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AP News Digest 5:30 a.m.

| August 9, 2020 3:03 AM

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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TOP STORIES

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VIRUS OUTBREAK — The United States’ failure to contain the spread of the coronavirus has been met with astonishment and alarm in Europe, as the world’s most powerful country edges closer to a global record of 5 million confirmed infections. Perhaps nowhere outside the U.S. is America’s bungled virus response viewed with more consternation than in Italy, which was ground zero of Europe’s epidemic. Italians were unprepared when the outbreak exploded in February and the country still has one of the world’s highest official death tolls at 35,000. By Nicole Winfield and Lisa Marie Pane. SENT: 1,210 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP — President Donald Trump has bypassed the nation’s lawmakers as he claimed the authority to defer payroll taxes and replace an expired unemployment benefit with a lower amount after negotiations with Congress on a new coronavirus rescue package collapsed. Trump’s orders encroached on Congress’ control of federal spending and seemed likely to be met with legal challenges. By Jonathan Lemire and Zeke Miller SENT: 1,020 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-GERMANY-BACK-TO-SCHOOL — Germany has won plaudits for managing to slow the spread of the coronavirus quickly, efficiently and early. But the opening of schools is proving a new challenge as the country struggles to balance the concerns of anxious parents and children, skeptical scientists, worried teachers and overtaxed administrators. On Monday, students in Berlin will return to school. Students will be required to wear masks in hallways, but not during instruction or in the playground. By David Rising. SENT: 1,100 words, photos,.

JAPAN-NAGASAKI-ANNIVERSARY — The Japanese city of Nagasaki marks its 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing, with the mayor and dwindling survivors urging world leaders including their own to do more for a nuclear weapons ban. At 11:02 a.m., the moment the B-29 bomber Bockscar dropped a 4.5-ton (10,000-pound) plutonium bomb dubbed “Fat Man,” Nagasaki survivors and other participants stood in a minute of silence to honor more than 70,000 dead. By Mari Yamaguchi. SENT: 780 words, photos.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — The premier of Australia’s Victoria state says more than 2,700 active cases have no known source and remain the primary concern of health authorities. Victoria sees a welcome drop in its new COVID-19 cases with 394 but a record 17 deaths, including two people in their 50s. It took the hard-hit state’s toll to 210 and the Australian total of deaths to 295. SENT: 620 words photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-NEW-ZEALAND-VIRUS-FREE — New Zealand marks 100 days since it stamped out the spread of the coronavirus, a rare bright spot in a world that continues to be ravaged by the disease. SENT: 480 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-INDIA-FIRE — A fire killed seven coronavirus patients at a southern Indian hotel being used as a COVID-19 facility, officials say, in the second such incident this month. SENT: 180 words.

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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

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PAKISTAN-MONSOON RAINS — 3 days of heavy monsoon rains kill 50 people across Pakistan. SENT: 280 words, photos.

SKOREA-HEAVY RAINS — Days of torrential rain in S. Korea leave at least 30 dead. SENT: 140 words, photos.

INDIA-WEAPONS-IMPORT-BAN — India to ban imports of 101 items of military equipment. SENT: 260 words, photo.

ITALY-ABORTION — Italy approves outpatient use for abortion pill. SENT: 250 words.

GEORGIA CHASE-DEADLY SHOOTING -- The father and son jailed on murder charges in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery are asking a Georgia judge to grant them bond and to throw out two charges in their indictment. SENT: 380 words, photos.

SIMON-COWELL-BACK-INJURY — Simon Cowell injures back while testing electric bicycle. SENT: 90 words, photo.

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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ELECTION 2020-TRUMP -- Talk about an unexpected perk of a country club membership. When President Donald Trump made a late addition to his Friday evening schedule, members of the club in Bedminster, New Jersey, got the chance to attend his news conference, along with reporters and the Secret Service, in an ornate ballroom. SENT: 1,090 words, photos.

ELECTION-2020-HAWAII-HOUSE — Ron Curtis has won the Republican primary for Hawaii’s First Congressional Seat. He will take on Democratic incumbent Ed Case, who was not challenged in the primary. For Hawaii’s Second Congressional District, Kai Kahele is the Democratic nominee for the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. SENT: 600 words, photos.

