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ONE YEAR TO GO
Postponed Tokyo Olympics hit 1-year-to-go mark -- again
TOKYO (AP) — The postponed Tokyo Olympics have again reached the one-year-to-go mark. But the celebration is small this time with more questions than answers about how the Olympics can happen in a pandemic. A poll by Japan's Kyodo news agency showed just under 25% favored holding the Olympics next year. About 70% said they should be postponed or canceled. The results match many recent surveys of the Japanese public. Local organizers and the International Olympic Committee have given few details about how the games will be pulled off. They have said that no events will be cut and that 11,000 Olympic and 4,400 Paralympians will compete.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN
Joe Biden calls Trump the country's 'first' racist president
WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden has said during a virtual town hall that President Donald Trump was the country's “first” racist president. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s comment came Wednesday in response to a questioner mentioning the president referring to the coronavirus as the “China virus." Biden said, "We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed. They’ve tried to get elected president. He’s the first one that has.” But many presidents — including the nation’s first, George Washington — owned slaves. Trump responded by saying that he'd done more for Black Americans than any other president, with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.
AP-US-AP-POLL-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-SCHOOLS
AP-NORC poll: Very few Americans back full school reopening
BOSTON (AP) — A new poll finds very few Americans think schools should return to normal operations this fall, even as President Donald Trump pushes for a full reopening. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that only about 1 in 10 Americans say daycare centers, preschools and K-12 schools should start the school year like any other. Most think mask requirements and other safety measures are necessary to restart in-person instruction, and roughly 3 in 10 say that teaching kids in classrooms shouldn’t happen at all. Trump said Wednesday that he would be “comfortable” with his son Barron and grandchildren attending school in person.
AP-US-COLD-CASE-MURDER-SUSPECT-DEATH
Man charged with 1973 killing of California girl dies
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a Colorado man charged with strangling an 11-year-old California girl in 1973 has died at an Orange County hospital. The Sheriff's Department says James Neal of Monument, Colorado, died Wednesday at a hospital where he'd been taken in May for an undisclosed illness. The department says Neal didn't show any symptoms of the coronavirus. Neal pleaded not guilty in March to killing Linda O’Keefe in Newport Beach. Neal left the state after the killing, but he was arrested in February. Investigators identified Neal as a suspect using genealogical DNA.
AP-US-GEORGE-FLOYD-OFFICER-TAX-EVASION
Ex-cop charged in Floyd's death faces 9 tax evasion counts
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd now faces multiple felony counts of tax evasion. Derek Chauvin and his wife, Kellie May Chauvin, were both charged Wednesday with multiple counts for allegedly underreporting their income to the state of Minnesota from 2014 through 2019 and for failing to file state tax returns in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Some of the unreported income includes more than $95,000 prosecutors say Chauvin received for off-duty security work. Prosecutors say the Chauvins underreported their income by more than $460,000 and owe tens of thousands of dollars to the state. Online records don't show if the Chauvins have attorneys to comment on the tax case.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS
White House, GOP agree on virus testing in new aid bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans and the White House have reached tentative agreement for more testing funds in the next COVID-19 relief package. But deep disagreements over the scope of the $1 trillion in federal aid remain ahead of Thursday’s expected roll out. Facing a GOP revolt, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is preparing a “handful” of COVID-19 aid bills instead of a single package. That's the word from a top lawmaker involved in the negotiations. A key holdup remains President Donald Trump’s push for a payroll tax cut. Hardly any GOP senators support the idea.
VIRUS OUTBREAK
US labs buckle amid testing surge; world virus cases top 15M
WASHINGTON (AP) — Labs across the U.S. are buckling under a surge of coronavirus tests, creating long processing delays that experts say are undercutting the pandemic response. The bottlenecks are creating problems for workers kept off the job while they wait for results, nursing homes struggling to keep the virus out and for the labs themselves. Some labs are taking weeks to return COVID-19 results, exacerbating fears that people without symptoms could be spreading the virus if they don’t isolate while they wait. The testing lags come as confirmed cases are rising in the U.S. and as the number of people known to be infected worldwide passed a staggering 15 million.
BC-VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST
The Latest: Masks compulsory in Australia's 2nd biggest city
Wearing masks became compulsory in Australia’s second-largest city of Melbourne on Thursday as coronavirus hot spot Victoria state reported 403 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and five deaths. The daily infection tally for the state was down from a record 484 posted Wednesday. Much of the spread is blamed on sick workers who do not take time off while they wait for coronavirus test results. The state government announced Thursday that workers who do not have sick leave will be eligible for a support payment of 300 Australian dollars while they await test results. A large majority of Melbourne residents appeared to be complying with the new face covering regulation. For the first week of the mask mandate, police will “exercise discretion” in imposing fines.
TRUMP-LAW ENFORCEMENT
Trump deploys more federal agents under 'law-and-order' push
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he will send federal agents into Chicago and Albuquerque to help combat rising crime as he runs for reelection under a “law-and-order” mantle. Using alarmist language, Trump on Wednesday painted Democrat-led cities as out of control, even though criminal justice experts say the increase in violence in some cities defies easy explanation. The decision to dispatch federal agents to American cities is playing out at a hyperpoliticized moment in American politics. With less than four months until Election Day, Trump has been serving up dire warnings that the violence would worsen if his Democratic rival Joe Biden is elected in November.
AP-US-OBIT-ANNIE-ROSS
Annie Ross, jazz singer turned actor, dies at 89 in New York
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Annie Ross, who was a popular jazz singer in the 1950s before crossing over into a successful film career, has died. She was 89. Ross’ manager, Jim Coleman, told the Washington Post that the entertainer died Tuesday at her home in New York, four days before her 90th birthday. She had battled emphysema and heart disease. Ross rose to fame as the lead vocalist of one of jazz’s most well-respected groups, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. The trio became known for the 1952 hit “Twisted,” a tune by saxophonist Wardell Gray and written by Ross. She appeared in the films “Superman III," “Throw Momma From the Train" and “Short Cuts."
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