AP News Digest 6:30 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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NEW/DEVELOPING
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The story advertised as CONGRESS-USS INDIANAPOLIS on the 2 p.m. has been sent with the slug CONGRESS-GOLD MEDAL
Adds ELECTION 2020-OBAMA-JOHN LEWIS, POLICE-SHOOTING-FERGUSON, VIRUS OUTBREAK-WISCONSIN, VIRUS OUTBREAK-IMPERIAL VACCINE, VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRAL QUESTIONS-AIR, BIG-TECH-RESULTS, PENTAGON NOMINEE, MUSIC-MTV-VMA-NOMINATIONS
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ELECTION 2020-TRUMP-DELAY — President Donald Trump, lagging in the polls and grappling with deepening economic and public health crises, on Thursday floated the startling idea of delaying the Nov. 3 presidential election. The notion drew immediate pushback from Democrats and Republicans alike in a nation that has held itself up as a beacon to the world for its history of peaceful transfer of power. By Zeke Miller and Colleen Long. SENT: 1,150 words, photos. With ELECTION 2020-TRUMP-DELAY-REPUBLICANS — President Trump’s suggestion of postponing the November election drew condemnation from Republican officials in the states and on Capitol Hill. By Alexandra Jaffe. SENT: 845 words, photos; TRUMP FACT CHECK — President Donald Trump’s apocalyptic views of voting by mail are baseless, according to research into election fraud and the record. Despite that, he’s now floated the idea of delaying the election until it can be held “properly.” By Calvin Woodward. SENT: 540 words ELECTION DELAY-Q&A — President Donald Trump has raised the radical prospect of delaying a presidential election, contending the expansion of voting by mail will lead to history’s most fraudulent U.S. election. By Christina Cassidy and Cal Woodward. UPCOMING: 1,050 words, photos.
JOHN LEWIS — Hailed as a “founding father” of a fairer, better United States, John Lewis was eulogized by three former presidents and others who urged Americans to continue the work of the civil rights icon in fighting injustice during a moment of racial reckoning. The longtime member of Congress even issued his own call to action — in an essay written in his final days that he asked be published in The New York Times on the day of his funeral. In it, he challenged the next generation to lay “down the heavy burdens of hate at last.” By Jeff Martin. SENT: 880 words, photos, videos. With ELECTION 2020-OBAMA-JOHN LEWIS — Former President Barack Obama used Rep. John Lewis’ funeral to issue a stark warning that the voting rights and equal opportunity the late civil rights icon championed are threatened heading into the 2020 election. Obama did not mention President Donald Trump, but he implicitly lambasted how Trump has handled voting procedures and ongoing civil unrest amid a national reckoning over systemic racism. By Bill Barrow. SENT: 820 words, photos; JOHN-LEWIS-ESSAY -- Lewis in posthumous essay: ‘Your turn to let freedom ring.’ SENT: 240 words; JOHN LEWIS-PHOTO GALLERY — Nation honors John Lewis with final farewell. SENT: 350 words.
POLICE-SHOOTING-FERGUSON — St. Louis County’s top prosecutor announced that he will not charge the former police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a dramatic decision that could reopen old wounds amid a renewed and intense national conversation about racial injustice and the police treatment of minorities.. By Jim Salter. SENT: 840 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-PORTLAND-ARRESTS -- Those arrested during protests in Portland, Oregon, are self-described parents, Black Lives Matter activists and people taking advantage of the nightly chaos. An Associated Press analysis of more than 200 arrests shows that even those accused of breaking the law during the nightly rallies don’t neatly fit into President Trump’s depiction of protesters as “anarchists and agitators.” The analysis of court documents, social media posts and other public records from people arrested since mid-June reveals a group whose motives are as varied as the acts leading to their arrests. By Suman Naishadham and Jake Bleiberg. SENT: 1,035 words, photos. With RACIAL INJUSTICE-PORTLAND — Oregon police prepared to take over protecting a federal courthouse in Portland that’s been a target of violent protests, in a deal between the Democratic governor and the Trump administration that aimed to draw down the federal presence and offered hope for a much-needed detente in a city roiled by two months of unrest. By Gillian Flaccus. SENT: 700 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK -- While deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. are mounting rapidly, public health experts are seeing a flicker of good news: The second surge of confirmed cases appears to be leveling off. Scientists aren’t celebrating by any means, warning that the trend is driven by four big, hard-hit states — Arizona, California, Florida and Texas — and that cases are rising in at least half of all the states, with the outbreak’s center of gravity seemingly shifting from the Sun Belt toward the Midwest. By Mike Stobbe and Nicky Forster. SENT: 900 words, photos.
