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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TOP STORIES
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TITANIC-TOURIST SUB — The race against time to find a submersible that disappeared on its way to the Titanic wreckage site entered a new phase of desperation as the final hours of oxygen possibly left on board the tiny vessel ticked off the clock. Rescuers have rushed more ships and vessels to the site of the disappearance, hoping underwater sounds they detected for a second straight day might help narrow their search in the urgent, international mission. But the crew had only a four-day oxygen supply when the vessel, called the Titan, set off around Sunday morning. By Patrick Whittle and Holly Ramer. SENT: 1,180 words, photos, video. With TITANIC-TOURIST-SUB-EXPLAINER; TITANIC-TOURIST-SUB-LIVE-UPDATES. Also see MORE ON TITANIC-TOURIST SUB below.
ABORTION — A year after the U.S. Supreme Court rescinded a five-decade-old right to abortion, 25 million women of childbearing age now live in states where the law makes abortions harder to get. Most Republican-led states have restricted abortion. Fourteen ban abortion in most cases at any point in pregnancy. Twenty Democratic-leaning states have protected access to abortion. Many women are traveling across state lines to end their pregnancies. By Geoff Mulvihill, Kimberlee Kruesi and Claire Savage. SENT: 2,360 words, photos. An abridged version of 910 words is also available. With ABORTION-STATES.
SEVERE WEATHER-TEXAS — A line of severe storms produced multiple tornadoes on the Rolling Plains in Texas, killing at least three people and causing significant damage around the northern town of Matador. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that the storms also produced softball-size hail and wind gusts topping 100 mph in other communities including Jayton, which also was under a tornado warning as the line moved southeast, forecasters said. SENT: 360 words. UPCOMING: Photos, video.
CHINA-RESTAURANT-EXPLOSION — Cooking gas caused a massive explosion at a barbecue restaurant in northwestern China, killing 31 people and injuring seven others during national celebrations on the eve of a long holiday weekend, authorities said. The blast tore through the restaurant on a busy street in Yinchuan, the capital of the traditionally Muslim Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, as people gathered ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival, the official Xinhua News Agency said. SENT: 590 words, photos, graphic.
PAKISTAN-FLOODING ANNIVERSARY — Last summer’s flooding in Pakistan killed at least 1,700 people, destroyed millions of homes, wiped out swathes of farmland, and caused billions of dollars in economic losses. A year on, the country hasn’t fully recovered. The aftermath runs the length of the country; survivors living in makeshift huts where their homes used to be, millions of children out of school, damaged infrastructure waiting to be repaired. UNICEF estimates around 20 million people, including 9 million children, still need humanitarian aid in flood-affected areas. By Riazat Butt. SENT: 2,000 words, photos, videos. An abridged version of 790 words is also available.
E-TAXIS TAKE FLIGHT — After much dreamy and not always credible talk of skies filled with flying, non-polluting electric taxis, their developers are preparing to deliver a future they say is now just around the corner. They came this week to France’s capital to unleash visions of momentous change in the skies. By John Leicester. SENT: 960 words, photos.
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MORE ON TITANIC-TOURIST SUB
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TITANIC-TOURIST SUB-CUSTOMER — As an international search continued, a man who was one of the submersible company’s first customers characterized a dive he made to the site two years ago as a “kamikaze operation.” SENT: 430 words, photo.
TITANIC-TOURIST SUB-WATCHING IT UNFOLD — The search for a submersible that disappeared while taking wealthy tourists to see the wreck of the Titanic has gripped many with its grim cinematic element. In Pakistan, where two of the passengers were from, people flocked to social media with prayers and newspapers covered it heavily. But the outpouring fell far short of the shock and grief over a boat carrying hundreds of migrants that sank recently off the coast of Greece. Many of them were also from the South Asian country. SENT: 870 words, photos.
TITANIC-TOURIST SUB-COMPANY — As other entrepreneurs have pushed the edge of technology to bring well-heeled tourists to space, Stockton Rush saw new opportunities for exploring another frontier: the deep sea. SENT: 700 words, photos.
TITANIC-TOURIST-SUB-SCENARIOS — Time is quickly running out for five people aboard a missing submersible that lost contact with its mother ship as it descended to the wreck of the Titanic. SENT: 980 words, photo.
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR
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INDIA-RUSSIA TIES-EXPLAINER — India considers Russia a time-tested ally from the Cold War era with key cooperation in defense, oil, nuclear energy and space exploration. But that partnership has become fraught since Moscow started developing closer ties with India’s main rival, China, because of the war against Ukraine. SENT: 730 words, photos.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Russian authorities say two drones have crashed outside Moscow as they were approaching the warehouses of a local military unit. SENT: 740 words, photos.
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SPOTLIGHTING VOICES
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BRITAIN-WINDRUSH DAY-EXPLAINER — Windrush Day is being marked with scores of community and official events, including a reception hosted by King Charles III. Charles commissioned portraits of 10 Windrush passengers for the royal collection. Behind the anniversary celebrations lies a complex story that is still unfolding. SENT: 800 words, photos, videos.
