AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EDT

Baseball season teeters, while states resist mask rules

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The baseball season descended deeper into crisis Tuesday, states such as Mississippi and South Carolina cast about for more hospital beds, and governors in some of the hardest-hit places staunchly resisted calls to require masks, despite soaring cases of the coronavirus.

Major league baseball suspended the Miami Marlins’ season through Sunday because of an outbreak that has spread to at least 15 of the team's players, and a series of games this week between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies was called off as a precaution.

With states like Florida, Arizona and Texas in dire condition, the virus has also been spreading farther north in recent days, causing alarm among public health officials who fear states are not doing enough to avoid catastrophic outbreaks like those in the Sun Belt.

The surge in the Midwest has been fueled largely by a rise in cases among young adults, who have been hitting bars, restaurants and health clubs again.

Florida reported 191 new deaths, another one-day high for the state, while Arizona recorded 104, and Arkansas had a single-day record with 20.

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Trump's coronavirus retweets spark claims of censorship

WASHINGTON (AP) — The feud between conservatives and social media companies over alleged censorship escalated Tuesday after President Donald Trump and his son shared a fresh dose of misinformation about a disproven drug for treating the coronavirus in videos that were quickly taken down by Twitter and Facebook.

The president, in a marked shift from the more measured approach he's taken toward the virus in recent days, also used his tweets to amplify criticism of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert.

Tuesday's feud focused mostly on hydroxychloroquine, a drug long approved to treat malaria that Trump has vigorously advocated as a treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Scientific studies have shown the drug can do more harm than good when used to treat symptoms of COVID-19, but doctors who believe otherwise argued for its use at an event Monday in Washington, citing their own experiences treating patients with the drug. The news conference and ensuing viral video was organized by Tea Party Patriots Action, a dark money group that has helped fund a pro-Trump political action committee.

Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., and others shared video of the event on Facebook and Twitter, prompting both companies to step in and remove the content as part of an aggressive push to keep the sites free of potentially harmful information about the virus — though not before more than 17 million people had seen one version of the video circulating on the web.

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US officials tell AP: Russia spreading virus disinformation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian intelligence operatives are using a trio of English-language websites to spread disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to exploit a crisis that America is struggling to contain ahead of the presidential election in November, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

Two Russians who have held senior roles in Moscow’s military intelligence service known as the GRU have been identified as responsible for a disinformation effort directed at American and Western audiences, U.S. government officials said. They spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The information had previously been classified, but officials said it had been downgraded so they could more freely discuss it. Officials said they were doing so now to sound the alarm about the particular websites and to expose a connection between the sites and Russian intelligence.

Between late May and early July, one of the officials said, a trio of websites published about 150 articles about the pandemic response, including coverage aimed at propping up Russia and denigrating the U.S.

Among the headlines that caught the attention of U.S. officials are “Russia’s Counter COVID-19 Aid to America Advances Case for Détente,” which suggested that Russia had given urgent and substantial aid to the U.S. to fight the pandemic, and “Beijing Believes COVID-19 is a Biological Weapon.”

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Barr defends aggressive federal response to protests

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General William Barr defended the aggressive federal law enforcement response to civil unrest in America as he testified for the first time before the House Judiciary Committee, pushing back against angry, skeptical Democrats who said President Donald Trump’s administration is unconstitutionally suppressing dissent.

The hearing, held Tuesday as the late civil rights icon John Lewis lay in state steps away outside the Capitol, highlighted the wide election-year gulf between the two parties on police brutality and systemic racism in law enforcement. Massive protests have sparked unrest across the nation following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, and calls for police reform are growing louder.

But Barr said “violent rioters and anarchists have hijacked legitimate protests” and argued the violence taking place in Portland, Oregon, and other cities is disconnected from Floyd’s killing, which he called a “horrible” event that prompted a necessary national reckoning on the relationship between the Black community and law enforcement. But he also said there was no systemic racism in law enforcement.

“Largely absent from these scenes of destruction are even superficial attempts by the rioters to connect their actions to George Floyd’s death or any legitimate call for reform,” Barr said of the Portland protests.

The hearing marks Barr’s first appearance before the committee after 18 months in office, bringing him face-to-face with the panel that voted last year to hold him in contempt and is holding hearings on what Democrats say is politicization of the Justice Department under his watch. But little new ground was uncovered; fuming Democrats often used their five minutes to lay out their frustrations and cut Barr off as he attempted to answer questions.

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Barr, Park Police distance Trump from clearing of protesters

The head of U.S. Park Police insisted Tuesday that the forceful routing of protesters from the square in front of the White House last month had “zero correlation” with President Donald Trump's staged photo event minutes later. But he was unable to point to any immediate threat that justified his officers' sudden, violent drive against the hundreds gathered there.

Gregory T. Monahan's testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee was his first extended accounting of the Park Police's offensive against protesters and journalists June 1 in Lafayette Square.

Attorney General William Barr, testifying separately on Trump’s deployment of hundreds of federal officers and agents against nationwide protests this spring and summer, also distanced Trump’s photo event from the decision to drive demonstrators from Lafayette Square that night. “This was something conceived of long before and didn’t turn on the nature of the crowd,” Barr said.

