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.
--------------------------
--------------------------
VIRUS OUTBREAK -- Thousands of oil and gas operations, government facilities and other sites won permission to stop monitoring for hazardous emissions or otherwise bypass rules intended to protect health and the environment because of the coronavirus outbreak, The Associated Press has found. By Ellen Knickmeyer, Cathy Bussewitz, John Flesher, Matthew Brown and Michael Casey. SENT: 1,530 words with photos. An abridged version of 950 words is also available.
-------------------
-------------------
VIRUS-TRUMP -- President Donald Trump announced emergency authorization to treat COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma — a move he called “a breakthrough,” one of his top health officials called “promising” and other health experts said needs more study before it’s celebrated. By Jonathan Lemire and Mike Stobbe. SENT: 1,290 words, photos.
2020 ELECTION-RNC-REPUBLICANS — President Donald Trump will try to reintroduce himself — and his party — to voters this week at the Republican National Convention. It will be no easy task. By National Political Writer Steve Peoples. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-RNC — Republicans will formally nominate President Donald Trump as their party’s 2020 presidential nominee at a scaled-down convention kickoff in Charlotte that begins a weeklong effort to convince the American people that he deserves a second term. By Jill Colvin. SENT: 930 words, photos. With ELECTION 2020-RNC-WHAT TO WATCH -- Republicans will highlight four years of the Trump administration and the promises he delivered on. SENT: 800 words, photos.
Find more coverage of the conventions and Election 2020 on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
TROPICAL WEATHER — After a day as a hurricane, Tropical Storm Marco approached Louisiana for an expected landfall around midday, while Tropical Storm Laura was forecast to move along Cuba’s southern coast during the day before entering the Gulf of Mexico and heading toward the same stretch of U.S. coast later in the week, most likely as a hurricane. By Evens Sanon. SENT: 380 words, photos. With TROPICAL WEATHER-UNITED STATES — Residents are fleeing coastal areas in Louisiana as the state braces for a possible hit from consecutive hurricanes. SENT: 1,480 words, photos. Developing.
TRUMP AIDE-KELLYANNE CONWAY -- Kellyanne Conway, one of President Donald Trump’s most influential and longest serving advisers, announced that she would be leaving the White House at the end of the month. By Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 380 words, photos.
--------------------------------------------
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
------------------------—--------------—
RUSSIA-NAVALNY — Russian dissident Alexei Navalny remains in critical but stable condition in a Berlin hospital where he is being treated after a suspected poisoning. SENT: 560 words, photos.
KENTUCKY MALL SHOOTING - Police in Kentucky say one of three people who were shot inside a mall has died. The Lexington Police Department says the shooting occurred Sunday outside of a store at the Fayette Mall. SENT: 210 words.
OFFICERS SHOT - Authorities say three police officers who were shot while responding to a call Sunday evening in Maryland were ambushed. SENT: 160 words.
STELLAR AWARDS - Kirk Franklin made a splash at the Stellar Gospel Music Awards. The singer took home six trophies during the 35th annual awards on Sunday night. SENT: 240 words, photo.
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
ELECTION 2020-POSTAL SERVICE -- Facing a backlash over operational changes that have resulted in mail delays, the nation’s new postmaster general is returning to Congress to testify before a House panel that has sharply criticized him. By Matthew Daly, Lisa Mascaro and Hope Yen. SENT: 930 words, photos. Hearing to begin at 10 a.m. EDT.
OPERATION LEGEND -- While President Donald Trump says Operation Legend is countering rising crime in cities run by Democrats, the 300 federal investigators deployed to nine cities, and the local law enforcement getting help, see the effort not as political but as reducing crime, working to solve outstanding cases and prioritizing the arrest of violent criminals. By Michael Balsamo. SENT: 1,140 words, photos.
FACT CHECK-WEEK -- President Donald Trump is leveling unfounded attacks on his Food and Drug Administration and distorting the science on effective treatments for COVID-19. His weekend torrent of false and misleading claims follows a Democratic National Convention in which Joe Biden and his allies spun an assortment of facts to their benefit, omitting inconvenient truths. By Hope Yen and Calvin Woodward. SENT: 3,150 words, photos.
------------------------------------------------------
MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
-------------------------------------------------------
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — South Korea counted its 11th straight day of triple-digit daily jumps in coronavirus cases and health officials pleaded for people to follow guidelines or risk further restrictions or strains on hospitals. SENT: 920 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN - Britain’s prime minister is asking parents to set aside their fears and send their children back to school next month when the nation’s schools fully reopen for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic shut then down more than five months ago. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was the government’s “moral duty’’ to reopen the schools as he stressed that authorities now know more about COVID-19 than they did when the country went into lockdown on March 23. SENT: 430 words, photos.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
-------------------
-------------------
CALIFORNIA-WILDFIRES — Three massive wildfires chewed through parched Northern California landscape as firefighters raced to dig breaks and make other preparations ahead of a frightening weather system packing high winds and more of the lightning that sparked the huge blazes and scores of other fires around the state, putting nearly a quarter-million people under evacuation orders and warnings. SENT: 850 words, photos, video. Developing.
HARVEY-TROUBLED REPAIR PROGRAM — In the three years since Hurricane Harvey flooded large swaths of Houston, some residents say they feel angry and abandoned as their efforts to repair damaged homes were bogged down by a city program they described as slow and bureaucratic. The program has finished rebuilding less than 70 homes since beginning in January 2019. SENT: 980 words, photos.
