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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ONLY ON AP
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LOOKING-FOR-AMERICA-SUNDOWN-TOWNS — In an America struggling over questions of race, police brutality and justice, The Associated Press made its second stop in an Illinois town to look at an open secret of segregation that spilled across much of the nation. Tim Sullivan and Noreen Nasir. SENT: 2,360 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,070 words is available.
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SUPREME COURT-BARRETT — Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett insists she’ll be no one’s pawn if confirmed but is careful over two days of Senate testimony not to take on the president who nominated her. Barrett seeks to create distance between her personal positions and writings on controversial subjects, and her role as an independent judge. By Mark Sherman, Lisa Mascaro and Laurie Kellman. SENT: 850 words. UPCOMING: Developing throughout the day, 950 words by 5 p.m., photos, video, audio. WITH: SUPREME COURT-BARRETT-THE LATEST, SUPREME COURT-BARRETT-TAKEAWAYS, both developing. WITH: SUPREME COURT-BARRETT-TERMS TO KNOW — Senators asked Judge Amy Coney Barrett about a wide array of court cases and legal ideas. A look at some of them and why they’re important. By Jessica Gresko. UPCOMING: 700 words by 3 p.m., photos.
ELECTION 2020 — President Donald Trump tries to shore up support from constituencies that not so long ago he thought he had in the bag: Big business and voters in the red state of Iowa. Trump expresses puzzlement in an address to business leaders about why they would even consider supporting Democrat Joe Biden. Biden, for his part, takes time to raise more campaign cash but has no public events for the day, an unusual move just 20 days before the election. By Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani and Bill Barrow. SENT: 795 words. UPCOMING: Developing, with updates from Trump 7 p.m. rally in Des Moines, Iowa. With ELECTION 2020-THE LATEST, developing.
ELECTION 2020-DUELING TOWN HALLS — NBC News agrees to put President Trump before voters in a town hall event on Thursday after the president submitted to an independent coronavirus test with the results reviewed by Dr. Anthony Fauci. The announcement sets up dueling town halls with Democratic opponent Joe Biden on a night the two candidates were supposed to meet for their second debate. Biden is appearing on a ABC-televised town hall event in Philadelphia. By David Bauder. SENT: 570 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
ELECTION-2020-RACE-ON-THE-BALLOT — The Black Lives Matter movement isn’t named in any of the 120 statewide ballot measures up for a vote on Nov. 3. But this year’s nationwide protests over police brutality and racial injustice are major factors in the campaigns in several states for measures with distinctive racial themes. By National Writer David Crary. SENT: 990 words, photos.
MED-VIRUS OUTBREAK VACCINES — Facing public skepticism about rushed COVID-19 vaccines, U.S. health officials are planning extra scrutiny of the first people vaccinated when shots become available — an added safety layer experts call vital. A new poll suggests those vaccine fears are growing. With this week’s pause of a second major vaccine study because of an unexplained illness — and repeated tweets from President Trump that raise the specter of politics overriding science — a quarter of Americans say they won’t get vaccinated. That’s a slight increase from 1 in 5 in May. By Lauran Neergaard. SENT: 1,015 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK — Coronavirus infections are surging anew in the northern Italian region where the pandemic first took hold in Europe, putting pressure again on hospitals and health care workers. At Milan’s San Paolo hospital, a ward dedicated to coronavirus patients and outfitted with breathing machines reopened this weekend, a sign that the city and the surrounding area is entering a new emergency phase of the pandemic. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s new strategy for combating COVID-19 seemed to unravel as regional leaders chose their own paths and the mayors of the cities facing the toughest restrictions accused Johnson of using the crisis to divide them for political advantage. SENT: 950 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-DIVIDED-ISRAEL — Israel has had one of the largest income gaps and poverty rates among developed economies, even before the coronavirus pandemic. The country has a few high earners concentrated in the lucrative high-tech sector, while many Israelis barely get by as civil servants, in service industries or as small business owners. Those gaps have widened as the second nationwide virus lockdown was imposed last month. