AP News Digest 2 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 5 years, 4 months AGO
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.
-------------------
-------------------
PUBLIC HEALTH-CARES ACT - Congress has allocated trillions of dollars to ease the coronavirus crisis. A joint Kaiser Health News and AP investigation finds that many communities with big outbreaks have spent little of that federal money on local public health departments for work such as testing and contact tracing. By Michelle R. Smith, Lauren Weber, Hannah Recht and Laura Ungar. SENT: 2,300 words, photos. An abridged version of 1,070 words is also available.
-------------------
-------------------
ELECTION 2020-DNC — Democrats are gathering virtually for the first day of their convention, featuring speakers ranging from John Kasich to Bernie Sanders and Michelle Obama. By Steve Peoples. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 3 p.m., DEVELOPING from 9-11 p.m. speeches. With ELECTION 2020-DNC PROGRESSIVES — Bernie Sanders is in a familiar position: runner-up. But as Democrats gather virtually to formally select Joe Biden as their presidential nominee, the Vermont senator is still wielding considerable power despite twice losing his White House bid. By Will Weissert. SENT: 920 words, photos; ELECTION 2020-DNC TAKEAWAYS (750 words, photos by 10 p.m.; ELECTION 2020-DNC LATEST (sent, developing).
ELECTION 2020-POSTAL SERVICE — Facing public backlash, Postal Service officials scramble to respond to sharp criticism from lawmakers as the House prepares an emergency vote on to halt mail changes amid stark warnings they could imperil November election. Democrats say actions by the new postmaster general, an ally of President Donald Trump, have endangered millions of Americans who rely on the Postal Service to obtain prescription drugs and other needs, including mail-in voting. By Matthew Daly and Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 1,050 words, photos; UPCOMING: Developing, 1,070 words by 5 p.m. With ELECTION 2020-POST OFFICE-Q&A — What’s happening at the US Postal Service, and why? SENT: 950 words, photos.
Find more coverage of the conventions and Election 2020 on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-HOME-FRONT — For four nurses in a Southern California hospital, the scariest place isn’t the ward where they care for coronavirus patients. It’s home, where they feel helpless to keep their families safe. They care for their patients during 12-hour shifts, taking temperatures and holding hands through gloves, and wondering when it will all end. By Stefanie Dazio. SENT: 1,620 words, photos. An abridged version of 840 words is available.
ARCTIC-WILDLIFE REFUGE-OIL LEASING — The Trump administration on Monday took another step to opening Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling for oil and gas. Environmentalists promised to keep fighting to protect the coastal plain of the refuge, a 1.56-million acre swath of land that is home to polar bears, caribous and other wildlife. By Mark Thiessen. SENT: 300 words, photos.
19TH AMENDMENT-ERA — On the centennial of women earning the right to vote, women are still fighting to have equal rights enshrined in the constitution. It was an effort launched almost immediately after passage of the 19th Amendment but one which lingers a century later. Virginia earlier this year became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment but the vote came long after the deadline for ratification expired, sending the issue into murky legal territory. By Jocelyn Noveck. UPCOMING: 1,070 words, photos by 3 p.m. With AP-WAS-THERE-19TH AMENDMENT — How The Associated Press covered the ratification of the 19th Amendment that provided women the constitutional right to vote. UPCOMING: 300 words by 3 p.m.
-------------------------------------------
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
-------------------------------------------
JAM-MASTER-JAY-KILLING-INDICTMENT — 2 men indicted in 2002 killing of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay. SENT: 130 words.
NATION’S CAPITAL-BABY PANDA — Zookeepers at Washington’s National Zoo are on baby watch after concluding that venerable giant panda matriarch Mei Ziang is pregnant and could give birth this week. UPCOMING: 600 words, photo by 5 p.m.
DEATH-VALLEY-130-DEGREES — Meteorologists seek to confirm 130-degree Death Valley temp. SENT: 260 words.
OFFICERS-SHOT-TEXAS — A hostage situation ended peacefully when a man and his mother exited a home near Austin, Texas, where a day earlier three police officers had been shot and wounded. SENT: 270 words, photos.
