AP News Digest 3:10 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 — With the smell of California wildfires in the air, President Donald Trump ignored the scientific consensus that climate change is playing a central role in historic West Coast infernos and renewed his unfounded claim that failure to rake forest floors and clear dead timber is mostly to blame. By Jonathan Lemire, Aamer Madhani, Will Weissert and Ellen Knickmeyer. SENT: 1,150 words, photos, video. With ELECTION 2020-CLIMATE-WILDFIRES — Trump and Joe Biden take sharply different stands on climate policy. SENT: 470 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN — Joe Biden is making his first trip to Florida as the Democratic presidential nominee, while his campaign is acknowledging concerns about his appeal with Latinos. That voting bloc could be key to victory in a close race against President Donald Trump in a pivotal battleground state. By Will Weissert. SENT: 805 words, photos.
WESTERN WILDFIRES-SMOKY SKIES — People acros the West struggled under acrid-yellowish green smog from raging wildfires that seeped into homes and businesses, sneaked into cars through air conditioning vents and caused the temporary closure of iconic locations such as Powell’s Books and the Oregon Zoo. And forecasters say the putrid air — measured as the worst on the planet — could last well into the week. By Sara Cline and Gillian Flaccus. SENT: 1,010 words, photos. With WESTERN-WILDFIRES-ECONOMIC-IMPACT — The fires consuming the forests of California and Oregon and darkening the skies over San Francisco and Portland are also damaging a regional economy already singed by the coronavirus outbreak. SENT: 990 words, photos.
TROPICAL WEATHER — Hurricane Sally, a plodding but powerful storm with winds of 100 mph, crept toward the northern Gulf Coast early Tuesday, with forecasters warning of potentially deadly storm surges, flash floods spurred by up to 2 feet (.61 meters) of rain and the possibility of tornadoes. By Stacey Plaisance and Jeff Martin. SENT: 740 words, photo. With TROPICAL WEATHER-BERMUDA — Hurricane Paulette knocked down trees and power lines across Bermuda on Monday as it made a rare landfall in the wealthy British territory and strengthened into a Category 2 storm while still over the island. SENT: 415 words, photo.
UNITED STATES-MIDEAST — President Trump is set to preside over the signing of historic diplomatic deals between Israel and two Gulf Arab nations that could herald a dramatic shift in Middle East power dynamics. By Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee. SENT: 1,000 words, photo. UPCOMING: 1,100 words after noon event. With TRUMP-FOREIGN POLICY — Trump highlights diplomatic wins, but solutions to the country’s most challenging foreign policy problems are still out of his reach. SENT: 980 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-FOOD INSECURITY — Brooklynite Sharawn Vinson felt she had no choice but to send her 11-year-old twins to live with their father in North Carolina after the pandemic threw into doubt her ability to make sure they had enough food. It was a painful decision, but it bought her time to save up money and food stamps, and find a job. By August the kids were able to return in time for a remote graduation and the start of youth football. Vinson is emblematic of some 2 milion New Yorkers facing food insecurity due to the pandemic. By Luis Andres Henao and Jessie Wardarski. SENT: 1,395 words, photos. An abridged version of 1,045 words is available.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — India has confirmed more than 83,000 new coronavirus cases, bringing its total caseload to nearly 5 million, with 80,776 fatalities. With 4.93 million confirmed cases, India has the second-highest total in the world after the U.S. Infections have maintained an upward surge amid an ease in coronavirus restrictions nationwide. SENT: 510 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST (sent)
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CONGRESS-CDC — A House subcommittee examining President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic is launching an investigation into reports that political appointees have meddled with routine government scientific data to better align with Trump’s public statements. By Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 480 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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MASTERS TICKETS-CONSPIRACY CHARGES — A Georgia man has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a scheme that used stolen identities to obtain tickets the Masters golf tournament. SENT: 320 words.
OBIT-ANN GETTY — Longtime benefactor of the arts and culture in San Francisco Ann Getty has died. SENT: 400 words, photos.
PEOPLE-BRAD PAISLEY — Brad Paisley and his wife have pledged to donate one million nutritional meals in various cities around the country. SENT: 425 words, photos.
BRITAIN-OXFORD MUSEUM — Oxford University’s Pitt Rivers Museum has removed its famous collection of shrunken heads and other human remains from display as part of a broader effort to “decolonize’’ its collections. SENT: 420 words, photos.
GREECE-MIGRANTS-SHIPWRECK — Greece: 3 migrants dead, 56 saved after boat sinks off Crete. SENT: 235 words, photos.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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ELECTION 2020-HARRIS-POLICING — Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris is drawing on her past as the U.S. faces a reckoning over policing. As a San Francisco prosecutor, Harris declined to seek the death penalty against a young officer’s killer. But as she rose through politics, allies say she’s understood the need to build productive relationships with law enforcement. By Kathleen Ronayne. SENT: 1,135 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP RALLIES — President Donald Trump is running as the “law and order” candidate, but that hasn’t stopped him and his reelection campaign from defying state emergency orders and flouting his administration’s coronavirus guidelines as he holds rallies in battleground states. By Jill Colvin. SENT: 1,285 words, photos.
