AP News Digest 2 p.m.
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-TRUMP-SCIENCE -- President Donald Trump’s comment about injecting disinfectant to fight coronavirus is just the latest in a long list of comments and actions that run contrary to mainstream science. He’s gone against scientific and medical advice by looking at an eclipse without protection, calling climate change a hoax and saying wind turbines cause cancer. By Science Writer Seth Borenstein. SENT: 880 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SILENCED CONGRESS -- They long for what’s being lost: the ability to publicly question officials at committee hearings, to chat across the aisle, to speak from the House and Senate floor for all of America, and history, to hear. Congress wants its voice back. With no real plan to reopen Capitol Hill any time soon, the coronavirus shutdown poses an existential crisis that’s pushing Congress ever so reluctantly toward the 21st century option of remote legislating from home. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 920 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONTACT TRACING — As more states push to reopen their economies, many are falling short on one of the federal government’s essential criteria for doing so — having an efficient system to track people who have been physically near a person infected with the coronavius. A review by The Associated Press finds a patchwork of systems around the U.S for conducting so-called contact tracing. By Christina A. Cassidy and Jason Dearen. SENT: 963 words, photos. Eds: This story has moved as the Sunday Spotlight.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — A tentative easing around the world of coronavirus lockdowns gathered pace with the reopening in India of neighborhood stores that many of the country’s 1.3 billion people rely on for everything from cold drinks to mobile phone data cards. The number of confirmed dead globally topped 200,000. By Ashok Sharma and John Leicester. SENT: 1,265 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST; VIRUS OUTBREAK-WHAT'S HAPPENING (both sent).
VIRUS OUTBREAK-21ST-CENTURY NEW DEAL -- The New Deal was a try-anything moment during the Great Depression that remade the role of the federal government in American life. It created programs like Social Security, federal insurance for bank deposits and the minimum wage. It created projects like LaGuardia Airport in New York and Dealey Plaza in Dallas, schools, roads, bridges, employment for writers and artists, even the planting of millions of trees in Oklahoma to prevent a second Dust Bowl. But what would a new New Deal look like today? By Michael Tackett and Josh Boak. SENT: 1,871 words, photos. An abridged version of 947 words is also available.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-DISABLED CHILDREN — Coronavirus lockdown is proving a particularly tough ordeal for children with disabilities and their families. Special schools and support programs have been shut down. After weeks of lockdown, a 14-year-old French boy with autism took a pickax to the wall of his house with the hope that he could finally go out. SENT: 1,048 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CATALINA ISLAND — When Santa Catalina Island all but locked its gates last month it was a blessing and a curse for the approximately 4,000 people who live there. The move protected the island off the Southern California coast from a major outbreak of the coronavirus. But it devastated the tourist industry that counts on a million visitors a year. SENT: 1,093 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS MARYLAND — Ballots cast in person in Maryland’s special congressional election between Democrat Kweisi Mfume and Republican Kimberly Klacik will be quarantined for about 24 hours after polls close before being counted — to give any potential germs a chance to die to help protect election workers. SENT: 748 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BLOOMBERG- Nearly two months after ending his presidential campaign, Mike Bloomberg is again tapping his massive personal fortune – this time to combat the coronavirus. He’s spending tens of millions on a variety of local and international initiatives aimed at halting the spread of the virus and supporting first responders. SENT: 890 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PEACE CORPS -- The Peace Corps has evacuated about 7,000 volunteers from 60 countries because of the global pandemic, and those returning to the United States were asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. One volunteer says the quick evacuation left her no time to say goodbye. The organization isn’t saying whether any volunteers have tested positive but is planning for the time when operations can resume. SENT: 850 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE WEEK THAT WAS — As countries took small steps toward relaxing restrictions on movement and commerce, lawmakers, citizens and scientists were caught in a debate about how fast to return — and still keep people safe. But when auto workers are producing ventilators instead of cars, millions of children remain at home instead of school and millions more are without jobs, it was clear that a full restart and return to normalcy is still far off. SENT: 1,382 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-ACCORDION PLAYER -- Paul Stein felt useless -- stuck in his Brooklyn brownstone apartment, watching his neighbors suffer deprivations as COVID-19 swept the city. He knew what he had to do. He took out his accordion. And he played. His stage is the steps leading up to his building, his stoop. He regularly sings and plays during the nightly 7 p.m. rounds of applause for health care and front-line workers. SENT: 542 words, photos, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-YOU TALKIN’ TO ME? — Hey, they’re talkin’ here! With New York City