TRUMP-BROTHER — President Trump is eyeing a White House funeral service later this week for his younger brother, Robert. SENT: 280 words, photo.
SPAIN-FORMER-KING — Ex-Spanish king confirmed to be in UAE amid financial probes. SENT: 510 words, photo.
------------------------------------
-----------------—-------------------
ELECTION 2020-DNC-TRUMP — Unwilling to cede the political stage, President Donald Trump is ramping up his campaign schedule as Democrats begin their national convention, aiming to aggressively counter-program former Vice President Joe Biden’s show. By Zeke Miller. SENT: 750 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing from 3 p.m. event in Minnesota, 850 words, photos, video by 5 p.m.
TRUMP-BIDEN-UKRAINE — President Donald Trump has retweeted an audio recording that U.S. intelligence officials have described as part of a Russian campaign to denigrate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. By amplifying the recording to his more than 85 million Twitter followers, Trump underscored the ease with which pro-Russian narratives can seep into American public discourse ahead of the 2020 election. By Eric Tucker. SENT: 470 words, photo. UPCOMING: 550 words by 4 p.m.
SEX OFFENDER-REGISTRATION — The Justice Department announced a new regulation spelling out detailed nationwide requirements for sex offender registration under a law Congress passed in 2006. By Michael Balsamo. SENT: 320 words, photo.
-----------------—-----------------—------------------
-----------------—-----------------—-------------------
VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNIVERSITIES — From the dorms at North Carolina to the halls of Notre Dame, officials at universities around the U.S. scramble to deal with new COVID-19 clusters at the start of the fall semester, some of them linked to off-campus parties and packed clubs. By Susan Montoya Bryan. UPCOMING: 500 words, photos, by 3 p.m.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NURSING HOMES — Cases of COVID-19 in U.S. nursing homes jumped more than 75% this summer, driven by uncontrolled spread across the South and West, the industry reports. By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. UPCOMING: 700 words, photo by 4:30 p.m.
VIRUS OUTBREAK - In a bid to survive, airlines are desperately trying to convince a wary public that measures like mandatory face masks and hospital-grade air filters make sitting in a plane safer than many other indoor settings during the coronavirus pandemic. By David Koenig and David McHugh. SENT: 1,050 words. WITH: VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GLOBAL — Countries that had seen a summer respite from coronavirus outbreaks tracked swiftly rising numbers of new confirmed cases Monday, prompting fears among government leaders and health officials that months of hard-won progress would be lost in just days as vacationers return home. SENT: 890 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONTACT TRACING - New York City’s 3,000 contact tracers are working to curb the spread of coronavirus in what appears to be the biggest such effort in any U.S. city. New York says it’s now meeting its goal of reaching about 90% of all newly diagnosed people and completing interviews with 75%. By Jennifer Peltz. SENT: 1,110 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRAZIL-INDIGENOUS — Dozens of Indigenous people, many daubed in black paint representing their grief and fighting spirit, blocked a major highway in Brazil’s Amazon to pressure the government for help in protecting them from COVID-19. SENT: 550 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-BOOKS FOR DAD — Geoff Woolf instilled in his sons a love for literature, and when he got sick with COVID-19, they turned to books to help him — and others. SENT: 630 words, photos.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
-------------------
-------------------
JUSSIE-SMOLLETT-FOXX — A special prosecutor in Chicago says that Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and her office abused their discretion in the case against actor Jussie Smollett but did nothing criminal. SENT: 370 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-LATINOS-POLICE — As national Black Lives Matter demonstrations grow, Latino activists are joining the multiracial protests while trying to draw attention to their deadly police encounters, some of which go back decades. SENT: 1,070 words, photos.