ELECTION-2020-WISCONSIN-ABSENTEE — The Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered that the Green Party presidential candidate should not be added to the ballot, clearing the way for local clerks to resume mailing absentee ballots to more than 1 million voters who have requested one. By Scott Bauer. SENT: 840 words.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT-EMISSIONS SETTLEMENT — Automakers Daimler AG and subsidiary Mercedes-Benz USA agree to pay $1.5 billion to the U.S. government and California state regulators to resolve emissions cheating allegations. By Michael Balsamo and Tom Krisher. SENT: 965 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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RACIAL INJUSTICE-DEATH PENALTY — A new report by a think tank examining executions in the United States says death penalty cases show a long history of racial disparity, from who is executed to where and for what crimes. The report by the Death Penalty Information Center says that disparity has roots in the racist lynchings of the past. By Colleen Long. SENT: 820 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-HAIR DISCRIMINATION — A growing number of states are facing pressure to ban race-based discrimination against hair texture and styles. By Russell Contreras. SENT: 210 words, photos. UPCOMING: Will be updated after 1 p.m.
ROCHESTER-POLICE-DEATH — Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren has fired the police chief and suspended her top lawyer and communications director in the continuing upheaval over the suffocation death of Daniel Prude. SENT: 530 words, photo.
SOUTH DAKOTA-ATTORNEY GENERAL-FATAL ACCIDENT — South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg said in a statement late Monday that he discovered he had struck and killed a man walking along a rural stretch of highway only after returning to the scene the next day and discovering the body. The state’s top law enforcement officer said he initially thought he hit a deer while driving home from a Republican fundraiser Saturday night. By Stephen Groves. SENT: 1,070 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-RURAL AREAS — Far from city streets filled with demonstrators, racial reckonings also are playing out in rural areas like New York’s Adirondack Mountains. By Michael Hill. SENT: 930 words, photos.
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VENEZUELA-US CITIZEN ARRESTED — Venezuela’s chief prosecutor says a U.S. citizen arrested as a suspected spy has been charged with plotting a terrorist attack to sabotage oil refineries and electrical service. Tarek William Saab said Matthew John Heath had help from at least three Venezuelan conspirators. By Scott Smith. SENT: 710 words, photos.
SKOREA-JAPAN-REPAIRING TIES — When Shinzo Abe recently announced his decision to step down as Japan’s prime minster because of ill health, South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office issued glowing praise for his unspecified contributions to bilateral ties. The rare accolades came after years of intense disputes over history, trade and military issues that plunged ties between the key U.S. allies to new lows. By Kim Tong-Hyung. SENT: 1,155 words, photos.
UNITED STATES-CHINA-FORCED LABOR — The U.S. has blocked imports from four companies and a manufacturing facility in northwestern China suspected of using forced labor from people detained as part of a sweeping crackdown on ethnic minorities in the region. By Ben Fox. SENT: 750 words, photo.
BREXIT — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his plan to unilaterally rewrite Britain’s divorce deal with the European Union as an insurance policy against the bloc’s unreasonable behavior. The comments came as his former attorney general joined a growing number of once-loyal lawmakers condemning the contentious move. By Jill Lawless and Danica Kirka. SENT: 925 words, photos.
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HEALTH/SCIENCE
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VENUS-POSSIBLE LIFE — Astronomers have found a potential sign of life high in the atmosphere of neighboring Venus: hints there may be bizarre microbes living in the sulfuric acid-laden clouds of the hothouse planet. Two telescopes in Hawaii and Chile spotted in the thick Venusian clouds the chemical signature of phosphine, a noxious gas that on Earth is only associated with life, according to a study in the journal Nature Astronomy. By Seth Borenstein. SENT: 875 words, photo.
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JAPAN-NISSAN TRIAL — The financial misconduct trial of former Nissan executive Greg Kelly has begun with Kelly saying he committed no crimes and was only trying to keep his star boss Carlos Ghosn from leaving. Japanese prosecutors on Tuesday outlined allegations of what they said was a complex and clandestine scheme to pay former star executive Carlos Ghosn. By Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 730 words, photos.
TIKTOK-ORACLE-DEAL — The short-video app TikTok has chosen Oracle as its corporate savior to avoid a U.S. ban ordered by President Donald Trump. The U.S. government will review the prospective deal. That much is known. Everything else is confusion, at least to outsiders. By Matt O’Brien and Tali Arbel. SENT: 945 words, photo.
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BILL COSBY — Legal advocates are lining up on both sides of actor Bill Cosby’s appeal as the Pennsylvania Supreme Court prepares to review his 2018 sex assault conviction. Cosby was the first celebrity to go on trial in the #MeToo era, and his appeal could resolve lingering questions about how they should be tried. By Maryclaire Dale. SENT: 645 words, photos.
FILM-CUTIES CONTROVERSY — The backlash to the French independent film “Mignonnes,” or “Cuties,” started before it had even been released because of a poster that went viral for its provocative depiction of its young female actors. But the spotlight has only intensified since the film became available on Netflix last week and it has become the target of heightened politicized outrage from members of Congress, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, and others online calling for subscribers to #CancelNetflix. By Lindsey Bahr. SENT: 1,015 words, photos.
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FBN--STEELERS-GIANTS -- Ben Roethlisberger did a very Pittsburgh thing in his return to the lineup, riding the Steelers’ defense and running game to victory. Big Ben did plenty to help the cause, too. Roethlisberger, who missed the final 14 games last season after elbow surgery, threw for three scores in a 26-16 win over the New York Giants. By Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner. SENT: 890 words, photos.
HKN--GOLDEN KNIGHTS-STARS —Denis Gurianov scored on a one-timer during a power play 3:36 into overtime, and the Dallas Stars beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2000. SENT: 970 words, photos.
METS SALE — Billionaire hedge fund manager Steve Cohen has agreed to buy the New York Mets from the Wilpon and Katz families. The deal is subject to the approval of Major League Baseball owners. Cohen also entered negotiations to buy the Mets last year, but the deal fell apart in February. Sportico reported Cohen will own 95% of the team, with the rest staying with the Wilpon and Katz families. SENT: 460 words, photos.
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