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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ONLY ON AP
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-SMALL BUSINESS LOANS-CATHOLIC — The U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of clergy sexual abuse cover-ups. By Reese Dunklin and Michael Rezendes. SENT: 2,200 words, photos. An abridged version of 940 words is also available. With VIRUS-OUTBREAK-SMALL-BUSINESS-LOANS-CATHOLIC-TAKEAWAYS.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SYRINGES -- When precious vats of COVID-19 vaccine are finally ready, the ability to jab the lifesaving solution into the arms of Americans will require hundreds of millions of injections. As part of its strategy to administer the vaccine as quickly as possible, the Trump administration has agreed to invest more than half a billion in tax dollars in ApiJect Systems America, a young company which hasn’t yet set up a factory to manufacture the devices, which haven’t yet been approved by the FDA. By Martha Mendoza and Juliet Linderman. SENT: 1,965 words, photos.
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TOP STORIES
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VIRUS OUTBREAK — When President Donald Trump convened a recent coronavirus roundtable on how to safely reopen schools, the seats surrounding him were filled with parents, teachers and local health officials. The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was relegated to secondary seating on the side. It was a telling indication of how Trump has sidelined and undercut federal health experts. By Jill Colvin and Mike Stobbe. UPCOMING: 990 words by 3 p.m., photos.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP — President Donald Trump visits politically important Florida to raise campaign cash and tend to issues of high interest there. But his efforts to relaunch campaign travel after a hiatus caused by a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases hits another snag as he cancels a weekend rally in New Hampshire, citing a tropical storm threatening parts of the mid-Atlantic and southern New England. By Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 999 words. UPCOMING: Developing from afternoon events, 900 words by 4 p.m., photos, video.
TRUMP-CONGRESS — Donald Trump isn’t just changing the presidency during his first term in office. He’s also changed the Congress. More than most presidents in modern history, Trump has been willing to ignore and defy the legislative branch, asserting his own power in ways his predecessors would never dare. The dynamic was on stark display this week as the Supreme Court declined to rule on Trump’s defiance of congressional subpoenas in what it called “a clash between rival branches of government.” By Lisa Mascaro. UPCOMING: 800 words by 4 p.m., photos.
IMMIGRATION-STUCK IN MEXICO -- A Honduran family’s quest for asylum in United States shows how difficult it has become to seek asylum during the coronavirus pandemic. Because of the coronavirus, U.S. authorities wield extraordinary power to immediately expel Mexicans and Central Americans to Mexico, waiving laws that include rights to seek asylum. The father and 9-year-old son were whisked back to Mexico when encountered in San Diego. They were separated from the mother as she began going into labor. Two days later, she was also back in Tijuana — with her newborn son, a U.S. citizen. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-FLORIDA HOSPITALS -- Florida appeared to be successfully “flattening the curve” of new coronavirus cases in the spring after its bars, gyms and beaches closed. But two months after businesses began reopening, the state is facing an alarming surge in COVID-19. On Thursday, officials reported 120 deaths in one day, the highest number since the previous record of 113 in early May. Hospitals in June and July have seen their numbers of coronavirus patients triple, with new patients outpacing those being discharged. By Adriana Gomez Licon and Kelli Kennedy. SENT: 890 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-WEST VIRGINIA — The former West Virginia public health leader forced out by the governor says decades-old computer systems and cuts to staff over a period of years had made a challenging job even harder during a once-in-a-century pandemic. It’s her first public comments on her firing. UPCOMING: 750 words by 2 p.m., photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP-INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS — International students worried about a new immigration policy that could potentially cost them their visas say they feel stuck between being unnecessarily exposed during the coronavirus pandemic and being able to finish their studies in America. SENT: 1,050 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP-INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS — As colleges and universities challenge new restrictions on international student enrollment, President Donald Trump says he’s asking the Treasury Department to review the tax-exempt status of U.S. universities that provide “radical indoctrination” instead of education. SENT: 1,040 words, photos, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-REOPENING SCHOOLS — Pushing back against the White House, a pediatric medical association and teachers group say decisions to reopen schools should be made by health experts and local leaders. The groups argue that schools will need more money to reopen safely amid the coronavirus pandemic and that cuts could ultimately harm students. SENT: 650 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ISRAEL-PANDEMIC PANDEMONIUM — With an unprecedented new surge in coronavirus cases battering Israel’s economy, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants was dispatched to a TV studio recently to calm the nerves of a jittery nation. Instead, critics saw a flippant comment by Cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi as symptomatic of a bloated, out-of-touch government. SENT: 1,040 words, photos.
AP EXPLAINS-VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDIA — In just three weeks, India went from the world’s sixth to the third-worst hit country by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. By Emily Schmall and Aniruddha Ghosal. SENT: 840 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SERBIA -- Serbia’s president says he’s not worried about losing political power amid large protests against his handling of the coronavirus crisis and hard-line rule. But President Aleksandar Vucic instead expressed his fear about the spread of the virus by the demonstrators. SENT: 520 words, photos.
Find more coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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AMAZON-TIKTOK BAN — Amazon has told employees to delete the popular video app TikTok from phones on which they use Amazon email, citing security risks from the China-owned app, according to reports and social-media posts by Amazon employees. SENT: 730 words.
SCI--VISITING COMET -- A newly discovered comet is streaking past Earth, providing a stunning nighttime show after buzzing the sun and expanding its tail. SENT: 225 words, photos.
GOYA-TRUMP BACKLASH — Goya Foods is facing a swift backlash after its CEO praised President Trump at White House event. SENT: 800 words, photos.
