AP News Digest 7 am
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 4 years, 9 months AGO
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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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA DELAY — In the six days after the Chinese government realized it likely was facing a pandemic from a novel coronavirus, the city of Wuhan hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people, millions traveled through for Lunar New Year celebrations and an estimated 3,000 people were infected, documents obtained by the AP show. The Chinese government’s delay in warning the public only a week later was not its first mistake nor the longest lag, as governments around the world have dragged their feet for weeks and even months. SENT: 2,320 words, photos. An abridged version of 1,000 words is also available.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK — The challenges of caring for the elderly and educating the young amid the devastating coronavirus pandemic were on full display Wednesday as Italian police investigated scores of deaths at the country’s biggest nursing home and Denmark began reopening schools for its youngest students. By Jan Olsen, Nicole Winfield and Mike Corder. SENT 1,145 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-US SURVEILLANCE — As countries around the world edge toward ending lockdowns and restarting their economies and societies, citizens are being more closely monitored. By Christina Larson and Matt O’Brien. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AFRICA FOOD — Lockdowns in Africa limiting the movement of people in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus are threatening to choke off supplies of what the continent needs the most: Food. By Farai Mutsaka. SENT: 930 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP-WHO — The secretary-general of the United Nations says now isn’t the time for the U.S. to withhold financial support from the U.N. health agency, the World Health Organization. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is cutting off payments to the WHO because, in his view, the organization failed to do enough to stop the coronavirus virus from spreading after it first surfaced in China. By Darlene Superville. SENT: 790 words, photos, video. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is walking back previous assertions that he has the absolute authority to decide when it’s time to reopen the economy ravaged by the coronavirus. SENT: 1,110 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MILITARY — The U.S. military is bracing for a months-long struggle against the coronavirus, looking for novel ways to maintain a defensive crouch that sustains troops’ health without breaking their morale — while still protecting the nation. By National Security Writer Robert Burns. SENT: 1,000 words, photo. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-MARINE HAIRCUTS — Barbershops at some Marine Corps bases are abuzz with demand for high-and-tight haircuts despite social distancing. SENT: 440 words, photo.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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VIRGINIA BRIDGE RESCUE — Firefighters rescued a truck driver whose tractor-trailer was nearly blown off a bridge in Virginia, leaving his cab dangling 70 feet over a river. SENT: 130 words, photos.
GERMANY-EXTREMISTS ARRESTED — German authorities say police have arrested four suspected members of the Islamic State group alleged to be planning an attack on American military facilities. SENT: 220 words.
OBIT-GLENNA GOODACRE — Renowned sculptor and painter Glenna Goodacre, who created the Vietnam Women’s Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C, has died at age 80. SENT: 200 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-RELIEF CHECKS-MISINFORMATION — Online reports claiming that Americans will have to repay the relief checks they receive from the government under the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid bill are not true. SENT: 380 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-EGYPT PHOTO ESSAY — It wasn’t unexpected, but the ban on visitors to Egypt’s famed Pyramids amid the coronavirus pandemic still came as a shock to souvenir vendor Sayed el-Gibri and other tourism workers. SENT: 520 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-FAITH VS SCIENCE — As the contagious COVID-19 empties houses of worship, the virus has tested faith’s relationship with science. While most major religions have abided by governmental gathering limits crafted to fight the pandemic, a minority of leaders — both religious and secular — have suggested that in-person worship should continue because of the relief it can provide. By Elana Schor and Mariam Fam. UPCOMING: 1,100 words by 11 a.m., photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-EXTRA UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS — Across the U.S., most of the newly jobless are still waiting for the additional $600 a week Congress approved more than two weeks ago as part of its coronavirus stimulus package. Less than a dozen states have so far started distributing the money. By Christopher Rugaber and Susan Haigh. UPCOMING: 980 words by 11 a.m., photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SKOREAN ELECTIONS — In a surprisingly high turnout, millions of South Korean voters wore masks and moved slowly between lines of tape at polling stations to elect lawmakers in the shadows of the spreading coronavirus. The government resisted calls to postpone the parliamentary elections billed as a midterm referendum for President Moon Jae-in. By Kim Tong-Hyung. SENT: 1,045 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-EUROPE — The European Union is trying to head off a chaotic easing of coronavirus restrictions across the 27 nation bloc. With some countries already lifting lockdown measures, the EU commission is unveiling a roadmap Wednesday that plans for an easing of lock-downs over a number of months. By Lorne Cook. SENT: 455 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GOVERNORS-REOPENING — After a month in crisis mode, governors across the U.S. face their next challenge in the coronavirus pandemic: When and how to lift restrictions designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and return to something approaching normal life. By Julie Carr Smyth. SENT: 930 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LOST LIVES-BRAZIL-NEW MOM — Raised by an aunt because her parents couldn’t provide for her, Rafaela de Jesus Silva was always working in one job or another. She sold fruit and clothes on the streets, pumped gas, and walked the beaches of northeastern Brazil to sell homemade food. The hustle wasn’t just to meet material needs. The 28-year-old wanted to make sure that her daughter, born March 25, would have an easier upbringing than she did. A week after giving birth, Silva died of complications related to the coronavirus. By Peter Prengaman. SENT: 735 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA — Staggered school start times. Class sizes cut in half. Social distancing in the hallways and cafeteria. These are a few of the possible scenarios for California schools that Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out in a roadmap for reopening the state amid the coronavirus. SENT: 770 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — A government-commissioned estimate says some 850,000 people could be seriously sickened by the coronavirus in Japan and almost half of them could die if no social distancing or other measures are followed. There are concerns that Japan’s government has done too little to stave off high numbers of badly ill patients. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.
