Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. Find the AP’s top photos of the day in Today’s Photo Collection. For up-to-the-minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan in AP Newsroom.
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Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. Find the AP’s top photos of the day in Today’s Photo Collection. For up-to-the-minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan in AP Newsroom.
A model wears a creation as part of the Versace Spring Summer 2025 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
First lady Jill Biden, listens to actor Martin Sheen speaks at an event on the Rose Garden at the White House to mark the 25th anniversary of the television series, The West Wing, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
A brass band plays during a press tour at the Oktoberfest, in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Lennart Preiss/dpa via AP)
FILE - A helicopter is hoisted by crane from the East River onto a barge in New York on Monday, March 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Protesters shout slogans as they cross the Brooklyn Bridge during a Youth Climate Strike march to demand an end to the era of fossil fuels, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
In this image from video provided by WYMT-TV, Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines speaks during an interview in Whitesburg, Ky., on Aug. 14, 2024. (WYMT-TV via AP)
In this photograph provided by Alexandra Betts, the cat, Rayne Beau, is seen eating food provide by Betts in Roseville, Calif., in Aug. 2024. During a road trip to Yellowstone National Park in June, Rayne Beau ran away from his California owners' camper and ran into the woods. Two months and nearly 900 miles later, the cat was found by Betts back in California and was later reunited with his family. (Alexandra Betts via AP)
FILE - A couple takes in the view from the ocean lookout ledges of Mount Megunticook at Camden Hills State Park in Camden, Maine, on Oct. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at the San Diego Zoo, Aug. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan, File)
Elias Jaradeh, a legislator and an ophthalmologist, left, who has conducted dozens of operation for victims of this week's attack in Lebanon, makes an eye surgery operation for a man who was injured in the explosion of one of the handheld devices, at the Eye Specialist hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Rev. Hillary Taylor protests the planned execution of Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Owens is set to be the first person to be executed in South Carolina in 13 years. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
An Sri Lanka woman displays the indelible ink mark on her finger after casting her vote outside a polling station during presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
FILE - Gisele Pelicot speaks to media as she leaves the Avignon court house, southern France, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)
Rescuers work at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
WEEKEND COVERAGE
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For weekend stories, please click here for the Weekend Lookahead digest.
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TOP STORIES
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ELECTION 2024-ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MEMES — Generative artificial intelligence is playing a major role in the U.S. presidential campaign, even if the greatest fears about how it could threaten the election haven’t materialized yet. Eye-catching AI-generated photos and videos have become useful tools for spreading false, sometimes racist messages with a clear political bent, and candidates and their supporters are among those sharing them. By Dan Merica, Garance Burke and Ali Swenson. SENT: 1,140 words, photos.
ARIZONA-VOTER-ROLLS — The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that nearly 98,000 people whose citizenship documents hadn’t been confirmed can vote in state and local races. The court’s decision Friday came after officials uncovered a database error that for two decades mistakenly designated the voters as having access to the full ballot. Officials had disagreed on what status the voters should hold. The swing state is unique in that it distinguishes between voters who can participate only in federal elections and those who can vote in federal, state and local elections. By Sejal Govindarao. 640 words, photos, audio.
UNITED STATES-MIDEAST — The Biden administration is taking a more hands-off approach than usual during a week of dramatic escalation between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Top U.S. officials are holding back from full-on crisis diplomacy for fear of making matters worse. Mass explosions of the militant group’s electronic devices and an Israeli airstrike in Beirut threaten to spur all-out war between Israel and its enemies in the Middle East and doom already faltering Gaza cease-fire negotiations. By Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee. SENT: 880 words, photos. WITH: MIDEAST-TENSIONS-UN-LEBANON EXPLOSIONS — The United Nations human rights chief says targeting thousands of Lebanese people using pagers, two-way radios and electronic equipment without their knowledge is a violation of international human rights law. SENT: 770 words, photo. WITH: MIDEAST TENSIONS-THE LATEST — An Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 60, Lebanese officials said. (Sent.)
