AP News Digest 3 a.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 6 years, 1 month 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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RACIAL INJUSTICE-PORTLAND-BOTH SIDES OF THE FENCE: The fence protecting the federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon from nightly assault by protesters is a stark dividing line between two radically different world views. The thousands of demonstrators outside the black, wrought-iron fence and the dozens of federal agents hunkered down inside the besieged courthouse traverse the same endless hours of mayhem just feet apart from each other, but their experiences could not be more different. To the protesters, the men inside the courthouse are at best thoughtless political minions, at worst murderous henchmen. To the agents inside, the demonstrators that pack the downtown each night are violent anarchists, an angry sea of humanity bent on hurting — or even killing — federal agents trying to do their job. By Mike Balsamo and Gillian Flaccus. SENT: 2,900 words, photos. There is also an abridged version. WITH RACIAL INJUSTICE-PORTLAND — Police in Portland, Oregon, arrested two people after reports that a shot was fired near where thousands of people have turned out nightly for protests in the city that has become the epicenter of national unrest over George Floyd’s death. Police said Sunday night a person believed to be the gunshot victim arrived later at a hospital via a private vehicle with non-life threatening injuries. It wasn’t clear if the incident was connected to the demonstrations. SENT: 310 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-PROTESTS — Protests took a violent turn in several U.S. cities over the weekend, with demonstrators squaring off against federal agents outside a courthouse in Portland, Oregon, and forcing police in Seattle to retreat into a station house. Vehicles were set ablaze Saturday night or early Sunday in California and Richmond, Virginia. And an armed protester was shot and killed during an anti-police violence protest in Austin, Texas, after police say he approached a car that that had driven through the demonstration and the driver shot him. Authorities say someone was shot and wounded in Aurora, Colorado, after a car drove through a protest there. By Jeff Martin. SENT: 890 words, photos. WITH: RACIAL INJUSTICE-TEXAS — Police have identified an armed protester who was shot and killed by a person who had driven into a crowd at a demonstration in Texas. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said 28-year-old Garrett Foster was fatally shot Saturday at a police brutality protest. SENT: 390 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GLOBAL — Countries are considering putting away their welcome mats to tourists and regional meetings put on hold as the pandemic strengthens its grip in many of the worst-affected countries. Workers in Australia’s hardest-hit city were told to stay home if they were sick, or risk a six-week lockdown being extended. An Asian regional security meeting that draws many diplomats was being delayed. Host country Vietnam hopes to hold face-to-face meetings in mid-September. SENT: 580 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — Parents are anxiously trying to decide how their children will return to school in the fall. Many are still waiting for decisions from district officials. Others, who have a choice, are weighing whether to enroll their children online or in person — often with very little guidance from school leaders. The decision over how kids will be schooled is particularly fraught in low-income areas and communities of color that bear the double burden of being places both most affected by the pandemic and ones where students could benefit most from being in school. By Tammy Webber and Stephen Groves. SENT: 1,080 words, photos. WITH: VIRUS OUTBREAK-FLORIDA — Florida surpassed New York over the weekend as the state with the second-most coronavirus cases in the U.S., as more than 9,300 new cases were reported in the Sunshine State, accompanied by an additional 78 new deaths; VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST (sent, developing).
CHINA-US — In the more than 40 years since China and the U.S. established formal diplomatic relations, accusations have been traded, tensions have risen and fallen and the sides have come dangerously close to outright confrontation. Yet the closures of each other’s consulates in Houston and Chengdu mark a new low point in ties that can’t be easily smoothed. By Sam McNeil. SENT: 860 words, photos.