But appearing at the same hearing as Monahan, Maj. Adam DeMarco of the Army National Guard told lawmakers of his surprise when Park Police officers suddenly and rapidly mobilized to drive the hundreds of then-peaceful demonstrators from the square, clubbing people with their shields and batons and unleashing chemical irritants.

It appeared “an unnecessary escalation of the use of force," DeMarco said. He said it ran counter to his training on military guidelines on the use of force against civilians and his experience with managing crowds as a combat veteran in Iraq.

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GOP's jobless benefit plan could mean delays, states warn

A Republican proposal to slash the $600 weekly benefit boost for those left jobless because of the coronavirus shutdown could result in weeks or even months of delayed payments in some states.

Older computer systems that took weeks to set up for the initial federal unemployment enhancement would need to be reprogrammed again twice under the GOP plan.

In Florida, state Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat from Orlando, said the state has not even gotten the original supplemental benefit to everyone entitled to it.

“So the idea of changing the current process that has taken us months to put into place, that is still not even perfect, is a scary thought,” she said.

“These changes, whatever they end up being, are going to create more bureaucratic layers for people to get the relief they need. Meanwhile we have bills to pay, we have to put food on the table, we have medical expenses and a lot of people are suffering.”

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Masked mourners brave heat, virus fears to honor John Lewis

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mourners braved both coronavirus fears and brutal heat on Tuesday to pay their respects to the late Rep. John Lewis, the first Black lawmaker to lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda.

The crowds were thin and lines nonexistent, partially because of high temperatures. But those who came said it was important to personally honor a civil rights icon who died just as America was confronting another national reckoning over entrenched racial iniquities.

“He was worth the virus risk and worth every drop of sweat,” said Alicia Patterson, 66, who came from Maryland with three generations of her family to observe Lewis’ flag-draped casket. “He worked hard for all of us, and he deserved this and more.”

Lewis died July 17 of cancer at the age of 80. The long-serving Georgia congressman took part in Martin Luther King’s 1963 March on Washington. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 2011 by Barack Obama and is the first Black lawmaker to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.

With almost no lines Tuesday afternoon, dozens of visitors were able to linger and take pictures outside the Capitol. Many brought umbrellas to block the summer sun. The specter of the COVID-19 pandemic hung over all aspects of the mourning. In addition to face coverings, which were declared mandatory outdoors by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, yellow dots on the grounds reminded mourners to stand 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart.

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Cosmetology students, hairstylists describe a race divide

NEW YORK (AP) — After repeatedly being denied service by high-end salons because her hair was perceived as “too difficult” to style, Kanessa Alexander took an unusual step. She opened a shop of her own in a predominantly white Boston neighborhood with four Black stylists serving all hair textures.

“I wanted to be someplace where we existed but were not represented,” the African American cosmetologist said of her decision five years ago to set up Perfect 10 in West Roxbury, near where she grew up. “So many salons were just seeing a Black person.”

As a racial reckoning unfolds around the globe, Alexander and more than a dozen other people of color in the beauty industry trace such bias and discrimination in mostly white salons to the sidelining of formal education on tightly curled, coiled or kinky hair.

The lack of experience, or interest, is particularly acute when it comes to hair worn naturally, a growing trend among African American women who want to celebrate both personal identity and Black culture.

“They didn't learn Black hair. They've been taught Black hair is difficult,” Alexander said. “Nobody will come in here and hear that their hair is too difficult.”

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'Watchmen' leads charge for Emmy nominations relevance

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Watchmen,” cloaked in superhero mythology and grounded in real-world racism, received a leading 26 nominations Tuesday for the prime-time Emmy Awards.

The HBO series, which captured America’s deep unease as it faces racial and political clashes amid a pandemic, was nominated as best limited series and received bids for cast members including Regina King and Jeremy Irons.

King was part of a vanguard of actors of color indicating that TV academy voters took heed of the social climate.

“Zendaya!” exclaimed Emmy announcement host Leslie Jones, her gleeful reaction to the “Euphoria” star’s nomination as best actress in a drama. “This is a great day,” Jones said.

She was part of a socially distanced, virtual release of nominees that was online, not on television as is usual. But nothing is usual during a coronavirus era that has brought Hollywood production to a virtual standstill and is making the Emmys and other awards grasp for alternatives.

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Scientists get closer to blood test for Alzheimer's disease

An experimental blood test was highly accurate at distinguishing people with Alzheimer’s disease from those without it in several studies, boosting hopes that there soon may be a simple way to help diagnose this most common form of dementia.

Developing such a test has been a long-sought goal, and scientists warn that the new approach still needs more validation and is not yet ready for wide use.

But Tuesday’s results suggest they’re on the right track. The testing identified people with Alzheimer’s vs. no dementia or other types of it with accuracy ranging from 89% to 98%.

“That’s pretty good. We’ve never seen that” much precision in previous efforts, said Maria Carrillo, the Alzheimer’s Association’s chief science officer.

Dr. Eliezer Masliah, neuroscience chief at the U.S. National Institute on Aging, agreed.