SRI-LANKA-ELECTION — Sri Lankans are voting in a presidential election that will determine the course of the country’s recovery from its worst economic crisis and resulting political upheaval. The election, contested by 38 candidates, is largely a three-way race among incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Marxist-leaning lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. Final results are expected Sunday. By Krishan Francis, Sheikh Saaliq and Bharatha Mallawarachi. SENT: 600 words, photos. WITH: SRI-LANKA-ELECTION-WOMEN — Sri Lanka has more women voters than men but no female presidential candidates. SENT: 640 words, photos.
FRANCE-RAPE TRIAL — The trial of dozens of men accused of raping an unconscious woman whose husband repeatedly drugged her has highlighted the difficulties that sexual violence victims can face in France. Dominique Pelicot and his 50 co-defendants each face up to 20 years in prison if they are convicted at a trial that has riveted the French public. Although Pelicot has admitted the allegations against him are true and police seized videos he shot of the alleged rapes, defense lawyers have scrutinized his ex-wife’s private life and motives. Their tactics have outraged advocates for the sexually abused. By Diane Jeantet. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.
SOUTH-CAROLINA-EXECUTION — South Carolina put inmate Freddie Owens to death in the state’s first execution in more than a decade. Friday’s execution came after an unintended 13-year pause on capital punishment in South Carolina that came about because prison officials couldn’t get the drugs needed for lethal injections. The 46-year-old was convicted of the 1997 killing of a Greenville convenience store clerk during a robbery. While on trial, Owens killed a person incarcerated at a county jail. His confession to that attack was read to two different juries and a judge who all sentenced him to death. By Jeffrey Collins. SENT: 1,020 words, photos, video, audio.
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ISRAEL-HAMAS-WAR
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LAWS OF WAR-EXPLODING DEVICES — Human rights advocates are calling for an independent investigation into the deadly explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon and Syria; EXPLODING PAGERS-THE TRAIL — The mother of the woman whose company was linked to thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria says her daughter has received threats and been advised by the Hungarian secret services not to talk to media; ISRAEL-LEBANON-WHAT TO KNOW. (All sent.)
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MORE NEWS
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INDONESIA-NEW-ZEALAND-KIDNAPPED-PILOT — Indonesian authorities said the New Zealand pilot who has been held hostage for more than a year in the restive Papua region has been freed by separatist rebels. Philip Mark Mehrtens, a pilot from Christchurch who was working for an Indonesian aviation company, was handed over to a governnment security force early Saturday. SENT: 420 words, photo.
BALDWIN-SET-SHOOTING — Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie. SENT: 420 words, photo, audio.
CALIFORNIA-TRAVELING-CAT — A gray cat living an extraordinary life of visits to the beach and trips to the lake went on his biggest adventure alone: traveling hundreds of miles from Wyoming to California. SENT: 460 words, photos, video, audio.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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ELECTION-2024-TRUMP-SHOOTING — Communication breakdowns with local law enforcement hampered the Secret Service’s performance ahead of a July assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, according to a new report that lays out a litany of missed opportunities to stop a gunman who opened fire from an unsecured roof. By Rebecca Santana, Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer. SENT: 970 words, photos, video, audio.
ELECTION 2024-TRUMP — Donald Trump is returning to North Carolina, but he will be campaigning in Wilmington without Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. Trump has long praised the GOP gubernatorial nominee, but his campaign is now distancing itself following a CNN report about Robinson’s alleged posts on a pornography website’s message board. By Meg Kinnard and Erik Verduzco. SENT: 550 words, photo. Rally at 2 p.m.
ELECTION 2024-ARIZONA IMMIGRATION — Arizona voters will decide whether illegal border crossings should be a state crime. Republican lawmakers put the measure on the ballot but they aren’t campaigning or raising money for it because strategists say they don’t have to. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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COURTHOUSE-SHOOTING-KENTUCKY — Residents of a tiny Appalachian town struggled Friday to cope with a shooting involving two of its most prominent citizens: a judge who was gunned down in his courthouse chambers and a local sheriff charged with his murder. SENT: 990 words, photos, video, audio.
CALIFORNIA-SOCIAL-MEDIA-ADDICTION — California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday. SENT: 510 words, photo.
CLIMATE PROTESTS — Six years after a teenage Greta Thunberg walked out of school in a solitary climate protest outside of the Swedish parliament, young people around the world staged fresh marches Friday and said their protests are not being sufficiently acted upon. SENT: 860 words, photos, video.
