AP News Digest 6:20 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:
ELECTION SECURITY, VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNEMPLOYMENT-STATES, VIRUS OUTBREAK-GEORGIA, PEBBLE MINE-BIDEN, ISRAEL-ODD-COVID BLING.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK — With confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. reaching 5 million Sunday, by far the highest of any country, the failure of the most powerful nation in the world to contain the scourge has been met with astonishment and alarm in Europe.. By Nicole Winfield and Lisa Marie Pane. SENT: 1,240 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP — President Donald Trump’s end run around Congress on coronavirus relief is raising questions about whether it would give Americans the economic lifeline he claims and it appears certain to face legal challenges. Democratic leaders are calling it a pre-election ploy that would burden cash-strapped states. By Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 990 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ERA OF UNCERTAINTY — Millions of Americans who’ve lost their jobs during the pandemic are living with uncertainty as experts warn the recovery depends on how fast the public health crisis is solved. Some economists say it’s impossible to know what the unemployment rate will be at year’s end and what jobs will even exist in six months. That leaves many of the jobless in limbo as they struggle with overdue bills and depleted savings, wondering when — and if — they’ll earn another paycheck. By Sharon Cohen. SENT: 2,490 words, photos. An abridged version of 960 words is also available. This is the Monday Spotlight.
ELECTION 2020-POSTAL SERVICE — Mail piling up. Constant attacks from the president. Cuts to overtime as record numbers of ballots are expected to pass through post offices this fall. The success of the 2020 presidential election could hinge on a most unlikely government agency: the U.S. Postal Service. Current signs are not promising. By Anthony Izaguirre and Matthew Daly. SENT: 980 words, photos.
RACIAL-INJUSTICE-PORTLAND-MESSAGE — Chaotic and often violent protests against racial injustice have topped the headlines for days, but lost in the shouting are the voices of many Black Portland residents themselves — and their feelings about the unrest are nuanced and diverse. Some feel the overwhelmingly white crowds of protesters — and particularly those committing vandalism — are co-opting the Black Lives Matter movement. Others welcome white demonstrators because with their larger numbers they can draw attention to the city’s racial inequity in ways that Black demonstrators alone can’t. By Gillian Flaccus and Suman Naishadham. SENT: 1,020 words, photos. With RACIAL-INJUSTICE-PORTLAND — Riot declared as fire burns in Portland police union offices. SENT: 570 words, photos.
BELARUS-ELECTIONS — Tensions were high in Belarus as the country held a presidential election, with police setting up checkpoints outside the capital to quash potential protests and detaining at least eight opposition campaign workers. One leading opposition figure fled the country. The election pitted authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has held an iron grip on the ex-Soviet nation since 1994, against four others in an atmosphere charged with wide public dismay over the country’s deteriorating economy, political repression and Lukashenko’s brushoff of the coronavirus threat. SENT: 930 words photos.