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS — Germany has agreed to provide more than a half billion dollars to aid Holocaust survivors struggling under the burdens of the coronavirus pandemic, the organization that negotiates compensation with the German government says. SENT: 560 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-WORLD-BANK — The World Bank has approved $12 billion in financing to help developing countries buy and distribute coronavirus vaccines, tests and treatments, aiming to support the vaccination of up to 1 billion people. SENT: 340 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-VATICAN — Pope Francis apologized to the faithful for not being able to greet them and shake their hands as Italy posted a record spike in coronavirus infections that is threatening to once again spiral out of control. SENT: 435 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ASIA — India has confirmed more than 63,000 new cases of the coronavirus, an increase of over 8,000 from the previous day but still far fewer than it was reporting a month ago, when the virus was at its peak in the country. SENT: 290 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-AMERICAN-SAMOA-STRANDED — An estimated 600 residents of the U.S. territory of American Samoa were away when the governor closed its borders in March to keep the cluster of Pacific islands free from the coronavirus. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LIVES LOST-INDIAN DOCTOR — An Indian doctor killed by the coronavirus embodied his family’s dreams. SENT: 850 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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BAR EXAM-MISTAKE — The dean of South Carolina’s largest law school is apologizing for forwarding an email that contained the names of students who failed the exam to become a lawyer and the confidential bar exam grades of every student. SENT: 200 words.
FINLAND AIRLINE MEALS — Finnish carrier Finnair says it will start selling business class-style airline meals in a nationwide supermarket chain in a move to both keep its catering staff employed and also to offer the airline experience to those missing flying in the COVID-19 times. SENT: 350 words.
ANCHORAGE MAYOR-RELATIONSHIP —Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has submitted his resignation, a day after acknowledging he had an inappropriate relationship with a television anchorwoman. SENT: 650 words, photos.
BROADWAY STREAMING PLAYS — Broadway theaters may be dark, but there will be plenty of new online productions of some of classic plays this fall with some starry self-isolating actors, including Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, Patti LuPone, Laura Linney and David Alan Grier. SENT: 240 words, photos.
WALMART-BLACK FRIDAY — Walmart is spreading out its traditional one-day Black Friday deals over three weekends in November in an effort to reduce crowds. SENT: 600 words, photos.
APARTMENT COMPLEX FIRE — A large fire that could be seen for miles in Texas burned an apartment complex on the outskirts of Houston. SENT: 70 words, video.
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ELECTION 2020-BIDEN-EXPLAINER — A look at the questions surrounding a New York Post report that Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden had introduced his father to an adviser for the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. By Eric Tucker and Stephen Braun. UPCOMING: 850 words by 5 p.m., photos.
ELECTION 2020-KENTUCKY SENATE — Amy McGrath was in elementary school when Mitch McConnell was first elected to the Senate. Now, 36 years later, the Democrat who reached her dreams of becoming a military aviator has set her sights on a mission no one else has achieved — ending the Republican leader’s career. SENT: 1060 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-VOTING-PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania is one of this year’s most hotly contested battleground states and also is facing a flurry of lawsuits, complaints and partisan finger-pointing over its election procedures and systems. Numerous lawsuits that remain pending, including before the U.S. Supreme Court, could decide fundamental questions about election processes and ballot counting even before Election Day. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-BLACK VOTERS-EARLY VOTING -- They came by the thousands, standing in line for hours to vote early when most everyone had something else to do – work, chores, errands or a dozen different things. Yet for Black people, in a year when issues including prejudice, racial justice and voter suppression are at the forefront, giving up part of their day to cast a ballot for president was worth the trade. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos by 4 p.m.
ELECTION 2020-MONTANA SENATE CASH DELUGE — Political groups fighting for control of the U.S. Senate have poured more than $118 million into the contest between Montana’s Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock and Republican incumbent Steve Daines. It’s a record shattering figure for the sparsely-populated state and dwarfs spending on a per-voter basis in all other Senate battleground states. The cash deluge comes amid growing Republican worries they could lose control of the chamber. SENT: 885 words, photos.
CUT CABLE VOTER WEBSITE — A federal judge extended the deadline for registering to vote in Virginia by 48 hours after the state’s online voter registration system went down because of an accidentally severed cable. SENT: 500 words, photos.