FALL FOLIAGE PREVIEW — Leaf peeping, the act of traveling to witness nature’s annual kaleidoscope, contributes billions of dollars to the economy, especially in New England and New York. But this year, some of the most colorful displays could be in the Midwest. SENT: 500 words, photos.
NYC HELICOPTER-CRASH — A jury awarded $116 million to the family of one of five people killed in a no-door helicopter. The craft crashed and sank in a New York City river in 2018 and left passengers trapped in their safety harnesses. SENT: 500 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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JAPAN-HEAVY-RAIN — Heavy rain pounded Japan’s northcentral region of Noto on Saturday, which triggered landslides and swollen rivers to overflow, flooding homes and stranding some residents in the region still recovering from a deadly earthquake earlier this year. SENT: 240 words.
GERMANY-OKTOBERFEST — Oktoberfest will open after the ceremonial keg-tapping by Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter when he inserts the tap into the first keg at noon on Saturday. The celebration runs through Oct. 6 in 18 large tents covering the fairground and is considered the world’s largest folk festival. SENT: 270 words, photos. To be updated after 1000 GMT keg-tapping.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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JILL-BIDEN-WEST-WING — First lady Jill Biden invited cast members from “The West Wing” to the White House to mark the 25th anniversary of the hit drama. Among those who attended Friday’s party in the Rose Garden was Martin Sheen, who played President Jed Bartlet. SENT: 560 words, photos, video.
MILAN-FASHION-WEEK-DAY-4 — Fashionistas arriving at the highly anticipated Gucci show passed through a white tunnel that burst into the colors of a sunrise on the fourth day of Milan Fashion Week on Friday. They were in good company, with Moschino, Ferretti, Del Core and Cavalli all opening their collections in white this week. SENT: 910 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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OHTANI’S HISTORIC SEASON — Shohei Ohtani is at it again. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar hit his 52nd home run and stole his 52nd base on Friday night, breaking the major league record for going deep and stealing in the same game. SENT: 830 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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The Nerve Center can be reached at 800-845-8450, ext. 1600. For photos, ext. 1900. For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) is honored during the first inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. Ohtani was the first MLB player to achieve 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
A model wears a creation as part of the Versace Spring Summer 2025 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
First lady Jill Biden, listens to actor Martin Sheen speaks at an event on the Rose Garden at the White House to mark the 25th anniversary of the television series, The West Wing, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
A brass band plays during a press tour at the Oktoberfest, in Munich, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (Lennart Preiss/dpa via AP)
FILE - A helicopter is hoisted by crane from the East River onto a barge in New York on Monday, March 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Protesters shout slogans as they cross the Brooklyn Bridge during a Youth Climate Strike march to demand an end to the era of fossil fuels, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
In this image from video provided by WYMT-TV, Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines speaks during an interview in Whitesburg, Ky., on Aug. 14, 2024. (WYMT-TV via AP)
In this photograph provided by Alexandra Betts, the cat, Rayne Beau, is seen eating food provide by Betts in Roseville, Calif., in Aug. 2024. During a road trip to Yellowstone National Park in June, Rayne Beau ran away from his California owners' camper and ran into the woods. Two months and nearly 900 miles later, the cat was found by Betts back in California and was later reunited with his family. (Alexandra Betts via AP)
FILE - A couple takes in the view from the ocean lookout ledges of Mount Megunticook at Camden Hills State Park in Camden, Maine, on Oct. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at the San Diego Zoo, Aug. 8, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Derrick Tuskan, File)
Elias Jaradeh, a legislator and an ophthalmologist, left, who has conducted dozens of operation for victims of this week's attack in Lebanon, makes an eye surgery operation for a man who was injured in the explosion of one of the handheld devices, at the Eye Specialist hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Rev. Hillary Taylor protests the planned execution of Freddie Eugene Owens, 46, on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Owens is set to be the first person to be executed in South Carolina in 13 years. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
An Sri Lanka woman displays the indelible ink mark on her finger after casting her vote outside a polling station during presidential election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
FILE - Gisele Pelicot speaks to media as she leaves the Avignon court house, southern France, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)
Rescuers work at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