GUN CONFRONTATION-MICHIGAN — A white woman facing criminal charges after she was captured on video pulling a handgun on an unarmed Black woman and her daughters outside a Michigan restaurant says she feared for her life. SENT: 370 words, photos.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN-ASSOCIATE -- Ghislaine Maxwell seeks jail release in Epstein abuse case. SENT: 190 words, photos.
DEADLY INDIANA CRASH -- State police say four young siblings were killed when a semitrailer slammed into their car that had slowed down for an Interstate 70 construction zone in Indiana. SENT: 190 words.
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SUPREME COURT-MOMENTOUS TERM — Justice Clarence Thomas spoke and Chief Justice John Roberts ruled. The Supreme Court’s most unusual term featured victories for undocumented immigrants, abortion rights, LGBTQ workers and religious freedoms. The usually quiet Thomas’ baritone was heard by the whole world when the coronavirus outbreak upended the court’s traditional way of doing business. When the biggest decisions were handed down, the chief justice was almost always in the majority and dictated the reach of the court’s most controversial cases. SENT: 1050 words, photos.
TRUMP-SUPREME COURT -- President Donald Trump won the White House on the promise of bringing a conservative shift to the Supreme Court. But this year and last, even with two justices Trump hand-picked, the court has shown it is no rubber stamp for him or his administration’s policies. That’s drawn the president’s ire and teed up a renewed battle over the court as Trump seeks political advantage ahead of November’s election. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN-IOWA -- Joe Biden’s presidential campaign has lined up a senior team in Iowa, a sign Democrats see the state where Republican Donald Trump beat them handily in 2016 as within reach. SENT: 550 words, photos.
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TURKEY-HAGIA SOPHIA -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has formally reconverted Istanbul’s sixth-century iconic Hagia Sophia into a mosque, hours after a high court annulled a 1934 decision that had turned it into a museum. Erdogan signed a decree Friday handing over Hagia Sophia to Turkey’s Religious Affairs Presidency and declaring it open to Muslim worship. SENT: 765 words, photos.
RUSSIA-GOVERNOR ARRESTED -- A court in Moscow has ruled to jail a provincial governor pending an investigation on charges of his involvement in multiple murders. Sergei Furgal, the governor of the Khabarovsk region along the border with China, was arrested in Khabarovsk Thursday and was flown to Moscow for interrogation that lasted nearly until midnight. SENT: 425 words, photos.
UNITED NATIONS-SYRIA-ISLAMIC STATE — The U.N. counterterrorism chief says his office received information that 700 people died recently in two camps in northeast Syria where about 70,000 mainly women and children connected to Islamic State fighters are detained in “very dire conditions.” SENT: 350 words, photo.
NETHERLANDS-UKRAINE-PLANE — The Dutch government says it is taking Russia to the European Court of Human Rights for its alleged role in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine six years ago. SENT: 590 words, photos.
INDIA CHINA — China’s ambassador to India says Indian and Chinese front-line troops are disengaging in accordance with an agreement reached by military commanders following a clash last month that left at least 20 soldiers dead in the Galwan Valley. SENT: 350 words.
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AMAZON-HOMELESS SHELTER — A new homeless shelter on Amazon’s perfectly manicured urban Seattle campus marks a major civic achievement for the tech giant in the hometown it has rapidly transformed. Believed to be the first homeless shelter built inside a corporate office building, Amazon’s partnership housing a local nonprofit may be seen as an antidote to the criticism that the powerful company hasn’t given back enough to the city where housing costs have exploded in the past decade. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 3 p.m.
TROPICAL WEATHER — Beaches closed in Delaware and rain lashed the New Jersey shore as the fast-moving Tropical Storm Fay churned north on a path expected to soak the New York City region. SENT: 425 words, photo.
HOMICIDE HATE CHARGES — A Mexican American man from Wisconsin is charged with homicide as a hate crime because prosecutors say he intentionally crashed his pickup truck into a motorcyclist and killed the man because he was white. SENT: 435 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Most of Wall Street is drifting higher, though a rare pullback for some of the year’s biggest winners in the stock market is tamping down the gains. SENT: 730 words, photos, developing.
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BRITAIN-JOHNNY DEPP —Johnny Depp said in a London court that ex-wife Amber Heard’s claims he abused her turned him from “Cinderella to Quasimodo” in the public eye. He also said the couple’s tempestuous marriage broke down for good after an incident in which feces were found in their bed following a party. SENT: 820 words, photos.
MUSIC-THE CHICKS — The Chicks are back with a new name and first new music in 14 years, but the top selling female band that made waves for speaking out on political issues are just as vocal as ever. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
PEOPLE-BOB GELDOF — The legendary Live Aid concerts 35 years ago did a lot of good — helping reduce African famine and putting a spotlight on the world’s poorest nations. But it wasn’t always good for its key organizer. Irish rock star Bob Geldof may have earned awards and cheers for making 1985′s transcontinental event but it took a toll on his personal life and career. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos and video by 5 p.m.
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BBO--VIRUS OUTBREAK-COPING WITH CORONA — High-fives, fist bumps and hugs are out. And, like crying, there’s no spitting in baseball. Things will be different when games start in two weeks. And it’s not just empty stands and a 60-game schedule. Players face a new normal after nearly four months away. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 5 p.m.
BBO--BASEBALL RDP —Giants catcher Buster Posey is the latest major leaguer to skip the shortened season, citing health concerns after he and wife just adopted premature twin girls. But one week into its summer camp, MLB is cautiously optimistic as it rolls toward a July 23 opening day. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 6 p.m.
CAR--NASCAR--JOHNSON-CORONAVIRUS — Jimmie Johnson is confused and frustrated after his coronavirus scare. A positive test caused the seven-time NASCAR champion to miss a race for the first time. He is now cleared to race this weekend in Kentucky. SENT: 700 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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