AP News Digest 2 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 4 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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TOP STORIES
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-GLOBAL — Florida’s most-populous county ordered restaurants and gyms closed again because of a rise in confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, as the U.S. emerged from what health officials said was a make-or-break Fourth of July weekend of picnics, pool parties and beach outings. The see-saw effect — restrictions lifted, then reversed after a resurgence of cases — has been seen around the U.S. in recent weeks and is expected again after a long holiday that saw party-goers and sunbathers gathering, many without masks, on one of the biggest weekends of the summer. By Adriana Gomez Licon and Lisa Marie Pane. SENT: 690 words, photos.
TRUMP-CRISIS PRESIDENCY — First came the coronavirus, then unrest over racial injustice. President Donald Trump’s leadership is being put to a test. Current and former White House officials, speaking to The Associated Press about Trump behind the scenes, describe a president being forced to set aside the campaign he wanted to run and lashing out at those around him as the virus hit the economy and complicated his political prospects. By Jonathan Lemire and Calvin Woodward. SENT: 2,990 words, photos. An abridged version of 940 words is also available.
SUPREME COURT-ELECTORAL COLLEGE — The Supreme Court rules unanimously that states can require presidential electors to back their states’ popular vote winner in the Electoral College. The ruling, just under four months before the 2020 election, leaves in place laws in 32 states and the District of Columbia that bind electors to vote for the popular-vote winner. By Mark Sherman. SENT: 830 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing, 850 words by 5 p.m. With SUPREME COURT-ROBOCALLS — The Supreme Court upholds a 1991 law that bars robocalls to cellphones. By Jessica Gresko. SENT: 220 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TESTING INEQUALITY — As coronavirus infections explode in states like Arizona and Florida, people in communities of color are fighting to get tested. They say the tests, especially free ones, are hard to find in lower-income areas. Wealthier neighborhoods are where chain pharmacies and urgent care clinics offer most of the testing opportunities. By Anita Snow. SENT: 980 words, photos.
Find more coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
DAKOTA-ACCESS-PIPELINE — A federal judge ordered the Dakota Access pipeline shut down pending a more thorough environmental review, handing a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe three years after the pipeline first began carrying oil following months of protests. By Dave Kolpack. SENT: 660 words, photos.
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POLAND-VIRUS OUTBREAK-COAL TROUBLES — The coronavirus has ripped through Poland’s coal mines, where men descend deep underground in tightly packed elevators and work shoulder-to-shoulder to extract the source of 75% of the nation’s electrical power. UPCOMING: 990 words, photos by 4 p.m.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-EGYPT-SILENCING CRITICS — Egyptian security agencies have tried to stifle criticism about the handling of the coronavirus health crisis by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s government. Rights groups say at least 10 doctors and six journalists have been arrested since the virus first hit Egypt. Other health workers say they have been warned by administrators to keep quiet or face punishment. SENT: 1,630 words, photos. A 1,050-word abridged version has also been sent.
MED--VIRUS OUTBREAK-AIRBORNE CORONAVIRUS — More than 200 scientists have called for the World Health Organization and others to acknowledge that the coronavirus can spread in the air — a change that could alter some of the current measures being taken to stop the pandemic. SENT: 570 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-DELAYED-TAX-DAY — It’s time to do your taxes — no more delays. As the coronavirus pandemic took hold this spring, the federal government postponed the traditional April 15 filing deadline until July 15. SENT: 640 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AUSTRALIA — Australian authorities are preparing to close the border between the country’s two largest states, as the country’s second-largest city, Melbourne, recorded two deaths and its highest-ever daily increase in infections on Monday. The border between the states of New South Wales — home to Sydney — and Victoria — home to Melbourne — is due to be shut late Tuesday. SENT: 660 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LOUVRE REOPENS — The Mona Lisa is back in business. Paris’ Louvre Museum, which houses the world’s most famous portrait, reopened Monday after a four-month coronavirus lockdown and without its usual huge throngs. SENT: 480 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-CZECH VENTILATORS — A group volunteers in the Czech Republic was working round the clock to prevent critical shortage of ventilators for COVID-19 patients, something that happened in northern Italy. Led by Tomas Kapler, an IT expert who had nothing to do with lung ventilators before, a team of 30 developed a fully functional ventilator in just days. SENT: 620 words, photos.
