AP News Digest 6 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 5 years, 10 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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NEW & DEVELOPING
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Adds: VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRAZIL, AMERICAN PROTESTS-FIREBOMBING CHARGES, VIRUS OUTBREAK-KANSAS-HOLOCAUST CARTOON, BRITAIN-LONDON CLASHES, VIRUS OUTBREAK-9/11 PHOTO, HOT DOG CONTEST, EX-MLB PLAYER DIES-PLANE CRASH.
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ONLY ON AP
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRAVEL BAN HOLES — President Donald Trump has repeatedly credited his February ban on travelers from mainland China as his signature move against the advance of the coronavirus pandemic. He’s boasted that it was a “strong wall” that allowed only U.S. citizens inside. But Trump’s wall was more like a sieve. Records obtained by The Associated Press show that nearly 8,000 Chinese nationals and foreign residents of Hong Kong and Macao entered the U.S. soon after the ban was imposed. A system meant to flag and monitor U.S. residents flying home from China for symptoms lost track of at least 1,600 people in just the first few days the ban went into effect. By Stephen Braun and Jason Dearen. SENT: 1,910 words, photos, graphics. A 960-word version also is available.
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JULY 4 — One day after the latest record of newly reported coronavirus infections, the nation’s capital braces for President Donald Trump’s Independence Day festivities that could bring tens of thousands to the National Mall. Public health officials plead with Americans to avoid large crowds and hold more muted celebrations, but Trump promises a “special evening” at the White House and in the sky above Washington. Many communities across the country annual fireworks and parades and close beaches to summer crowds. By Aamer Madhani and Lynn Berry. SENT: 950 words, photos. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos by 8 p.m.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PENCE — As the public face of the administration’s coronavirus response. Vice President Mike Pence has been trying to convince Americans that the country is winning even as cases spike in large parts of the country. For public health experts, that sense of optimism is detached from reality. One expert says “the American people aren’t stupid. They can see spin when there is spin.” By Jill Colvin. SENT: 910 words, photos.
NATION ON EDGE — Halfway through a very unsettling year, Americans are marking the 244th anniversary of their nation’s birth in a land of confusion. COVID-19 is resurgent in most places. The fight for racial justice rages, as do the reactions against it. Polarization is so rampant that even masks are political. There’s a president who’s embraced by millions and despised by millions. Up next: a sure-to-be-chaotic election season. This is Independence Day 2020 in the United States of America. As one scholar puts it, the United States right now is “a country profoundly at odds with our own history.” By Ted Anthony. SENT: 1,390 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPAIN-MIGRANTS — The pandemic may have slowed down in much of continental Europe, but infection clusters among seasonal agricultural workers are preoccupying health authorities in Spain. Some farming areas have brought back the first localized restrictions since the country left behind a strict coronavirus lockdown. A county near Lleida has gone into lockdown after recorded infections have doubled in the past week. Many of them are tied to the cheap labor that follows the ripening of different crops across the country. By Aritz Parra. SENT: 1,040 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-SEATTLE — Authorities say a 27-year-old man in drove a car onto a closed freeway in Seattle and barreled through a panicked crowd of protesters, critically injuring two women. A Washington State Patrol report says Dawit Kelete of Seattle drove around several vehicles that were blocking Interstate 5 and sped into the crowd early Saturday. He was taken into custody and charged with two counts of vehicular assault. By Martha Bellisle. SENT: 530 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY — Some governors across the U.S., especially in Republican-leaning states, have been stressing the need for “personal responsibility” to combat the coronavirus instead of issuing statewide mandates to wear masks or avoid large social gatherings. The practical effect of personal appeals over government orders is being questioned. SENT: 1,040 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK — Florida reported a record number of coronavirus cases, the latest sign that the the virus is surging in many parts of the United States and casting a pall over Fourth of July celebrations. Officials and health authorities warned people to take precautions or simply stay home on Saturday. By Tamara Lush, Kim Chandler and Kathleen Foody. SENT: 430 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GLOBAL — Pub and movie theaters across England are reopening as part of Britain’s biggest step toward post-outbreak normal while South Africa is signaling anything but with another record daily high in reported coronavirus cases. SENT: 720 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — England has embarked its biggest lockdown-easing yet as pubs and restaurants got the green light to reopen for the first time in more than three months. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRAZIL — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attended a U.S. Independence Day celebration in Brazil’s capital at which participants declined to wear face masks, one day after he vetoed obligatory use of masks in private settings. SENT: 430 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SEX WORKERS AND HIV — As the coronavirus spreads in Africa, it threatens those who earn their living on the streets, including sex workers with HIV. One sex worker in Rwanda says the country’s lockdown has taken away many of her customers, giving her less money to buy food. And when she doesn’t eat, the antiviral drugs she takes for HIV can bring on pain, weakness and nausea, or even make her pass out. By Ignatius Ssuuna. SENT: 840 words, photos.