at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. and its native-born among those offering crucial information to the nation in televised briefings, the New York accent has stepped up to the mic — or maybe the megaphone. SENT: 880 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CENSUS REFUGEES — Advocates are concerned that the coronavirus has added another burden for refugees arriving in the U.S. They worry that the disease threatens refugee participation in the census, which will help determine how the government allocates some $1.5 trillion, not only for refugees but for everyone living in the areas where they settle. SENT: 929 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-HELPING JOURNALISTS — Journalists from around the U.S. are finding ways to help their colleagues simply pay rent or buy groceries as they face lost or reduced paychecks because of layoffs and furloughs caused by the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 800 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ITALY-LIBERATION DAY-PHOTO GALLERY — Veterans of Italy’s anti-Fascist World War II resistance have held marches throughout Italy every April 25 since 1945, to honor the uprising that helped end their country’s Nazi occupation. This year the veterans resorted to the inventiveness they once employed against the Germans. SENT: 330 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-GAZA-MASKS-FOR-ISRAEL — For the first time in years, sewing factories in the Gaza Strip are back to working at full capacity — producing masks, gloves and protective gowns, some of which are bound for Israel. SENT: 840 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDIA-ISLAMOPHOBIA — India’s government is blaming an Islamic missionary meeting for a surge in coronavirus cases, triggering a wave of violence, business boycotts and hate speech toward Muslims that experts warn could worsen the pandemic in the world’s second-most populous country. SENT: 950 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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BOMB THREAT-DAY OFF — A Florida construction worker called in a bomb threat to a water treatment facility to get a day off work, authorities said. SENT: 161 words.
ROLLERBLADE BANDIT — A robber wearing in-line skates skated off into the night after sticking up a Dunkin’ Donuts on Long Island, police said. SENT: 138 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-EARNHARDT -- NASCAR team owner Richard Childress is auctioning off one of racing legend Dale Earnhardt’s cars to raise money for coronavirus relief efforts. SENT: 150 words.
BALTIMORE POLICE CORRUPTION — Maryland’s highest court rules that the city of Baltimore must pay for two settlements resolving claims that police officers from a rogue unit planted guns during arrests. SENT: 240 words.
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FACT CHECK-WEEK — Lysol is for toilet bowls and countertops, not human consumption. The company that manufactures it felt compelled to emphasize the danger of ingesting it after President Donald Trump’s musings about heat, light and disinfectant in the time of coronavirus. Trump made waves this past week with his coronavirus theories. An AP Fact Check looked at a variety of them, finding some baseless, others unproved. SENT: 1,420 words, photos. Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd
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POLAND-RUSSIA-DISINFORMATION — A Polish government official says Poland has been hit by a “complex disinformation operation” that is consistent with previous Russian cyberattacks. SENT: 350 words.
POLAND-POSTAL VOTING — The Polish government’s determination to move forward with a presidential election during the coronavirus pandemic by making it an all-postal vote is creating anxiety and anger. SENT: 800 words, photos.
AUSTRALIA-ANZAC DAY — Traditional crowds at dawn services for the Anzac Day memorial holiday in Australia have been replaced with candlelit vigils in driveways and neighbors gathering to listen to buglers play “The Last Post.” SENT: 550 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-INEQUALITY-PIKETTY — The French economist Thomas Piketty’s research has helped define a debate about the consequences of concentrating so much wealth and property among so few. His warnings have arrived at a coincidental moment: The coronavirus has suddenly exposed, in real time, the human impact of the seemingly abstract data and charts his research produced. SENT: 920 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-NASHVILLE MUSICIANS — Many Nashville musicians have been without steady work for more than five weeks since the city shut down its clubs to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Many don’t qualify for traditional unemployment, so they welcomed the news that Congress was extending benefits to the self-employed and independent contractors. But Tennessee had to reprogram its computers to add the new categories of workers. SENT: 708 words, photos.
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FBN—NFL DRAFT — The NFL’s virtual draft, drawing record TV ratings from a sports-starved public, concludes with rounds four through seven. Two notable quarterbacks are still on the board in Washington’s Jacob Eason and Georgia’s Jake Fromm. The Vikings have 13 picks on the last day. By Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner. SENT: 300 words, photos. Updates throughout day. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos. Draft resumed at noon.
BKC--WAKE FOREST-MANNING — Wake Forest fires basketball coach Danny Manning after losing seasons in five of his six years and only one NCAA Tournament appearance. The dismissal comes more than six weeks after a loss in an ACC Tournament opener. By Basketball Writer Aaron Beard. SENT: 500 words, photos. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 5 p.m.
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