AP News Digest 2:15 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 4 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.
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FRUITS OF LABOR — An Associated Press investigation into the invisible workforce of millions of laborers toiling in the palm oil industry in Malaysia and Indonesia found many of them suffering from various forms of exploitation — the most serious including child labor, outright slavery and allegations of rape. The workers from some of the poorest corners of Asia tend the heavy reddish-orange palm oil fruit that makes its way into the supply chains of many iconic food and cosmetics companies like Unilever, L’Oreal, Nestle and Procter & Gamble. Together, the two countries produce about 85 percent of the world’s estimated $65 billion palm oil supply. By Margie Mason and Robin McDowell. SENT: 5,330 words, photos, videos, graphic. An abridged version of 1,220 words is also available.
AP POLL-RACIAL INJUSTICE — As the decision in Kentucky to bring charges against only one of three police officers involved in a raid that killed Breonna Taylor sparks renewed protests nationwide, a new survey finds support has fallen for demonstrations against systemic racism. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 44% of Americans disapprove of protests in response to police violence against Black Americans, while 39% approve. In June, 54% approved. By Aaron Morrison and Kat Stafford. SENT: 998 words, photos, graphics.
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TRUMP-TRANSITION OF POWER — Congressional leaders from both parties swiftly push back after President Donald Trump declined to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Nov. 3 presidential election. Trump’s repeated attacks on the American system of voting and elections -- almost without comparison in the U.S. -- have forced lawmakers to take unprecedented steps to ensure he cannot ignore the outcome of the democratic process. By Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 890 words. UPCOMING: 900 words by 4 p.m., photos, video. WITH: ELECTION 2020-TIMELINE— The presidential election doesn’t end on Nov. 3. A look at the timeline for the transfer of power after Election Day. UPCOMING: 700 words by 5 p.m., photo.
SUPREME COURT-VACANCY — President Trump is closing in on his pick to fill a Supreme Court vacancy just weeks before Election Day. The selection of his third justice to the high court is infused with politics, as Trump aims to maximize the benefit before Nov. 3 and even secure an electoral backstop should the results be contested. By Zeke Miller. UPCOMING: 850 words by 4 p.m. photos, video.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP — President Trump lays out his health care agenda amid growing uncertainty about the future of the Affordable Care Act, which he has vowed to replace but never did. By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Jill Colvin. UPCOMING: Developing from 4:30 p.m. remarks in North Carolina, 900 words by 6 p.m., photos, video.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK — The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment aid rose slightly last week to 870,000, a historically high figure that shows that the viral pandemic is still squeezing restaurants, airlines, hotels and many other businesses six months after it first erupted. By Christopher Rugaber and Maryclaire Dale. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
RACIAL-INJUSTICE-CHARGING-COPS -- The outcome in the case of Breonna Taylor demonstrates the vast disconnect between the public’s perception of what justice should look like and the limits of the law when police use deadly force. By Alanna Durkin Richer. SENT: 775 words, photos. WITH: RACIAL-INJUSTICE-BREONNA-TAYLOR — Anger, frustration and sadness over the decision not to charge Kentucky police officers for Breonna Taylor’s death poured into America’s streets. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
For complete coverage of the Breonna Taylor protests in AP Newsroom.
ELECTION 2020-POSTAL SERVICE DELAYS — Postal Service districts across the nation are missing the agency’s own standards for on-time delivery as millions of Americans prepare to vote by mail, according to data obtained by The Associated Press. The lag times are especially pronounced in key regions of some battleground states, where delivery times are below the national average. By Anthony Izaguirre and Pia Deshpande. SENT: 990 words, photo. With POSTAL SERVICE-LAWSUIT — Post office defends on claims that cuts threaten election. SENT: 400 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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PATRIOTS OWNER-PROSTITUTION CHARGE — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft will not face trial on charges he paid for massage parlor sex. SENT: 530 words, photo.
ODD-MAN CAVE-GRAND CENTRAL — Three railroad workers have been suspended for turning a storage room under New York’s Grand Central Terminal into an unauthorized “man cave” with a television, a refrigerator, a microwave and a futon couch. SENT: 240 words, photos.
SWEDEN-PREHISTORIC DOG — Archaeologists have reported finding the remains of a dog from more than 8,400 years ago at a human burial site in Sweden. SENT: 250 words.
PLACE CALLED SWASTIKA — The rural upstate New York hamlet of Swastika is keeping its name. SENT: 410 words.
JAPAN-RUBIK’S-CUBE — Tiny Rubik’s Cube goes on sale in Japan for anniversary. SENT: 270 words, photos.
