AP News Digest 3:50 a.m.
Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, 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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AMERICA-PROTESTS-WORLD-LEADERS — People have taken to the streets of Berlin, London, Paris and other cities around the world to demonstrate in support of Black Lives Matter protesters in the United States and to vent anger over President Donald Trump’s response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. But at the top, the leaders of traditional allies of the United States have taken pains to avoid criticizing Trump directly, walking a fine line to reconcile international diplomacy with domestic outrage. By David Rising. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
Full coverage of America Protests on AP News.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — Utah and Oregon put any further reopening of their economies on hold amid a spike in coronavirus cases, but there was no turning back in such states as Texas, Arkansas and Arizona despite flashing warning signs there, too. One by one, states are weighing the health risks from the virus against the economic damage from the stay-at-home orders that have thrown millions out of work over the past three months. By Paul J. Weber and Andrew DeMillo. SENT: 900 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATESTS.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LOAN TRANSPARENCY — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin refuses to disclose what businesses received coronavirus aid, but ethics advocates and some lawmakers see the move as an attempt to dodge accountability. By Marcy Gordon and Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 990 words, photos.
Full coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
TRUMP-WEST POINT — President Trump will address the graduating class at the U.S. Military Academy against a backdrop of urgent questions about the role of soldiers in a civil society. Trump has frequently threatened to use American troops on domestic soil to quell protests over the death of George Floyd. By Darlene Superville. SENT: 940 words, photo. UPCOMING: 990 words after 10:25 a.m. speech.
ELECTION 2020-PROTESTS BATTLEGROUND — Hundreds of protests over black injustice have cropped up in small cities in rural areas across the upper Midwest and Rust Belt, many with their own lingering current of white supremacy and racial unrest. The movement presents a test of President Donald Trump’s ability to reassemble his older, white voting bloc. By Thomas Beaumont. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
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AMERICA PROTESTS-SEATTLE ZONE — For nearly a week, people opposing police brutality and racial injustice have turned a Seattle neighborhood into ground zero for their protests. They’ve created a carnival-like atmosphere with speakers and drum circles near a largely abandoned police station. It’s angered President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to “go in” to stop the “anarchists” he says have taken over the liberal city after officers withdrew to ease tensions. SENT: 880 words, photos.
AMERICA PROTESTS-IMMIGRANT RISKS — Many immigrants feel solidarity with the Black Lives Movement and want to participate in ongoing national marches. But they face an added risk of ending up in immigration custody if they get arrested, even for protesting peacefully. SENT: 990 words, photos.
AMERICA PROTESTS-GLOBAL — A day of demonstrations across Australia in support of the Black Lives Matter movement began Saturday with protesters gathering in the far northern city of Darwin with approval from state health authorities. However, protesters in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth were urged to stay away by government officials concerned about the risk of spreading the new coronavirus. SENT: 420 words, photos. With AMERICA PROTESTS-THE LATEST.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-SUDAN-DARFUR — In the sprawling refugee camps of Darfur, the war-scarred western region of Sudan, officials say the elderly are falling sick and dying at astonishing rates. In North Darfur’s provincial capital of El Fasher, some say they scroll through a dozen death announcements each day: Another old friend, relative, community leader lost with dizzying speed. SENT: 980 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-LIVES-LOST-MAINE-WEATHERMAN — Robert Fleury knew he wanted to serve his country when he was a teenager, so he signed up for one of the most remote assignments in World War II — tracking the weather for the U.S. Navy in the frigid Aleutian Islands off Alaska. He would later parlay the skills he learned in Quonset huts along the Bering Sea into a decades-long career with the National Weather Service. SENT: 760 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FRANCE-MASK-SURPLUS — The French praised the altruism of their prized textile and luxury goods companies when production facilities got diverted from churning out the latest fashions to making cloth masks designed to protect the general public from the coronavirus. Now, the companies that helped France avoid a feared shortage of virus-filtering face wear for everyday use say they need help unloading a surplus of 20 million masks. SENT: 720 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SAO PAULO CEMETERIES — Brazil’s biggest metropolis has an unorthodox plan to free up space at its graveyards during the coronavris pandemic: digging up the bones of people buried in the past and storing their bagged remains in large metal containers. SENT: 600 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ECUADOR-TESTS HALTED — A major laboratory in Ecuador’s capital closes and halts processing coronavirus tests because technicians didn’t have basic supplies like tubes, pipettes, masks and gloves needed to safely analyze the specimens. SENT: 470 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — Beijing closes the city’s largest wholesale food market Saturday after the discovery of seven cases of the new coronavirus in the previous two days. The Xinfadi market, which has 4,000 tenants, will be disinfected after workers tested positive and the virus was found in the environment, the official Xinhua News Agency says. SENT: 410 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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TRUMP-JUNETEENTH — President Donald Trump says he is rescheduling his first campaign rally in months to a day later so it won’t conflict with the Juneteenth observance of the end of slavery in the United States. SENT: 160 words, photos.
MEXICO-US-POLICE KILLING — Relatives, friends and neighbors of a 16-year-old Mexican-American boy shot dead by local police in southern Mexico demonstrate to demand justice in the case. SENT: 430 words, photos.
