AP News Digest 2 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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LEBANON — The Lebanese government orders port officials put under house arrest as investigators sought clues to the cause of the deadly explosion that shattered buildings across Beirut and destroyed its gateway to the sea. The inquiry focused on how 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical, came to be stored at the port for six years, and why nothing was done about it. By Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam. SENT: 1,170 words, photos. WITH LEBANON-THE LATEST (sent)
See more Beirut explosion coverage below.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — U.S. testing for the coronavirus is dropping even as infections remain high and the death toll rises by more than 1,000 a day, a worrisome trend that officials attribute largely to Americans getting discouraged over having to wait hours to get a test and days or weeks to find out the results. By Matthew Perrone, Nicky Forster and Michelle Liu. SENT: 1,080
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-TEXAS-BORDER — The U.S. failure to contain the pandemic has been laid bare in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. For nearly a month, the region that serves as America’s southern doorstep pleaded for a field hospital, but not until this week was one ready and accepting patients. In July alone, Hidalgo County reported more than 600 deaths. That’s more than the Houston area, which is five times larger. By Paul J. Weber. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-CONVENTIONS — President Trump and Joe Biden are both scrambling to decide how and where to deliver their convention acceptance speeches, a fresh sign of the ways the pandemic is upending the presidential campaign. By Bill Barrow. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m. Incorporates ELECTION 2020-BIDEN CONVENTION and ELECTION 2020-TRUMP.
ELECTION 2020-PROGRESSIVES — Progressive Democrats say their most recent wins show their movement is growing, buoyed by protests over George Floyd’s death, the coronavirus pandemic and new urgency to fix long-standing racial and economic injustices. Victories Tuesday by Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a member of “the squad,” and Black Lives Matter activist Cori Bush of Missouri are the latest proof, progressives say. By Sara Burnett. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos.
OBIT-PETE-HAMILL — Pete Hamill, the self-taught, street-wise newspaper columnist whose love affair with New York inspired a colorful and uniquely influential journalistic career and produced several books of fiction and nonfiction, died Wednesday morning. He was 85. By Thalia Beaty. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE BEIRUT EXPLOSION
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LEBANON-US RISKS — Images of a massive explosion in Beirut looked depressingly familiar to a Texas mayor whose small town in 2013 was partly leveled by one of the deadliest fertilizer plant explosions in U.S. history. “We don’t seem to learn that chemical is deadly,” says West Mayor Tommy Muska. Few new safeguards were put in place after the Texas explosion – and the Trump administration gutted the only major regulation adopted to guard against such industrial disasters. By Paul J. Weber and Ellen Knickmeyer. UPCOMING: 900 words by 4:30 p.m.
LEBANON-DEVASTATED BEIRUT — Residents of Beirut —stunned, sleepless and stoic — emerged from the aftermath of a catastrophic explosion searching for missing relatives, bandaging their wounds and retrieving what’s left of their homes. The sound of ambulance sirens and the shoveling of glass and rubble could be heard across the Lebanese capital. Almost nothing was left untouched by the blast, which obliterated the port and send a tide of destruction through the city center. SENT: 740 words, photos.
LEBANON-THE-EXPLOSION — Fireworks and ammonium nitrate appear to have been the fuel that ignited a massive explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut, experts and videos of the blast suggest. SENT: 840 words, photos.
TRUMP-LEBANON — U.S. officials say there is no indication the massive explosion in Lebanon that killed at least 100 people was an attack, contradicting President Donald Trump who said American generals told him it was likely caused by a bomb. By Lolita C. Baldor and Deb Riechmann. SENT: 400 words, photos. UPCOMING: 800 words by 6:30 p.m.
LEBANON-WORLD REACTION — As stunned Lebanese rescuers counted the dead and combed rubble for signs of life a day after a huge explosion shattered swaths of Beirut, nations near and far pledged that the country, already trapped in a deep economic crisis, would not be left alone. SENT: 680 words, photos;
LEBANON-EXPLOSION-PHOTO GALLERY — The aftermath of a massive explosion in the Lebanese capital of Beirut shows a shattered city covered in dust and debris. SENT: 190 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — Some clarity is beginning to emerge from the bipartisan Washington talks on a huge COVID-19 response bill. An exchange of offers and meeting devoted to the Postal Service on Wednesday indicates the White House is moving slightly in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s direction on issues like aid to states and local governments and unemployment insurance benefits. But the negotiations have a long ways to go. SENT: 890 words, photos. UPCOMING: 900 words by 5 p.m.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-MISSISSIPPI-CHOCTAW-INDIANS — As confirmed coronavirus cases skyrocket in Mississippi, the state’s only federally recognized American Indian tribe has been devastated. COVID-19 has ripped through Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indian families. Almost 10% of the tribe’s roughly 11,000 members have tested positive for the virus. More than 75 have died. The tribal economy is suffering. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHICAGO-SCHOOLS — Chicago’s mayor announced that the nation’s third-largest school district will not welcome students back to the classroom, after all, and will instead rely only on remote instruction to start the school year.. SENT: 600 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LONG LOCKDOWNS — Like most of the world, Colombia shut down in March as coronavirus cases began trickling into the South American country. But while restrictions have been lifted in many places, a nationwide stay-at-home order remains in effect in Colombia. The effects of the lengthy isolation are beginning to surface. In the capital of Bogota, the mayor’s office reports that attempted suicides are up 21% since the start of quarantine. Psychologists have seen a dramatic rise in patients complaining of anxiety and depression. SENT: 1,190 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SCHOOL BUSES — School districts nationwide puzzling over how to safely educate children during a pandemic have a more immediate challenge — getting 26 million bus-riding students there in the first place. Few challenges are proving to be more daunting than figuring out how to maintain social distance on school buses. SENT: 930 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-AUSTRALIA — Melbourne’s usually vibrant downtown streets are draining of signs of life on the eve of Australia’s toughest-ever pandemic restrictions coming into force. SENT: 750 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-LIVES-LOST-PHILIPPINES-BABY — Lives Lost: Parents of Filipino baby Kobe Christ hoped would play basketball. SENT: 910 words, photos.