TROPICAL WEATHER — A day after roaring ashore as a hurricane, Hanna is lashing the Texas Gulf Coast with high winds and drenching rains that destroyed boats, flooded streets and knocked out power across a region already reeling from a surge in coronavirus cases. Downgraded to a tropical depression, Hanna passed over the U.S.-Mexico border with winds near 50 mph (85 kph). It is expected to unload as much as 18 inches of rain (45 centimetres) on parts of South Texas and northeastern Mexico. By John L. Mone and Nomaan Merchant. SENT: 840 words, photos, video. Developing. WITH: HAWAII-HURRICANE — Hurricane Douglas is coming within “razor thin” distance of the Hawaiian Islands. But the storm spared Hawaii the worst of the strong winds, storm surge and flooding that officials had warned about. Meteorologists cautioned the hurricane’s path could shift slightly and Douglas could still unload its destructive power on the islands of Oahu and Kauai. SENT: 740 words, photos. Developing.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST-LOCKDOWN GENERATION — Millions of youth in the Middle East region have had job prospects, plans for higher education and marriages upended by the pandemic. Such turmoil and uncertainty is universal in the wake of the coronavirus. But the despair is particularly pronounced in Arab countries, where wave after wave of war, displacement and corruption has left this generation feeling bitter and hopeless. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — Australia’s hard-hit Victoria state has posted another daily record 532 new COVID-19 cases. The state government leader warned that a lockdown in the city of Melbourne would continue while infected people continued to go to work. Melbourne is almost half way through a six-week lockdown aimed at curbing community spread of coronavirus. SENT: 670 words, photos.
Find more coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
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MORE ON RACIAL INJUSTICE
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JOHN LEWIS REMEMBERED — The late U.S. Rep. John Lewis has crossed Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge for the final time as remembrances continue for the civil rights icon. A processional with Lewis’ casket was carried across the bridge Sunday where he and other civil rights marchers were beaten 55 years ago on “Bloody Sunday,” a key event in the fight for voting rights for African Americans. Lewis died July 17 at the age of 80, months after he was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. By Kim Chandler SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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GOLD PRICE — The price of gold has surged more than $30 to over $1,926 per ounce as investors step up buying of the precious metal often sought in times of uncertainty. SENT: 130 words.
TRUMP — The White House says President Donald Trump will shift his focus to American energy dominance when he stops in Texas later this week on a visit that will include his first tour of an oil rig. SENT: words, photos. SENT: 230 words, photo.
SAP-QUALTRICS — SAP says it plans to spin off Qualtrics and take it public less than two years after acquiring the survey-software provider. SAP said Sunday it will retain majority ownership of Qualtrics’ shares. SENT: 190 words.
BRITAIN-DOG RESCUE — Sixteen volunteers from the Wasdale mountain rescue team took turns carrying Daisy, a 121-pound St Bernard, from England’s highest peak, Scafell Pike after the dog collapsed. SENT: 210 words, photo.
TRUMP-OPENING PITCH — President Donald Trump won’t be throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium next month after all. Trump has tweeted that he won’t be able to make the trip because of his “strong focus” on the coronavirus, vaccines and the economy. Trump said in the tweet: “We will make it later in the season!” SENT: 430 words, photos.
SWASTIKA MASKS-WALMART — Couple wears swastika masks in Minnesota Walmart. SENT: 340 words.
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TRUMP’S ATTORNEY GENERAL -- In the course of roughly 18 months in office, Attorney General William Barr has become inexorably linked to a norm-busting president with sagging popularity and uncertain reelection prospects. Barr’s actions, including the investigation he launched into the Russia probe, have deepened criticism of him as Trump’s faithful protector and led Democrats to hold hearings into what they say is the politicization of the Justice Department under his watch. By Michael Balsamo, Colleen Long and Eric Tucker. UPCOMING: Moving at 6 a.m., 2,560 words, photos. An abridged version also available.
