AP News Digest 7 a.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-DNC — Former President Barack Obama warned that American democracy could falter if President Donald Trump is reelected, a stunning rebuke of his successor that was echoed by Kamala Harris at the Democratic Convention as she embraced her historic role as the first Black woman on a national political ticket. SENT: 1,330 words, photos, video. With ELECTION 2020-DNC-TAKEAWAYS — Making history, pounding Trump. SENT: 1,130 words, photos, video.
ELECTION 2020-DNC-BIDEN — When Joe Biden steps to the podium as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, the lifelong politician will offer himself to a wounded, meandering nation as balm — and as a bridge. By Bill Barrow. SENT: 1,230 words, photos. With ELECTION 2020-DNC-VALERIE BIDEN OWENS-Q&A — An interview with Biden’s sister and adviser. SENT: 990 words, photo; ELECTION 2020-DNC-WHAT TO WATCH — Biden’s moment. SENT: 660 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-WATCHING THE DNC — Millions are watching the Democratic National Convention — at home, on Zoom watch parties, even from cars and SUVs at drive-in movie-like viewing stations. From delegates to regular people, observers generally give the virtual format high marks but say it takes some getting used to. By Jim Salter, Stephen Groves and Kathleen Ronayne. SENT: 880 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP — On Joe Biden’s big day, President Donald Trump is planning to show up in his rival’s old backyard. Trump is set to hold an event just outside the former vice president’s birthplace in Scranton, Pennsylvania. By Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 810 words, photos. UPCOMING: 990 words after 3 p.m. event.
Find more coverage of the conventions and Election 2020 on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
UNITED NATIONS-UNITED STATES-IRAN — The Trump administration is set to demand the restoration of all international sanctions on Iran in a move that will further isolate the U.S. at the United Nations, test the credibility of the U.N. Security Council and possibly deal a fatal blow to one of former President Barack Obama’s signature foreign policy achievements. By Matthew Lee, Deb Riechmann and Edith M. Lederer. SENT: 900 words, photos.
RUSSIA-NAVALNY — Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is in a coma and on a ventilator in a hospital intensive care unit after falling ill from suspected poisoning that his allies believe is linked to his political activity. The 44-year-old foe of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin felt unwell on a flight back to Moscow from Tomsk, a city in Siberia, and was taken to a hospital after the plane made an emergency landing in Omsk, Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh says on Twitter. By Daria Litvinova SENT: 680 words, photo.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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IRAN-MISSILES — Iran’s state TV is reporting the country has unveiled two new missiles amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. SENT: 190 words, photos.
PORTLAND-PROTESTS — Authorities declared a riot at a Portland protest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building. SENT: 180 words, photos.
MISSING-GIRL-TENNESSEE — A Tennessee teenager was indicted on felony murder and other charges in the death of her 15-month-old daughter, whose disappearance prompted a search across three states, officials say. SENT: 220 words, photos.
RACIAL-INJUSTICE-LAS-CRUCES — A New Mexico city has agreed to pay $6.5 million to the family of Mexican American man who was choked to death by a police officer. SENT: 360 words, photos.
POSTAL-SERVICES-DEAD-CHICKS — At least 4,800 chicks shipped to Maine farmers through the U.S. Postal Service have arrived dead in the recent weeks since rapid cuts hit the federal mail carrier’s operations, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree says. SENT: 510 words, photo.
RAPTORS-PRESIDENT-DEPUTY-HIT — A new video released by the attorneys of Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri appears to show an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy initially shoved him twice leading to an altercation moments after his team had defeated the Golden State Warriors in last year’s NBA championship. SENT: 440 words, photo.
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MORE ON THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
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ELECTION 2020-DNC-COONS FAITH SPEECH — Chris Coons is cut from the same cloth as Joe Biden in many ways. He occupies the same Senate seat from Delaware that Biden held for 36 years, is a Democrat known for seeking bipartisan collaboration where possible and is open about his faith’s influence on his life. When Coons speaks to the Democratic National Convention before Biden’s speech accepting the party’s presidential nomination, his remarks will focus on faith — attesting in highly personal fashion to his longtime friend’s belief in God. By Elana Schor. SENT: 850 words, photos.
