AP News Digest 3:20 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-TRUMP — President Trump insists he is ready to resume campaign rallies and feels “perfect” one week after his diagnosis with the coronavirus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans. By Zeke Miller, Jill Colvin and Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 950 words, photos, video.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING PLOT — Hours after police foiled an alleged plot to kidnap her, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer argued in a speech Thursday that President Donald Trump’s words had been a “rallying cry” for extremists. Whitmer, a Democrat, said the Republican president has spent the last seven months of the coronavirus pandemic “denying science, ignoring his own health experts, stoking distrust, fomenting anger and giving comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division.” By Grant Schulte and David Eggert. SENT: 530 words, photos. WITH: MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING PLOT-SPEECH — Michigan governor says Trump’s words inspire extremists (sent).
VIRUS OUTBREAK-FRENCH HOSPITALS — Intensive care wards across France are filling up again with COVID-19 patients. Doctors are scrambling to create new ICU beds elsewhere to accommodate the sick, and asking what went wrong. National health agency figures and doctors at multiple hospitals say France hasn’t added significant ICU capacity or the staff needed to manage them since the pandemic’s first wave. By Angela Charlton. SENT: 960 words, photos.
NOBEL-PEACE — The winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday at 11 a.m. in Oslo, with no shortage of causes or candidates on this year’s list. While the Norwegian Nobel Committee maintains absolute secrecy about whom it favors for arguably the world’s most prestigious prize, that has never stopped speculation ahead of the announcement. SENT: 330 words, photo
LEBANON-ARMENIA — The fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan is echoing around the Mideast. Syrian activists say Turkey has also sent hundreds of Syrian fighters to the conflict to back its ally, Azerbaijan, and several dozen have been killed. A small number of Lebanese Armenians have travelled on their own to fight in defense of their ancestral land, according to members of the community in Beirut. By Bassem Mroue. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
TROPICAL-WEATHER — Boarded windows and empty sidewalks made parts of Louisiana’s Acadiana region look like empty movie sets as major Hurricane Delta roared ever closer to the U.S. Gulf coast, apparently on track to smash into the same southwestern part of the state where Hurricane Laura blasted ashore six weeks ago. By Rebecca Santana and Stacey Plaisance. SENT: 740 words, photos. WITH: TROPICAL-WEATHER-THE-LATEST.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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CHINA-IRAN — Iran foreign minister on China visit following US sanctions. SENT: 290 words, photo.
PHILIPPINES-DUERTE-CONGRESS-ROW — Duterte warns he’ll intercede if House squabble risks budget. SENT: 330 words, photo.
AUSTRALIAN-SHARK ATTACK — Surfer vanishes in suspected shark attack in Australia. SENT: 180 words.
JAPAN-STORM — Typhoon off southern Japan, heavy rain expected nationwide. SENT: 120 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces legislation that would create a commission to allow Congress to intervene under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution and to remove President Trump from executive duties. SENT: 850 words, photos, video.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-EMIRATES-BEAR-GRYLLS — The northern-most sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates hopes a new adventure camp showcasing its wide-open spaces, fresh air and socially distanced mountain peaks can aid in reviving its tourist industry amid the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 670 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — Sri Lankan health authorities were working Friday to contain a growing cluster of new coronavirus infections, ordering the closure of bars, restaurants, casinos, nightclubs and spas. SENT: 400 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHINA-VACCINE-ALLIANCE — China, which has four coronavirus vaccine candidates in stage 3 clinical trials, says it is joining the COVID-19 vaccine alliance known as COVAX. SENT: 240 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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SUPREME COURT-POLITICAL STORM — The Supreme Court might prefer to avoid politics, but politics has a way of finding the court. The justices are facing a brewing political storm that could peak after Election Day if they are called upon to decide the election’s outcome. By Mark Sherman. SENT: 1,030 words, photo.
SUPREME COURT-BARRETT — President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee has made clear in her academic writings that she’s at least open to reversing some long-established precedents, possibly including Roe v. Wade, which entrenched women’s abortion rights. By Michael Tarm. SENT: 990 words, photo.
TRUMP-BARR — The relationship between President Donald Trump and top ally Attorney General William Barr is fraying over the lack of splashy indictments so far in the Justice Department’s investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. By Michael Balsamo, Zeke Miller and Eric Tucker. SENT: 1,060 words, photo.
USDA SECRETARY-CAMPAIGN VIOLATION — A federal watchdog agency concludes that Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue violated federal law in advocating for the reelection of President Trump during an August visit to North Carolina. SENT: 450 words, photo.
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POLICE-SHOOTING WISCONSIN — A 17-year-old accused of killing two protesters days after Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is due back in court as his attorneys fight efforts to send him to Wisconsin to stand trial on homicide charges. SENT: 690 words, photos.
TEXAS-AG-CRIMINAL ALLEGATIONS — The lawyer Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton hired to investigate a political donor’s claims of wrongdoing by the FBI has no prosecutorial experience and has ties to the donor’s defense attorney. SENT: 950 words.
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COLOMBIA-VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS — Thousands of Venezuelans are heading to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru in search of work as these countries reopen their economies following months of lockdowns. But South American roads have become harder to negotiate for poor migrants with no money for bus tickets, as shelters remain closed due to the pandemic and locals who fear contagion are less likely to help out with rides and food. Immigration officials in Colombia expect 200,000 Venezuelans to enter the country in the following months, enticed by the prospects of earning higher wages and sending money home to feed their families. SENT: 830 words, photos.
UNITED-NATIONS-MALI — The U.N. envoy for Mali urged people in the West African nation, who just lived through another military coup, to use a recently agreed to 18-month transition “to pull their country out of the hellish cycle” of coups that has left the country in crisis. SENT: 600 words, photos.
ETHIOPIA-DEADLY-ATTACK — A security official in Ethiopia’s Western Benishangul-Gumuz region says an attack this week killed 14 civilians and security forces killed 14 militia members. SENT: 250 words.
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FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Friday on hopes Washington will provide more aid to the struggling U.S. economy. Benchmarks in Shanghai, Hong Kong, South Korea and Sydney advanced. Tokyo was off 0.1%. SENT: 660 words, photos.
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US--ATHLETES-CBD — Megan Rapinoe is among the athletes touting the benefits of CBD for pain management and recovery. CBD products have become big business after the 2018 Farm Bill made hemp a legal agricultural crop. By Anne M. Peterson. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
OLY-JAPAN-JUDO ABUSE — Japan is the home of judo, and the 19th-century martial art is sure to get more attention at home than any other sport at next year’s Tokyo Olympics. But it’s also drawing unwanted scrutiny over widespread allegations of violence, and accompanying injuries, abuse, and more than 100 deaths in Japan over the last several decades attributed to judo and its military-like training methods.
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HOW TO REACH US
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