CHINA FLOODING — Rainstorms have killed five more people in a southern Chinese region already reeling from heavy flooding over the past week.
VIRGINIA STATUES GUNS SEIZED — Police in Richmond, Virginia, say they arrested one man and seized three assault-style rifles and a handgun after a late-night confrontation near the iconic statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. SENT: 150 words, photos.
FILM-TENET — The closely watched arrival of Christopher Nolan’s big-budget sci-fi espionage film “Tenet” will finally happen on July 31, Warner Bros. announces. SENT: 270 words, photo.
NOT REAL NEWS — This week’s Not Real News roundup looks at a variety of false claims, including a manipulated photo made to appear that the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., was defaced during protests, and posts suggesting a children’s hospital in Houston was destroyed by protesters. SENT: 2,300 words, photos.
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ELECTION 2020-VEEPSTAKES — Joe Biden’s search for a running mate is entering a second round of vetting for a dwindling list of potential vice presidential nominees, with several black women in strong contention. Among the group still in contention: Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California, as well as Susan Rice, who served as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser. By Bill Barrow and Julie Pace. SENT: 800 words, photos.
TRUMP-TRANSGENDER HEALTH — In a move applauded by President Donald Trump’s conservative religious base, his administration has finalized a rule that overturns Obama-era protections for transgender people against sex discrimination in health care. SENT: 750 words, photo.
PENCE — It’s time to spread the good news. That’s the difficult job Vice President Mike Pence is undertaking as the Trump administration works to make voters feel better about the direction of the country in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic and racial unrest. SENT: 820 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-GOP PLATFORM — President Trump says he wants “a new and updated” Republican Party platform for 2020, after the Republican National Committee voted to carry over the 2016 document. By Aamer Madhani. SENT: 560 words, photo.
MELANIA TRUMP — A new book says first lady Melania Trump delayed her move to Washington after Donald Trump became president to gain leverage in renegotiating her prenuptial agreement. The White House is denouncing the book as “fiction.” SENT: 500 words, photos.
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CALIFORNIA OFFICERS SHOT — A U.S. Air Force sergeant could face the death penalty if he is convicted of a deadly ambush-style attack on unsuspecting officers in Northern California. Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeffrey Rosell says he hadn’t yet decided whether he would seek the death penalty for Staff Sgt. Steven Carrillo, even though Gov. Gavin Newsom has put a moratorium on executions. SENT: 780 words, photos.
ARIZONA WILDFIRES — Hundreds of Arizona residents under an evacuation notice were allowed to return home but were told to remain ready to leave at a moment’s notice as a wildfire burns in a national forest near Tucson. SENT: 790 words, photos.
MISSING KIDS-COMMUNITY MOURNS — The discovery of two bodies on a rural Idaho property this week has marked a tragic break in a long-running and bizarre case involving two missing children and their mother’s doomsday beliefs. It also marked a new chapter of heartbreak for the tight-knit Idaho community where the kids briefly lived, with vigils planned and memorials springing up alongside the property. SENT: 730 words, photos.
ATLANTIC CITY-BOARDWALK DRINKING — Many folks could use a drink right about now, and they’re now able to do it while strolling the Atlantic City Boardwalk. Searching for ways to boost business and tourism amid the coronavirus pandemic in a resort whose casinos remain closed and restaurants still can’t offer indoor dining, the city on Friday dropped a longtime prohibition on drinking on the Boardwalk to try to capture the party spirit of places like New Orleans. SENT: 610 words, photos.
OBIT-WILLIAM-SESSIONS — William S. Sessions, a former federal judge appointed by President Ronald Reagan to head the FBI and fired years later by President Bill Clinton, has died at his San Antonio home. He was 90.
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LIBYA — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep shock at the discovery of mass graves in Libyan territory recently recaptured from forces commanded by Khalifa Hifter, and called for a transparent investigation. SENT: 900 words, photo.
UNITED NATIONS-IRAN REPORT — The United Nations says it has determined that Iran was the source for several items in two arms shipments seized by the United States and for debris left by attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil installations and an international airport, according to a new report. SENT: 870 words.
VENEZUELA-POLITICAL-CRISIS — Venezuela’s high court loyal to President Nicolás Maduro seated a new elections commission Friday night in a move that was quickly called unconstitutional by political leaders opposed to the socialist government. SENT: 550 words, photos.
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TV-THE BACHELOR — ABC has named Matt James, its first black “Bachelor” to lead the network’s long-running dating competition show, a move long sought by critics of the series’ lack of diversity among its leading men. SENT: 440 words, photos.
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BBO--VIRUS OUTBREAK-MLB — Major League Baseball and its players are moving closer to a deal or to Commissioner Rob Manfred ordering a shortened season without an agreement. By Baseball Writer Ronald Blum. SENT: 1,100 words, photos. With BBO--Proposal Comparison Chart, BBO--Proposal Salary Comparison Chart (sent).
BKN--VIRUS OUTBREAK-NBA — The NBA has given teams a more definitive timetable for the restart to the pandemic-interrupted season. That includes required coronavirus testing that is set to begin this month and mandatory individual workouts in early July before training camps. By Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds. SENT: 750 words, photos.
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