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UNITED STATES-IRAQ — President Trump meets with Iraq’s prime minister at the White House, as the administration says it will continue to support Iraq as it confronts the threat posed by the Islamic State group. By Matthew Lee. SENT: 610 words, photos. UPCOMING: 800 words after 11 a.m. meeting.
UNITED STATES-EMIRATES — President Donald Trump says the U.S. is considering selling advanced American F-35 warplanes to the United Arab Emirates over the objections of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. By Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee. SENT: 460 words, photo.
ELECTION 2020-COUNTING-THE-VOTE — Election officials are bracing for a prolonged period of uncertainty after Election Day in November because states aren’t ready for an influx of mail ballots. But Tuesday’s primary in Florida shows that delays aren’t inevitable in a mail system. SENT: 620 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-WYOMING-WOMEN — Women are all but guaranteed to claim a majority of Wyoming’s congressional delegation for the first time after voters picked four — two Republicans and two Democrats — to compete for U.S. Senate and House seats in November. SENT: 720 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — India counted another record high of new coronavirus infections as it ramped up testing to more than 900,000 a day. The 69,652 new cases pushed India’s total past 2.8 million, of which 2 million have recovered, the Health Ministry says. SENT: 590 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SCHOOL METRICS — As schools across the U.S. decide whether to reopen this fall, many are left wondering how to know if it’s safe. Public health experts say virus rates in the community should be low, but there’s little agreement on a specific threshold or even a measurement. SENT: 910 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-LIVES-LOST-YEMEN DOCTOR — For five decades, Yassin Abdel-Wareth was one of a handful of epidemiologists in Yemen, hunting for disease outbreaks that are as endemic as armed conflicts in the Middle East’s poorest nation. He had seen cholera, malaria, Rift Valley fever and, in early June, he was worried about the new coronavirus. Weeks later, the 72-year-old doctor-turned-epidemiologist was dead from COVID-19. SENT: 990 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ONE-GOOD-THING-EVERYDAY-MUSEUM — Humble, everyday items like takeout leaflets and directions for attending a funeral offer surprisingly valuable glimpses into life during the coronavirus pandemic. That’s the idea behind a project at the Historical Museum of Urahoro, in Hokkaido, northern Japan, a town of just 4,500 residents that has no McDonald’s or movie theater. SENT: 550 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — The government will provide its latest snapshot of the pace of layoffs in the United States, which have declined steadily but remain stuck at a high level with the economy still in the grip of the viral pandemic that erupted in March. The number of applications that were reported last week fell below 1 million after 20 straight weeks above that level. By Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber. SENT: 150 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-COLLEGES — President Donald Trump blasts universities that have canceled in-person classes amid coronavirus outbreaks, saying the move could ultimately cost lives rather than saving them. SENT: 630 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-NURSING-HOME-NUMBERS — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo responds to an Associated Press report that his state’s coronavirus death toll in nursing homes could be a significant undercount, saying it makes sense to include only those residents who died on the home’s property. SENT: 690 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VIRAL-QUESTIONS-OFFICES — How will office life be different in a pandemic? The office you once knew is likely to look vastly different. To keep people a safe distance apart, companies are taking steps such as staggering shifts or having employees come in on alternating days. SENT: 270 words. photo.
MEXICO-JUNK-FOOD-BANS — As more states propose or approve bans on junk food sales to minors, Mexico is seeing the tide turn against high-calorie snacks that experts say have given the country one of the highest rates of childhood obesity and an unusually young coronavirus death toll. SENT: 740 words, photo.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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GOLDEN STATE KILLER — Since death row isn’t an option for serial killer and rapist Joseph DeAngelo, his victims want him sent to the toughest possible prison in California to live in daily terror of other inmates. SENT: 560 words, photos.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES — Wildfires rage through Northern California, threatening thousands of homes and blackening the skies near San Francisco as crews struggled to surround them despite steep terrain and blistering heat. SENT: 840 words, photos. With CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES-UNHEALTHY AIR — California slammed by wildfires, heat, unhealthy smoky air (sent).