ELECTION-2020-SENATE-TENNESSEE — U.S. Senate candidate Marquita Bradshaw said Saturday that her campaign fundraising is in full swing and she plans to visit all 95 Tennessee counties as she tries to flip the seat from Republican to Democrat. SENT: 440 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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RACIAL INJUSTICE-PORTLAND — A fire inside a police union building led authorities in Portland, Oregon, to declare a riot and force protesters away from the offices as violent demonstrations continue in the city that had hoped for calm after federal agents withdrew more than a week ago. A group of demonstrators broke into the Portland Police Association building, set the fire and were adding to it when officers made the riot declaration late Saturday, police tweeted. Video shot by a journalist shows smoke and flames arising from inside the building. SENT: 540 words, photos, video.

TRIBAL-GAMING-OKLAHOMA — Four Oklahoma American Indian tribes have filed a federal lawsuit over gaming compacts with two other tribes that were ruled invalid by the Oklahoma State Supreme Court. SENT: 400 words.

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INTERNATIONAL

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AFGHANISTAN-TRADITIONAL-COUNCIL — A traditional Afghan council conclude with hundreds of delegates agreeing to free 400 Taliban members, paving the way for an early start to negotiations between Afghanistan’s warring sides. The declaration read out in both of Afghanistan’s official languages of Pashto and Farsi calls for an immediate start to negotiations as well as an immediate cease fire. The move looks to bring the United States a little closer to bringing its troops home and end its longest military engagement. SENT: 690 words, photos.

BELARUS-ELECTIONS — Belarusians are voting on whether to grant their authoritarian president a sixth term in office, following a campaign marked by unusually strong demonstrations by opposition supporters frustrated with the country’s stumbling economy, political repression and weak response to the coronavirus pandemic. Incumbent Alexander Lukashenko, in office for 26 years, has made it clear he won’t hesitate to quash any attempt by his opponents to protest the results of the election.SENT: 650 words photos.

SRI LANKA — Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was sworn in as the prime minister for the fourth time after his party secured a landslide victory in parliamentary elections that cemented his family’s hold on power. SENT: 410 words, photos.

MAURITIUS-LEAKING SHIP — Anxious residents of the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius stuffed fabric sacks with sugar cane leaves Saturday to create makeshift oil spill barriers as tons of fuel leaking from a grounded ship put endangered wildlife in further peril. SENT: 760 words, photos.

VENEZUELA-FAILED-ATTACK — A Venezuelan court has sentenced two former U.S. special forces soldiers to 20 years in prison for their part in a blunder-filled beach attack aimed at overthrowing President Nicolás Maduro. SENT: 780 words, photos.

POLAND-LGBT-PROTEST — A large crowd of LGBT rights supporters has gathered in Warsaw to protest the arrest of a transgender activist who had carried out acts of civil disobedience against rising homophobia in Poland. SENT: 400 words photos.

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BUSINESS

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SAUDI-ARAMCO-EARNS — Saudi Aramco’s net income plunged by 50% in the first half of the year, according to published figures, offering a revealing glimpse into the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on one of the world’s biggest oil producers. Profits for the first six months of the year plunged to $23.2 billion, half of last year’s $46.9 billion for the same time period. SENT: 410 words, photo.

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ENTERTAINMENT

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FILM-MARIA RESSA DOCUMENTARY — A new documentary tracks award-winning Filipino journalist Maria Ressa’s dual life in recent years. She’s seen smiling while accepting international honors and praise from the likes of George Clooney, then grimly facing down online harassment, legal action and real world threats for her news site Rappler’s reporting on the drug war waged by President Rodrigo Duterte. Ressa and “A Thousand Cuts” filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz say Americans should learn from the recent history of the Philippines, where social media has helped to divide the country and critical press outlets are regularly lambasted by the president. By Entertainment Writer Ryan Pearson. SENT: 580 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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GLF—PGA CHAMPIONSHIP — Dustin Johnson supplied the birdies, eight of them at the PGA Championship, the most he has ever made in his 157 rounds of major championship golf for a 5-under 65 and a one-shot lead. Brooks Koepka supplied the needle. Koepka recovered from three straight bogeys to salvage a 69 and stay within two shots of a leaderboard more crowded than any of San Francisco’s congested highways. At stake is a chance to become only the seventh player to win the same major three straight times. He surveyed the cast of contenders, and focused on the guy at the top. By Golf Writer Doug Ferguson. SENT: 970 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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