AP News Digest 6:15 p.m.
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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NEW/DEVELOPING
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Adds GEORGE FLOYD-MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR, TIKTOK-TRUMP, LA SHERIFF-GANG AFFILIATION CLAIM, KODAK-LOAN, DEAD ZONE, FILM-MULAN RELEASE, MARLINS OUTBREAK.
ELECTION-2020 MISSOURI, ELECTION-2020-KANSAS, ELECTION 2020-MICHIGAN-HOUSE 13 — Polls close in all three states at 8 p.m.
MARLINS-ORIOLES — Game starts 7:35 p.m.
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ONLY ON AP
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GEORGE FLOYD-MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says the city is working to pair new police officers with “the right individuals” for field training in the wake of George Floyd’s death. By Mohamed Ibrahim and Amy Forliti. SENT: 690 words, photo.
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LEBANON-EXPLOSION — A massive explosion rocks Beirut, flattening much of the city’s port, damaging buildings across the capital and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. More than 70 people are killed and 3,000 injured, with bodies buried in the rubble, officials say. The cause of the blast is not immediately known, but initial reports suggest a fire detonated a warehouse at the port. By Bassem Mroue. SENT: 850 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing. With LEBANON-EXPLOSION-PHOTO GALLERY — Terror, death, devastation in Lebanon explosion. SENT: 230 words, photos.
TROPICAL-WEATHER — Tropical Storm Isaias spawns tornadoes and dumps rain along the U.S. East Coast after making landfall as a hurricane in North Carolina, where it caused floods and fires that displaced dozens of people. The storm is blamed for the deaths of at least four people. By Bryan Anderson and Sarah Blake Morgan. SENT: 990 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — Fourth of July gatherings, graduation parties, no-mask weddings, crowded bars — there are reasons the U.S. has racked up more than 155,000 coronavirus deaths, by far the most of any country, and is fast approaching an off-the-charts 5 million confirmed infections, easily the highest in the world. By Phil Marcelo, Carla K. Johnson and Lisa Marie Pane. SENT: 720 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP-EXPERTS — With three months to go before Election Day, the chasm between President Trump and federal government health experts tasked with providing him with scientific truth about the pandemic is widening. By Aamer Madhani, Jonathan Lemire and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-MICHIGAN-HOUSE 13 — “Squad” member Rashida Tlaib tries to fend off a serious challenge for her House seat in Michigan’s primary, in a rematch with the woman she narrowly defeated two years ago. Tlaib, a progressive with a national profile, faces Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones in a Democratic showdown in one of the country’s poorest districts. By David Eggert. SENT: 400 words, photo. UPCOMING: Developing; polls close 8 p.m. With ELECTION-2020-KANSAS — Establishment Republicans seek to thwart polarizing conservative Kris Kobach’s bid for Kansas’ open Senate seat. SENT: 590 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing; polls close 8 p.m.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LEARNING PODS — As the pandemic has clouded hopes of reopening schools nationwide, parents who want more than remote instruction have been scrambling to hire tutors and private teachers for small groups of children. The race to set up “learning pods” threatens to vastly deepen inequities in access to education. By Carolyn Thompson and Adriana Gomez Licon. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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TRUMP-MAIL VOTING — President Trump encourages voters in the critical swing state of Florida to vote by mail following months of criticizing the practice. SENT: 480 words, photo.
MISSILE TEST — An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched from California on a test flight to a target in the Pacific. SENT: 130 words, photos.
NEIL YOUNG-TRUMP LAWSUIT — Neil Young sues President Trump’s reelection campaign for copyright infringement, saying he doesn’t want his music used as a theme song for a “divisive un-American campaign of ignorance and hate.” SENT:
DISTRICT ATTORNEY-HUSBAND CHARGED — The husband of the Los Angeles district attorney is charged with pointing a gun at Black Lives Matter members demonstrating outside the couple’s home. SENT: 460 words, photo.
MEDIA-ERODING TRUST — A study by the Knight Foundation and Gallup finds that Americans’ distrust of the news media seems to be only worsening. SENT: 500 words.