NURSING HOMES-STIMULUS CHECKS — Nursing home residents are among the Americans getting $1,200 checks as part of the U.S. plan to revive the economy. But with many homes still under lockdown to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks, officials are issuing reminders that the money belongs to residents. SENT: 640 words, photo.
BRITAIN-LONDON CLASHES — Eleven police officers were injured while trying to break up an unlicensed music event in west London, the latest in a series of illegal gatherings in the British capital over the past couple of weeks that have descended into violence. SENT: 330 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-9/11 PHOTO — A man photographed fleeing smoke and debris as the south tower of the World Trade Center crumbled just a block away on Sept. 11, 2001, has died from coronavirus. SENT: 380 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-KANSAS-HOLOCAUST CARTOON — A weekly Kansas newspaper whose publisher is a county Republican Party chairman posted a cartoon on its Facebook page likening the Democratic governor’s order requiring people to wear masks in public to the roundup and murder of millions of Jews during the Holocaust. SENT: 650 words, photos.
Find more coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
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RACIAL INJUSTICE-A FAMILY STORY — Associated Press writer Russell Contreras has always had trouble with the July Fourth holiday due to his family’s Mexican American past. But then he began looking at America’s Independence Day through the eyes of his Uncle Ciprian. The U.S. Marine took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II and suffered a concussion. After he was rescued, he was asked — while wounded — to go back and fight. Ciprian volunteered and was injured again. Contreras now wonders: What did Ciprian see in the U.S.? SENT: 1,400 words, photos.
CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS-STONE MOUNTAIN — As statues of figures from America’s slave-owning past come down across the nation, the largest Confederate monument ever crafted may outlast them all. Georgia’s Stone Mountain features supersized carvings of Gen. Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson David and Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson standing 90 feet tall. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-MISSISSIPPI ELECTIONS — Mississippi just ditched its Confederate-themed state flag. The state’s voters will decide in November whether to dump an election process that dates to the Jim Crow era. The state is facing pressure from a lawsuit and possible action from a federal judge. SENT: 700 words, photos.
FRANCE-PRIDE MARCH — Grassroots LGBTQ groups march through Paris led by activists of color as part of Global Pride observances while protesting police violence. SENT: 580 words, photos.
AMERICAN PROTESTS-FIREBOMBING CHARGES — Federal authorities have arrested a man they say supplied glass bottles to a woman charged with hurling a Molotov cocktail at an occupied New York City police vehicle during unrest after George Floyd’s death. SENT: 500 words, photos.
Find more coverage of Racial Injustice in AP Newsroom.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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HOT DOG CONTEST — The coronavirus changed almost everything this Independence Day, but not the winners of Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest. Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo repeated as men’s and women’s champions. SENT: 200 words, photos.
EX-MLB PLAYER DIES-PLANE CRASH — Former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Tyson Brummett and three others died in a plane crash in rural Utah. SENT: 190 words, photo.
GREECE-BRITAIN-JOHNSON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s father has defended his decision to fly to Greece via Bulgaria in order to “COVID-proof” his property there before he rents it out. SENT: 510 words, photos.
SWITZERLAND-TIGER ATTACK — The zoo in Switzerland’s biggest city says a keeper was killed by one of the park’s Siberian tigers. SENT: 130 words.
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TRUMP-GARDEN OF HEROES — President Trump has visions of establishing by the final months of his second term, should he win one, a “National Garden of American Heroes” that will pay tribute to some of the prominent figures in U.S. history, a collection of the “greatest Americans to ever live.” SENT: 600 words, photos.
