AP News Digest 3:25 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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VIRUS OUTBREAK-GLOBAL — Fresh coronavirus outbreaks, even in places as far flung as China’s western Xinjiang region, are prompting worldwide moves to guard against the pandemic, as the number of confirmed cases globally approaches 14 million. India says it had surpassed 1 million cases, third only to the United States and Brazil, with nearly 25,000 deaths. The grim milestone drove home concerns over the country’s readiness to deal with an inevitable surge that could overwhelm hospitals and test the country’s feeble health care system. By Elaine Kurtenbach and Nomaan Merchant. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE NURSING HOME — As normalcy returns to many segments of the U.S. that were locked down as the coronavirus spread, most nursing homes remain frozen in the same position since March. Though some states are inching toward normalcy for residents of those facilities, most are still barring visitors and severely curtailing activities inside. The result is the country’s 1.4 million nursing home residents, many of whom already struggle with loneliness and isolation, are being even more isolated. By National Writer Matt Sedensky. SENT: 2,950 words, photos, video.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP-ANALYSIS — President Donald Trump hopes a late change in his campaign leadership team can get his reelection bid back on track, as a similar shakeup did in 2016. But 2020 is very different: Trump is no longer an outsider, and he is leading at a time of extraordinary national crises. An AP News Analysis by Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace. SENT: 960 words, photos. With ELECTION 2020-TRUMP CAMPAIGN — Trump’s long-in-coming campaign shakeup isn’t likely to change the identity of the person truly in charge of day-to-day operations: Jared Kushner. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page on APNewsroom.
FEDERAL EXECUTION — A convicted killer from Iowa whose five victims included two young girls is scheduled to become the third federal inmate to be executed this week, following a 17-year pause in federal executions. Dustin Honken, 52, was sentenced to death for killing government informants and children in his effort to thwart his drug trafficking prosecution in 1993. By Michael Tarm. SENT: 690 words, photos. UPCOMING: Updates throughout the day. Execution scheduled for 4 p.m.
ISRAEL-A DIFFERENT PEACE — An influential American commentator has sent shock waves through the Jewish establishment and Washington policy-making circles by breaking a long-standing taboo: He has endorsed the idea of a democratic entity of Jews and Palestinians living with equal rights between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, arguing that a two-state solution — Israel and Palestine — is no longer possible. By Josef Federman. SENT: 1,170, words, photo
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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PAPUA NEW GUINEA-QUAKE — A strong earthquake shook inland Papua New Guinea and officials say they had yet to confirm reports of damage to coastal villages. SENT: 290 words.
VENEZUELA-IMPRISONED AMERICANS — Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said he met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday but was unable to win the release of several Americans jailed in the South American nation. SENT: 260 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CRUISE SHIP — Federal health officials are extending the U.S. ban on cruise ships through the end of September as coronavirus infections rise in most U.S. states, including Florida. SENT: 390 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-UTAH-CROWDED MEETING — People crowding into a public meeting in Utah to push for an exception to mask requirements in schools was “foolish” and suggested an “almost mob mentality” on the issue, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert says. SENT: 300 words, photos.
RACIAL JUSTICE-REPORTER ARRESTED — A prosecutor who is pursuing charges against an Iowa newspaper reporter who was arrested while covering a protest in May told a judge his office shouldn’t have to give body-camera footage and other evidence to the journalist’s lawyer because his office was too busy. SENT: 400 words, photo.
WAREHOUSE-PARTY-FIRE — Oakland will pay $32.7 million to settle lawsuits filed over a 2016 fire at an illegally converted warehouse dubbed the Ghost Ship that killed 36 people, the city announces. SENT: 490 words, photo.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDIA-ONE MILLION CASES — India inches closer to 1 million coronavirus cases, third only to the United States and Brazil, prompting concerns about its readiness to confront an inevitable surge that could overwhelm hospitals and test the country’s feeble health care system. The Health Ministry has reported nearly 25,000 deaths and 612,814 recoveries so far. SENT: 800 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDIA-PHOTO GALLERY — India fights virus as cases cross 1 million (sent).