FIXER UPPER — Chip and Joanna Gaines are returning to “Fixer Upper.” The series made the couple do-it-yourself celebrities during its five seasons on HGTV. SENT: 200 words, photo.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — Frustrated Senate Republicans re-up their complaints that Democratic negotiators are taking too hard a line in talks on a sweeping coronavirus relief bill, but pressure is mounting for progress as negotiations resume. SENT: 910 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS-POLITICS — Republican senators up for reelection are a key group to watch in Washington’s coronavirus negotiations. SENT: 870 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FORGOTTEN FRONTIER — California’s Imperial County is an example of how the coronavirus has been especially damaging to lower-income and Latino households. SENT: 1,360 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-MEXICO — Skepticism, fear help fuel virus on Mexico City’s outskirts. SENT: 950 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPING — The pandemic has dragged into the new school year — and the back-to-school shopping season, an important period for retailers. SENT: 740 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-DIARY-DEATH OF A FRIEND — “Sometimes, you just don’t get another chance to say what is on your mind”: A colleague gone, a fence mended. By Danica Kirka. SENT: 660 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NO-MASK WEDDINGS — No masks, no distance: Wedding planners, photographers and other bridal vendors have a heap of new worries in the middle of the pandemic. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRAL QUESTIONS-SMOKE — Can I get the virus from secondhand smoke? SENT: 180 words, photo.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
A separate wire advisory has moved outlining our complete coronavirus coverage.
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TIKTOK-TRUMP — President Trump’s demand that the U.S. government get a cut from a potential Microsoft purchase of TikTok is the latest unprecedented scenario in an unprecedented situation. By Technology Writer Tali Arbel. SENT: 730 words, photo.
2020 CENSUS — The Census Bureau is cutting its schedule for data collection for the 2020 census a month short as legislation that would have extended the national head count’s deadlines stalls in the U.S. Senate. SENT: 470 words, photos.
TRUMP-PUBLIC LANDS — President Trump signs legislation that will devote nearly $3 billion annually to conservation projects, outdoor recreation and maintenance of national parks and other public lands. By Darlene Superville. SENT: 520 words, photos, video.
ELECTION-2020 MISSOURI — Missouri voters were deciding whether to expand Medicaid health care coverage to thousands more low-income adults after years of resistance from Republican lawmakers. SENT: 770 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing; polls close 8 p.m.
Find more AP coverage of the 2020 U.S. Elections.
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CHICAGO-VIOLENCE — Chicago police say a 39-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 9-year-old boy. SENT: 290 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-BREONNA TAYLOR — Nearly five months after Breonna Tayolor’s death, legal experts say prosecutors may face significant obstacles to bringing charges against the police officers sent to her Louisville home. SENT: 970 words, photos.
LA SHERIFF-GANG AFFILIATION CLAIM — A violent gang of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who call themselves “The Executioners” control a patrol station in Compton through force, threats, work slowdowns and acts of revenge against those who speak out, a deputy alleges in a legal claim. SENT: 500 words, photos.
TWITTER HACK — A Florida teen identified as the mastermind of a scheme that gained control of Twitter accounts of prominent politicians, celebrities and technology moguls pleads not guilty to multiple counts of fraud. SENT: 510 words, photo.
DOCTOR-SEXUAL ASSAULT-COACH — A former Michigan State University head gymnastics coach is sentenced to 90 days in jail for lying to police during an investigation into ex-Olympic and university doctor Larry Nassar. SENT: 530 words, photos.
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IRAN — The family of a California-based member of an Iranian militant opposition group in exile says Iran abducted him while he was in Dubai. SENT: 990 words, photos.
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KODAK-LOAN — Eastman Kodak’s potentially lucrative deal to help the U.S. government make more generic drugs domestically is threatening to turn into a regulatory headache for the fallen photography giant. SENT: 460 words, photo.
EUROPE-GOOGLE-FITBIT — European Union regulators open an investigation into Google’s plan to buy fitness tracking device maker Fitbit. SENT: 580 words, photos.
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HEALTH/SCIENCE
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PARALYZING DISEASE — Health experts say the coronavirus pandemic might disrupt another disease: a rare paralyzing illness that has been hitting U.S. children for the past decade. By Medical Writer Mike Stobbe. SENT: 530 words, photos.
DEAD ZONE — Scientists say tropical weather stirred up the Gulf of Mexico, reducing this year’s low-oxygen dead zone off Louisiana’s coast to the third-smallest ever measured. SENT: 560 words.
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FILM-MULAN RELEASE — “Mulan” is no longer headed for a major theatrical release. The Walt Disney Co. says it will debut its live-action blockbuster on its subscription streaming service, Disney+, on Sept. 4. By Film Writer Lindsey Bahr. SENT: 200 words, photo.
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MARLINS OUTBREAK — Scrambling for replacements following a coronavirus outbreak, the Miami Marlins are adding a Moran, a Morin, two pitchers named Josh Smith and a former Olympic medalist in speedskating. UPCOMING: 350 words by 7 p.m., photos. With MARLINS-ORIOLES — Miami faces Baltimore in a game originally scheduled July 29. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. Game starts 7:35 p.m.
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