AP News Digest 3:15 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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ELECTION 2020-TRUMP — President Trump looks to get his campaign back on track a week after he was sidelined with the coronavirus. As questions linger about his health, he will hold an event at the White House and what he calls a “BIG RALLY” in Sanford, Florida, on Monday. By ZEKE MILLER, JONATHAN LEMIRE and JILL COLVIN. SENT: 1,050 words, photos, video.
ELECTION 2020-FLORIDA — Republicans in Florida are fighting to energize President Trump’s base while the president recovers from the coronavirus. There is no question Trump will win the Florida Panhandle, but he needs to run up the score to compensate for weakness among older voters and suburbanites elsewhere. By National Political Writer Steve Peoples. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-MILITARY — It’s a question Americans are unaccustomed to considering in a presidential election campaign: Could voting, vote-counting or post-vote reaction become so chaotic that the military would intervene? The answer is yes, but only in an extreme case. By Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor. SENT: 1,000 words, photo.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — Europe’s second wave of coronavirus infections has struck well before flu season even started, with intensive care wards filling up again and bars shutting down. Making matters worse, authorities say, is a widespread case of “COVID-fatigue.” Record high daily infections in several eastern European countries and sharp rebounds in the hard-hit west have made clear that Europe never really crushed the COVID-19 curve as hoped, after springtime lockdowns. By Nicole Winfield. SENT: 1,160 words, photos.
AMERICA DISRUPTED-SENIORS — President Donald Trump’s campaign has seen a drop in support among senior citizens in its internal research. Nowhere is that shift more evident than in The Villages, the nation’s largest retirement community, located in the all-important swing state of Florida. By Tamara Lush. SENT: 2,070 words, photos, graphics. An abridged version of 1,050 words is also available.
MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING PLOT-EXTREMISTS — The alleged foiled plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor is a jarring example of how the anti-government movement in the U.S. has become an internet-driven hodgepodge of conspiracy theorists who have redirected their rage from Washington toward state capitols. By Michael Kunzelman and John Flesher. SENT: 1,090 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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CALIFORNIA-WILDFIRES-UTILITY — California fire investigators seize utility equipment. SENT: 400 words, photos.
CHICAGO POLICE-LAQUAN-MCDONALD — Van Dyke ends effort to overturn McDonald murder conviction. SENT: 280 words, photo.
SOUTH-CHINA-SEA — China protests latest US Navy mission in South China Sea . SENT: 250 words, photos.
HONG KONG — Hong Kong police arrest 9 for aiding dozen to flee territory. SENT: 320 words, photos.
JAPAN-STORM — Tropical storm unleashes rain, strong winds in south Japan . SENT: 130 words, photos.
PAKISTAN-TIK TOK — Pakistan bans Chinese app TikTok over unlawful content. SENT: 240 words, photo.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — The White House boosts its offer in up-and-down COVID-19 aid talks in hopes of an agreement before Election Day, but President Trump’s most powerful GOP ally in the Senate says Congress is unlikely to deliver relief by then. By Andrew Taylor and Bruce Schreiner. SENT: 700 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — India’s confirmed coronavirus cases are nearing 7 million with another 73,272 reported in the past 24 hours. The Health Ministry on Saturday also reported 926 additional deaths, taking total fatalities to 107,416. SENT: 190 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-DEADLY SHORTAGES-VACCINE — A Trump administration official leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic says the U.S. can expect delivery of a vaccine starting in January 2021, despite statements from the president that inoculations could begin this month. By Martha Mendoza and Juliet Linderman. SENT: 930 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ORTHODOX JEWS — After months of grappling with a pandemic that has walloped New York’s Orthodox Jewish communities, prompting changes to holidays, mourning and prayers, new limits on worship and other activity in some areas are raising tensions in some neighborhoods. SENT: 970 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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ELECTION 2020-MICHIGAN — The arrest of a group of anti-government vigilantes in a kidnapping plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer presents a new twist in the 2020 political fight for the battleground state. The Democratic governor didn’t mince words about whom she blamed for the threat: President Trump. By Thomas Beaumont and Claire Galofaro. SENT: 800 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-BARRETT-THINGS TO KNOW — Confirmation hearings begin Monday for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. Some things to know about her background, judicial philosophy, faith and family. By Jessica Gresko. SENT: 700 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-MCCONNELL-SUPREME COURT — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spent a year prepping his Republican colleagues for this moment, telling them the confirmation a Supreme Court justice is the chance to make “seismic change” that will stay with the nation for generations to come. Now, three weeks before Election Day, the GOP leader needs this moment more than ever. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
ELECTION-2020-TEXAS-VOTING — A federal judge in Texas halts Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s order that shuttered dozens of mail ballot drop-off sites weeks before November’s election, authorizing only one for every county no matter the size. SENT: 530 words.
