AP News Digest 3:20 a.m.

APTOPIX Tokyo Olympics Artistic Gymnastics (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

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

—————————

TOP STORIES

—————————

BILES-OUT — Simone Biles will not defend her Olympic title. The American gymnastics superstar withdrew from Thursday’s all-around competition to focus on her mental well-being. By Sports Writer Will Graves. SENT: 460 words, photos. With TIM-DAHLBERG-BILES — Column: For Simone Biles, it finally all becomes too much; TOKYO OLYMPICS-THE LATEST.

CAPITOL BREACH-INVESTIGATION-RACISM — It had only been hinted at in previous public examinations of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection: Scores of rioters attacked police officers not just with makeshift weapons, stun guns and fists, but with racist slurs and accusations of treason. SENT: 920 words, photos. With CAPITOL BREACH-INVESTIGATION-POLITICS — Capitol police testimony blunts GOP’s law-and-order message; CAPITOL BREACH-INVESTIGATION-HIGHLIGHTS — Emotional, tense and sometimes angry testimony.

CAPITOL BREACH-HOMECOMING — Before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, most people in Pauline Bauer’s rural Pennsylvania hometown knew her for the deep-dish pizza and ice cream she sells at her restaurant. After her arrest in May on riot-related charges, Bauer became a target for strangers’ scorn and a punchline for Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show. By Michael Kunzelman. SENT: 1,450 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-JAPAN — The governor of Tokyo urges younger people to cooperate with measures to bring down the high number of infections and get vaccinated, saying their activities are key to slowing the surge during the Olympics. By Mari Yamaguchi. SENT: 390 words, photos. With VIRUS-OUTBREAK-THE-LATEST.

CONGRESS-INFRASTRUCTURE-POLITICS — President Joe Biden has leapt back into the Senate’s up-and-down efforts to clinch a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure deal. He’s met with a centrist Democrat leading those talks, and he’s tweeting about how important such a deal could be. By Alan Fram. SENT: 890 words, photo. With CONGRESS-INFRASTRUCTURE — Senators, White House in crunch time on infrastructure deal.

CYBERSECURITY-HACKED PHONES — At a time of widespread digital insecurity it turns out that the oldest and simplest computer fix there is — turning a device off then back on again — can thwart hackers from stealing information from smartphones. By Alan Suderman. SENT: 980 words, photo.

——————————————————

MORE ON THE OLYMPICS

——————————————————

SWIMMING — Finally, a gold medal in Tokyo for U.S. swimming star Katie Ledecky. By Sports Writer Paul Newberry. SENT: 1,220 words, photos.

EXPLAINER-BASEBALL-DIFFERENCES — Olympic baseball has some notable differences from Major League Baseball. By Baseball Writer Ronald Blum. SENT: 760 words, photos.

———————————————————————

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

——————————————————————

PEOPLE-BOB-ODENKIRK — Bob Odenkirk collapses on “Better Call Saul” set. SENT: 270 words, photo.

OBIT-JOEY-JORDISON — Slipknot founding drummer Joey Jordison dies at 46. SENT: 310 words, photo.

CALIFORNIA THEATER SHOOTING — Teen fatally shot inside California theater, another critically wounded. SENT: 160 words.

JAPAN-TROPICAL STORM — Tropical storm dumps rain on northern Japan, spares Olympics. SENT: 230 words, photos.

CHEMICAL-PLANT-LEAK-TEXAS — Officials: Two dead; seven injured after Texas chemical plant leak. SENT: 310 words, video.

GEORGE WASHINGTON MURAL — Judge won’t let San Francisco school mural be covered. SENT: 450 words.

——————————————-

MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

———————————————

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ASIA — Australia’s largest city Sydney will remain in lockdown for another month. SENT: xxxx words, photos.

————————————————-

WASHINGTON/POLITICS

————————————————-

BIDEN — Biden will be trying to connect with blue-collar workers when he travels to a truck factory in Pennsylvania to advocate for government investments and clean energy as ways to strengthen U.S. manufacturing. SENT: 810 words, photo. UPCOMING: 990 words after 2 p.m. remarks.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-BIDEN — The White House is strongly considering requiring federal employees to show proof they’ve been vaccinated against the coronavirus or otherwise submit to regular testing and wear a mask — a potentially major shift in policy that reflects growing concerns about the spread of the more infectious delta variant. SENT: 630 words, photos.

HOUSE-TEXAS-SPECIAL-ELECTION — Republican Jake Ellzey of Texas wins a U.S. House seat over a rival backed by Donald Trump, dealing the former president a defeat in a test of his endorsement power since leaving office. SENT: 440 words, photo.

—————————————

INTERNATIONAL

—————————————

INDIA-US-BLINKEN — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was talking with top Indian officials in meetings that are expected to deepen ties between the important allies that are both rivals to a rising China. SENT: 370 words, photos.

ONE-GOOD-THING-ISRAEL-KIDNEY-DONOR — An Israeli woman has donated a kidney that ended up going to a 3-year-old boy from the Gaza Strip. SENT: 800 words, photos, video.

——————————

NATIONAL

——————————

CANNABIS-DELTA-8-DEBATE — A chemical cousin of pot’s main intoxicating ingredient has rocketed to popularity over the last year, and the cannabis industry and state governments are scrambling to reckon with it amid debate over whether it’s legal. SENT: 970 words, photos.

POLICE-SHOOTING-WISCONSIN-MENSAH — A Wisconsin judge was set to announce whether he will invoke a rarely used process to charge a police officer in the 2016 slaying of a Black man who was sitting in a parked car. SENT: 360 words, photo.

WESTERN-WILDFIRES — The governors of California and Nevada plan to tour the state line area blackened by one of two massive wildfires that have destroyed dozens of homes in the U.S. West. SENT: 750 words, photos.

————————————————

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

————————————————

FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Asian stock markets declined after Wall Street pulled back from a record as investors awaited a Federal Reserve report for signs of when U.S. stimulus might be withdrawn. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. SENT: 420 words, photos.

——————————————

HOW TO REACH US

——————————————

At the Nerve Center, Jerome Minerva can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Toru Takahashi (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://newsroom.ap.org. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport(at)ap.org or call 844-777-2006.