FLINT-WATER-SETTLEMENT — Michigan will pay $600 million to compensate Flint residents whose health was damaged by lead-tainted drinking water after the city heeded state regulators’ advice not to treat it properly, an attorney involved in the negotiations told The Associated Press. By Environmental Writer John Flesher. SENT: 560 words, photo.
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EGYPT-NILE-WATERS — Egypt’s farmers already face severely stretched water resources due to years of mismanagement and increasing population. Now they worry about the impact of Ethiopia’s massive dam project on the Blue Nile, the main tributary feeding the Nile River. SENT: 1,090 words, photos.
THAILAND-PROTESTS — Thai police arrest a rapper and four pro-democracy activists in a crackdown on growing protests that have emerged as the most serious threat to the government led by a former army general they accuse of incompetence and corruption. SENT: 670 words, photos.
NORTH-KOREA-PARTY-MEETING — North Korea will hold a rare ruling party congress in January where leader Kim Jong Un will announce a new five-year plan to develop the country’s dismal economy ravaged by U.S.-led sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic, state media says. SENT: 830 words, photos.
HONG KONG-CHINA — The Hong Kong government condemns the U.S.’s decision to suspend bilateral extradition and tax exemption treaties with the semi-autonomous Chinese city, saying it was being used as a pawn in geopolitics. SENT: 610 words, photos.
MEXICO-CORRUPTION — In some of the most explosive accusations in recent Mexican political history, the former head of the state-owned oil company directly accused former President Enrique Peña Nieto and his treasury secretary of directing a scheme of kickbacks and embezzlement directly from the president’s office. SENT: 1,190 words, photo.
BRITAIN-STUDENTS IN LIMBO — Thousands of graduating high school students in Britain are scrambling for university spots following the government’s disastrous decision to award final grades using an algorithm. The process was intended to replace exams canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but unfairly lowered the marks of many students and froze them out of their chosen schools. SENT: 970 words, photos.
BELARUS-PROTESTS — Demonstrators again take to the streets of the Belarusian capital and other cities, keeping up their push for the nation’s authoritarian leader to step down after extending his 26-year rule in a vote the opposition saw as rigged. SENT: 430 words, photos.
GERMANY-CLIMATE — Young activists, including Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, are meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to press their demands for tougher action to curb climate change. SENT: 350 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Global shares slipped Thursday after sobriety set in on Wall Street, and the U.S. Federal Reserve minutes laid out challenges for the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. By Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 600 words, photos.
GERMANY-MOBILE-BROADBAND — The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the gap between the digital haves and have nots in Germany, where hundreds of thousands of people still live in areas with limited mobile coverage. The country was ranked 50th out of 100 countries in a recent analysis of 4G wireless availability. SENT: 790 words, photos.
JAPAN-NISSAN-GHOSN — The case against former Nissan executive Carlos Ghosn may have taken another turn as Japanese media report allegations that the automaker declared as expenses $10.8 million in his taxable personal income. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 340 words, photo.
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SCIENCE
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SCIENCE-SAYS-WHY-CALIFORNIA-BURNS — Lots of factors make California burn so much, and people figure in many. The area burned in California has increased fivefold since the 1970s, and the wildfires are happening again now. Climate change makes fuel more dry and burn easier. Invasive grasses introduced by people catch fire easily. People often are in the way and at risk in the nation’s most populous state. By Science Writer Seth Borenstein. SENT: 810 words, photos.
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NFL-LINEUP CONTINUITY — In the time of COVID-19, continuity could provide an edge for NFL teams that have it. Many clubs are incorporating several new players and implementing new systems on offense and defense following a virtual offseason. No team has as much stability as the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers. By Football Writers Josh Dubow and Dave Campbell. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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