PUERTO RICO-PRIMARIES — Puerto Rico has been forced to partially suspend voting for primaries marred by a lack of ballots as officials called on the president of the U.S. territory’s elections commission to resign. SENT: 670 words, photo.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-EXECUTIVE ORDERS-WHAT THEY DO — The executive orders signed by President Trump this weekend aim to put more money in the pockets of Americans and keep some of them from getting kicked out of their homes or their apartments. But there’s plenty the orders don’t do to help those struggling the most with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. UPCOMING: 850 words by 7 p.m., photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNEMPLOYMENT-STATES — A plan from President Donald Trump to extend additional unemployment benefits requires states to provide 25 percent of the funds, and it’s unclear whether states have the money or the will to do it. By Matthew Barakat. SENT: 870 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GEORGIA — A Georgia high school has told parents in a letter that six students and three staff members tested positive for COVID-19, days after viral photos showed the school’s hallways packed with people. SENT: 469 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-GERMANY-BACK-TO-SCHOOL — Masks during class, masks only in the halls, no masks at all. Distance when possible, no distance within same-grade groups, no distance at all. As Germany’s 16 states start sending millions of children back to school in the middle of the global coronavirus pandemic, the country’s famous sense of “Ordnung,” or order, has given way to uncertainty, with a hodgepodge of regional regulations that officials acknowledge may or may not work. By David Rising. SENT: 1,130 words, photos,.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-COLLEGES — As they struggle to salvage some semblance of a campus experience this fall, U.S. colleges are requiring promises from students to help contain the coronavirus — no keg parties, no long road trips and no outside guests on campus. SENT: 880 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NICARAGUA-BEAUTY PAGEANT — For four months, everything was virtual: the modeling and speech classes, the make-up courses and the emotional support session via videoconference. And when eight contestants vying to be Miss Nicaragua did finally start in-person practices, they did so with masks covering their faces. SENT: 320 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-MOROCCO-TOURIST-ANIMALS — Morocco’s restrictions to counter the coronavirus pandemic have taken a toll on the carriage horses in the tourist mecca of Marrakech. Some owners are struggling to feed them. An animal protection group says hundreds of Morocco’s horses and donkeys face starvation amid the collapsing tourism industry. SENT: 710 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — The premier of Australia’s Victoria state says more than 2,700 active cases have no known source and remain the primary concern of health authorities. Victoria sees a welcome drop in its new COVID-19 cases with 394 but a record 17 deaths, including two people in their 50s. It took the hard-hit state’s toll to 210 and the Australian total of deaths to 295. SENT: 620 words photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-NEW-ZEALAND-VIRUS-FREE — New Zealand marks 100 days since it stamped out the spread of the coronavirus, a rare bright spot in a world that continues to be ravaged by the disease. SENT: 480 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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EARTHQUAKE-NORTH-CAROLINA — 5.1-magnitude quake hits North Carolina; no damage reported. SENT: 260 words, photos.
DC SHOOTING — DC shooting leaves 1 dead, some 20 injured, police say. SENT: 200 words, photos.
SIMON-COWELL-BACK-INJURY — Simon Cowell injures back while testing electric bicycle. SENT: 90 words, photo.
BRITAIN-RACISM — BBC says sorry for using racist term in news report. SENT: 210 words, photo.
PAKISTAN-MONSOON RAINS — 3 days of heavy monsoon rains kill 58 people across Pakistan. SENT: 410 words, photos.
ITALY-OBIT-VALERI — Italy’s pioneering comic actor, Franca Valeri, dies at 100. SENT: 580 words, photos.
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-OHIO-GOVERNOR — The Ohio governor’s positive, then negative, tests for COVID-19 have provided fuel for skeptics of government pandemic mandates and critics of his often-aggressive policies. The conflicting results come as Americans have grown frustrated over access to testing and quick results and as Ohioans remain divided over Mike DeWine’s actions to deal with the pandemic. SENT: 690 words, photos.
US-TAIWAN — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has arrived in Taiwan in the highest-level visit by an American Cabinet official since the break in formal diplomatic relations between Washington and Taipei in 1979. SENT: 500 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-GEORGIA 14TH — Marjorie Taylor Greene is running for Congress - and is unrepentant about her racist rhetoric and support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. With the runoff for the Republican nomination approaching, some voters seem unaware of Greene’s controversial views, or shrug them off. SENT: 860 words, photos.
ELECTION SECURITY — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday the threats of interference in the U.S. presidential election from Russia and China are not equal, pointing to a more serious risk with Moscow’s efforts to boost President Donald Trump’s reelection bid. SENT: 350 words, photos.
PEBBLE MINE-BIDEN — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Sunday that if he’s elected, his administration would stop a proposed copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. SENT: 375 words, photos.
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REL-CATHOLIC-SCHOOLS-IN-CRISIS — As the new academic year arrives, school systems across the United States are struggling to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Roman Catholic educators have an extra challenge — trying to forestall a relentless wave of closures of their schools that has no end in sight. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
RACIAL-INJUSTICE-SCHOOL-MASCOTS — At a mostly white high school near Salt Lake City, the steps leading to the football field are covered in red handprints, arrows and drawings of Native American men in headdresses meant to represent the mascot, the Braves. “Welcome to the Dark Side” and “Fight like a Brave” are scrawled next to images of teepees, a tomahawk and a dream catcher. While advocates have made strides in getting Native American symbols and names changed in sports, they say there’s still work to do mainly at the high school level, where mascots like Braves, Indians, Warriors, Chiefs and Redskins persist. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-PROTESTERS ARRESTED — Police say 12 protesters in Kentucky’s largest were arrested after they blocked roadways, surrounded vehicles, shot paintballs and destroyed property. SENT: 200 words.
