AP News Digest 2 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 6 years, 1 month 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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RACIAL INJUSTICE-TEAR GAS — During the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests, law enforcement agencies have increasingly been using tear gas — traditionally used as a measure of last resort — offensively. Law enforcement officials say the gases are effective tools for crowd control and are safe. But despite its widespread use, there are few studies on the health effects of tear gas. The AP also found that there is no oversight of the use and manufacture of tear gas. By Andrew Selsky. SENT: 2,400 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,050 words is available.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIGRANT CHILDREN — More than 2,000 unaccompanied children have been expelled from the United States since March under an emergency declaration enacted by the Trump administration, which has cited the coronavirus in refusing to provide them protections under federal anti-trafficking and asylum laws. By Nomaan Merchant. SENT: 1,230 words, photos.
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NRA TURMOIL — New York’s attorney general sued the National Rifle Association, seeking to put the powerful gun advocacy organization out of business over allegations that high-ranking executives diverted millions of dollars for lavish personal trips, no-show contracts for associates and other questionable expenditures. By Michael R. Sisak, Larry Neumeister and Lisa Marie Pane. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — An unemployed makeup artist with two toddlers and a disabled husband needs help with food and rent. A hotel manager says his unemployment has deepened his anxiety and kept him awake at night. A dental hygienist, pregnant with her third child, is struggling to afford diapers and formula. Around the country, across industries and occupations, millions of Americans thrown out of work because of the coronavirus are straining to afford the basics now that an extra $600 a week in federal unemployment benefits has expired. By Sarah Skidmore Sell and Paul Wiseman. SENT: 800 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — The rival sides in a bumpy but bipartisan negotiation on a huge COVID-19 relief are exchanging public broadsides rather than constructive concessions as they hurtle toward a self-imposed deadline for an agreement that they appear likely to miss. By Andrew Taylor. SENT: 415 words, photos. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m.
LEBANON — French President Emmanuel Macron says an international fundraising conference for Lebanon will be held in the next few days after the deadly explosion that devastated Beirut. On a visit to the gutted city, Macron said that France will organize a conference with European, American and Middle Eastern and other donors to raise money for food, medicine, housing and other urgent aid. By Bassem Mroue and Sarah El Deeb. SENT: 1,025 words, photos. WITH: With LEBANON-DEVASTATED-BEIRUT — In a horrific instant, a burst of power ravaged Beirut. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.WITH: LEBANON-MACRON'S HUG — It was one of the most powerful moments of Emmanuel Macron’s lightning visit to devastated Beirut: confronted by a distraught woman in a sea of enraged residents, the French leader stopped and offered her a hug. SENT: 225 words, photos.
GEORGE FLOYD-MINNEAPOLIS POLICE -- Minneapolis won’t be blowing up its police department in the wake of George Floyd’s death -- at least not this year. A day after a city commission sidetracked plans for a November vote on dismantling the force, any change in a department often criticized for brutality is likely to be slower and less radical and to depend on the mayor and police chief imposing several policy changes. By Amy Forliti. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 4 p.m.
SCI-HURRICANE SEASON-BUSIER -- Already smashing records, this year’s hyperactive Atlantic hurricane season is about to get even nastier, forecasters predict. In the coming months, they expect to run out of traditional hurricane names and see about twice as much storm activity as in a normal year. By Seth Borenstein. SENT: 790 words, photos.
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-OHIO-GOVERNOR -- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine tested positive for the coronavirus just ahead of a planned meeting with President Trump. The Republican governor’s office said that he took the test as part of standard protocol before meeting Trump at an airport in Cleveland. SENT: 620 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRAVEL — U.S. public health officials are revising their travel advisory information. So if Taiwan or Greenland are in your travel plans, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says you can go ahead and pack your bags. Previously, the agency told U.S. travelers to avoid all nonessential international travel because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, it says such travel is fine — but only to about 20 locations. SENT: 200 words, photos.
NKOREA-VIRUS-LOCKDOWN — North Korea is quarantining thousands of people and shipping food and other aid to a southern city locked down over coronavirus worries, officials say, as the country’s response to a suspected case reinforces doubt about its longstanding claim to be virus-free. SENT: 850 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-FRANCE-TESTING TROUBLES -- With virus cases rising anew, France is struggling to administer enough tests to keep up with demand. One reason: Many testing labs are closed so that their staff can take summer vacation, just as signs of a second wave are building. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN -- The British government says it won’t be using 50 million face masks it bought for medics during the coronavirus outbreak because of concerns they might not be safe. SENT: 335 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NYC COVID CHECKPOINTS — New York City opened new traveler checkpoints Thursday to register visitors and residents returning from nearly three dozen states who are required to quarantine for 14 days — an initiative that drew swift criticism from privacy advocates. SENT: 570 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING- POEMS FOR PORTSMOUTH — A newsletter that updates residents of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, about the coronavirus pandemic is moving some readers to tears, thanks to weekly contributions from the city’s poet laureate. Tammi Truax has been writing a poem every week since early April for inclusion in the city manager’s newsletters, which typically convey public health information and community resources. SENT: 660 words, photos.
VIRAL QUESTIONS-SCHOOLS - Is it safe for schools to reopen during the pandemic? It depends on how widespread COVID-19 infections are in the community and the safety measures the school takes. SENT: 415 words, illustration.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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BOY SAVES DAD — A 9-year-old Florida boy is being hailed a hero for pulling his father from the water after the man fractured his neck in a diving accident. SENT: 310 words.
