AP News Digest 7 a.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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ELECTION 2020-DNC — Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden as their 2020 presidential nominee Tuesday night, as party officials and activists from across the nation gave the former vice president their overwhelming support during his party’s all-virtual national convention. The moment marked a political high point for Biden, who had sought the presidency twice before. By Steve Peoples, Michelle L. Price and Alexandra Jaffe. SENT: 1,110 words, photos, video. With ELECTION-2020-DNC-JILL BIDEN —Jill Biden has offered a deeply personal and hopeful endorsement of her husband as a man who can lead the nation through adversity. SENT: 860 words, photos; ELECTION 2020-DNC-THE LATEST, ELECTION 2020-DNC-MEDIA, ELECTION 2020-DNC-WHAT TO WATCH, ELECTION 2020-DNC-TAKEAWAYS.
ELECTION 2020-DNC-HILLARY-CLINTON — After more than four decades in public life, Hillary Clinton is returning to the Democratic National Convention to cement her legacy as a champion of women in politics. By Sara Burnett. SENT: 795 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-DNC-BLACK WOMEN — The political legacy of Black women will take center stage as California Sen. Kamala Harris prepares to accept the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nomination. By Kat Stafford. SENT: 1,190 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-WOMEN IN LOCKDOWN — Millions of women and girls globally have lost access to contraceptives and abortion services because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now the first widespread measure of the toll says India with its months-long lockdown has been hit especially hard. By Aniruddha Ghosal and Cara Anna. SENT: 1,060 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.
BRAZIL-AMAZON FIRES — A year ago this month, the forest around the town of Novo Progresso erupted into flames. They were the first major blazes in the Brazilian Amazon’s dry season that ultimately saw more than 100,000 fires and spurred global outrage at against the government’s inability or unwillingness to protect the rainforest. This year, President Jair Bolsonaro pledged to control the burning. He imposed a four-month ban on most fires and sent in the army. But this week the smoke is again thick around Novo Progresso. By Mauricio Savarese and David Biller. SENT: 1,380 words, photos.
BELARUS-PROTESTS — The Belarusian opposition leader has called on European leaders not to recognize “fraudulent elections” that extended the rule of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and sparked unprecedented mass protests in the country. In a video statement released ahead of an emergency summit of EU leaders dedicated to the situation in Belarus, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on Europe to support “the awakening of Belarus. By YURAS KARMANAU. SENT: 640 words, photos. With BELARUS-EUROPE — European Union leaders are holding talks to show support for people rallying in Belarus and ramp up pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko. (SENT)
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-VATICAN-VACCINE — Pope Francis is warning against any prospect that rich people would get priority for a coronavirus vaccine. Francis said that the world can’t return to normality after the COVID-19 pandemic, if normal means social injustice and degradation of the natural environment. SENT: 430 words, photos.
CALIFORNIA HEAT WAVE -- As California enters its sixth day of an oppressive heat wave, officials hoped to again avoid the sudden power shutoffs needed over the weekend as demand for energy to cool homes and businesses outstripped supply. Firefighters continued to battle several large blazes in Northern California. By Janie Har. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos.
PORTLAND-PROTESTS — Police have declared a riot in Portland amid ongoing protests over racial injustice. SENT: 315 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-HARLEM GLOBETROTTER-APOLOGY — A Black member of the Harlem Globetrotters says two white news anchors threw fruit, including a banana, at him while he was performing basketball tricks on an Alabama news show earlier this year. SENT: 695 words, photos.
CHINA-FLOODS — China is suffering a double blow of flooding and landslides from unusually heavy seasonal rains and a typhoon that came ashore on its southern coast. SENT: 370 words, photos.
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ELECTION 2020-POSTAL SERVICE — The postmaster general says he is halting some operational changes until after the November election after Democrats contended that the changes threatened mail-in voting, and some states planned to file lawsuits. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announces he will “suspend” his initiatives until after the election “to avoid even the appearance of impact on election mail.” By Lisa Mascaro and Anthony Izaguirre. SENT: 1,120 words, photos.
TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE-CONGRESS — The Senate intelligence committee concludes the Kremlin launched an aggressive effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential contest on behalf of Donald Trump. It says the Trump campaign’s interactions with Russian intelligence services during the campaign posed a “grave” counterintelligence threat. By Eric Tucker and Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 1,335 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-DNC-TRUMP — President Donald Trump is reaching back to the signature issue of his 2016 campaign — immigration — to deliver a broadside against Democratic rival Joe Biden. Trump on Tuesday targeted voters in a pair of key swing states and sought to curry favor with women voters by pardoning Susan B. Anthony, a leader in the women’s suffrage movement. By Jill Colvin, Zeke Miller and Deb Riechmann. SENT: 1,040 words, photos, video.
ELECTION 2020-WISCONSIN-KANYE WEST — Staff for the Wisconsin Elections Commission is recommending that rapper Kanye West be kept off the battleground state’s presidential ballot in November because he missed a deadline to submit nomination papers. Democrats allege that Republicans are pushing West’s candidacy in several states to siphon votes away from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. SENT: 165 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST — Iran has surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus. The announcement comes as Iran struggles with the largest outbreak in the Middle East. But despite the somber statistic, the Islamic Republic is still holding university entrance exams for over 1 million students and is preparing for mass Shiite commemorations at the end of the month. By Nasser Karimi. SENT: 765 words, photos.