POLICE RALLY-FIGHT — Authorities say three people have been arrested and another cited after fights broke out a pro-police rally in Colorado. SENT: 270 words, photos.
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LEBANON-INTERNATIONAL AID — Over 30 participants to the international aid conference for Lebanon have pledged help for a “credible and independent” investigation into Beirut explosion. They’ve also said support for the country’s recovery will need to come with reforms demanded by protesters. SENT: 1,000 words, photos. With LEBANON — Officials resign in Lebanon in wake of deadly blast. SENT: 880 words, photos. With LEBANON-THE LATEST (sent).
REL-LEBANON-BLAST SHAKEN CHURCH — The world watched, through videos circulated widely online, fleeting glimpses of the horror that gripped the Lebanese people as a massive explosive ripped through their capital on Tuesday. Among them is dramatic footage of Father Rabih Thoumy darting for cover at a church as stained glass and other debris rain down. In interviews with The Associated Press, Thoumy and church priest Father Marwan Mouawad recount the horror of the moment the blast rocked the church. Thoumy says: “God has saved us.” SENT: 660 words, photos.
JAPAN-NAGASAKI-ANNIVERSARY — The Japanese city of Nagasaki marks its 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing, with the mayor and dwindling survivors urging world leaders including their own to do more for a nuclear weapons ban. At 11:02 a.m., the moment the B-29 bomber Bockscar dropped a 4.5-ton (10,000-pound) plutonium bomb dubbed “Fat Man,” Nagasaki survivors and other participants stood in a minute of silence to honor more than 70,000 dead. By Mari Yamaguchi. SENT: 780 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN-TRADITIONAL-COUNCIL — A traditional Afghan council conclude with hundreds of delegates agreeing to free 400 Taliban members, paving the way for an early start to negotiations between Afghanistan’s warring sides. The declaration calls for an immediate start to negotiations and a cease-fire. The move looks to bring the United States a little closer to bringing home its troops and ending its longest military engagement. SENT: 730 words, photos.
MAURITIUS-LEAKING SHIP — Thousands of students, environmental activists and residents of Mauritius were working around the clock trying to reduce the damage to the Indian Ocean island from an oil spill after a tanker ran aground on a coral reef. An estimated 1 ton of oil from the Japanese ship’s cargo of 4 tons has already escaped into the sea, officials said. SENT: 760 words, photos.
SRI LANKA — Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as the prime minister for the fourth time after his party secured a landslide victory in parliamentary elections that cemented his family’s hold on power. SENT: 410 words, photos.
ISRAEL-ODD-COVID BLING — An Israeli jewelry company is making what it says is the world’s most expensive coronavirus face mask — a $1.5 million gold face covering encrusted with 3,600 diamonds. SENT: 300 words, photos.
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SAUDI-ARAMCO-EARNS — Saudi Aramco’s net income plunged by 50% in the first half of the year, according to published figures, offering a revealing glimpse into the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on one of the world’s biggest oil producers. SENT: 410 words, photo.
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FILM-MARIA RESSA DOCUMENTARY — A new documentary tracks award-winning Filipino journalist Maria Ressa’s dual life in recent years. She’s seen smiling while accepting international honors and praise from the likes of George Clooney, then grimly facing down online harassment, legal action and real world threats for her news site Rappler’s reporting on the drug war waged by President Rodrigo Duterte. SENT: 580 words, photos.
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GLF—PGA CHAMPIONSHIP — Dustin Johnson has a one-shot lead in the PGA Championship, with Brooks Koepka among those two behind in his quest to become the first player in 64 years to win the same major three straight times. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 9:30 p.m.
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