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MORE NEWS
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CULTIVATED MEAT-TASTE-TEST — Is it chicken? Here’s how the first bite of “cell-cultivated” meat tastes. SENT: 740 words, photo.
COLOMBIA-HERO DOG — Colombian military searches for heroic dog who helped find children in the Amazon jungle. SENT: 790 words, photos.
TROPICAL-WEATHER-BRET — Tropical Storm Bret grew stronger as it took aim at islands in the eastern Caribbean that braced for torrential rainfall, landslides and flooding. SENT: 380 words, photo.
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WASHINGTON/ POLITICS
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UNITED STATES-INDIA — President Joe Biden welcomes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House for talks and a state dinner. But human rights advocates and U.S. lawmakers are questioning the decision to offer the high honor to a leader whose nine-year tenure over the world’s biggest democracy has been marked by a backslide in political, religious and press freedoms. UPCOMING: 770 words, photos by 5:30 a.m.; events begin at 10 a.m.
BIDEN-IMPEACHMENT — A surprise effort by hard-right House Republicans to impeach Biden has been sidelined for now, but the ability of GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert to push the issue so close to a House vote demonstrates the ever-escalating challenge Speaker Kevin McCarthy faces in controlling his own Republican majority. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 860 words, photo.
HOUSE-SCHIFF-CENSURE — The House voted to censure California Rep. Adam Schiff for comments he made several years ago about investigations into Donald Trump’s ties to Russia, rebuking the Democrat and frequent critic of the former president along party lines. The normally solemn ceremony to be formally censured turned into more of a celebratory atmosphere as dozens of Democrats crowded to the front, clapping and cheering for Schiff. SENT: 1,040 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-SAMUEL ALITO — Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito accepted a 2008 trip to a luxury fishing lodge in Alaska from two wealthy Republican donors, one of whom repeatedly had interests before the court, ProPublica reports. SENT: 720 words, photo.
LEAKED- DOCUMENTS-INVESTIGATION — The Massachusetts Air National Guard member accused of leaking highly classified military documents on a social media platform pleaded not guilty to federal felony charges. SENT: 600 words, photo.
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NATIONAL
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CENSUS ESTIMATES-RACE — Without immigration, the white population in the U.S. would have declined last year. Immigration also propelled the expansion of the Asian population, which was the fastest-growing race or ethnic group last year in the U.S., while births outpacing deaths helped propel growth in Hispanic, Black, tribal and Hawaiian populations. SENT: 760 words, photo.
TRANSGENDER HEALTH-FLORIDA — A federal judge struck down Florida rules championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis restricting Medicaid coverage for gender dysphoria treatments for potentially thousands of transgender people. SENT: 360 words, photo.
HUNTER BIDEN — Hunter Biden will go before a judge July 26 to formally strike a plea agreement with prosecutors on tax and gun charges that will likely spare him time behind bars following a long-running federal investigation. SENT: 300 words, photo.
HANFORD TRIBES — Three federally recognized tribes have devoted decades to restoring the condition of their ancestral lands in southeastern Washington state to what they were before those lands became the most radioactively contaminated site in the nation’s nuclear weapons complex. But the tribes have been left out of negotiations on a major decision affecting the future cleanup of millions of gallons of radioactive waste stored in underground tanks on the Hanford site near Richland. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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HAJJ-CLIMATE — Saudi Arabia has ambitious plans to welcome millions more pilgrims to Islam’s holiest sites. But as climate change heats up an already scorching region, the annual Hajj pilgrimage — much of which takes place outdoors in the desert — could prove even more daunting. SENT: 1,160 words, photos.
HONDURAS-PRISON RIOT — Authorities in Honduras began to hand over to relatives the hacked, burned corpses of 46 women killed in the worst riot at a women’s prison in recent memory. Some of the bodies were so badly burned they need genetic testing or dental studies to identify them. SENT: 770 words, photos.
AUSTRALIA-TWITTER — Australia’s online safety watchdog has issued a legal notice to Twitter demanding an explanation of what the social media giant is doing to tackle a surge in online hate since Elon Musk bought the platform. SENT: 720 words, photo.
REPURPOSED CHURCHES — Across Europe, churches, convents and chapels stand empty and increasingly derelict after faith and church attendance shriveled over the past half century. More of the once-sacred structures are repurposed for anything from clothes shops and climbing walls to night clubs. SENT: 860 words, photos.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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GLOBAL CLIMATE-FINANCE — World leaders, heads of international organizations and activists are gathering in Paris for a two-day summit aimed at seeking better responses to tackle poverty and climate change issues by reshaping the global financial system. SENT: 930 words, photos.
FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Asian shares were trading mixed following a retreat on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve chair made comments that indicated inflation still isn’t under control. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 670 words, photos.
BRITAIN-ECONOMY — The Bank of England is poised to raise borrowing costs again to combat stubbornly high inflation, which has failed to come down from its peak as quickly as expected. SENT: 420 words, photo.
TURKEY-ECONOMY — The Turkish central bank faces a key test on turning to more conventional economic policies to counter sky-high inflation after newly reelected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave mixed signals about an approach that many blame for worsening a cost-of-living crisis. SENT: 670 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Lorian Belanger can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Hiro Komae (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.
