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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EMIRATES-ISRAEL —President Donald Trump said that the United Arab Emirates and Israel have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties as part of a deal to halt the annexation of occupied land sought by the Palestinians for their future state. The announcement makes the UAE the first Gulf Arab state to do so and only the third Arab nation to have active diplomatic ties to Israel. By Jon Gambrell, Matthew Lee and Josef Federman. SENT: 1,320 words, photos.
TRUMP-MAIL-IN VOTING- President Trump declared that he opposes additional funding for the U.S. Postal Service, acknowledging that his position would starve the agency of money Democrats say it needs to process an anticipated surge in mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic. By Deb Riechmann and Anthony Izaguirre. SENT: 950 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN-HARRIS - Kamala Harris is poised to take a leading role in Joe Biden’s campaign, emerging as a top voice criticizing President Trump. By Alexandra Jaffe. UPCOMING: 900 words by 6 p.m.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — The number of Americans applying for unemployment dropped below 1 million last week for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak took hold in the U.S. five months ago, but layoffs are still running extraordinarily high. The figures show that the crisis continues to throw people out of work just as the expiration of an extra $600 a week in federal jobless benefits has deepened the hardship for many — and posed another threat to the U.S. economy. By Christopher Rugaber. SENT: 950 words, photo. WITH: FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Wall Street was drifting close to its highest-ever levels and the market remains within a breath of erasing the last of its pandemic losses. SENT: 700 words, photos, developing.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHURCHES LAWSUIT — Churches in California and Minnesota, backed by a conservative legal group, files lawsuit against the governors of their states challenging restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak that they contend are violations of religious liberty. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 4 p.m.
LEBANON — The FBI will join Lebanese and other international investigators in the probe of the massive explosion at Beirut’s port that killed more than 170 people, injured thousands and caused widespread destruction, a U.S. diplomat said. Lebanese authorities had invited the FBI to take part, and it is one way that Washington can help the country deal with the effects of the disaster, said U.S. Undersecretary for Political Affairs David Hale as he toured the Gemayezeh neighborhood, which was damaged by the Aug. 4 blast. By Sarah El Deeb. SENT: 895 words, photos. WITH: LEBANON-HELPING THEMSELVES — Abandoned by state after explosion, Lebanese help each other. SENT: 1,020 words, photo. WITH: LEBANON-HISTORIC BUILDINGS — UNESCO warns historic Beirut buildings at risk of collapse. SENT: 460 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-SCHOOL BOARD DILEMMA — School boards nationwide are facing what one South Carolina leader calls an impossible decision. It’s a simple question: Do we return to school amid the coronavirus pandemic? But officials say there are no right or easy answers. SENT: 1,480 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,010 words has also been sent.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-LATINOS-MISINFORMATION -- False claims and conspiracy theories, ranging from bogus cures to the idea that the coronavirus is a hoax, have dogged efforts to control the pandemic from the beginning. While bad information is a problem for everyone, it can pose a particular threat to communities of people of color who already face worse outcomes from the virus. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — With talks on emergency coronavirus aid all but ended, both sides played the blame game Thursday rather than make any serious moves to try to break their stalemate. UPCOMING: 900 words by 5 p.m.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FRANCE-INJUSTICE — Festering beneath France’s promise of guaranteed health care for all lie deep disparities across economic and racial lines — differences laid painfully bare by the COVID-19 crisis. As France records a new uptick in virus cases, a health advocacy group is trying to help, offering medical care and guidance in poor and migrant-heavy suburbs and neighborhoods. SENT: 860 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPAIN’S SECOND WAVE — Not two months after battling back the coronavirus, Spain’s hospitals are beginning to see patients struggling to breathe returning to their wards. The deployment of a military emergency brigade to set up a field hospital in Zaragoza this week is a grim reminder that Spain is far from claiming victory over the coronavirus that devastated the European country in March and April. