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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ELECTION 2020-BIDEN-HARRIS — Joe Biden is making his first appearance with newly chosen running mate Kamala Harris, betting that the California senator’s historic profile and confrontational style against President Donald Trump will boost Democrats’ efforts to oust the Republican president amid cascading national crises. By Bill Barrow and Will Weissert. SENT: 900 words, photos, videos. Developing from planned 3:50 p.m. joint event.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN VP-HOW IT HAPPENED — As protests over the death of George Floyd filled the streets, an array of Democrats urged Joe Biden to put a Black woman on the ticket — a nod to this moment in the nation’s history, to the critical role Black voters played in his ascent to the Democratic presidential nomination, and to their vital importance in his general election campaign against President Donald Trump. And so it also became Kamala Harris’s historic moment. By Julie Pace, David Eggert and Kathleen Ronayne. SENT: 1,300 words, photos.
AMERICA DISRUPTED-LATINOS — The coronavirus is disrupting Latinos’ long climb up the political ladder. They are the country’s largest minority group but haven’t fully flexed their political muscles, and those seeking office are finding it challenging to make their case in their community during the pandemic. By Nicholas Riccardi. SENT: 2,700 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,070 words is available.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — With a coronavirus vaccine still months off, companies are rushing to test what may be the next best thing: drugs that deliver antibodies to fight the virus right away, without having to train the immune system to make them. By Marilynn Marchione. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-HOMESCHOOLING — As parents nationwide prepare to help their children with more distance learning, a small but quickly growing number are deciding to take matters entirely into their own hands and begin homeschooling. By Heather Hollingsworth. SENT: 1,090 words, photos.
FBC—FALL WITHOUT FOOTBALL — The Big House will be empty when the leaves start to change this fall. Traveler will be stuck in the barn rather than galloping triumphantly down the sideline. And who knows if they’ll be partying with their hot toddies in The Grove. From Ann Arbor to Los Angeles to Oxford, that most American of pursuits — college football — has either shut down or is trying desperately to hang on in the age of COVID-19. Even if some schools manage to take the field, it will be a different looking game, a different looking country. By National Writer Paul Newberry. UPCOMING: 950 words, photos by 5 p.m.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINE COMPETITION — Russia's announcement that it is the first to approve a coronavirus vaccine has been met by doubts about its science and safety, proving the competition to have the first vaccine is about international rivalries as well as science. SENT: 810 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK--BRITAIN SCIENTIST CRITICS — As Britain navigates its way through the coronavirus pandemic, the government insists that science is guiding its decisions. But a self-appointed group of independent experts says it sees little in Britain’s response that is evidence-based. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
GERMANY-VIRUS OUTBREAK -- Germany’s government is urging citizens to keep their guard up and stick to public health guidelines, as new COVID-19 infections have hit a three-month high and schools reopened in the country’s most populous state. Germany has widely been seen as a success story in slowing the spread of the pandemic efficiently and quickly but the country’s disease control authority reported 1,226 new infections, the highest number since early May. SENT: 570 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ARGENTINA — People are on edge in Argentina, where the number of new coronavirus cases is surging despite nearly five months of strict limits on movement and activities in the Buenos Aires area, home to about two-thirds of the country’s population. Argentina was struggling economically long before the pandemic; isolation measures deepened the pain. The health crisis has an increasingly political tinge, as the government blames the surge on lockdown breaches and the opposition says basic freedoms are in peril. SENT: 665 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — The Australian state of Victoria reported a record 21 virus deaths and 410 new cases from an outbreak in the city of Melbourne that has prompted a strict lockdown. SENT: 870 words, photos.
PERU-COVID BIRTHS-PHOTO GALLERY -- Women with COVID give birth alone in Peru. SENT: 360 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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RACIAL-INJUSTICE-PORTLAND TEAR GAS — Crews in Portland, Oregon, have cleaned out six storm drains that are in the immediate vicinity of the federal courthouse where tear gas was used almost every night during often violent protests. The area is just a few blocks from the Willamette River, and officials and environmentalists are worried about chemical residue like lead and chromium getting washed off trees, grass and office buildings and making its way to the river. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 4 p.m. WITH: RACIAL-INJUSTICE-PORTLAND — People arrested in Portland since late May on non-violent misdemeanor charges during the protests that have racked Oregon’s largest city for more than two months won’t be prosecuted. SENT: 615 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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R KELLY -- Federal authorities have charged three men with harassing and intimidating women who have accused R&B singer R Kelly of abuse. SENT: 225 words.
ODD-PICTURE MISHAP-DMV - Driver’s license photos aren’t always the best, but when a Tennessee woman received her new ID the picture was perfect — for a furniture store. The photo showed an empty chair. SENT: 230 words.
FORD RECALL — Ford is recalling more than 558,000 midsize SUVs in North America because the brakes may not work properly. SENT: 115 words, photos.
BOSTON MARATHON-BOMBING — A federal appeals court has agreed to give prosecutors another month to decide their next step after the court tossed Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence. SENT: 190 words, photos.
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ELECTION 2020-TRUMP — President Trump’s campaign is struggling to define Sen. Kamala Harris now that she’s become Joe Biden’s running mate. SENT: 925 words. UPCOMING: 950 words by 5 p.m.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP’S NEGOTIATOR — President Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows is an unorthodox pick for the White House role. Seen more as a deal-breaker than deal-maker, he is now negotiating the stalled talks on coronavirus aid. SENT: 825 words, photos.