BOY MASK-SPIT — A Florida man has been arrested after police say he confronted a child wearing a mask at a restaurant and spit in his face when the boy refused to take it off. SENT: 200 words.
KILLED BY ANCHOR — Authorities say an Illinois man has died after being hit by a boat anchor on Lake of the Ozarks. SENT: 90 words.
CAMBODIA-DOG BUTCHER -- Animal rights activists in Cambodia have gained a small victory in their effort to end the trade in dog meat, convincing a canine slaughterhouse in one village to abandon the business. SENT: 650 words, photos.
FAMILY RESCUED-OVERTURNED BOAT -- Two children and their parents clung to their overturned boat in the Gulf of Mexico until the Coast Guard could rescue them. SENT: 225 words, photos.
BRITAIN TV HOST-DEATH — A British coroner ruled Thursday that reality TV host Caroline Flack killed herself while facing an assault trial she feared would end her career and bring unbearable media scrutiny. SENT: 235 words, photos.
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ELECTION 2020-TRUMP — Forced to play defense in states he led comfortably months ago, President Donald Trump is visiting Ohio on Thursday in an attempt to reframe the centerpiece of his reelection pitch. SENT: 950 words, photos. UPCOMING: 900 words by 5 p.m.
ACLU VS TRUMP — As of this week, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed nearly 400 lawsuits and other legal actions against the Trump administration, some meeting with setbacks but many resulting in important victories. SENT: 850 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN AD — Joe Biden’s Democratic presidential campaign has launched a new national ad focused on Black Americans, urging them to stand up to President Donald Trump the way their ancestors stood up to “violent racists of a generation ago.” SENT: 715 words, photos.
Find more AP coverage of the 2020 U.S. Elections.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-POSTAL SERVICE — A Democratic senator says he is launching an investigation into operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service that are causing delays in mail deliveries across the country. SENT: 620 words, photos.
MASS ATTACKS REPORT — Many of the suspects who carried out mass attacks in the U.S. last year had experienced stressful situations, like losing their job, or had struggled with substance abuse or mental health issues, according to a Secret Service report. SENT: 450 words, photos.
UNITED STATES-IRAN — The Trump administration’s top envoy for Iran is stepping down just as the U.S. moves ahead with a major diplomatic effort to extend a UN arms embargo on the country over widespread international opposition. SENT: 500 words, photos.
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RACIAL-INJUSTICE-PORTLAND -- Police and protesters in Portland, Oregon, have clashed for the second night in a row and the city’s police chief says the ongoing violence is harming the city’s image. SENT: 730 words, photos.
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JAPAN-HIROSHIMA ANNIVERSARY — Survivors of the world’s first atomic bombing gather in diminished numbers near an iconic, blasted dome to mark the attack’s 75th anniversary, many of them urging the world, and their own government, to do more to ban nuclear weapons. By Mari Yamaguchi. SENT: 870 words, photos. WITH: VATICAN-HIROSHIMA — Pope Francis marked the 75th anniversary of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima by calling for peace and repeating that not only the use of atomic weapons but their mere possession is immoral. SENT: 265 words, photos.
POLAND-LGBT-EMIGRATION — Some lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are leaving Poland following the anti-LGBT campaign rhetoric the country’s president used during his successful reelection campaign and other leaders promoted before that. SENT: 1,000 words, photos. WITH POLAND-POLITICS — Poland’s conservative President Andrzej Duda was sworn in for a second five-year term Thursday, but many opposition lawmakers and former presidents and prime ministers broke with tradition and stayed away from the ceremony. SENT: 530 words, photos.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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PYGMY-HOG-VIRUS-LOCKDOWN — Pygmy hogs — the world’s smallest and rarest wild pig — are under a virus lockdown. Not because of the coronavirus, but because of the first outbreak of African swine fever in India. SENT: 600 words, photos, video.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS -- Nearly 1.2 million laid-off Americans applied for state unemployment benefits last week, evidence that the coronavirus keeps forcing companies to slash jobs just as a critical $600 weekly federal jobless payment has expired. SENT: 850 words, photos. WITH: FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks are drifting on Wall Street after a report showed the pace of layoffs across the country is slowing, though it remains incredibly high. SENT: 735 words, photos.
ELECTRONIC DRIVING SAFETY — Two tests by AAA during the past two years show that partially automated driving systems don’t always function properly. So the auto club is recommending that car companies limit their use. SENT: 740 words.
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SEXUAL-MISCONDUCT-PLACIDO-DOMINGO -- Placido Domingo is back in Europe to receive a lifetime achievement award after a bout with the coronavirus, vowing in an interview with a top Italian daily newspaper to clear his name from allegations of sexual misconduct. SENT: 535 words, photos.
TV-SURVIVING-JEFFREY-EPSTEIN -- The filmmakers behind the Lifetime docuseries “Surviving Jeffrey Epstein” have had to regroup twice ahead of its Sunday premiere: first after Epstein killed himself in his prison cell last August after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, and again one month ago when Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on federal charges that she acted as a recruiter for the financier’s sexual abuse. SENT: 485 words, photos.
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GLF--PGA CHAMPIONSHIP —Brooks Koepka and Tiger Woods chase their own piece of history as the PGA Championship begins at TPC Harding Park without spectators at a major for the first time. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 8 p.m.
TV-OLYMPIANS-DEPRESSION — Olympians including Michael Phelps, Apolo Anton Ohno, Jeremy Bloom, Shaun White, Lolo Jones and Sasha Cohen are opening up about their mental health struggles in a new sobering documentary about suicide and depression among the world’s greatest athletes. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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