TALIBAN BOUNTIES-PEACE DEAL — Intelligence that Afghan militants might have accepted Russian bounties for killing American troops did not scuttle the U.S.-Taliban agreement or President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw thousands more troops from the war. It did give critics of the deal another reason to say the Taliban shouldn’t be trusted. SENT: 950 words, photos. With AFGHANISTAN-PEACE DEAL — Washington’s envoy to Afghanistan emphasized the economic benefits of the peace deal with the Taliban, forging ahead with an agreement that has run into new political obstacles in the U.S. and the region. SENT: 850 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-DIGITAL — Joe Biden’s campaign is feverishly working to develop a social media force that can compete with President Donald Trump’s well-established digital “army” of meme makers and political influencers who retweet campaign messages in support of him. It won’t be easy. By Alexandra Jaffe and Amanda Seitz. SENT: 960 words, photos.
FACT CHECK-WEEK — An AP Fact Check finds that President Trump has a monthslong history of declaring the coronavirus under control, when it isn’t. His empty reassurances on this front go back to late January, when the pandemic had barely started in the U.S., and cast word confetti over a pandemic that has killed more than 128,000 people in the country. By Hope Yen and Calvin Woodward. SENT: 1,220 words, photos. Find AP Fact Checks at https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
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SYRIA-MISSING DETAINEES — Syrian families are hoping that newly imposed U.S. sanctions will force Damascus to reveal news about their loved ones who disappeared into government prisons during the country’s civil war. Activist groups say more than 12,000 Syrians are missing after being detained, and that thousands more are known to have been tortured to death. SENT: 980 words, photos.
NORTH KOREA-US — North Korea is reiterating it has no immediate plans to resume nuclear negotiations with the United States unless Washington discards what it describes as “hostile” polices toward Pyongyang. SENT: 470 words, photo.
SOMALIA-BLAST — Explosions rocked two of Somalia’s largest cities on Saturday as officials said a suicide car bomber detonated near the port in Mogadishu and a land mine in a restaurant on the outskirts of Baidoa killed four people. SENT: 170 words, developing.
JAPAN-HEAVY RAIN — Heavy rain in southern Japan triggered flooding and mudslides on Saturday, leaving at least two dead, more than a dozen missing and others stranded on rooftops waiting to be rescued, officials said. SENT: 260 words, photos.
IRAN — The state-run IRNA news agency reports that a chlorine gas leak at a petrochemical center in southeast Iran has sickened 70 workers. SENT: 160 words.
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OFFICER KILLED-OHIO — Police in Ohio say an intoxicated gunman holding a beer shot and killed an officer who was responding to a call in a store parking lot early Saturday morning. The police chief of Toledo said at a news conference that Officer Anthony Dia was shot in the chest and later pronounced dead at a hospital. SENT: 210 words, photos.
MICHIGAN FLOOD — A small Michigan village is pulling together after two dam failures in May. Volunteers in Sanford are still clearing muck and providing supplies to those whose homes were destroyed by floodwaters since there’s no telling when state and federal help will come. SENT: 720 words, photos.
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ECONOMIC MOOD IN SUN BELT — For residents across America’s Sun Belt — business owners and workers, consumers and home buyers — the past three months have delivered about the scariest ride in memory. With coronavirus cases surging through the region, it’s far from clear whether the stops, starts and bumps in the economy are over. Or are they the new normal? SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
AMAZON HOMELESS SHELTER-SICK KIDS — A family homeless shelter has opened inside a gleaming Amazon corporate building on the tech giant’s Seattle campus. It’s believed to be the first homeless shelter built inside a corporate building in the U.S. SENT: 950 words, photos.
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BBO--BASEBALL RDP — All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman has tested positive for COVID-19 and will be out for a while. The announcement by the Atlanta Braves on the Fourth of July -- ordinarily a time to revel in baseball -- is another sharp reminder of the challenges that await in this shortened season. UPCOMING: 650 words, photos by 6:30 p.m.
BKN--NBA RESTART-MENTAL HEALTH — The resumption of the NBA season in the Florida “bubble” is making mental health a priority. The Pelicans’ general manager calls it “critical,” and says his team will have mindfulness training every day. Other teams have similar plans, with 22 clubs awaiting play at the Disney complex. SENT: 900 words, photos.
BBN--BRAVES-NAME — The Atlanta Braves say the team “honors, supports and values the Native American community” but gives no indication it is considering a name change. The Cleveland Indians say they’re reconsidering their name following the furor over the NFL’s Washington Redskins. SENT: 370 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Rob Jagodzinski can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://newsroom.ap.org. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport(at)ap.org or call 877-836-9477.