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.
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ONLY ON AP
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AMERICA-DIVIDED-THE-FLAGPOLE-TOWN — In the United States, many people view bigger as better. But some residents of a tiny community in Maine are balking at measuring patriotism by the size of a flagpole. Situated at the nation’s eastern tip, Maine’s Down East region is the place where the sunlight first kisses U.S. soil each day. It’s where the vast wilderness and ocean meet. It’s also the place where a patriotic family has proposed the world’s tallest flagpole — one that’d be taller than the Empire State Building, with a huge American flag on top. The proposal was supposed to unite people around the flag and create jobs. Instead, it’s laying bare community and cultural flashpoints. By David Sharp. SENT: 1,760 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 980 words is also available.
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TOP STORIES
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SUPREME-COURT-AFFIRMATIVE-ACTION — The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies. The court’s conservative majority overturned admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation’s oldest private and public colleges, respectively. By Mark Sherman. SENT: 1,330 words, photos, video, audio.
SUPREME COURT-AFFIRMATIVE ACTION DIVERSITY -- The Supreme Court has sent shockwaves through higher education with a landmark decision that struck down affirmative action and left colleges across the nation searching for new ways to promote student diversity. By Collin Binkley. SENT: 1,290 words, photos.
FRANCE-POLICE-SHOOTING — French protesters erected barricades, lit fires and shot fireworks at police in the streets of some French cities overnight as tensions mounted over the deadly police shooting of a 17-year-old that has shocked the nation. Armored police vehicles rammed through the charred remains of cars that had been flipped and set ablaze in the northwestern Paris suburb of Nanterre, where a police officer shot the teen, who is only being identified by his first name, Nahel. By Sylvie Corbet, John Leicester and Alex Turnbull. SENT: 1,000 words, photos, video, audio.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-COUNTEROFFENSIVE — When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine’s military was largely reliant on Soviet-era weaponry, from tanks to artillery to fighter jets. While that arsenal helped Ukraine fend off an assault on the capital of Kyiv and prevent a total rout in the early weeks of the war, billions of dollars in military assistance has since poured into the country, including more modern Western-made weapons. Ukraine’s counteroffensive is now in its early stages. It could offer a glimpse of whether and to what extent the newer weapons systems have strengthened Kyiv’s ability to stand up to Russia. Analysts are cautiously optimistic. By Samya Kullab. SENT: 940 words, photos. With RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-GLANCE — Ukraine has an array of new Western weapons. What advantages could they offer in a counteroffensive? (sent).
HEAT-WAVE — Heat waves like the one that engulfed parts of parts of the South and Midwest and killed more than a dozen people are becoming more common, and experts say the extreme weather events, which claim more lives than hurricanes and tornados, will likely increase in the future. By Anita Snow. SENT: 890 words, photos, video, audio.
JAPAN-QUITTING-BUSINESS — In Japan, a nation reputed for loyalty to companies and lifetime employment, people who job-hop are often viewed as quitters. And that’s considered shameful. Enter “taishoku daiko,” or “job-leaving agents.” Dozens of such services have sprung up in the last several years to help people who simply want out. By Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 970 words, photos.
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SPOTLIGHTING VOICES
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PRIDE-JUNETEENTH — From speaking at a health equity forum to striking a pose to the beats of a DJ at a party on a pedestrian bridge, Naomi Green spent last weekend jumping from one Dallas event to another celebrating both Juneteenth and Pride. “Sometimes I think the Black community forgets that LGBTQ people are still Black as well,” said Green, a transgender woman. “And so we have the opportunity to really celebrate both of those at the same time because just because we’re LGBTQ doesn’t remove our blackness. We’re both.” As the lives of LGBTQ+ people are celebrated during Pride month, groups have found ways to merge those festivities with Juneteenth, America’s newest holiday, which marks the end of slavery. SENT: 900 words, photos, video.
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR
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RUSSIA-MILITARY-MUTINY — Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of the Russian group of forces fighting in Ukraine, is believed to have been detained days after mercenaries staged a revolt inside Russia, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press, citing U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence assessments. SENT: 740 words, photos.
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MORE NEWS
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MUSIC-FESTIVAL-DEATHS — A Texas grand jury has declined to indict rap superstar Travis Scott in a criminal investigation of a deadly crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld festival, where some spectators were packed so tightly they could not move their arms or even breathe, his attorney and prosecutors say. SENT: 680 words, photos, audio.
TRUMP-COLUMIST-LAWSUIT — Former President Donald Trump’s claims that absolute presidential immunity and free speech rights shield him from the defamation claims of a New York columnist were rejected by a federal judge. SENT: 570 words, photos, audio.
GEORGE-SANTOS — U.S. Rep. George Santos is set to return to court for the first time since pleading not guilty last month to charges that he duped donors, stole from his campaign, collected fraudulent unemployment benefits and lied to Congress about being a millionaire. SENT: 340 words, photo.
JAN.-6-ARREST — A man armed with explosive materials and weapons, and wanted for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was arrested in the Washington neighborhood where former President Barack Obama lives, law enforcement officials say. SENT: 320 words, photo.
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WASHINGTON/ POLITICS
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ELECTION 2024-MOMS FOR LIBERTY – Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the main rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, are scheduled to speak Friday at the annual gathering of Moms for Liberty, a two-year-old group that has fiercely opposed instruction related to race and gender identity in the nation’s classroom. By Ali Swenson. SENT: 800 words, photos. Will be led after DeSantis speech, scheduled to start at 9a ET.
BIDEN-INTERVIEW — President Joe Biden rarely gives network interviews, and when he sat down in the MSNBC studio it came at an especially busy time, with the Supreme Court having just overturned the use of affirmative action in college admissions and in the aftermath of a revolt in Russia. SENT: 730 words, photos.
