AP News Digest 6:30 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 4 years, 5 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.
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NEW & DEVELOPING
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The story slugged FILM-TESLA advertised on the 2 p.m. digest will not move this cycle.
Adds FACEBOOK-QANON, VIRUS-OUTBREAK-GEORGIA, JUSTICE DEPARTMENT-ISLAMIC STATE, TRUMP-GOODYEAR, CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES-UNHEALTHY AIR, CALIFORNIA-BLACKOUTS-Q&A, ELECTION-2020-DNC-MEDIA, ELECTION-2020-DNC-NBC, ELECTION 2020-DNC-TRUMP REMARK, MED-GENE-THERAPY-REJECTED, VIRUS OUTBREAK-DEAD CORNSTALK
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ELECTION 2020-DNC — The Democrats’ historic boundary breakers join forces at the party’s national convention. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris are all addressing the virtual convention in an effort to mobilize the diverse coalition Joe Biden will need to defeat President Donald Trump this fall. By Steve Peoples, Michelle L. Price and Alexandra Jaffe. SENT: 1,100 words, photos, video. UPCOMING: Updates from events starting at 9 p.m., 1,200 words by midnight. With ELECTION 2020-DNC-TAKEAWAYS — Highlights of night four. UPCOMING: 990 words, photos by 10:30 p.m.
ELECTION 2020-DNC-HARRIS — Kamala Harris is poised to make history as the first Black woman to accept a spot on a major party’s presidential ticket, a moment intended to galvanize Democratic voters heading into the fall campaign against President Donald Trump. By Will Weissert. SENT: 780 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing from evening remarks, 990 words by midnight.
ELECTION 2020-DNC-OBAMA — Barack Obama will issue a blistering rebuke of President Trump at the Democratic Party convention. According to excerpts of Obama’s speech, he will accuse Trump of unleashing America’s “worst impulses” and treating the presidency as a reality show “to get the attention he craves.” By Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace. SENT: 880 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing from evening remarks, 990 words by midnight.
Find more coverage of the conventions and Election 2020 on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
UNITED NATIONS-UNITED STATES-IRAN — The United States demands that all United Nations sanctions be reimposed against Iran, a move that follows America’s embarrassing defeat to extend an arms embargo against Tehran. By Edith M. Lederer, Deb Riechmann and Matthew Lee. SENT: 870 words, photo.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES — Crews were battling wildfires in the San Francisco Bay Area and thousands of people were under orders to evacuate as hundreds of wildfires blazed across the state amid a blistering heat wave now in its second week. Gov. Gavin Newsom blamed “this extraordinary weather we’re experiencing and all of these lightning strikes” for 367 known fires, including 23 major fires or groups of fires. SENT: 770 words, photos. With CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES-UNHEALTHY AIR — California slammed by wildfires, heat, unhealthy smoky air. SENT: 490 words, photos; CALIFORNIA-BLACKOUTS-Q&A (sent)
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP VIRUS — There’s a clear disconnect between coronavirus health guidelines and the scene at some recent Trump and Pence campaign events. It’s sending a confusing message to the public even as Trump and Pence are trying to secure the confidence of Americans during a global pandemic and in the leadup to the November election. By Thomas Beaumont. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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ELECTION-2020-DNC-NBC — NBC News deleted a tweet about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s brief speech at the Democratic National Convention that she complained was misleading. SENT: 310 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-DEAD CORNSTALK — Sioux Falls residents are mourning an urban cornstalk that briefly became a lighthearted beacon of hope during the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 190 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-JAPAN-DRIVE-THROUGH HAUNTED HOUSE — No fear of coronavirus at drive-through haunted house. SENT: 180 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
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ELECTION 2020-DNC-HILLARY CLINTON — Hillary Clinton returns to the Democratic National Convention to cement her legacy as a champion of women in politics. By Sara Burnett. SENT: 750 words, photo. UPCOMING: Developing from evening remarks, 880 words by 11 p.m.
ELECTION 2020-DNC-PROGRESSIVES — Some of the most prominent spots at this week’s Democratic National Convention have gone to Republicans, frustrating younger progressive voices who are trying to assert their influence in the party. By Will Weissert and Sara Burnett. UPCOMING: 930 words, photos by 7 p.m.
ELECTION 2020-DNC-MEDIA — Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity are providing television viewers with a distinctly different vision of the Democratic National Convention each night from their perches on Fox News Channel. Hannity calls the virtual convention “the worst infomercial ever made.” By David Bauder. SENT: 680 words, photo.
ELECTION 2020-DNC-TRUMP REMARK — Democrats working to depict President Trump as an ineffective and negligent leader are summing up their case by quoting the president’s own words on deaths from coronavirus: “It is what it is.” By Michelle L. Price. SENT: 620 words, photo.
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TRUMP-GOODYEAR — President Donald Trump urged people to boycott tires from Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., tweeting that the Ohio-based company had “announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS.” But the company didn’t announce such a specific ban, only that it asks employees to refrain from workplace expressions involving political campaigns. SENT: 510 words, photo.
TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE — A former FBI lawyer pleads guilty to altering a document related to the secret surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser during the Russia investigation. By Eric Tucker. SENT: 720 words, photo.