GOLDEN STATE KILLER - Nearly three-dozen victims or survivors plan to tell their stories before the man known as the Golden State Killer is formally sentenced to life in prison. Some plan to tell of their pain during an extraordinary four days of hearings starting Tuesday. Others will talk of their healing since Joseph DeAngelo terrorized much of California more than four decades ago. SENT: 880 words, photos. With GOLDEN STATE KILLER-GLANCE (sent)
-----------------—-------------------
-----------------—------------------
BELARUS PROTESTS — Workers heckled and jeered President Alexander Lukashenko as he visited a factory and strikes grew across Belarus, raising the pressure on the authoritarian leader to step down after 26 years in power. On the ninth straight day of mass protests over the official results of the Aug. 9 presidential election that demonstrators say was rigged, Lukashenko flew by helicopter to a factory in the capital of Minsk to rally support, but he was met by angry workers chanting, “Go away!” He told the workers: “I will never cave in to pressure." SENT: 1,130 words, photos. With RUSSIA'S BELARUS GAME — As Belarus experiences spasms of mass protests and a brutal police crackdown, its giant neighbor Russia has been uncharacteristically low key in its response. SENT: 870 words, photos; BELARUS-PROTESTER'S DEATH — Partner of Belarus’ dead protester demands independent probe. SENT: 380 words, photos.
IRAQ-PRIME MINISTER — Iraq’s prime minister said ahead of a much anticipated trip to Washington that his country still needs U.S. assistance to counter the threat posed by the Islamic State group and that his administration is committed to introducing security sector reforms as rogue militia groups stage near-daily attacks against the seat of his government. SENT: 930 words, photos.
ISRAEL-EMIRATES-EXCITEMENT — For eager Israelis, anticipation is mounting that Dubai’s glitzy Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, will soon join the ranks of the Pyramids in Egypt and the ancient ruins in Jordan’s Petra as a once-forbidden destination now within reach. Last week, the United Arab Emirates said it would establish full diplomatic ties with Israel, which would make it just the third Arab nation to do so. SENT: 1,070 words, photos. With US-PALESTINIANS — After UAE-Israel deal, Kushner slams Palestinian leaders. SENT: 560 words, photos.
LEBANON-HARIRI TRIBUNAL - A U.N.-backed tribunal in the Netherlands is announcing verdicts this week in the trial of four members of the militant group Hezbollah who were allegedly involved in the killing more than 15 years ago of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a huge truck bombing assassination in Beirut. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.
------------————------
------------————------
ITALY FASHION-RACIAL INJUSTICE — The only Black designer belonging to Italy’s influential fashion council is seeking accountability for progress in racial diversity among her colleagues under the provocative header: Do Black Lives Matter in Italy. SENT: 990 words.
-------------------
-------------------
AUSTRALIA-DIGITAL PLATFORMS - Google has warned that the Australian government’s plans to make digital giants pay for news content threatens users’ free services in Australia and could hand users’ data to media organizations. The U.S.-based company gave the warning Monday in what it described as an “Open letter to Australians” a week before public consultations close on Australian draft laws that would make both Google and Facebook pay for news siphoned from commercial media companies. SENT: 480 words, photos.
JAPAN-ECONOMY - Government data show that Japan’s economy contracted at a annual rate of 27.8% in April-June, the worst downturn on record, as the coronavirus pandemic slammed consumption and trade. SENT: 650 words, photos
-------------------
-------------------
FBC--SEC-UNCERTAIN BEGINNING — The Southeastern Conference is starting football practice as schools around the league hold their first workouts ahead of the scheduled delayed start of play. The powerful SEC would normally be preparing for a run at another national championship, but the coronavirus pandemic has cast an ongoing cloud of uncertainty over what exactly teams are getting ready for — if anything. By John Zenor. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 6 p.m.
CAR--INDYCAR-IN THE PITS — Fresh off one of the biggest moments of his career, Marco Andretti headed to Indianapolis landmark St. Elmo’s Steakhouse for a small celebration with friends and teammates. Another diner passed the table and urged the driver to ‘Go get ‘em Marco.’ The Andretti family has always been the toast of this town and, after winning the first Indianapolis 500 pole in 33 years for the family, Marco has a shot to end that dreaded “Andretti Curse.” By AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 6 p.m.
--------------------------
HOW TO REACH US
--------------------------
At the Nerve Center, Dave Clark can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, (ext. 7636). Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://newsroom.ap.org. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport(at)ap.org or call 877-836-9477.