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-RWANDA-NEW-TESTING — Researchers in Rwanda are using an algorithm to refine the process of pooled coronavirus testing, which tests batches of samples from groups of people and then tests each person individually only if a certain batch comes back positive for COVID-19. SENT: 690 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GERMANY — Officials in Germany’s Bavaria state have acknowledged that tens of thousands of travelers tested for the coronavirus upon entering the country over the past two weeks are still waiting to find out whether they were infected. SENT: 760 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN -- Britain has started testing a new smartphone app to help people find out whether they’ve been close to someone infected with COVID-19 after security concerns torpedoed an earlier effort to use technology to track the disease. SENT: 210 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-DISRUPTED FAITH — AP PHOTOS: The coronavirus is challenging people of all faiths to find ways to worship and observe religious occasions. SENT: 750 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-DIARY EPICENTER VACATION — The CDC recommends staying at home as much as possible to avoid spreading coronavirus, “especially if your trip is not essential.” But as the pandemic stretches beyond the horizon, one writer needed to provide his family with a change of scenery from their home in Georgia. SENT: 860 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ORIGAMI MEMORIAL — An artist in Los Angeles is memorializing each of the thousands of people who have died from COVID-19 in the United States with a delicate origami crane. SENT: 240 words, photos, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-FROZEN POPS -- It was a cool moment on a hot summer day. When 6-year-old Amiyah Dantzler-Clay and her 5-year-old brother Jayden saw a police officer parked in front of their Baltimore home on a hot summer day, they surprised him with a refreshing grape-flavor ice pop. Police Maj. Richard Gibson was so moved by the gesture that a couple of days later he knocked on their door with a gift: a box full of their favorite frozen treats. SENT: 410 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VIRAL-QUESTIONS-FOUNTAINS — Is it safe to drink from a water fountain during the pandemic? Experts say to avoid fountains if you can or to limit any direct contact when using them. SENT: 310 words, graphic.
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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EAGLE ATTACK-DRONE -- A bald eagle launched an aerial assault on a drone operated by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy — known as EGLE — ripping off a propeller and sending the aircraft into Lake Michigan. SENT: 245 words.
WAYWARD-EMU — Officials captured a wayward emu that was running through the streets of a New Jersey city. SENT: 140 words.
BOMBS FOUND-FLORIDA — Florida police have arrested a man after finding more than two dozen pipe bombs, including some that contained nails, screws and metal pellets. SENT: 225 words.
FILM-AMC-REOPENING -- AMC, the nation’s largest movie theater chain, will reopen in the U.S. on Aug. 20 with retro ticket prices of 15 cents per movie. SENT: 285 words, photo.
GOATS KILLED-FOUR CHARGED — Four people have been charged after two goats were fatally attacked by dogs and someone wielding a spiked bat and what appeared to be a machete, authorities in Virginia said. SENT: 215 words.
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ELECTION 2020-HARRIS-MISINFORMATION — Minutes after Joe Biden named Kamala Harris as his Democratic presidential running mate, an online misinformation campaign that had been months in the making was unleashed. The misinformation echoes the conspiracy theories that President Donald Trump once used to gain notoriety in politics and galvanize conservatives against Barack Obama. By Sara Burnett and Amanda Seitz. UPCOMING: 800 words by 6 p.m.
ELECTION-2020 CALIFORNIA SENATE — The possible ascendancy of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris to the vice presidency next year has kicked off widespread speculation in California about who might replace her if Democrats seize the White House in November. SENT: 755 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP-IOWA VOTING — President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has sued two Democratic-leaning Iowa counties that are making it easy to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to invalidate tens of thousands of voters’ absentee ballot applications. SENT: 790 words.
IMMIGRATION-PRIVATE PRISON COMPANIES — Executives at the nation’s two largest private prison companies have been donating large sums to President Donald Trump and Republican candidates with an eye toward the November elections that one of the corporations believes will lead to a rebound in its stock price. SENT: 1,000 words, photo.
UNITED STATES-POMPEO — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Slovenia on Thursday to make the case for high-speed wireless networks that bar Chinese companies like Huawei. SENT: 490 words, photos.
CRYPTOCURRENCY SEIZURE-MILITANT GROUPS — The Justice Department has seized millions of dollars from cryptocurrency accounts that militant organization abroad, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, relied on to raise money for their operations, officials announced. SENT: 250 words, photos. UPCOMING: 700 words by 3 p.m.