ELECTION 2020-POSTAL SERVICE — The Postal Service faces fresh questions and a federal lawsuit over mail disruptions. This despite assurances by President Trump’s postmaster general there would be no more service changes until after the November election. By Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 910 words, photos, video.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT-ISLAMIC STATE — The Justice Department notifies the British government that it will not pursue the death penalty against two Islamic State militants suspected in the beheadings of Western hostages. SENT: 840 words, photo.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK — An aggressive push by Iowa’s pro-Trump governor to reopen schools amid a worsening coronavirus outbreak has descended into chaos, with some districts and teachers rebelling and experts calling the scientific benchmarks used by the state arbitrary and unsafe. The clash in the Midwest has illustrated in condensed form the tension between science and politics — and between economic concerns and health fears — that has characterized the nation’s response to the outbreak from the White House on down. SENT: 940 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-GEORGIA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp defended his administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in fiery remarks after a report from the White House coronavirus task force said Georgia led the nation last week in new cases per capita. SENT: 680 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-FUNERAL REFUSED — Noel Alexander had helped build the church. He’d been its music minister and served on numerous committees. After he died from COVID-19 at age 79, the minister had approved holding his visitation and funeral there. But the minister was out of town. When the first family member arrived, two church officials told her neither Alexander’s body nor his family could come in for visitation or the funeral the following day. SENT: 730 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST — Iran surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus, the health ministry said — the highest death toll for any Middle East country so far in the pandemic. SENT: 910 words, photos.
AP-POLL-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-GIG-ECONOMY — The pandemic shuffled the deck for the so-called gig economy as fear of contracting the coronavirus led many who once traveled in shared vehicles to stay home, and grocery delivery services struggled to keep up with demand from people who didn’t want to risk stepping into a store. A new survey from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows how consumer attitudes about using ride-hailing and delivery services have changed. SENT: 950 words, photos.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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RACIAL INJUSTICE-LEE STATUE — When the bronze equestrian statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee arrived in Richmond from Paris in 1890, it took 10,000 men, women and children to haul its pieces more than a mile to the site where the towering monument was assembled and erected. Now, 130 years later, conservation experts who plan to relocate, yet preserve, the statue face the intricate logistics of disassembling and transporting it to a storage facility. SENT: 880 words, photos.
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BELARUS-PROTESTS — Belarus’ authoritarian leader threatened to bring criminal charges against opposition leaders and called on his security services to get tougher on demonstrators — a possible harbinger of a renewed crackdown on the peaceful protests challenging the extension of his 26-year rule. President Alexander Lukashenko also accused the West of fomenting the unrest as he sought to consolidate his grip on power amid widening demonstrations.. SENT: 890 words, photos.
MALI CRISIS — African and Western leaders condemned on Wednesday the junta that forced Mali’s president from power, warning the coup was a deep setback for the West African nation that could threaten the battle against Islamic extremism. Soldiers calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People promised that they would ultimately hand power to a transitional civilian government but gave no timeline. SENT: 960 words, photos.
UN-INDIGENOUS PEOPLE CLASH — Indigenous peoples are fighting the United Nations and others who propose a 3.5 million-acre conservation project in wildlife-rich forests of southern Myanmar. The $21 million project aims to protect the region from logging, mining and other development. Endangered species live in the proposed park areas. But Indigenous peoples who have their own conservation plans say the park would disable their traditional farming- and fishing-based way of life and would prevent people displaced by civil conflict from returning home. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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MED-GENE-THERAPY-REJECTED — Investors fled drug developer BioMarin in droves on Wednesday, driving shares down by a third after U.S. regulators rejected the company’s potentially game-changing hemophilia A gene therapy over concerns it might not really be a one-and-done lifetime treatment. SENT: 620 words, photo.
MED-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-PHARMACY VACCINATIONS — Pharmacists in all 50 states will be authorized to give childhood vaccinations this fall under a new federal directive. Alex Azar, the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, made the decision as part of the emergency powers he has during the U.S. coronavirus epidemic, which was declared a public health emergency. SENT: 560 words, photo.
MED--VIRUS OUTBREAK-BUBBLES — Doctors checking comatose COVID-19 patients for signs of a stroke instead stumbled onto a new clue about how the coronavirus may harm the lungs. As part of testing at New York’s Mount Sinai Health System, doctors tracked harmless tiny air bubbles injected into the bloodstream. The bubbles should have been filtered out by the lung’s smallest blood vessels but instead escaped. SENT: 710 words, photos.
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APPLE -$2 TRILLION — Apple has become the first U.S. company to boast a market value of $2 trillion as technology continues to reshape a world where smartphones are like appendages and digital services are like instruments orchestrating people’s lives. SENT: 590 words, photo.
FACEBOOK-QANON — Facebook says it will restrict the right-wing conspiracy movement QAnon and will no longer recommend that users join groups supporting it, although the company isn’t banning it outright. SENT: 470 words, photo.
MALLS-PARKING LOT DRIVE-INS — After being closed for months due to the pandemic, malls are bringing all types of drive-in entertainment to their massive parking lots, hoping to lure people back to their properties. A mall in upstate New York, for example, is hosting a drive-in wrestling match. Others around the country are bringing movies or magic shows that can be watched from a car. Malls have struggled to attract shoppers for years, but the pandemic has hit them especially hard. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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TV-LOVE IN THE TIME OF CORONA — Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson are some of the stars of the Freeform miniseries “Love in the Time of Corona,” about four sets of relationships during the COVID-19 lockdown. By Alicia Rancilio. SENT: 560 words, photos, video.
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HKN-HURRICANES-BRUINS — The Boston Bruins look to eliminate the Carolina Hurricanes when they meet in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. The Bruins rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to win Monday for a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. UPCOMING: 650 words and photos. Game starts at 4 p.m.
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