PEOPLE-GIGI-HADID-ZAYN-MALIK -- Model Gigi Hadid and her musician boyfriend Zayn Malik celebrate the arrival of a baby girl. SENT: 175 words, photo.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-EARLY CHILDHOOD -- Children who had preschool cut short in the spring are now being held out of kindergarten at higher than normal rates as many school districts begin the year online. That’s raising concerns that the pandemic could have an outsize impact on the nation’s youngest learners. SENT: 865 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK- NO DANCING — With bars and nightclubs limiting capacity and closing early in the St. Louis area due to the coronavirus pandemic, neighboring establishments in St. Charles are seeing so large and unruly crowds. So the city is taking a cue from the 1984 movie “Footloose” and banning dancing. SENT: 325 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN'S BUNGLES — Britain bungled its response to the coronavirus the first time around. Now many scientists fear it’s about to do it again. The virus is on the rise once more in the U.K., with confirmed infections at a record high level. The surge has brought new restrictions on daily life, the prospect of a grim winter of mounting deaths. And a feeling of deja vu. SENT: 1,160 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BRITAIN-VACCINE — Two firms developing COVID-19 vaccines say pharmaceutical companies are trying to give the public as much information as possible about their testing regimes as drugmakers and public health officials seek to boost confidence that any approved vaccine will be safe. SENT: 630 words.
BRITAIN-CHALLENGE STUDY — The British government says it may take part in a study that tries to deliberately infect volunteers who have been given an experimental vaccine against the coronavirus in an effort to more quickly determine if the vaccine works. SENT: 700 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-SWITZERLAND-UNIVERSITY — Swiss health authorities have ordered a quarantine for a staggering 2,500 students at a prestigious hospitality management school in the city of Lausanne after “significant outbreaks” of the coronavirus that are a suspected byproduct of off-campus partying. SENT: 460 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPAIN CHOIR — At least 30 of 41 members of a gospel choir in Spain have contracted coronavirus following a rehearsal indoors with little air circulation, local authorities and the chorus say. SENT: 360 words.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ISRAEL — Israel moves to further tighten its second countrywide lockdown as coronavirus cases continued to soar, ordering all nonessential businesses to close and requiring people to stay within 1,000 yards of their homes. SENT: 610 words, photos.
SOUTH AFRICA-JERUSALEMA DANCE CRAZE — South Africans of all walks of life are dancing to “Jerusalema,” a rousing anthem to lift their spirits amid the battle against COVID-19. SENT: 560 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-COFFEE & CONVERSATION -- Australian acrobat Rick Everett lost his job during the coronavirus pandemic. But the crisis gave him time to fulfill a longtime desire to help others in need. The former chef and restaurant manager is now offering free coffee and conversation from his kitchen window in Sydney. He also started a communal food pantry and an herb garden. SENT: 575 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRAL QUESTIONS-FLU — The flu and COVID-19 have such similar symptoms, you may need to get tested to know which type of virus is making you miserable. SENT: 450 words, graphic.
A separate wire advisory has moved detailing our complete coronavirus coverage.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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ELECTION 2020-CLASS WARFARE — Joe Biden is stoking class warfare, and his own brand of white resentment, by talking up his state school degree and Scranton roots. UPCOMING: 900 words by 6 p.m., photos.
SUPREME COURT-GINSBURG MEMORIAL-TRUMP — President Trump is jeered as he paid respects to late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with some in the crowd outside the court chanting, “Vote him out.” SENT: 570 words, photos, video.
ELECTION-2020 PENCE-MINNEAPOLIS — Vice President Mike Pence visits Minneapolis for what President Trump’s reelection campaign bills as a “listening session” on community safety in a city that was rocked by protests, some violent, after George Floyd’s death in May. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos by 5 p.m.
ELECTION 2020-COLORADO-CHANNELING TRUMP — An unabashed, pistol-packing, social media-savvy and all-in-for-Donald Trump businesswoman has electrified the race to represent nearly half of Colorado’s landmass in Congress. SENT: 1,180 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page on APNewsroom.
TRUMP-JUDGES-POLITICS -- President Trump has repeatedly assured voters he picks conservative judges who will make decisions they like. But when jurists sworn to impartial justice issue rulings that deviate from party politics, at times they create an outcry. SENT: 885 words, photos.
MARY TRUMP-LAWSUIT — Donald Trump’s niece followed up her best-selling, tell-all book with a lawsuit Thursday alleging that the president and two of his siblings cheated her out of millions of dollars over several decades while squeezing her out of the family business. SENT: 750 words.