EPA-RESET — Six former Environmental Protection Agency chiefs are calling for an agency reset after President Donald Trump’s regulation-chopping, industry-minded first term, backing a detailed plan by former EPA staffers that includes renouncing political influence in regulation and boosting climate-friendly electric vehicles. SENT: 785 words, photos.
POMPEO — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is calling on the young democracies of central and Eastern Europe to embrace their hard-won freedoms as they face threats from Russia, China and others, and as they see backsliding closer to home, including in Belarus. SENT: 615 words, photos.
MILITARY HELICOPTER SHOOTING — The FBI is investigating the shooting of a military helicopter during a training mission this week in northern Virginia, injuring one crew member who was aboard, officials said. SENT: 330 words.
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LEBANON EXPLOSION-CHILDREN’S TRAUMA — When the huge explosion ripped through Beirut last week, it shattered the glass doors near where 3-year-old Abed Itani was playing with his Lego blocks. He suffered a head injury and cuts on his tiny arms and feet, and he was taken to the emergency room, where he sat amid other bleeding people. In the days since then, Abed has not been the same. Like thousands of others in Lebanon, he is grappling with trauma. By Dalal Mawad. SENT: 750 words, photos. With LEBANON — Germany stands ready to help Lebanon with reconstruction and further investment after last week’s massive explosion. SENT: 500 words, photos.
ISRAEL-FIRST-TIME PROTESTERS — Boisterous rallies against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have brought out a new breed of protesters — young middle-class Israelis who feel his scandal-plagued rule has robbed them of their future. It is a phenomenon that could have deep implications for the country’s leaders. By Josef Federman. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
BRITAIN-TRAIN DERAILMENT —A passenger train derailed in northeast Scotland after stormy weather, killing three people and injuring six others, authorities said. The train’s driver is believed to be among the dead, but formal identification has yet to take place, the British Transport Police force said. Six people were hospitalized, but their injuries are not considered serious. SENT: 415 words, photos.
BELARUS-ELECTION - Nearly 200 women gathered in Belarus’ capital on Wednesday to show solidarity with protesters injured in the latest rallies against the results of the country’s presidential election after police assaulted journalists, fired guns and broke into residential buildings to make arrests. SENT: 970 words, photos.
COLOMBIA WARLORD — A last-minute battle is unfolding over the fate of a former paramilitary warlord who the Colombian government wants returned following a long drug sentence in U.S. prison. Salvatore Mancuso, the top commander of a since-disbanded group of right-wing militias, completed a 12-year cocaine trafficking sentence in March. SENT: 1,630 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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SEVERE WEATHER-MIDWEST — Hundreds of thousands of residents in Iowa’s three largest cities remained without electricity Wednesday, two days after a rare wind storm that hit the Midwest devastated the state’s power grid, flattened valuable corn fields and killed two people. SENT: 440 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-PHONE PASSCODE -- The Supreme Court of New Jersey ruled a defendant must turn over the passcodes for his two phones in response to a search warrant, opening the way for law enforcement to compel other defendants in the state to do the same. SENT: 400 words.
HARNESS-RACING-DOPING-LAWSUIT --Two years after filing a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, an aggrieved harness-racing bettor has received $20,000 in the settlement of his claims that he was cheated out of his winnings when a doped horse won a race in New Jersey in 2016. After the lawsuit was filed in March 2018, leading figures in harness racing said they had never before heard of such a lawsuit, which accused the trainer of fraud and racketeering. SENT: 650 words, photo.
UNICEF-HELPING US KIDS -- For more than 70 years, the U.S. affiliate of UNICEF has supported the global work of that U.N. agency, most of it focused on aiding children in developing countries. On Wednesday, amid overlapping domestic crises, UNICEF USA announced its first major program supporting children in the United States. SENT: 575 words.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DOCTOR — Dozens of Black former University of Michigan student-athletes who claim they were abused by a sports doctor at the school asked Wednesday to be treated fairly as the university settles hundreds of lawsuits expected to cost the institution millions of dollars. SENT: 790 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks are rebounding on Wall Street, carrying the S&P 500 back toward the edge of its record high. SENT: 750 words, photos, developing.
FEDERAL RESERVE-ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN - A top official at the Federal Reserve criticized the decision by many states to reopen businesses this spring before getting the virus fully under control, and said those choices have hindered an economic recovery in the U.S. By Christopher Rugaber. SENT: 515 words, photos.
BRITAIN-ECONOMY — Britain has suffered the deepest recession among the world’s top economies this year, shrinking by a fifth in the second quarter alone when much of the economy was mothballed as part of efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 700 words, photos.
OBIT-SUMNER REDSTONE -- Sumner Redstone, who built a media empire from his family’s drive-in movie chain, has died. He was 97. ViacomCBS Inc., which he lead for decades, remembered Redstone for his “unparalleled passion to win, his endless intellectual curiosity, and his complete dedication to the company.” SENT: 1,120 words, photos.
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COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME — Hank Williams Jr., Marty Stuart and songwriter Dean Dillon are the newest inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame. AP Entertainment Writer Kristin M. Hall. SENT: 640 words, photos.
TV-TED LASSO — An American football coach finds himself in London coaching an elite soccer team in the new Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso.” Jason Sudeikis plays the title character without much knowledge of the game but a relentless optimism and kindness, armed with homespun wisdom. SENT: 825 words, photos.
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