AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT
Trump expected to announce conservative Barrett for court
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is expected to announce Saturday that he is nominating Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court as he aims to put a historic conservative stamp on the high court just weeks before the election.
Trump said Friday he had made up his mind and it was “very exciting,” without giving away the name, aiming to maintain some suspense around his personal announcement. But the White House indicated to congressional Republicans and outside allies that the pick was Barrett.
“Well I haven’t said it was her, but she’s outstanding,” Trump said of the Indiana federal judge.
Conservative groups and congressional allies are laying the groundwork for a swift confirmation process for her, even before Trump makes the selection official in a Rose Garden ceremony Saturday evening. They, like the president, are wasting little time moving to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, organizing multimillion-dollar ad campaigns and marshalling supporters both to confirm the pick and to boost Trump to a second term.
The likely shift in the court’s makeup — from Ginsburg, a liberal icon, to an outspoken conservative — would be the sharpest ideological swing since Clarence Thomas replaced Justice Thurgood Marshall nearly three decades ago.
___
Family demands release of evidence in Breonna Taylor's case
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Breonna Taylor’s family demanded Friday that Kentucky authorities release all body camera footage, police files and the transcripts of the grand jury proceedings that led to no charges being brought against police officers who killed the Black woman during a raid at her apartment.
The decision disappointed and angered those who have been calling for justice for Taylor for six months, and protesters vowed to stay in the streets until all the officers involved are fired or someone is charged with her killing.
A diverse group, including Taylor's mother, marched through Louisville on Friday evening. The protests were peaceful, though at one point, police in riot gear fired flash bang devices to turn back a crowd on a street. Two were arrested, authorities said.
About a dozen people who were out past the city's 9 p.m. curfew were arrested later.
Earlier, Taylor's lawyers and family expressed dismay that no one has been held accountable for her death.
___
Trump shifts focus to Pennsylvania to shore up reelection
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump's campaign has grown increasingly focused on making inroads in Pennsylvania to offset potential vulnerabilities in other battlegrounds.
The president will travel to the state for the second time in a week on Saturday, hoping to attract the same rural and white working-class voters who delivered him a narrow victory here in 2016. The in-person touch, in what may become the most important battleground on the map, complements an aggressive get-out-the-vote operation that has been working for four years to find new voters by knocking on doors in competitive neighborhoods.
Trump narrowly flipped three Great Lakes states — Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — from blue to red in 2016. He has virtually no path to reelection without keeping at least one of those states in his column. His campaign has long viewed Wisconsin as his best option, but aides who requested anonymity to discuss strategy said their thinking has begun to shift.
There are growing concerns inside the campaign, the aides said, about Trump's ability to retain Wisconsin. Even winning that upper Midwest battleground wouldn't provided the needed votes if Trump's Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, claims Arizona.
But Pennsylvania would be enough.
___
China pushes emergency use of COVID vaccine despite concerns
BEIJING (AP) — After the first shot, he had no reaction. But Kan Chai felt woozy following the second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use in China.
“When I was driving on the road, I suddenly felt a bit dizzy, as if I was driving drunk," the popular writer and columnist recounted on a webinar earlier this month. “So I specially found a place to stop the car, rest a bit and then I felt better.”
His is a rare account from the hundreds of thousands of people who have been given Chinese vaccines, before final regulatory approval for general use. It's an unusual move that raises ethical and safety questions, as companies and governments worldwide race to develop a vaccine that will stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
Chinese companies earlier drew attention for giving the vaccine to their top executives and leading researchers before human trials to test their safety and efficacy had even begun. In recent months, they have injected a far larger number under an emergency use designation approved in June, and that number appears poised to rise.
A Chinese health official said Friday that China, which has largely eradicated the disease, needs to take steps to prevent it from coming back. But one outside expert questioned the need for emergency use when the virus is no longer spreading in the country where it was first detected.
___
Progress against virus brings complacency in parts of Africa
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — With Zimbabwe’s coronavirus infections on the decline, schools are reopening, along with churches, bars, restaurants, airports and tourist attractions. Strict lockdowns designed to curb the disease are being replaced by a return to relatively normal life.
The threat has eased so much that many people see no need to be cautious. With his face mask stuffed into his pocket, Omega Chibanda said he’s not worried about COVID-19.
“We used to fear coronavirus, not anymore," the 16-year-old said in the crowded Chitungwiza town on the outskirts of the capital, Harare. "That’s why I'm not even wearing a mask.”
As the global death toll from COVID-19 approaches 1 million, Zimbabwe and several other African countries have not experienced the widespread surges and many deaths that were predicted. That has invited complacency.
“It’s all relaxed now,” Chibanda said.
___
It's 'now or never' for ex-Trump aides weighing speaking out
WASHINGTON (AP) — Elizabeth Neumann wrestled with the decision for weeks. She worried about the backlash, the impact it would have on her career, potential threats to her family.