NEW-STATE-LAWS-TENNESSE — Months after Tennessee lawmakers finished a chaotic legislative session, many of the most hotly contested laws are poised to take effect Saturday, including measures on health care for transgender children, police oversight, school safety and teacher pay. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-AFFIRMATIVE ACTION-EDUCATION EXPLAINER — Colleges across the country will be forced to stop considering race in admissions under a Supreme Court ruling, ending affirmative action policies that date back decades. Schools that have relied on race-conscious admissions policies to build diversity will have to rethink how they admit students. It’s expected to result in campuses that have more white and Asian American students and fewer Black and Hispanic students. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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JERSEY-SHORE-ROWDY-TEENS — Officials and residents of several New Jersey shore towns say the state’s law decriminalizing marijuana use is having an unintended effect: emboldening large groups of teenagers to run amok on beaches and boardwalks, knowing there is little chance of them getting in trouble for it. Now, some lawmakers are trying to walk back some of the changes. Critics say the changes, which include a prohibition on searching teens for alcohol and drugs, went too far. By Wayne Parry. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
SCHOOL-SHOOTING-FLORIDA-DEPUTY — A Florida sheriff’s deputy has been acquitted of felony child neglect and other charges for failing to act during the 2018 Parkland school massacre, concluding the first trial in U.S. history of a law enforcement officer for conduct during an on-campus shooting. By Terry Spencer. SENT: 1,070 words, photos, video.
MEDICAID-GEORGIA — Georgia is offering a new bargain to some adults without health insurance beginning Saturday: Go to work or school and the state will cover you. But advocates decry the plan, which will insure far fewer people than a full expansion of the state-federal Medicaid program, as needlessly restrictive and expensive. SENT: 890 words, photos,
FIREFIGHTERS DEATHS' ANNIVERSARY — It was one of the deadliest wildland fires ever in the U.S., killing 19 members of an elite central Arizona firefighting crew in 2013 after flames trapped them in a brush-choked canyon. The city of Prescott and the neighboring town of Yarnell are expected to honor the fallen Granite Mountain Hotshots with public events. Lew Theokas, who lost his grandson, 27-year-old Garret Zuppiger, said it’s still tough for him to talk about the Yarnell Hill Fire a decade later. SENT: 780 words, photos.
BLACK LIVES MATTER-LAWSUIT DISMISSED — A California judge has dismissed a civil lawsuit that grassroots racial justice activists from around the U.S. brought last summer against a foundation with stewardship of the Black Lives Matter movement’s charitable endowment worth tens of millions of dollars. SENT: 740 words, photo.
TRANSGENDER-IDENTITIES-KANSAS — Four times as many Kansans changed their gender on birth certificates and driver’s licenses this year ahead of a new state law that prevents residents from identifying themselves differently than the sex assigned them at birth. SENT: 560 words, photos.
BLACK-CITY-WHITE-LEGISLATURE — A federal judge has temporarily blocked a new Mississippi law that requires permission from state police for protests or other gatherings near state government buildings in the capital city of Jackson. SENT: 480 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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HAJJ-HOSPITALITY — Saudi Arabia is pumping billions of dollars into the holy city of Mecca to meet its ambitious economic targets, with high-end hotels, apartment blocks, retailers and restaurants planned for areas around the Grand Mosque. The kingdom wants to attract more than 30 million religion tourists per year by 2030 and for tourism to make a bigger contribution to the economy. The government is homing in on religious tourism because the demand already exists. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.
CLIMATE-INDIA-HEAT-AMBULANCES — Extreme heat is fast becoming a serious public health crisis in India, with more than 150 people dying during a severe heat wave that blasted the country earlier in June. India is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change and severe heat, which is sometimes classified as a slow-onset disaster. Ambulance crews can be the first line of care for those affected by heat. SENT: 930 words, photos, video.
CUBA-ELIAN-GONZALES — Elián González has the same big, expressive eyes he did 23 years ago when an international custody battle transformed him into the face of the long-strained relations between Cuba and the United States. Now 29, González is stepping into Cuban politics. He recently entered his country’s congress with hopes of helping his people at a time of record emigration and heightened tension between the two seaside neighbors. By Andrea Rodriguez. SENT: 850 words, photos, video.
UNITED-NATIONS-SYRIA-MISSING — The U.N. General Assembly has approved a resolution that will establish an independent body to determine what happened to more than 130,000 people missing as a result of the conflict in Syria. SENT: 650 words, photos.
UNITED-NATIONS-HAITI — Close to half of Haiti’s people, 2.2 million adults and 3 million children, need humanitarian aid and thousands of youngsters face “staggering levels” of gender-based violence, the head of the U.N. children’s agency say. SENT: 550 words, photos.
MEXICO-ACTIVIST-KILLED — The leader of an armed civilian movement that once drove a drug cartel out of the western Mexico state of Michoacan has been killed, authorities have confirmed. SENT: 790 words, photos.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Shares were mixed in Asia after China reported slower factory activity in June due to weaker consumer spending and export demand. SENT: 640 words, photos, audio.
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SPORTS
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FBN--NFL-GAMBLING-SUSPENSIONS — The NFL has suspended three players indefinitely for violating the league’s gambling policy and a fourth was sidelined for six games. Isaiah Rodgers and Rashod Berry of the Indianapolis Colts along with free agent Demetrius Taylor received indefinite suspensions through at least this season for betting on NFL games in 2022. SENT: 1,000 words, photos. With FBN--Sports Betting-Leagues-Explainer — As NFL cracks down on players gambling, what events are pro athletes allowed to bet on? (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 AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.