Find more coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
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RACIAL INJUSTICE-CHILD KILLED — The shooting death of an 8-year-old girl in Atlanta prompted a $10,000 reward for information as authorities searched for at least two people who opened fire on the car she was riding in near a flashpoint of recent protests. SENT: 510 words, photos. SENT: 510 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-ELIJAH MCCLAIN-Q&A — Amid the protests across the U.S. against excessive police force against people of color, Elijah McClain’s name has become another rallying cry. McClain, a 23-year-old Black man in the Denver suburb of Aurora, died in August after police officers confronted him as he was walking to a store. Officers put him in a chokehold and injected him with a sedative. SENT: 700 words, photos.
Here’s what we know:
RACIAL INJUSTICE-SEATTLE — The man accused of driving a Jaguar on to a closed Seattle freeway and hitting two protesters, killing one, is scheduled to appear in court for a discussion on whether he can be released on bail. SENT: 450 words, photos.
DOUGLASS STATUE-VANDALISM — A statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass was ripped from its base in Rochester on the anniversary of one of his most famous speeches, delivered in that city in 1852.SENT: 260 words, photos.
Find more coverage of Racial Injustice in AP Newsroom.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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TRUMP BOOK — A tell-all book by President Donald Trump’s niece that has been the subject of a legal battle will be released next week. SENT: 300 words, photo.
OLDEST CONJOINED TWINS DIE — World’s longest-surviving conjoined twin brothers die at 68. SENT: 140 words, photo.
ODD-HOUSE FIRE-DOG ALERT — A dog in Tennessee became a hero on the Fourth of July by alerting her owner to a house fire next door. SENT: 190 words.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-LOBBYING — Forty lobbyists with ties to President Donald Trump have helped their clients secure more than $10 billion in federal coronavirus aid. Among them are five former administration officials whose lobbying work potentially violates an ethics order Trump issued after taking office. SENT: 830 words, photo.
TRUMP-BUBBA WALLACE — After a weekend spent stoking division, President Donald Trump blasts NASCAR for banning the Confederate flag and wrongly accuses Bubba Wallace, the sport’s only Black driver, of perpetrating “a hoax” after one of his crew members discovered a rope shaped like a noose in a garage. By Jill Colvin. SENT: 370 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-WATCH — The pandemic is raging, family vacations are on hold, cable news viewership is booming and President Donald Trump is inflaming the nation’s culture wars to keep his base engaged. Much of the political world believes the Republican president is facing the prospect of a blowout loss in four months unless the political landscape shifts dramatically. By Steve Peoples. SENT: 1165 words, photo.
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HONG KONG — In implementing the national security law for Hong Kong, police will have sweeping authority that allows them to take actions including conducting searches without a warrant, restricting suspects from leaving the city, and intercepting communications. Hong Kong’s government gazetted the details of Article 43 in the city’s national security law on Monday night, which outlines the measures that the police force can take to implement the legislation in the city. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
ISRAEL-SATELLITE — Israel said it successfully launched a new spy satellite into space as its leaders hinted it was behind a massive fire at an Iranian nuclear site last week – potentially ratcheting up a long-running covert war. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
FRANCE-NEW GOVERNMENT — French President Emmanuel Macron ousted his top security official following protests over police brutality, part of a government shakeup aimed at focusing on France’s post-pandemic economic recovery for the remaining two years of Macron’s term. SENT: 380 words.