But the former Department of Homeland Security official, who had resigned in April, reached a breaking point after President Donald Trump deployed Homeland Security agents to Portland, exacerbating tensions there. She decided it was worth the risk to speak out against Trump, whom she had come to view as a threat to the country.
“Enough is enough," said Neumann, the former assistant secretary of counterterrorism and threat prevention. “People need to understand how dangerous a moment we are in.”
There are plenty of others weighing the same decision.
With just weeks left before the Nov. 3 election, now is the moment of truth for current and former Trump administration officials debating whether they, too, should step forward and join the chorus of Republican voices trying to persuade on-the-fence voters to help deny Trump a second term.
___
Portland, Oregon, braces itself for large right-wing rally
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — At least several thousand people are expected in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday for a right-wing rally in support of President Donald Trump and his “law and order” reelection campaign as tensions boil over nationwide following the decision not to charge officers in Louisville, Kentucky, for killing Breonna Taylor.
The Proud Boys, a group that has been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, described it as a free speech event to support Trump and the police, restore law and order and condemn anti-fascists, “domestic terrorism" and “violent gangs of rioting felons" in the streets. Local and state elected officials forcefully condemned the event and rushed to shore up law enforcement ranks as left-wing groups organized several rallies to oppose the Proud Boys' message.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Friday said she was sending state troopers to help the Portland police and was creating a unified command structure among city, regional and state law enforcement — a tactic that essentially circumvents a city ban on the use of tear gas as a crowd-control measure. The state police said a “massive influx” of troopers would be in Portland by Saturday morning.
“This is a critical moment. We have seen what happens when armed vigilantes take matters into their own hands. We’ve seen it in Charlottesville, we’ve seen it in Kenosha and, unfortunately, we have seen it in Portland,” she said, referencing deaths in Virginia, Wisconsin and Oregon during clashes between those on the right and left of the political spectrum.
“The Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer groups have come time and time again looking for a fight, and the results are always tragic. Let me be perfectly clear, we will not tolerate any type of violence this weekend," said Brown, a Democrat. "Left, right or center, violence is never a path towards meaningful change.”
___
Yom Kippur synagogue attack leaves German Jews still uneasy
BERLIN (AP) — As Jews around the world gather Sunday night to mark the beginning of Yom Kippur, many in Germany remain uneasy about going together to their houses of worship to pray, a year after a white-supremacist targeted a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle on the holiest day in Judaism.
If the assailant — armed with multiple firearms and explosives —had managed to break into the building, there's no telling how many of the 52 worshippers inside might have been killed. As it was, he turned his attentions on people outside, killing a passer-by and a man at a kebab stand before he was apprehended.
Since then, security has been increased at Jewish institutions across the country, but many wonder whether it is enough amid reports of increasing anti-Semitism and the Halle attack still fresh in their minds.
Naomi Henkel-Guembel was inside the building that day a year ago, and didn't immediately understand what was happening when she heard a loud bang outside.
Together with other young Jews from Berlin, the 29-year-old had traveled to the eastern German city to celebrate Yom Kippur, which fell on Oct. 9 in 2019, with the small, aging community there.
___
China opens auto show under anti-disease controls
BEIJING (AP) — Ford, Nissan and BMW unveiled electric models with more range for China on Saturday as the Beijing auto show opened under anti-virus controls that included holding news conferences by international video link.
Automakers are looking to China, the first major economy to start recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, to drive sales growth and reverse multibillion-dollar losses.
Auto China 2020, postponed from March, is the first major trade show for any industry since the pandemic began. The ruling Communist Party’s decision to go ahead with it reflects official confidence China, where the pandemic began in December, has the disease under control.
“The 2020 Beijing motor show is a symbol of hope,” BMW AG’s China CEO, Jochen Goller, told reporters who wore masks but stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the event. He paid tribute to Chinese medical workers who “made it possible for us to enjoy this large-scale event today.”
Authorities ordered limits on crowds at the event, which attracted 820,000 visitors at its last installment in 2018. Employees walked through the cavernous exhibition center carrying signs that said, “Be Sure to Wear Masks.”
___
Celtics control second half, top Heat to win Game 5 in East
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Their season saved for at least two more days, Boston coach Brad Stevens offered the most succinct assessment of his Celtics.
“We're prideful," Stevens said.
Celtic Pride. It was on display Friday night — when Jayson Tatum and his teammates announced very loudly that they're not ready to see the world that exists outside the NBA’s restart bubble quite yet.
Tatum had 31 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Brown added 28 points and the Celtics shook off a slow first half to top the Miami Heat 121-108 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals and stave off elimination.
“Our deal was to come out and play, come out and compete, give it our best shot and I thought we played pretty well in the second half," Stevens said. “But we’re going to have to do it again and again because of the position we’re in."