EDUCATION-CHINA INFLUENCE — The Trump administration encourages U.S. schools and colleges to rethink their ties to the Confucius Institute, a program that brings Chinese language classes to America but that officials say also invites a “malign influence” from China. By Collin Binkley. SENT: 700 words, photo.
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TROPICAL-WEATHER — Delta has been downgraded from a once powerful hurricane to a tropical storm as it moves inland across the U.S. South. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Delta came ashore Friday evening in southwest Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane but quickly weakened and has become a tropical storm as it moves inland. SENT: 790 words, photos. WITH: TROPICAL-WEATHER-THE-LATEST.
TEXAS-AG-CRIMINAL-ALLEGATIONS — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton drops an investigation sought by a wealthy donor that set off an extraordinary revolt by the Republican’s top deputies, who accused him of bribery and abuse of office, and fueled new calls for his resignation. SENT: 660 words, photos.
PARIS HILTON-BOARDING SCHOOL — Paris Hilton has been speaking out about abuse she said she suffered at a boarding school in Utah, and on Friday she took her push nearly to the school’s front doors. Hilton organized a protest in a park near Provo Canyon School, along with several hundreds of others who share stories of abuse they say they suffered there or at similar schools for troubled youth. She is calling for the closure of the school. SENT: 590 words, photos.
POLICE SHOOTING-WISCONSIN-MALL — Police defended the arrests of family members of a Black teen killed by a suburban Milwaukee officer, saying they were driving recklessly during a protest and refused officers’ demands to leave their vehicles. SENT: 975 words, photos.
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NKOREA-PARTY ANNIVERSARY — North Korea celebrates the 75th anniversary of its ruling party with outside observers expecting leader Kim Jong Un to take center stage in a massive military parade in capital Pyongyang, where the North could possibly unveil the latest weapons in its growing nuclear force threatening U.S. allies and the American mainland. SENT: 870 words, photos.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN — With Russia’s mediation, Armenia and Azerbaijan agree to a cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting at noon following two weeks of heavy fighting that marked the worst outbreak of hostilities in the separatist region in a quarter-century. SENT: 790 words, photos.
NOBEL-PEACE-WFP-2020 — Even before COVID-19 became an issue, World Food Program chief David Beasley was warning global leaders that the world would face the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II in 2020. He says it was because of wars in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere, locust swarms in Africa, frequent natural disasters, and economic crises including in Lebanon, Congo, Sudan and Ethiopia. Then came COVID-19 which quickly became a pandemic that has swept the world, escalating the need for food — and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says it is still not under control. With NOBEL-PEACE-WFP-BEASLEY — WFP chief: Nobel Prize message to world not to forget Sahel (sent).
TAIWAN-CHINA-NATIONAL-DAY — Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen says she has hopes for less tensions with China and in the region if Beijing will listen to Taipei’s concerns, alter its approach and restart dialogue with the self-ruled island democracy. SENT: 550 words, photos.
LITHUANIA-ELECTIONS — Lithuanian voters will choose a new parliament Sunday for a nation that has seen a recent surge in COVID-19 cases and whose center-right coalition government has faced strong criticism over soaring virus-related unemployment. The Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, the party that leads a majority coalition with three smaller partners, hopes to remain in power in the southernmost Baltic republic. Pre-election polls showed they are marginally ahead of the opposition conservative Homeland Union-Christian Democrats, the Social Democrats, the populist Labor party and the center-right Liberal Movement. SENT: 370 words, photos.
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EDDIE VAN HALEN-HOMETOWN TRIBUTE — The childhood home of Eddie Van Halen and a sidewalk outside a nearby liquor store have been turned into memorials to the legendary rock guitarist in his adopted hometown near Los Angeles. The shrines began popping up shortly after Van Halen’s death from cancer at age 65 earlier in the week. The tributes have continued to grow and attract a steady stream of visitors day and night. SENT; 650 words, photos.
TV-DEBATE ANCHOR — C-SPAN said Friday that its political editor Steve Scully, set to moderate the now-scrapped second presidential debate, didn’t initiate a questionable Twitter exchange with Anthony Scaramucci and that Scully’s account apparently was hacked. By Television Writer Lynn Elber. SENT: 270 words, photos.
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BKN-NBA FINALS — Jimmy Butler was slumped over a video board behind the baseline in the final seconds, exhausted, gasping for air. He gave it all. The Miami Heat needed nothing less. By Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds. SENT: 820 words, photos. With BKN--NBA Finals-Lakers; BKN—NBA Finals-Notebook, China TV (sent).
TEN--FRENCH OPEN — Novak Djokovic has held on to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas and reach the French Open final for the fifth time. The top-seeded Djokovic eliminated No. 5 Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-2, 5-7, 4-6, 6-1 in the semifinals. Djokovic will meet Rafael Nadal on Sunday in Paris. By Howard Fendrich and Jerome Pugmire. SENT: 900 words, photos. With the Latest, sidebar on women’s final, glance (sent).
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