MILITARY DRAFT-WOMEN — A federal appeals court has upheld the constitutionality of the all-male military draft system. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned a lower court ruling. The opinion says the Supreme Court upheld the all-male draft in 1981 and that “only the Supreme Court may revise its precedent.” SENT: 385 words, photo.
SUPREME COURT-RHODE ISLAND ELECTION — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday left in place an agreement that allows Rhode Island residents to vote by mail in two upcoming elections without signing their ballots in the presence of two witnesses or a notary. SENT: 530 words.
TRUMP-FACT CHECK-ECONOMY — President Trump’s proposed payroll tax cut is a threat to Social Security no matter how he casts it. SENT: 600 words, photos.
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CHICAGO VIOLENCE-MAGNIFICENT MILE — Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, a glittering stretch that mixes high-end chain stores, mom-and-pop retail outlets and some of the city’s best Lake Michigan and Chicago River views, has long been a magnet for tourists. But this week’s violence that followed the police shooting of a 20-year-old man left a trail of broken glass, battering businesses already hit by a pandemic and earlier unrest over George Floyd’s death. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 3 p.m.
TROPICAL WEATHER — Tropical Storm Josephine has formed in the Atlantic Ocean, making it the earliest “J-named” storm in a record-setting hurricane season. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami on Thursday morning said Josephine was located 975 miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands. SENT: 200 words, photos.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES — Light winds and scattered thundershowers were helping to calm the flames of a huge wildfire that prompted evacuations north of Los Angeles, and firefighters hoped to reign in the blaze before temperatures spike later in the day. SENT: 250 words, photos.
BLOGGER BEHEADING PLOT -- A Rhode Island man sentenced to 15 years in prison for participating in a plot to behead a conservative blogger on behalf of the Islamic State group will be released early because of the coronavirus pandemic, a federal judge has ruled. SENT: 600 words, photo.
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES-DEDICATED LANES — The state of Michigan and some private partners are taking steps toward building or assigning dedicated lanes for automated vehicles on a 40-mile stretch of highway between Detroit and Ann Arbor. SENT: 675 words,
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BELARUS-ELECTION — Thousands of people swarmed the streets of Belarus’ capital and other cities to keep up their protests of election results that extended the 26-year rule of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and a subsequent police crackdown on peaceful demonstrations. SENT: 850 words, photos.
PACIFIC WAR-75-JAPAN-WAR REMAINS — Seventy-five years after the end of World War II, more than 1 million Japanese war dead are scattered throughout Asia, where the legacy of Japanese aggression still hampers recovery efforts. The missing Japanese make up about half of the 2.4 million soldiers who died overseas during Japan’s military rampage across Asia in the early 20th century. As the anniversary for the end of the Pacific War arrives Saturday, there is little hope these remains will ever be recovered, let alone identified and returned to grieving family members. SENT: 820 words, photos.
PERSIAN GULF-TENSIONS — US says Iran briefly seizes oil tanker near Strait of Hormuz. SENT: 560 words, photos.
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BUSINESS
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GERMANY-DAIMLER-EMISSIONS SCANDAL — The maker of Mercedes-Benz cars says it has reached an agreement in principle to settle U.S. claims over emissions from its diesel vehicles for over $2.2 billion. SENT: 200 words, photos.
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MUSIC MICKEY GUYTON — Mickey Guyton is turning a mirror on country music by speaking her truth and reclaiming both her career and identity. She’s delivering a one-two punch of important songs this year leading up to her first new EP in five years. By AP Entertainment Writer Kristin M. Hall. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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FBN--NFL FACILITIES-VIRUS PROOFING -- When NFL players leave their socially distanced cubicles in locker rooms now for the next meeting, they must remember to bring more than just their playbooks. Wearing masks and proximity tracker watches are required around team facilities, too. That’s among the many new protocols around the league in attempt to keep the coronavirus from wrecking the 2020 season. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
FBN-ON FOOTBALL-COLLEGE IMPACT — The cancellation of college football games will have a far more significant impact on the NFL beyond giving the league an opportunity to play games this fall. Evaluating players who didn’t play a season will be among the biggest challenges. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Richard A. Somma can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Courtney Dittmar (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, Phil Holm (ext. 7636). Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://newsroom.ap.org. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport(at)ap.org or call 877-836-9477.