US-ECONOMY — The coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy plunging by a record-shattering 32.9% annual rate last quarter and is still inflicting damage across the country, squeezing already struggling businesses and forcing a wave of layoffs that shows no sign of abating. The economy’s collapse in the April-June quarter, stunning in its speed and depth, came as a resurgence of the viral outbreak has pushed businesses to close for a second time in many areas. By Martin Crutsinger and Paul Wiseman. SENT: 1,030 words, photos. With FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Most of Wall Street stumbled, but yet another rise for big technology stocks helped keep the market’s losses in check. SENT: 860 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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GERMANY-RED PANDA CUB --A Berlin zoo says a rare red panda has been born, only a few months after its parents were brought to the German capital from India. SENT: 275 words, photos.
EARTHQUAKE-CALIFORNIA -- Magnitude 4.2 earthquake shakes Los Angeles, but no damage. SENT: 460 words.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DOCTOR -- Dozens of more victims who claim they were molested by a University of Michigan doctor filed a lawsuit against the school, including a former football player who said he told legendary coach Bo Schembechler about the abuse in the early 1980s. SENT: 380 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — A deadlocked Senate left Washington for the weekend without acting to extend a $600 per-week expanded jobless benefit that has helped keep both families and the economy afloat as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the country. By Andrew Taylor. SENT: 930 words, photos. UPCOMING: 1,000 words by 8 p.m. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS-TESTING — Congressional leaders are under increasing pressure to boost testing for coronavirus in the Capitol after another lawmaker tested positive. By Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 940 words, photos.
OBIT-HERMAN CAIN — Herman Cain, former Republican presidential candidate and former CEO of a major pizza chain who went on to become an ardent supporter of President Trump, has died of complications from the coronavirus. He was 74. By Lisa J. Adams Wagner. SENT: 980 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-WISCONSIN — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has issued a statewide mask mandate amid a spike in coronavirus cases, setting up a conflict with Republican legislative leaders who oppose such a requirement and successfully sued earlier to kill a “safer at home” order. SENT: 710 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-IMPERIAL VACCINE — Scientists at Imperial College London say they are immunizing hundreds of people with an experimental coronavirus vaccine in an early trial after seeing no worrying safety problems in a small number vaccinated so far. SENT: 420 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIETNAM — For 99 days, Vietnam seemed to have defeated the coronavirus. There wasn’t a single reported case of community transmission. Not a single death. A handful of cases were caught and isolated at the border, but otherwise people were returning to their normal lives. But then a week ago, an outbreak began that has now grown to 48 cases in six parts of the country, including three of the largest cities, and forced authorities to reimpose restrictions many thought they had put behind them. SENT: 920 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRAL QUESTIONS-AIR — Can the coronavirus spread through the air? Yes, it’s possible. The World Health Organization recently acknowledged the possibility that COVID-19 might be spread in the air under certain conditions. SENT: 230 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-COW CARETAKERS -- When the coronavirus pandemic forced colleges to close and send students home, the University of Vermont panicked about who would take care of the school’s herd of dairy cows that had been tended by students. As word spread, dozens of alumni and students clamored to spend their spring and summer caring for the beloved cows. The workers milk the cows at 3:30 in the morning, or come in later for the afternoon milking, and feed the cows and the calves, muck the barns and help with births. SENT: 520 words, photos, video.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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POMPEO — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he and his team have warned Russian officials about all threats that Russia poses to Americans and U.S. interests in Afghanistan and elsewhere.. But in testimony to a Senate committee, Pompeo wouldn’t say whether he had specifically raised allegations that Russia was paying bounties to Taliban fighters to kill American troops in Afghanistan. SENT: 650 words, photos, video.
PENTAGON NOMINEE — A Senate committee abruptly canceled a confirmation hearing Thursday on a controversial former general’s nomination to a top Pentagon post after a furor over offensive remarks he made about Islam and other inflammatory comments. By Lolita C. Baldor. SENT: 545 words photos.
FBI SURVEILLANCE — The FBI says errors in its applications for secret surveillance warrants in national security investigations were not as severe as the Justice Department watchdog made them out to be earlier this year. SENT: 400 words, photo.
TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE — The entire Washington-based federal appeals court is stepping into the legal dispute over former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn as it weighs whether a judge can be forced to dismiss a case that the Justice Department no longer wants to pursue. By Eric Tucker. SENT: 570 words, photos.
CONGRESS-GOLD MEDAL — Congress awards the Congressional Gold Medal, its highest honor, to surviving crew members of the USS Indianapolis. The crew, with 1,195 personnel aboard, delivered components of the atomic bomb ‘‘Little Boy’’ on a top secret mission in 1945 that was critical to ending the war. By Matthew Daly. SENT: 500 words.
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BRIBERY-INVESTIGATION-OHIO — Republican lawmakers chose former state Supreme Court justice and current Rep. Bob Cupp to lead the Ohio House, replacing the speaker ousted hours earlier amid a scandal. House members voted in favor of the veteran lawmaker from Lima on Thursday afternoon after a private Republican caucus. It followed a historic, unanimous House vote earlier in the day to remove Rep. Larry Householder as speaker because he was indicted in an alleged $60 million bribery scheme. SENT: 710 words, photos. With AP EXPLAINS-BRIBERY INVESTIGATION-OHIO -- A look at the $60M bribery probe unfolding in Ohio. SENT: 520 words, photos.
