AP News Digest 3:40 am

Thursday 09 September 2021 08:41 BST

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 at https://newsroom.ap.org.

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ONLY ON AP

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LOUISIANA POLICE DEATH-FEDERAL PROBE — As the Louisiana State Police reel from the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene — a case blown open this year by long-withheld video of troopers stunning, punching and dragging the Black motorist — an Associated Press investigation has revealed it is part of a pattern of violence shrouded in secrecy. An AP review of investigative records and newly obtained videos identified at least a dozen cases in which troopers or bosses ignored or concealed evidence of beatings, deflected blame and impeded efforts to root out misconduct. By Jim Mustian and Jake Bleiberg. SENT: 1,950 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 970 words is also available.

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TOP STORIES

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GULF-UNITED STATES-AFGHANISTAN — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the al-Qaida extremist group that used Afghanistan as a staging base to attack United States 20 years ago may attempt to regenerate there following an American withdrawal that has left the Taliban in power. He said the United States is prepared to prevent an al-Qaida comeback in Afghanistan that would threaten the United States. By National Security Writer Robert Burns. SENT: 910 words, photo. With AFGHANISTAN-THE LATEST.

TEXAS-EXECUTION — A Texas death row inmate won a reprieve from execution for killing a convenience store worker during a 2004 robbery that garnered $1.25 after claiming the state was violating his religious freedom by not letting his pastor lay hands on him at the time of his lethal injection. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked John Henry Ramirez’s execution about three hours after he could have been executed. By Juan A. Lozano and Michael Graczyk. SENT: 800 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK — The summer that was supposed to mark America’s independence from COVID-19 is instead drawing to a close with the U.S. more firmly under the tyranny of the virus, with deaths per day back up to where they were in March. The delta variant is filling hospitals, sickening alarming numbers of children and driving coronavirus deaths in some places to the highest levels of the entire pandemic. By Matthew Perrone and Dee-Ann Durbin. SENT: 840 words, photos.

HURRICANE IDA — The death toll in Louisiana from Hurricane Ida rose to 26, after health officials reported 11 additional deaths in New Orleans, mostly older people who perished from the heat. The announcement was grim news amid signs the city was returning to normal with almost fully restored power and a lifted nighttime curfew. By Kevin McGill and Melinda Deslatte. SENT: 940 words, photos.

SEPT 11-THE CONSPIRACY CONUNDRUM — There were, of course, conspiracy theories before 9/11 happened – the Kennedy assassination being the most prominent in recent American history. And the focus on conspiracy theories was on the rise in the years before 9/11, as exemplified by the intense popularity of "The X-Files" in the 1990s. But it was 9/11 — perhaps the biggest global conspiracy that has ever come into the public eye — that heralded the coming of age of an era in which suspicion became a reigning sentiment in mainstream American life. By David Klepper. SENT: 1,430 words, photos, graphic, video. An abridged version of 940 words is also available. Also see SEPT 11-BOSTON’S SCARS below.

NKOREA-MILITARY PARADE — Soldiers, civil defense forces and troops wearing gas masks and red hazmat suits paraded in North Korea’s capital in a celebration of the nation’s 73rd anniversary that was a marked departure from past militaristic displays. By Kim Tong-Hyung. SENT: 810 words, photos.

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