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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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS-FAUCI — Dr. Anthony Fauci tells lawmakers that he remains optimistic that a coronavaccine will be ready by early next year and that a quarter-million Americans already have volunteered to take part in clinical trials. By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. UPCOMING: 900 words by 4 p.m., photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MAKING RENT -- The coronavirus pandemic is entering a new month, meaning Americans struggling amid the economic fallout once again have to worry about paying their rent. Many who lost jobs months ago are already behind on payments. Now an extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits that helped many pay their bills is expiring. A federal moratorium on evictions also is lapsing, while Congress is bogged down in disagreement over a new round of aid. By Russ Bynum. SENT: 1,890 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-HYPERBARIC --As researchers around the world search for ways to treat the growing number of people suffering from the coronavirus, medical researchers in New York are trying hyperbaric oxygen therapy, best known for treating divers with decompression sickness. But the researchers say the use of the hyperbaric treatment is met with skepticism by the wider medical community because fringe supporters have long touted it as a virtual cure-all without scientific evidence. By Margie Mason and Robin McDowell. SENT: 1,030 words.
TRUMP-ANALYSIS — Less than 100 days from Election Day, President Donald Trump is launching an unprecedented assault on the democratic process from the Oval Office. His tweets and statements could have broad implications for voters and the outcome of the election itself. By Julie Pace. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m.
ELECTION 2020-BLACK VOTERS-MAIL VOTING -- Many Black voters are skeptical of voting by mail even as states seek to expand that option during the coronavirus pandemic. Decades of racism and voter disenfranchisement are at the heart of the uneasy choice facing Black voters, a key voting group for the Democratic Party. They’ve grown more skeptical after problems during this year’s primaries, when thousands of voters didn’t receive their absentee ballots or had them rejected. By Corey Williams. SENT: 1,120 words, photos. WITH: ELECTION 2020-VOTING WORRIES -- Delays caused by an increase in voting by mail may contribute to public doubts about the results. SENT: 725 words, photos.
TROPICAL-WEATHER — Forecasters declared a hurricane watch for parts of the Florida coastline on Friday as Hurricane Isaias drenched the Bahamas on a track for the U.S. East Coast. Officials in Florida said they were closing beaches, marinas and parks in Miami-Dade County. Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the county has 20 evacuation centers on standby that could be set up with COVID-19 safety measures. By Dánica Coto and Adriana Gomez Licon. SENT: 720 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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SKOREA-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CLEANING CASH — Money laundering is not a good idea, as a South Korean found out when he or she put banknotes in a washing machine to remove possible traces of the coronavirus. Officials say the loss was considerable. SENT: 340 words, photos.
ODD--MASSIVE QUAHOG -- An 11-year-old Rhode Island boy clamming with his grandfather found a giant quahog that is thought to be one of the largest ever harvested in state waters. SENT: 200 words, photos.
ODD-WALT DISNEY-TAX REFUNDS -- Rhode Island mistakenly sent more than 175 tax refund checks signed by Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, rather than the state treasurer and controller. SENT: 135 words.
MARINES-SEA TANK SINKS -- A seafaring tank with 15 Marines and a Navy sailor aboard sank near a military-owned island off the coast of Southern California, leaving one of the Marines dead and eight missing, authorities said. SENT: 225 words, photos.
SHOOTING SPREE-FLORIDA - A Florida man is in custody after he went on a 40-minute shooting spree on a Tampa highway and city streets where he fired on at least 11 people, wounding two adults, and injuring a police officer. SENT: 240 words.
TWITTER HATE SPEECH- Twitter permanently bans former KKK leader David Duke. SENT: 130 words, photos.
JAIL ESCAPE-OKLAHOMA -- Authorities say they’re seeking an escapee from the Oklahoma County jail in Oklahoma City who used sheets tied together to climb down the outside of the building from a 12th floor cell. SENT: 125 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK — Families trying to squeeze in a summer vacation before school starts better do some homework on COVID-19 restrictions before loading up the minivan. The web of state and local quarantines is growing more tangled by the day: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have ordered visitors from a whopping 34 states to quarantine for 14 days. Chicago and Washington, D.C., have each singled out travelers from about two dozen states. By David Sharp. SENT: 750 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — The White House appears keen to endorse a temporary extension of a $600 per week supplemental unemployment benefit as the popular boost to both the economy and family budgets expires Friday. Democrats have rejected White House offers fora short-term fix, saying an extension needs to be part of a far more sweeping coronavirus bill that would deliver aid to state and local governments, help the poor and provide funding for schools and colleges. Negotiations continue. SENT: 500 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-COLLEGES REOPENING -College students are moving into dorms facing anxiety about the coronavirus and new protocols that vastly change campus life. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos, by 3 p.m.