AP News Digest 3 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-TRUMP -- Democrats accused President Donald Trump of trying to inflame racial tensions and incite violence to benefit his campaign as he praised supporters who clashed with protesters in Portland, Oregon, where one man died, and announced he will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, amid anger over the shooting of another Black man by police. By Jill Colvin. SENT: 970 words, photos.
PORTLAND-PROTESTS - Oregon State Police will return to Portland to help local authorities after the fatal shooting of a man following clashes between President Donald Trump supporters and counter-protesters that led to an argument between the president and the city’s mayor over who was to blame for the violence. On Saturday evening a caravan of about 600 vehicles packed with Trump supporters drove through the liberal city and was met with counterprotesters. Skirmishes broke out and, about 15 minutes after the caravan left the city, a supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer was fatally shot. By Gillian Flaccus. SENT: 880 words, photos.
PORTLAND PROTESTS-PATRIOT PRAYER - The man killed in Portland, Oregon, Saturday was a supporter and “good friend” of the founder of right-wing group Patriot Prayer. The Washington state-based group doesn’t have a significant national footprint but is well known in the Pacific Northwest. Political activist and one-time Senate candidate Joey Gibson founded it in 2016 and its supporters have held many rallies in Portland since the election of President Donald Trump. The events draw counterprotesters from around the region and heightened tensions in Portland long before the police killing of George Floyd. By Gillian Flaccus. SENT: 730 words, photos.
CHINA-XINJIANG - The government in China’s Xinjiang region is imposing draconian measures to combat the coronavirus, including physically locking people in homes and arresting those who do not comply with strict quarantines of more than 40 days. SENT: 1,910 words, photos.
LEBANON-TURNING 100 - Lebanon is marking its centennial this week, with many Lebanese feeling that their experiment as a nation has failed and questioning their willingness to stay in the crises-riddled country. In its most recent history, Lebanon has seen a series of catastrophes, including a financial crash and this month’s massive explosion that decimated Beirut’s port, killing at least 190 people and injuring thousands. SENT: 1,190 words, photos.
TROPICAL WEATHER - Louisiana residents forced to evacuate because of Hurricane Laura are returning home to survey the damage to their homes and businesses, and some worry they won’t get enough help from state and federal officials. Gov. John Bel Edwards on Sunday warned that residents were in for a long recovery. By Nomaan Merchant and Sudhin Thanawala. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — Australia has recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic as the government urged hot spot Victoria state to announce its plans to lift a lockdown on the country’s second-largest city. Victoria’s health department reported 41 deaths and 73 new COVID-19 infections in the latest 24-hour period. SENT: 760 words, photos.
Find more all-format coverage of the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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PLANE CRASH-TEXAS - Three people have been killed and a fourth critically injured when a plane crashed at the city-owned airport in Bryan, Texas. SENT: 130 words, photos.
UNITED-AIRLINES-CHANGE-FEE - United Airlines says it listened to customers and is dropping an unpopular $200 fee for most people who change a ticket for travel within the United States. SENT: 430 words.
PAKISTAN-TROOPS - Pakistan’s military says suspected militants have attacked its troops in a former Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold in the northwest near the Afghan border, triggering a shootout that killed three soldiers. SENT: 140 words, photos.
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ELECTION 2020 -- As the presidential candidates move beyond party conventions and into the final phase of the 2020 election season, both campaigns acknowledge that the contest between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden is tightening -- and they are embracing conflicting tactics and messages to gain an advantage. By Steve Peoples, Zeke Miller and Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 1,270 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-LAW AND ORDER-WISCONSIN -- Images of unrest in Kenosha — protesters clashing with police, shattered windows and a teenager carrying an assault-style rifle in the streets — are intensifying the partisan divide in Wisconsin. In Green Bay and its quiet suburbs, Democrats see racism and fear-mongering in President Donald Trump’s messages while Republicans are unwaveringly supportive of the president. By Kathleen Hennessey. SENT: 1,180 words, photos.
TRUMP-HEROES GARDEN -- Americans’ suggestions of suitable statues for President Donald Trump’s planned National Garden of American Heroes look considerably different from the predominantly white worthies that the administration has locked in for many of the pedestals. The outside nominations are more activist, browner and far more indigenous. By Ellen Knickmeyer, Alan Suderman and Jim Anderson. SENT: 1,303 words, photos.