REL-GINSBURG-JEWISH-LEGACY- While politicians heatedly debate over replacing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, others are reflecting on her life as an advocate for women’s rights and striving to reach just decisions as a jurist, all informed by her Jewish upbringing. SENT: 940 words, photos.
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POLICE-SHOOTING-WISCONSIN-RITTENHOUSE -- Lawyers for Kyle Rittenhouse have launched a social media campaign depicting the Kenosha, Wisconsin, shooter as not just a scared teenager acting in self-defense, but an American hero akin to the Minutemen who fought at the nation’s founding. The dramatic rhetoric has helped raise nearly $2 million. SENT: 1,195 words, photos.
2020-CENSUS — Even as the U.S. Census Bureau aims to finish the 2020 census by the end of the month, about a half dozen areas of the country have seen slight declines this week in the rate of households being counted — and that’s a good thing because it may result in a more accurate result, according to a researcher at the City University of New York. SENT: 610 words, photo.
WESTERN-WILDFIRES-WINE-CRISIS — Smoke from the West Coast wildfires has tainted grapes in some of the nation’s most celebrated wine regions with an ashy flavor that could spell disaster for the 2020 vintage. SENT: 900 words, photos, video.
FEDERAL EXECUTIONS — The lawyer for the first Black inmate scheduled to die this year as part of the Trump administration’s resumption of federal executions says race played a central role in landing her client on death row for slaying a young white Iowa couple and burning them in the trunk of their car. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
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UN-GENERAL ASSEMBLY — African nations came out swinging on the third day of the United Nations annual gathering of world leaders, calling for dramatic fiscal measures to help economies survive the coronavirus pandemic — which one leader called the “fifth horseman of the apocalypse.” SENT: 395 words, photos. WITH: UN-GENERAL-ASSEMBLY-YEMEN - Yemen’s president urges Houthis to allow humanitarian aid. SENT: 425 words, photos.
UN GENERAL-ASSEMBLY-CHINA-US-RUSSIA - China, the United States and Russia butted heads at the United Nations on Thursday over responsibility for the pandemic that has interrupted the world, trading allegations about who mishandled and politicized the virus. SENT: 700 words, photos.
UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY-VACCINE PLEAS — Many world leaders at this week’s virtual U.N. summit hope a vaccine will be made available and affordable to all countries, rich and poor. But with the U.S., China and Russia opting out of a collaborative effort to develop and distribute a vaccine, and some rich nations striking deals with pharmaceutical companies to secure millions of potential doses, the U.N. pleas are plentiful but likely in vain. SENT: 910 words, photos.
EGYPT-GANG RAPE — An announcement last month that Egypt’s top prosecutor would investigate an alleged 2014 gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at a luxury Cairo hotel marked a rare moment of triumph for human rights activists. Those hopes were quickly dispelled after authorities detained possible witnesses and some of their acquaintances, who could face separate charges under the country’s vague morality laws. SENT: 1,110 words, photo.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks were higher on Wall Street as volatility continues to be the dominant force in Wall Street’s tumultuous September. SENT: 725 words, photos, developing. WITH: NEW HOME SALES — Demand for new homes continues to surge despite an ongoing pandemic and lingering anxiety about the U.S. economy. SENT: 300 words, photo.
FEDERAL RESERVE-POWELL — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Thursday that the government’s top priorities in any new economic relief package should be to provide affordable loans to small businesses and further support for millions of Americans who remain unemployed. SENT: 310 words, photos.
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TV-COMEY RULE-HOLLY HUNTER — Holly Hunter was glad to tackle the role of Sally Yates in Showtime’s “The Comey Rule,” calling herself an admirer of the former top-level federal prosecutor. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 5 p.m.
MUSIC-LENNON TRIBUTE — Like so many other events in the year of coronavirus, an annual tribute to John Lennon held in its adopted city of New York will go online. Organizers said there was no way they’d miss it, not on what would have been the former Beatle’s 80th birthday and their 40th year of gathering to pay homage. SENT: 400 words, photo.
OBIT-HAROLD EVANS — Sir Harold Evans, the charismatic publisher, author and muckraker who brought investigative moxie to the British press, newsmaking dash to the American book business through best-sellers like “Primary Colors” and synergetic buzz to all as author-publisher Tina Brown’s husband, has died. He was 92. SENT: 1,350 words, photos.
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FBN-DOLPHINS-JAGUARS — The Jacksonville Jaguars try to get to 2-1 for the third time in four years when they host winless Miami on Thursday night. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. Begins at 8:20 p.m.
BKN-LAKERS-NUGGETS — The Los Angeles Lakers look to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals over the Denver Nuggets, who would be facing that deficit for the third straight series if they lose. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. Game starts 9 p.m.
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