ELECTION 2020-VOTE BY MAIL-SPENDING -- Deep-pocketed and often anonymous donors are pouring over $100 million into an intensifying dispute about whether it should be easier to vote by mail, a fight that could determine President Donald Trump’s fate in the November election. By Brian Slodysko and Thomas Beaumont. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-WATCH -- With fewer than 100 days before polls open across America, President Donald Trump is running short on time to reset his beleaguered reelection bid. The death toll from the pandemic is surging again, the economic recovery appears to be slipping backward, and racial divisions are still exploding. By National Political Writer Steve Peoples. UPCOMING: Moving at 5 a.m. EDT, 1,090 words:
AP POLL-ELECTION 2020-ENTHUSIASM -- A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that Joe Biden’s supporters are less enthusiastic than President Donald Trump’s — both about the campaign itself and their candidate — although the Democrat’s coalition may be equally motivated by anxiety. By Steve Peoples and Hannah Fingerhut. UPCOMING: Moving at 6 a.m. EDT, 980 words, photos.
FACT CHECK-WEEK -- President Donald Trump in recent days suddenly acknowledged the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic and edged away from some of his most audacious falsehoods about it. That’s not to say he gave the public an honest accounting. By Calvin Woodward and Hope Yen. SENT: 1,710 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS -- Suggesting a narrower pandemic relief package may all that’s possible, the White House still pushed ahead toward a planned rollout of a $1 trillion effort from Senate Republicans. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi assailed the GOP “disarray” as time-wasting during the crisis. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 820 words, photos.
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POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY-NEW YORK — The news website ProPublica has published a database containing complaint information for thousands of officers, days after a federal judge paused the public release of New York City police disciplinary records. SENT: 430 words, photos.
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PERSIAN GULF-TENSIONS — Iran has moved a mock aircraft carrier to the strategic Strait of Hormuz amid heightened tensions between Tehran and the United States. A satellite image from Maxar Technologies shows an Iranian fast boat speeding toward the carrier, sending waves up in its wake, after a tugboat pulled her out into the strait from the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. SENT: 530 words, photos.
MALAYSIA-CORRUPTION — Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak learns his fate Tuesday, with a verdict expected in his first corruption trial in connection to one of the world’s biggest financial scandals — a decision widely seen as a test for the rule of law five months after a new government took power. SENT: 990 words, photos.
SUDAN — The United Nations says a new bout of violence in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region left more than 60 people dead. It says around 500 armed men attacked the village of Masteri in West Darfur province earlier Saturday and the clashes lasted until Monday. SENT: 430 words, photos.
UKRAINE-CEASEFIRE — Ukrainian and rebel forces in war-torn eastern Ukraine have started preparing for a “full and comprehensive” cease-fire scheduled to begin at midnight. SENT: 470 words, photos.
PHILIPPINES DUTERTE — Hundreds of protesters have marched, staged motorcades and held a rally against a new anti-terror law and other issues in the Philippine capital despite police threats of arrests ahead of the president’s annual state of the nation speech. SENT: 530 words, photos.
INDIA TEMPLE DISPUTE — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend a groundbreaking ceremony next month for a Hindu temple on a disputed site in northern India where a 16th century mosque was torn down by Hindu hard-liners in 1992, according to the trust overseeing the temple construction. SENT: 410 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — The price of gold has surged to a record of more than $1,926 per ounce and Asian stock markets are mixed amid unease about U.S.-China tensions and concern a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic might be weakening. Tokyo declined while Shanghai swung between gains and losses and Hong Kong and Australia advanced. SENT: 390 words, photos.
NABE-SURVEY OF ECONOMISTS — The economic outlook of U.S. business economists has improved over the past three months, though their sunnier view could be jeopardized by the resurgence of the coronavirus. A survey released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics finds a “significant snap-back in expectations from the depths reached across nearly all categories in April,’’ according to Megan Greene, who leads the NABE’s survey of business conditions. BY AP Economics writer Martin Crutsinger. SENT: 630 words, photos.
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BBA—ANGELS-ATHLETICS — Shohei Ohtani didn’t record an out in the two-way star’s long-awaited return to the mound for the Los Angels Angels, allowing the first six Oakland batters to reach base before his day was done in a 6-4 loss to the Athletics. The right-hander from Japan gave up Marcus Semien’s leadoff single and three straight walks before a mound visit and Mark Canha’s two-run single. SENT: 860 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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