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WASHINGTON-OPIOD CRISIS-TRIAL — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is taking the state’s case against the nation’s three biggest drug distributors to trial Monday. Ferguson had rejected a half-billion-dollar settlement offer. SENT: 780 words, photo.
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INTERNATIONAL
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BRITAIN-CAR EXPLOSION — British police say an explosion in a taxi outside a hospital that killed a man is being treated as a terrorist incident, but the motive remains unclear. The male passenger in the taxi died in the blast caused by an improvised explosive divide. The taxi driver was injured. Three men in their 20s have been arrested under the Terrorism Act. SENT: 500 words, photos.
MIGRATION-EUROPE-BELARUS — The European Union is expanding sanctions against Belarus to include airlines, travel agents and individuals accused of helping to lure migrants to Europe as part of a “hybrid attack” against the bloc by President Alexander Lukashenko. SENT: 700 words, photos.
MIGRATION-SMUGGLING CONVICTIONS — Among the inmates of Chios prison, nestled in the warren of narrow streets of this Greek island’s main town, three young men from Afghanistan and Somalia are serving dramatically long sentences: 50 years for two of them, a staggering 142 for the third. But these are not violent, hardened criminals, even according to the verdicts against them. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.
SUDAN — Sudanese doctors say two more protesters died in the hospital after being shot during demonstrations against last month’s military coup. That raises the death toll from Saturday’s protests to seven, all but one from gunshots. SENT: 400 words, photos.
POLAND-ANTISEMITISM — Poland’s interior minister says three people have been arrested in connection with an antisemitic demonstration last week where far-right participants shouted “death to the Jews.” SENT: 440 words.
PHILLIPINES ELECTIONS — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has filed his candidacy for a senate seat in next year’s elections, walking back on his vow that he would retire from politics when his term ends. SENT: 690 words, photos.
INDONESIA-AFGHAN REFUGEES — Hundreds of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers living in Indonesia have rallied in front of the U.N. refugee agency office in Jakarta to urge it to speed up their resettlement. SENT: 250 words, photos.
JAPAN-FUKUSHIMA PLANT — A team from the U.N. nuclear agency has arrived in Japan to assess preparations for the release into the ocean of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant. SENT: 390 words.
ARGENTINA ELECTIONS — Argentine President Alberto Fernández has suffered a severe setback in midterm elections held amid widespread anger over high inflation and rising poverty. SENT: 690 words, photos.
MYANMAR-STRUGGLING-ECONOMY — The military takeover in Myanmar has set its economy back years, if not decades, as political unrest and violence disrupt banking, trade and livelihoods and millions slide deeper into poverty. SENT: 1,140 words, photos.
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BUSINESS/TECH
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EMIRATES-DUBAI AIR SHOW — Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, has handled 20% more passenger traffic in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the same period last year. SENT: 780 words, photos.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Shares are mixed in Asia, with the specter of inflation weighing on sentiment. Shares rose in Tokyo and Seoul but fell in Hong Kong and Shanghai. SENT: 570 photos, words.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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SESAME STREET-ASIAN AMERICAN MUPPET — At only 7 years old, Ji-Young is making history as the first Asian American muppet in the “Sesame Street” canon. She is Korean American and has two passions: rocking out on her electric guitar and skateboarding. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.
HUNGARY-MTV-EMA — The 2021 MTV European Music Awards show has been held in Hungary’s capital of Budapest where some performers expressed their support and solidarity to the country’s embattled LGBTQ community. SENT: 870 words, photos.
FILM-BOX OFFICE — Disney and Marvel’s “Eternals” fell 61% in its second weekend in theaters, but it’s still hanging on to first place ahead of newcomers like “Clifford the Big Red Dog.” SENT: 620 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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RAIDERS-CHEIFS — Patrick Mahomes threw five touchdown passes and returned to his usual form after a surprisingly shaky stretch this season, and the Kansas City Chiefs moved into first place in the AFC West with a 41-14 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. SENT: 880 words, photos
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