TROPICAL-STORM — Tropical Storm Isaias battered Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic as it continued on a forecast track toward the U.S. East Coast. The storm unleashed small landslides and caused widespread flooding and power outages on an island still recovering from previous hurricanes and earthquakes. SENT: 620 words.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED — Female Instagram users across the United States are flooding the photo-sharing app with black-and-white images this week. The official goal is a show of support for other women. By Thursday, more than 6 million posts on Instagram had used the hashtag “challengeaccepted.” To some observers of social media activism, it represents a clear example of a campaign that require little effort of participants. SENT: 1,010 words, photo.
TRASH IN PHILADELPHIA -- The COVID-19 pandemic has frustrated efforts to keep Philadelphia’s streets clear of garbage this summer. People are staying home and generating more garbage, but the sanitation department has been shorthanded and workers have fallen behind picking up household trash and recyclables. Residents complain about the stink and the flies. Complaints to the city’s 311 line have increased from about 1,900 in February to more than 9,700 in July. SENT: 680 words, photos.
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ISRAEL-POLITICS — Hundreds of opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demonstrated outside his official residence calling on him to resign, while a small group of his supporters clashed with police and journalists at a nearby outdoor mall. SENT: 650 words, photos.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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SCI--MARS-NASA -- The biggest, most sophisticated Mars rover ever built — a car-size vehicle bristling with cameras, microphones, drills and lasers — blasted off for the red planet as part of an ambitious, long-range project to bring the first Martian rock samples back to Earth to be analyzed for evidence of ancient life. By Marcia Dunn. SENT: 950 words, photos.
SHARKS IN NEW ENGLAND -- Seals are thriving off the Northeast coast thanks to decades of protections, and that victory for wildlife has brought a consequence for humans — more encounters with sharks. SENT: 520 words, photos.
MED--MEDICARE-ALZHEIMER BRAIN SCANS — A big study to help Medicare officials decide whether to start covering brain scans to check for Alzheimer’s disease missed its goals for curbing health care costs, calling into question whether the pricey tests are worth it. SENT: 760 words, photos.
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BIG-TECH-RESULTS — Big Tech companies reported mixed quarterly earnings a day after their top executives faced a tough congressional grilling over their market power and alleged monopolistic practices. SENT: 740 words, photos.
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MUSIC-MTV-VMA-NOMINATIONS — It’s raining nominations for Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s “Rain on Me” at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, which will present new categories focused on live performances and music videos created at home during the coronavirus pandemic. By Music Writer Mesfin Fekadu. SENT: 500 words, photos.
FILM-VINTAGE BOX OFFICE — When historians look back on the top films at the box office in the summer of 2020, they may feel like they’ve slipped into a time warp, or maybe “Back to the Future.” Over the second weekend in July, “Empire Strikes Back” — 40 years after it was first released — was again No. 1. “Ghostbusters” claimed the July 4th weekend, 36 years after opening. Over the June 19-21 weekend and 27 years after it last led the box office, “Jurassic Park” again ruled theaters. In a pandemic that has resurrected all kinds of vintage pastimes, from puzzles to drive-ins, even the blockbusters are retro. By Film Writer Jake Coyle. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
BOOKS-PHILIP ROTH BIOGRAPHY — One of the most anticipated literary biographies in recent memory, Blake Bailey’s “Philip Roth,” will come out next April. Bailey had worked on the 880-page work since 2012, six years before Roth’s death, and with the author’s full cooperation. By National Writer Hillel Italie. SENT: 870 words, photo.
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VBL--OREGON ST-ABUSE ALLEGATIONS -- Athletes and others with ties to the program told The Associated Press that the head volleyball coach at Oregon State University runs an abusive program that has seen 11 players quit or transfer since 2016 and two team members contemplate suicide, with one attempting an overdose. By Eddie Pells. SENT: 1,870 words, photos. An abridged version of 950 words is also available.
BKN-CLIPPERS-LAKERS — LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers take on Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers in the second game of the NBA’s re-opening night doubleheader. Game begins 9:10 p.m. By Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds. UPCOMING: 650 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BACK TO BASKETBALL — From the deaths of former commissioner David Stern and Kobe Bryant to a slew of stars passing through New York, Basketball writer Brian Mahoney was in the middle of one of his most eventful NBA seasons. Then his hometown was hard hit by the coronavirus. For four months, Mahoney helped cover the news - first, the outbreak and, then, the protests. But basketball is back and so is Mahoney. He enters the NBA bubble next week to cover games. SENT: 830 words, photos.
HKN-PLAYOFF INJURIES SECOND CHANCES — Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones, Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and Pittsburgh Penguins All-Star Jake Guentzel are among the NHL players who would’ve missed some or all of the playoffs had they started in April because of injuries. A four-month stoppage gave them the necessary time to rehab and get healthy for the rescheduled playoffs this summer. By Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno. SENT: 660 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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