Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
1. AMERICAN DIPLOMATS DANGLED TRUMP MEETING FOR UKRAINE PROBE
Kurt Volker and other U.S. envoys encouraged Kyiv’s newly elected president to conduct an investigation linked to Joe Biden’s family in return for a visit to Washington with President Trump.
2. HOW GOP IS RESPONDING TO TRUMP
Republican leaders have two reactions to Trump’s public call for a foreign government to investigate political rival Joe Biden: silence and support.
3. HONG KONG LEADER BANS MASKS
Carrie Lam bans protesters from wearing masks in a hardening of the government’s stance on the territory’s most disruptive crisis since it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.
4. HUNDREDS OF ACCUSED PRIESTS LIVING UNDER RADAR WITH NO OVERSIGHT
The AP finds that nearly 1,700 clergy members considered credibly accused of child sexual abuse now hold jobs like teaching middle-school math and counseling sexual assault survivors.
5. DIVERSITY OF JURY SEEN AS KEY FACTOR IN OFFICER’S CONVICTION
Experts say intense public scrutiny likely led to a racially diverse jury in the trial of the white Dallas police officer who fatally shot a black neighbor in his own apartment.
6. WHO’S FEELING THE SQUEEZE IN BEIRUT
The Iran-U.S. conflict is now being felt in Lebanon, where Washington has slapped sanctions on the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
7. WHAT HAS ELECTORATE CONCERNED
Candidates’ ages are again on the front-burner of the 2020 presidential campaign after 78-year-old Bernie Sanders underwent a heart procedure.
8. HOW VEGAS VICTIMS’ MONEY WILL BE DIVIDED
An expert says a “cold mathematical calculation” will determine how much victims of the Las Vegas shooting or their families will receive from a settlement that could reach $800 million.
9. JAMES FRANCO HIT WITH LAWSUITS
Two actresses sue “The Disaster Artist” actor and the acting and film school he founded, saying he intimidated his students into gratuitous and exploitative sexual situations.
10. BUEHLER, MUNCY LEAD DODGERS PAST NATIONALS
Walker Buehler’s pitching and Max Muncy’s hitting propel Los Angeles past mistake-prone Washington 6-0 in Game 1 of their NL Division Series.