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. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 10 a.m.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-DUBAI-ALCOHOL ECONOMY — Dubai has again loosened laws governing alcohol sales and possession of liquor as the sheikhdom tries to claw its way out of an economic depression worsened by the coronavirus pandemic. The move comes as alcohol sales, a vital part of Dubai’s tourism and hospitality industry, have suffered greatly under lockdown restrictions imposed amid the pandemic. By Jon Gambrell. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LIVES LOST-BRAZIL-QUILOMBO LEADER — Carivaldina Oliveira da Costa was the steward of history in her Brazilian community on the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro state, and for two decades fought for their land rights as descendants of escaped slaves. By David Biller and Lucas Dumphreys. SENT: 910 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNIVERSITIES — Notre Dame and Michigan State universities became the latest colleges to move classes online because of the coronavirus on Tuesday as colleges struggle to contain outbreaks and students continue to congregate in large groups without masks or social distancing. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ASIA — South Korea has reported 297 new cases of the coronavirus, its biggest daily rise since early March, as the country began restricting gatherings in the greater capital area amid fears that transmissions are getting out of control. SENT: 745 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 - Conservation experts who plan to relocate and preserve a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee face intricate logistics of disassembling and transporting the mammoth monument to a storage facility. They also must ensure worker safety amid heated public debate about whether the statue is an important piece of Southern heritage or a symbol of white supremacy and racism. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by noon.
GOLDEN STATE KILLER -- Joseph DeAngelo’s victims are reveling in their chance to finally confront him in a courtroom, four decades after he committed 13 known murders and dozens of rapes that spanned much of California. Many said they thought their opportunity would never come as the former police officer known as the Golden State Killer seemingly vanished after each crime, confounding investigators until he was identified and arrested in 2018 by using a new form of DNA tracing. A judge will sentence the 74-year-old DeAngelo to life in prison on Friday. SENT: 605 words, photos.
LOTTERY-LAWYER-INDICTMENT — A New York attorney who branded himself the “Lottery Lawyer” has been charged with swindling millions of dollars from jackpot winners in a conspiracy that federal prosecutors say involved a member of the Genovese crime family. An indictment charges the attorney, Jason “Jay” Kurland, with conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors say Kurland’s clients lost more than $80 million in the scheme. By Jim Mustian. SENT: 440 words.
RACIAL-INJUSTICE-TEXAS — A Houston museum dedicated to conserving African American culture says its decision to display a more than 100-year-old Confederate statue is about providing Black Americans with a way to confront slavery’s painful legacy and include their lived experiences in the conversation. SENT: 710 words, photos.
FATAL SHOOTING-ATLANTA OFFICER — A Black man who was killed by a white Atlanta officer in 2016 swerved around the officer’s vehicle and was not driving at him when the officer opened fire, police dash camera video showed. SENT: 610 words, photo.
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GERMANY-HIGHWAY CRASHES — An Iraqi-born man deliberately drove his car into motorcycles along a stretch of Berlin highway, leaving at least one person in life-threatening condition in what German officials said was an "Islamist-motivated attack.” By Kirsten Grieshaber. SENT: 590 words, photos.
UAE-ISRAEL-AN EXPECTED SURPRISE — Secret talks and quiet ties have paved the way for last week’s deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize relations. The agreement was touted by President Donald Trump as a major Mideast breakthrough. It’s in fact the culmination of more than a decade of quiet links rooted in frenzied opposition to Iran that predated Trump and even President Barack Obama. The deal also reflects Trump’s avowed goal to undo his predecessor’s Mideast legacy. And it leaves behind resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which had been a cornerstone of U.S. Mideast policy. By Aya Batrawy. SENT: 1,345 words, photos.
UNITED NATIONS-UNITED STATES-IRAN — The United States is planning a new diplomatic line of attack on Iran after a resounding defeat in the U.N. Security Council. Having lost its long-shot bid to indefinitely extend an international arms embargo on Iran last week, the Trump administration is poised to call for the reimposition of all U.N. sanctions that had been eased under the 2015 nuclear deal from which the U.S. withdrew two years ago. But the move likely will further isolate the Trump administration and create a credibility crisis for the United Nations. By Edith M. Lederer and Matthew Lee. SENT: 890 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. 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. By Victoria Milko. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
MALI CRISIS — The Malian soldiers who forced President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign in a coup are promising to organize new elections after their takeover. Mali’s democratically elected leader gave a statement late Tuesday saying that he was stepping aside because he did not want any blood to be shed for him to stay in power. By Baba Ahmed and Carley Petesch. SENT: 700 words, photos.
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WECHAT-POSSIBLE BAN-FALLOUT — For millions of people in the U.S. who use the Chinese app WeChat, it’s a lifeline to friends, family, customers and business contacts in China. That lifeline is now under attack by an executive order from President Donald Trump that could ban the app in the U.S. as early as mid-September, potentially severing vital relationships. By Tali Arbel, Kelvin Chan and Joseph Pisani. SENT: 935 words, photos.
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TOP SEEDS TOPPLED — First it was Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, unable to call upon what was one of the best defenses in the league. Then came LeBron James and the Lakers, clanging 3-pointers off the rim to provide a steady sound in a mostly empty gym. The top seeds found trouble in the bubble Tuesday. Milwaukee and Los Angeles lost their playoff openers, the first time both conference No. 1 seeds have been beaten by the No. 8s to start their postseasons since 2003. The Bucks fell to Orlando in the opener before Portland knocked off Los Angeles in the nightcap. By Brian Mahoney. SENT: 615 words, photos.
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