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JEFFREY EPSTEIN-ASSOCIATE — Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred Monday to New York to face charges that she recruited women and girls, one as young as 14, for him to sexually abuse, the Bureau of Prisons confirmed.. SENT: 380 words, photo.
CHICAGO VIOLENCE — One of Chicago’s bloodiest holiday weekends in memory ended with 17 people fatally shot, including a 7-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, and 70 more wounded, despite a concerted effort to quell the violence with an additional 1,200 police officers on the streets. SENT: 740 words, photos.
IDAHO PLANE CRASH — At least eight people, including three children, were killed when two airplanes collided over a scenic lake in northern Idaho, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office says. SENT: 230 words, photo.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-SMALL BUSINESS LOANS — The Treasury Department released the names of more than 650,000 small businesses that received funds from a government program intended to support the economy as states shut down in April to contain the viral outbreak. Treasury identified just a fraction of the total borrowers, naming only those companies that got more than $150,000. Those firms made up less than 15% of the nearly 5 million small companies that received loans. SENT: 760 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-SMALL BUSINESS LOANS-Q&A, VIRUS OUTBREAK-SMALL BUSINESS LOANS-THE LATEST
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Wall Street joined a worldwide upswell by markets as stocks push higher on hopes that the economy can continue its dramatic turnaround despite all the challenges ahead. SENT: 660 words, photos.
OBIT-JONATHAN SLACKER — Jonathan Sackler, one of the co-owners of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, has died at 65. SENT: 160 words.
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HEALTH/SCIENCE
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MED--HIV SETBACKS — New numbers on the global AIDS epidemic show some big successes, such as fewer deaths and new infections. But there are also some tragic failures: Only half the children with HIV, the virus that causes the disease, are getting treatment. SENT: 820 words, photo.
SCI--VIRUS-OUTBREAK-TRACKING SEWAGE — Research is indicating that sewage can help reveal trends in pandemic virus outbreaks, and health officials are taking note. Genetic material from the virus can be found in the stools of many infected people, so the collected waste from a community’s bathrooms can be sampled at wastewater treatment plants to measure that signal. Researchers say the results can’t yet reliably indicate how many infected people live in a community, but they can indicate if that number is rising or falling. SENT: 870 words, photos.
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OBIT-CHARLIE DANIELS — Country music firebrand and fiddler Charlie Daniels, who had a hit with “Devil Went Down to Georgia,” has died at age 83. A statement from his publicist said the Country Music Hall of Famer died at a hospital in Hermitage, Tennessee, after doctors said he had a stroke. SENT: 640 words, photos.
ITALY-OBIT-MORRICONE — Oscar-winning Italian composer Ennio Morricone, who created the coyote-howl theme for the iconic Spaghetti Western “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” and music for hundreds of other films, has died. He was 91. SENT: 1,280 words, photos.
FRANCE-FASHION-DIGITAL RUNWAYS — The coronavirus pandemic has instilled chaos into the already-unpredictable Paris Fashion Week. Organizers initially canceled the event, but it later re-emerged as an unprecedented “digital” season. Top houses such as Chanel, Dior and Hermes are opting to stream their menswear and/or haute couture shows online beginning Monday at their previously allotted times and dates. There will be no guests, celebrities or the regular frenzied media circus. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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TRAIL BLAZERS-LILLARD REFLECTS — Damian Lillard struggled during the coronavirus shutdown, missing his mom and grieving the death of his cousin. But he also found inspiration in his music and the Black Lives Matter movement. Now his focus has turned to the restart of the NBA season later this month in Orlando. SENT: 780 words, photos.
SKOREA-TRIATHLETE'S DEATH — Top South Korean officials have offered a public apology and vowed to delve into the death of a triathlete who had repeatedly told government and sports bodies she had been abused by her team coach and others. Sports Minister Park Yang-woo told lawmakers he “feels heavy responsibility” for Choi Suk-hyeon’s death and apologized to her bereaved family and the South Korean public. SENT: 700 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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