FACT CHECK-WEEK -- The Republican National Convention begged this question: Why are President Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters describing the state of his union as a hellscape? It was perhaps the central paradox for voters wondering what to believe in the rhetoric, because it defied logic to believe it all. Are Americans living in a dystopia or in an America made great again by Trump? By Calvin Woodward, Hope Yen and Josh Boak. SENT: 3,760 words and photos.
ELECTION SECURITY -- Racing the political clock, frustrated Democrats searched for a way to force the Trump administration to continue briefing Congress in person about foreign attempts to interfere in the November election. By Laurie Kellman. SENT: 700 words, photos.
Find more coverage of the conventions and Election 2020 on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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POLICE SHOOTING-WISCONSIN - Scores of police supporters gathered in downtown Kenosha where protesters have demonstrated against police brutality since the shooting of Jacob Blake last weekend. Some attending the rally in the Wisconsin city on Sunday wore “back the blue” shirts. Others carried American flags. SENT: 820 words, photos.
ST. LOUIS-POLICE SHOOTING - Authorities say a St. Louis police officer who was shot in the head while responding to a shooting on the city’s south side has died. Twenty-nine-year-old Tamarris L. Bohannon had been with the department for nearly four years. SENT: 660 words, photos.
Find more coverage of Hurricane Laura in AP Newsroom.
TROPICAL WEATHER-AIR HAZARDS - Key state and federal air hazard monitors are offline in Louisiana after Hurricane Laura hit the heavily industrialized coast. Louisiana says it knows of only one significant industrial threat. That’s a chlorine plant fire in the lake Charles area. But environmental advocates say the state isn’t doing enough to look. By Ellen Knickmeyer. SENT: 970 words, photos.
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BELARUS PROTESTS - Tens of thousands of demonstrators have rallied in the Belarusian capital to begin the fourth week of daily protests calling for the authoritarian president to resign. The protests began after an Aug. 9 presidential election that protesters say was rigged and officials say gave President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. SENT: 510 words, photos.
KASHMIR-INDIA-CHINA- India says its soldiers thwarted China’s “provocative” military movements near a disputed border in Ladakh region amid a monthslong standoff. A statement by India’s defense ministry said China’s Peoples Liberation Army “carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo” and “violated the previous consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements” to settle the standoff in the cold-desert region. SENT: 250 words, photos.
FRANCE-CHINA - China’s foreign minister defended detention camps in Xinjiang and Hong Kong’s new security law, brushing off concerns by European countries. Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on his first European tour since the virus pandemic erupted, seeking to revive trade and diplomatic cooperation. SENT: 410 words, photos.
MONTENEGRO-ELECTION - Montenegro’s pro-Serb and Russian opposition groups are claiming victory against the ruling pro-Western party in a tense parliamentary election that could see a change in the course of the small Balkan state. SENT: 620 words, photos
THAILAND-CHINA SUBMARINES - Thailand’s government has decided to delay the purchase of two submarines from China, withdrawing its request to Parliament to include the sum for an initial payment in the fiscal year 2021 national budget. A government spokesman announced that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha had told the navy to delay the 22.5 billion baht ($723 million) purchase until fiscal year 2022. SENT: 340 words, photos.
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CHINA MANUFACTURING - A survey shows China’s manufacturing activity held steady in August while domestic demand helped to offset weaker sales in exports markets that are struggling with the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 290 words, photos.
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MUSIC-MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS - Lady Gaga cleaned house at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, while The Weeknd took home the top prize — and both pop stars sent important messages to viewers about the current state of the world: “Wear a mask” and “Justice for Jacob Blake and Breonna Taylor.” By Mesfin Fekadu. SENT: 710 words, photos.
FILM-BOX-OFFICE - The first wave of big new movies released since the beginning of the pandemic, including Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending thriller “Tenet” and the long-delayed “X-Men” spinoff “The New Mutants,” arrived in theaters over the weekend, testing the waters of a radically different theatrical landscape. SENT: 810 words, photos.
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US—RACIAL INJUSTICE-SPORTS MEDIA — During a week in which athletes in several sports walked off the job to protest social and racial injustice, sports networks devoted plenty of airtime to those topics. On-air conversations about race have been common in sports media because it is more diverse, particularly with more Black on-air talent than the rest of news media. By Joe Reedy. UPCOMING: 1,000 words, photos by 4 a.m.
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HOW TO REACH US
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