POLICE SHOOTING-WISCONSIN — Officers deployed tear gas to disperse hundreds of people who took to the streets following a police shooting in Kenosha that also drew a harsh rebuke from the governor after a video posted on social media appeared to show officers shoot at a Black man’s back seven times as he leaned into a vehicle. SENT: 580 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-POLICE SHOOTING-LOUISIANA — Protesters marched through a Louisiana city holding signs and at times blocking traffic in response to the fatal police shooting of a Black man that has heighten tensions between community activists and local leaders. SENT: 830 words, photos.
RACIAL-INJUSTICE-ELIJAH-MCCLAIN — A year after Elijah McClain was stopped by police in suburban Denver on his way home from the store, people are celebrating his life as well as calling for justice. People gathered on a football field on Sunday night in Denver to dance and sing and to call for the officers who confronted him to be charged. SENT: 1,000 words. WITH: RACIAL-INJUSTICE-ELIJAH-MCCLAIN-TIMELINE.
-----------------------
--------------------—
AFGHANISTAN-TALIBAN TALKS — A Taliban political team arrived in Pakistan as efforts appear to be ramping up to get negotiations underway between the Afghan government and the insurgents. The start of the talks, envisaged under a U.S-Taliban peace agreement signed in February, was hampered by a series of delays that have frustrated Washington. SENT: 580 words, photos.
NEW ZEALAND-MOSQUE SHOOTING-SENTENCING — Families and survivors had their first chance to confront the white supremacist who slaughtered 51 worshippers in a mass shooting at two New Zealand mosques as his four-day sentencing hearing began. “You killed your own humanity, and I don’t think the world will forgive you for your horrible crime,” said a tearful Maysoon Salama, the mother of 33-year-old Atta Elayyan, who was killed in March 2019 attacks. SENT: 960 words, photos.
BELARUS PROTESTS - Belarusian authorities have detained two leading opposition activists who have helped spearhead a wave of protests demanding the resignation of the country’s authoritarian ruler of 26 years. SENT: 720 words, photos.
MALI-CRISIS — The military junta that overthrew Mali’s president wants to put off new elections for three years, an official said, as the international community pressed for an immediate return to civilian rule. SENT: 480 words, photos.
BURKINA FASO-EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS — Burkina Faso’s military is facing growing accusations that soldiers have tortured and killed civilians accused of aiding Islamic extremists. Analysts say the army is ill-equipped and under-trained and scrambling to stem the spread of jihadist violence that’s ravaging the West African country. SENT: 930 words, photos.
PHILIPPINES BOMBINGS - Suspected Islamic militants set off bombs in a southern Philippine town, killing at least 11 soldiers and civilians despite extra tight security because of threats of suicide attacks by Islamic State group-aligned rebels, officials said. SENT: 630 words, photos.
JAPAN-ABE - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has become Japan’s longest-serving leader in terms of consecutive days in office, but there was little fanfare, as he visited a hospital for another checkup amid concerns about his health. Abe marked his 2,799th consecutive day in office since bouncing back to leadership in late 2012 for a second term, surpassing the previous record set by Eisaku Sato, his great-uncle, who served 2,798 straight days from 1964 to 1972. SENT: 690 words, photos.
--------------------------
--------------------------
FINANCIAL MARKETS - Global stock markets and U.S. futures are rising after Wall Street hit a new high despite lingering unease about a possible new wave of coronavirus infections. SENT: 400 words, photos.
NORWAY-STOREBRAND-CLIMATE - A Norwegian pension fund says it is divesting from Exxon and Chevron as part of its commitment to combating climate change. Storebrand manages assets worth $91 billion, and it had over $12 million invested in Exxon and more than $10 million in Chevron. SENT: 280 words, photos.
--------------------------
--------------------------
MUSIC-Q&A-KATY PERRY — A decade ago, Katy Perry could sing the alphabet and top the music charts. Her name was synonymous with being No. 1 on the Billboard chart, as the pop star logged hit after hit after hit with anthems like “Teenage Dream,” “Firework,” “Roar” and more. But as the saying goes when you’re on top, the only way to go is down. That was part of Perry’s experience roughly three years ago when she released “Witness,” which had some success but didn’t dominate the charts like she’s used to doing. By AP Music Writer Mesfin Fekadu SENT: 1,310 words, photos.
--—----—
----------
CAR--INDYCAR-INDY 500 - Takuma Sato has won his second Indianapolis 500 after Spencer Pigot crashed heavily exiting Turn 4, bringing out the caution with five laps remaining and forcing what had been a thrilling race to end under caution. The race ended when Pigot spun into the outside wall, then crossed back across the track and slammed into the safety tires that guard the entrance to pit lane. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.
SOC—JIM LITKE-CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - The pandemic threw a daunting pop quiz at organizations inside the pro sports world and out. So maybe we shouldn’t been surprised that Bundesliga club Bayern Munich, one the first teams to get back on the field, was also the last one standing after Sunday’s Champions League win over PSG. By Sports Columnist Jim Litke. SENT: 860 words, photos.
--------------------------
HOW TO REACH US
--------------------------
At The Nerve Center, Dave Clark can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, (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.