UNITED STATES-AMERICANS RELEASED — An American humanitarian worker and a U.S. businessman held captive by Iranian-backed militants in Yemen have been released, but another American detained in Yemen had died in captivity, the Trump administration says. SENT: 340 words, photos.
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ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN-LOOMING-ESCALATION — A Russian attempt to broker a cease-fire to end the worst outbreak of hostilities over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in more than a quarter-century has failed to get any traction, with rivals Azerbaijan and Armenia trading blame for new attacks. The escalation of fighting raises the specter of a wider conflict that could draw in Russia and Turkey and threaten Caspian Sea energy exports. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
KYRGYZSTAN-PROTESTS — Kyrgyzstan’s embattled president dismissed a call to step down, saying he would stay on the job until the political situation in the Central Asian country stabilizes after a disputed parliamentary election. SENT: 400 words, photos.
VATICAN SEX ABUSE — For the first time, a clergy sex abuse trial opened in the Vatican’s criminal tribunal, with one priest accused of molesting an altar boy in the Vatican’s youth seminary and another priest accused of covering it up. SENT: 815 words, photos.
BRAZIL-CAT ISLAND — All the locals knew the island just west of Rio de Janeiro was teeming with cats. They left food and even brought tourists. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, and human support dried up, resulting in a gruesome scene witnessed by fishermen: a group of cats devouring others’ corpses. SENT: 600 words, photos.
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RACIAL INJUSTICE-CENTRAL PARK — Amy Cooper, the white woman charged with filing a false police report for calling 911 during a videotaped dispute with a Black man in New York’s Central Park in May, could resolve the case by participating in a program to educate her and the community “on the harm caused by such actions,” a prosecutor said. Cooper appeared by video at an arraignment but did not enter a plea to the misdemeanor charge. SENT: 745 words.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES —Dry, windy weather posed an extreme wildfire risk Wednesday in Northern California, where massive blazes already have destroyed hundreds of homes and killed or injured dozens of people. SENT: 600 words, photos.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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RUSSIA SPACE STATION — A trio of space travelers has launched successfully to the International Space Station, for the first time using a fast-track maneuver to reach the orbiting outpost in just three hours. NASA’s Kate Rubins, along with Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, lifted off as scheduled from the Russia-leased Baikonur space launch facility in Kazakhstan for a six-month stint on the station. SENT: 440 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Stocks are slipping on Wall Street as talks drag on in Washington over another economic stimulus package. SENT: 800 words, photos.
BANK EARNINGS — The nation’s biggest banks saw some bright spots in the U.S. economy during the third quarter and as a result set aside significantly less money to guard against loans going bad. But executives like Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan say the consumer still needs help and that Congress should pass another round of virus relief. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 3 p.m.
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TV-WEST WING SPECIAL — Cast members and creators of “The West Wing” reunite to stage an episode of the acclaimed White House drama series, aimed not at ratings but getting the vote out Nov. 3. By TV Writer Lynn Elber. UPCOMING: 500 words, photos.
BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS — The 2020 Billboard Music Awards will air live on NBC and feature performances by BTS, Alicia Keys and top nominee Post Malone. Kelly Clarkson will host the show. By Music Writer Mesfin Fekadu. SENT: 600 words, photos. Will be updated after start of show around 8:15 p.m.
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BBN-NLCS — The Atlanta Braves send Kyle Wright, another rookie right-hander, to the mound when they try to take a 3-0 lead over the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series. Julio Urias pitches for Los Angeles. By Stephen Hawkins. 800 words, photos. Game starts 6:05 p.m.
BBA-ALCS - Gold Glove outfielder Kevin Kiermaier and towering right-hander Tyler Glasnow look to deliver the Tampa Bay Rays their first AL pennant in 12 seasons when they face Zack Greinke and the Houston Astros in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series. The defending AL champion Astros have been hurt by second baseman José Altuve’s errors and a lack of timely hitting. By Bernie Wilson. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos. Game starts 8:40 p.m.
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HOW TO REACH US
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