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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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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FACEBOOK-TIKTOK-CLONE — Facebook launches a new TikTok clone, Instagram Reels. SENT: 290 words, photo.
ANTARCTICA-PENGUINS — Poop scoop: Satellite images reveal Antarctic penguin haunts. SENT: 300 words, photos.
BRITAIN-MEGHAN-LAWSUIT — U.K. judge: Meghan friends can stay anonymous in privacy case. SENT: 740 words, photo.
SCI--SPACEX-MARS TEST — SpaceX’s Mars test rocket makes 1st flight, landing upright. SENT: 280 words, photo.
TANZANIA-HUGE GEM — Tanzanian miner strikes it rich again with huge gem find. SENT: 220 words.
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CONGRESS-BIG TECH-HOT DOCUMENTS — A U.S. House committee has obtained more than a million internal documents from Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple in its yearlong investigation of Big Tech’s market dominance. By Marcy Gordon. SENT: 950 words, photos.
INSPECTOR GENERALS-STATE DEPARTMENT — The State Department’s acting inspector general resigned abruptly on Wednesday following the firing of his predecessor in circumstances now being investigated by Congress. By Matthew Lee. SENT: 580 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN-COGNITIVE TEST — Joe Biden is pushing back at Republican assertions that he should take a cognitive test to disprove President Donald Trump’s claim that the Democrat isn’t fit for the Oval Office. By Bill Barrow. SENT: 570 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN-ADS — Joe Biden’s Democratic presidential campaign is reserving $280 million in digital and television ads through the fall, nearly twice the amount President Donald Trump’s team has reserved. By Alexandra Jaffe. SENT: 680 words, photos.
Find more AP coverage of the 2020 U.S. Elections.
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GEORGE FLOYD-MINNEAPOLIS POLICE — A Minneapolis commission votes on a proposal to change the city charter to allow the police department to be dismantled in the wake of George Floyd’s death and replaced with a new public safety department. A final decision would rest with the city’s voters in November. UPCOMING: Developing from 7 p.m. meeting.
POLICE SHOOTING-ATLANTA — The former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks is suing the mayor and interim police chief, saying his firing violated his constitutional rights and the city code. SENT: 550 words, photos.
SEX ABUSE LAWSUITS — A civil case alleging that a Girl Scouts troop leader abused a girl in a church basement bathroom in upstate New York is among a flurry of child sex-abuse cases filed in New York. It comes after the state extended a deadline for making such civil claims against alleged abusers. SENT: 800 words, photos.
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JAPAN-HIROSHIMA-SURVIVORS — The atomic bomb that exploded over Hiroshima 75 years ago didn’t just kill and maim. The survivors have also lived for decades with lingering shame, anger and fear. Many in Japan believed radiation sickness is infectious or hereditary. By Mari Yamaguchi. SENT: 1,230 words, photos. With JAPAN-HIROSHIMA-TRAM-GIRL — Hiroshima survivor recalls working on tram after A-bomb.
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ECONOMY-PERMANENT JOB LOSSES — Stark evidence of the damage the resurgent viral outbreak has caused the U.S. economy could come Friday when the government is expected to report that the pace of hiring has slowed significantly after a brief rebound in the spring. By Christopher Rugaber. UPCOMING: 800 words, photo by 3 p.m.
FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Stocks are rising again on Wall Street Wednesday, and the S&P 500 is ticking closer to its record high as it tries for a fourth straight gain. SENT: 660 words, photos.
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FILM-MADE IN ITALY — The new film “Made in Italy” hit close to home for Liam Neeson and his 25-year-old son, Micheál Richardson. Not only do they play a father and son, but their characters are dealing with the loss of their wife and mother. Neeson’s wife and Richardson’s mother, Natasha Richardson, died over a decade ago in a skiing accident. By Film Writer Lindsey Bahr. SENT: 820 words, photos.
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FBC-UCONN-SEASON-CANCELED — UConn canceled its 2020-2021 football season, becoming the first FBS program to do so because of the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 370 words, photos.
SOCIAL INJUSTICE-WNBA — WNBA players urged people to vote against Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler, a Republican U.S. senator running to keep her seat in Georgia. SENT: 620 words, photo.
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