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — South Korean health officials were optimistic the country’s COVID-19 outbreak is coming under control despite a spike in infections tied to international arrivals. Senior Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho says during a briefing that the spread of the coronavirus was clearly stabilizing in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area and other major cities, where transmissions had spiked since late May. SENT: 730 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-FAMILY SPREAD — A Florida businessman is fighting COVID-19 at a hospital intensive care unit after likely being infected by his son. The case highlights the outcome dreaded by authorities. As the virus infected more young Floridians, it inevitably spread to older and more vulnerable people at a higher risk. SENT: 660 words, photos.
Find more coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
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SOUTH ASIA-FLOODS — Floods and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 221 people across South Asia over the past month, officials say. More than 1 million people have been marooned in Nepal, Bangladesh and India and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes for higher ground. SENT: 520 words, photos.
BOLIVIA-PANDEMIC AND POLITICS — Bolivia is grappling with two crises: the pandemic and bitter political discord ahead of elections scheduled for September, nearly a year after the chaotic ouster of the former president, Evo Morales. SENT: 490 words, photos.
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ATOMIC ANNIVERSARY — The nation’s top nuclear security official is in New Mexico to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the the world’s first atomic explosion. The test is both revered for the scientific advancements it helped to usher in and vilified for the moral and diplomatic implications that still linger in its wake. Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, says the Trinity Test in 1945 helped to avert wars and saved untold millions of lives over the years through advancements in nuclear medicine and science. SENT: 1,070 words, photos.
WAYFAIR-CONSPIRACY THEORY — Self-proclaimed internet sleuths are matching up names of Wayfair’s products to those of missing children as part of a bizarre, baseless conspiracy theory that claims the retail giant is using storage cabinets to traffic children. SENT: 960 words, photo.
MARIJUANA-CALIFORNIA ARREST — The number of felony marijuana arrests in California continued to decline in 2019 in the age of legalization, but another trend remained unchanged: those arrests fell disproportionately on Hispanics and Blacks, state data showed. 440 words, photos.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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SPACE TELESCOPE — The launch of NASA’s successor to the Hubble Space Telescope faces seven more months of delay, this time because of the pandemic and technical issues. Officials announced the James Webb Space Telescope — the space agency’s top science priority — is now scheduled to launch on Oct. 31, 2021. The previous target date was March 2021. By Aerospace Writer Marcia Dunn. SENT: 450 words, photo.
CHINA-MARS MISSION — China has moved a rocket into position to launch a rover to Mars next week in one of three upcoming missions to the red planet, one from the U.S. and another from the United Arab Emirates. The Long March-5 carrier rocket is China’s heaviest-lift launch vehicle and has been launched experimentally three times, but never with a payload. Dubbed Tianwen-1, China’s first-ever mission to Mars aims to land a rover to gather scientific data. SENT: 510 words, photos.
JAPAN-UAE-MARS — The liftoff of a United Arab Emirates’ Mars orbiter, postponed due to bad weather at the launch site in southern Japan, is now set for Monday. The orbiter named Amal, or Hope, is the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. SENT: 290 words, photo.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian stock markets were mixed after Wall Street closed lower amid uncertainty about the U.S. economic outlook. Shanghai and Tokyo retreated while Hong Kong and Seoul advanced. That followed a day of declines on weak Chinese retail spending data. By Business Writer Joe McDonald, SENT: 390 words,
NETFLIX-RESULTS — Netflix added a flood of new subscribers amid the coronavirus pandemic and also offered clues to a possible successor for founding CEO Reed Hastings by naming the company’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, as co-CEO. SENT: 480 words, photo.
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CAR--NASCAR-THE BLACK EXPERIENCE — NASCAR is ready to embrace all genders, ethnicities and backgrounds as it moves ahead in its push for racial diversity. Some Black NASCAR fans have felt uncomfortable at the track. They’re worried about hearing racial slurs or feeling unwelcome from a predominantly white fan base. The catalyst for change has come. Bubba Wallace prodded NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag. There is hope the ban opens the doors to more fans. By Dan Gelston. SENT: 1,390 words, photos. An ABRIDGED version is also available.
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HOW TO REACH US
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