A separate wire advisory has been sent outlining the AP’s complete coronavirus coverage.
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DEMOCRAT ENDORSES TRUMP-GEORGIA — A polarizing Democratic state lawmaker in Georgia has broken party ranks to endorse President Donald Trump’s reelection. State Rep. Vernon Jones, who represents portions of metro Atlanta’s DeKalb and Rockdale counties, says he’s supporting Trump because of the Republican president’s handling of the economy and his criminal justice reform efforts. SENT: 205 words, photo.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST ECONOMIES — The International Monetary Fund releases its economic forecast for the Middle East as the pandemic batters tourism and demand for oil globally, leaving the poorest and most vulnerable people relying even more on governments for financial rescue. By Aya Batrawy. SENT: 855 words, photos.
POLAND-SEXUAL RIGHTS — Polish lawmakers are due to debate draft laws backed by a conservative Catholic group that would impose a near-total ban on abortion, criminalize school sex education and equate homosexuality with pedophilia. By Vanessa Gera. SENT: 595 words, photos.
AUSTRALIA-MEDIA RAIDS — Australia’s highest court has ruled that a search warrant at the center of a national storm over press freedom was invalid. News Corp. journalist Annika Smethurst went to the High Court to overturn the warrant that was executed on her Canberra home last year and triggered a national campaign for greater press freedom. The judges unanimously agreed the warrant was invalid. By Rod McGuirk. SENT: 542 words, photos.
FRANCE-NOTRE DAME — A year after a devastating fire, the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral has been halted by a lockdown in Paris stemming from the coronavirus. By Elaine Ganley. SENT: 860 words, photos.
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LOST APPLES-NEW FINDS — A pair of so-called “apple detectives” has rediscovered 10 apple varieties in the Pacific Northwest that were planted by long-ago pioneers and had been thought extinct. By Gillian Flaccus. SENT: 1,O20 words, photos. WITH: LOST APPLES-NEW FINDS-LIST
FATAL SHOOTING-OFFICER ARRESTED — Authorities say an Alabama police detective fatally shot a woman as part of a “love triangle” dispute with a colleague. SENT: 230 words.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Global stocks and oil prices have sunk after the International Monetary Fund said the world economy will suffer its worst year since the Great Depression of the 1930s due to the coronavirus pandemic. London and Frankfurt opened down more than 1.5% and Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney also retreated. SENT: 795 words, photos.
OIL MARKETS — The International Energy Agency says world demand for oil will fall this year by the most ever due to the economic lockdowns enforced around the world to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The agency says the estimated drop in demand of 9.3 million barrels a day this year is equivalent to a decade’s worth of growth. By Carlo Piovano. SENT: 440 words, photo.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-STRANDED FANS: Fifteen soccer-crazy fans of Colombia’s Independiente Medellín traveled to Buenos Aires to watch their team face Boca Juniors in the historic La Bombonera stadium in a Copa Libertadores group stage match. But then came the new coronavirus pandemic, leaving them stranded in Argentina for more than a month. By Debora Rey. SENT: 385 words, photos.
DRAFT-VIRTUAL WORK — With the pandemic having closed training facilities, a group of 30 NFL draft hopefuls participates in a virtual pro day. By Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi. SENT: 825 words, photos.
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