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FLORIDA TESTING — As coronavirus cases surge in hard-hit Florida, so do the turnaround times for test results. The reasons are many. Often it has to do with lab staffing, backlogs or equipment shortages. Sometimes tests are done in house, while other tests are sent to labs out of state. But there’s one place in Central Florida where people are being tested and getting results within a day: the NBA. SENT: 1,180 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MASSACHUSETTS RESURGENCE -- Massachusetts widely reopened its economy early in July, but less than a month later, there’s an increasing sense of dread that the hard-hit state’s respite from the pandemic ultimately will be fleeting. Leading physicians, including the president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, suggest the state should be prepared to roll back the reopening of gyms, movie theaters, museums and other businesses if current coronavirus trends hold. SENT: 865 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK BRITAIN — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson put some of the country’s next steps out of lockdown on hold with just a few hours’ notice, saying the number of new coronavirus cases was on the rise for the first time since May. SENT: 770 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHAMPAGNE -- Champagne is losing its fizz. For months, the lockdown put the cork on weddings, dining out, parties and international travel — all key sales components for the French luxury wine marketed for decades as a sparkling must at any celebration. Producers in France’s eastern Champagne region, headquarters of the global industry, say they’ve lost about 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) in sales this year, as turnover fell by a third. SENT: 600 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-DIARY-CYCLING LONDON -- For one journalist from Croatia, where bicycles were for carefree adventures, the notion of biking in London was daunting. Then COVID-19 sneaked into town. These days, in streets far clearer than they once were, he and his wife explore the city where he’s lived for more than two decades. He’s finding things he never realized were there. SENT: 595 words, photos.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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RACIAL INJUSTICE
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POLICE SHOOTING-FERGUSON — A reformist prosecutor’s decision not to charge the white police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown six years ago represents a setback for those who hope the new crop of progressive district attorneys can fundamentally change the dynamic between police and those they are bound to serve. It also highlights the protections enshrined in state laws designed to protect law enforcement. UPCOMING: 700 words by 5 p.m.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-PORTLAND — The first nightly protest in downtown Portland after a deal was struck for the withdrawal of federal agents guarding a courthouse was largely peaceful and ended without any major confrontations between state police and demonstrators. SENT: 790 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-PENCE’S BROTHER -- Rep. Greg Pence is coming under criticism for allowing the sale of objects with racist depictions of African Americans at a sprawling antiques mall he owns with his wife. The issue has taken on particular significance amid a national reckoning on race. The Exit 76 Antique Mall in Edinburgh, Indiana, has more than 4 million items for sale by the merchants who rent booths from the Pences. SENT: 950 words, photos.
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TRUMP — President Trump takes a swing through Florida, a state critical to his reelection prospects and bracketed by two storms, one now bringing about a daily record of COVID-19 deaths and the other forming just to the South in the form of Hurricane Isaias. UPCOMING: 500 words by 5 p.m., photos.
TRUMP-BIDEN-FACT CHECK — President Trump is going after Democratic rival Joe Biden on fracking, accusing him of proposing a ban that would spell “disaster” for election battleground states. But an AP Fact Check finds Trump is distorting Biden’s policy. SENT: 480 words, photos.
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JEFFREY EPSTEIN-ASSOCIATE -- The judge presiding over the criminal case against a British socialite charged with recruiting teenage girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse said Friday that her attorneys are not permitted to publicly identify accusers even if they’ve spoken in a public forum. “Not all accusations or public statements are equal,” U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan wrote in her ruling in the case facing Ghislaine Maxwell. SENT: 615 words, photos.
2020 CENSUS — The U.S. Census Bureau sped up the timetable for crunching 2020 census numbers on Friday after an earlier request for an extension stalled in the Senate and as pressure mounts to turn in numbers used to determine congressional districts by year’s end, when President Trump is still in office. SENT: 650 words, photos.
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EGYPT-HISTORIC-CEMETERIES — For centuries, sultans and princes, saints and scholars, elites and commoners have been buried in two sprawling cemeteries in Egypt’s capital, creating a unique historic city of the dead. Now in its campaign to reshape Cairo, the government is driving highways through the cemeteries, raising alarm from preservationists. SENT: 1,240 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Big Tech continues to steamroll through the pandemic, but much of the rest of Wall Street is struggling. SENT: 800 words, photos, developing. WITH: CONSUMER SPENDING — American consumers increased their spending in June by a solid 5.6%. SENT: 780 words, photos.
TWITTER HACK — Twitter says the hackers responsible for a recent high-profile breach used the phone to fool the social media company’s employees into giving them access. SENT: 375 words, photos.
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BRITAIN-OBIT-ALAN PARKER — Filmmaker Alan Parker, one of Britain’s most successful directors whose movies included “Bugsy Malone,” “Midnight Express” and “Evita,” has died at 76, his family said. Parker’s diverse body of work includes “Fame,” Mississippi Burning, “The Commitments and “Angela’s Ashes.” Together his movies won 10 Academy Awards and 19 British Academy Film Awards. SENT: 350 words, photos.
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BBO--VIRUS OUTBREAK-BASEBALL — The coronavirus keeps rocking baseball’s schedule. Friday’s game between St. Louis and Milwaukee is postponed after two Cardinals employees test positive. That brings the league’s total to eight teams affected in the first nine days of the season. By Jake Seiner. SENT: 500 words, photos.
BBO--VIRUS-MLB CONTACT TRACING — Dozens of team employees across baseball are carrying out the critical task of contact tracing, a pillar of the league’s plan for a 60-game season. One of them, with the St. Louis Cardinals, tells the AP the role requires sensitivity, diligence and trust. By Jake Seiner. UPCOMING: 1,000 words, photos by 4 p.m.
HKN—PLAYOFFS-NHL-GAMES RESUME — The NHL resumes this weekend with a 24-team expanded playoff in Toronto and Edmonton. Commissioner Gary Bettman hopes the crowning of a Stanley Cup winner can become a shared experience, given the magnitude of the task. By Hockey Writer John Wawrow. SENT: 950 words, photos.
BBO--BALLHAWKS GO ON — The famed ballhawks of Wrigley Field remain at their post, not about to let a pandemic stand in their way. It’s the same as it has been for decades, only with masks and social distancing. By Jay Cohen. SENT: 850 words, photos, video.
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HOW TO REACH US
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