AP News Digest 3:05 a.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 4 years, 6 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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TRUMP-CRISIS PRESIDENCY — These are times of pain, mass death, fear and deprivation in America and the Donald Trump show may be losing its allure, exposing the empty space once filled by the empathy and seriousness of presidents leading in a crisis. Bluster isn’t beating the virus; belligerence isn’t calming a restive nation. By Jonathan Lemire and Calvin Woodward. SENT: 2,810 words, photos. With TRUMP-CRISIS PRESIDENCY-ABRIDGED.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — School districts across America are in the midst of making wrenching decisions over how to resume classes in settings radically altered by the coronavirus pandemic, with school buses running below capacity, virtual learning, outdoor classrooms and quarantine protocols for infected children the new norm. By Patrick Whittle and Carolyn Thompson SENT: 1,060 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — The hard-hit Australian state of Victoria has recorded two deaths and its highest-ever daily increase in coronavirus cases as authorities prepare to close its border with New South Wales. Meanwhile, India has overtaken Russia to become the third worst-affected nation by the coronavirus. SENT: 815 words, photos.
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.
Find more coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
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. The statue of Douglass was taken from Maplewood Park, a site along the Underground Railroad where Douglass and Harriet Tubman helped shuttle slaves to freedom. The statue was found at the brink of the Genesee River gorge about 50 feet from its pedestal.
Find more coverage of Racial Injustice in AP Newsroom.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-COAST GUARD ACADEMY — New cadets arrive at the Coast Guard Academy this week for the basic training known as Swab Summer. But because of the pandemic, this summer will be different. There will be no haircuts, no drilling, no running as a group from place to place, no lining up against the wall in the hall of the barracks for pushups. The swabs will spend the first two weeks isolated in their barracks, learning about their duties and the history and traditions of the Coast Guard and the academy. The physical training will begin once the quarantine ends, with the screaming and drilling coming from a proper social distance. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-COLLEGE AID APPLICATIONS — The number of high school seniors applying for federal college aid plummeted in the first weeks of the pandemic and still remain below last year’s levels. That is according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data. In the four weeks starting March 14, the number of FAFSA completions was down 45% compared to the same period the year before. The decrease was sharpest among students at low-income schools. SENT: 1,035 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-KANSAS-HOLOCAUST-CARTOON — A Kansas county Republican Party chairman who owns a weekly newspaper has apologized for a cartoon posted on the paper’s Facebook page that equated the Democratic governor’s coronavirus-inspired order for people to wear masks in public with the mass murder of Jews by the Nazis during the Holocaust. SENT: 790 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MEXICO — Residents of the town of Sonoyta, across from Lukeville Arizona, briefly blocked the main road leading south from the U.S. border over fears of coronavirus outbreaks. Arizona has seen a major upsurge in infections, and there were worries about intensified contagion during the July 4 weekend. SENT: 415 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LEBANON-BAALBEK FESTIVAL — Lebanon has hosted its annual music festival in the ancient northeastern city of Baalbek without an audience for the first time, a move organizers dubbed “an act of cultural resilience” to the coronavirus pandemic as well as the country’s unprecedented economic meltdown. SENT: 560 words, photos.
Find more coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
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RACIAL INJUSTICE-SEATTLE — A person killed Saturday when a man drove his car onto a closed Seattle freeway and into a crowd protesting police brutality, was remembered Sunday as someone who was dedicated to the cause. The other person hit in the incident remained in serious condition at a Seattle hospital. SENT: 870 words, photos.
Find more coverage of Racial Injustice in AP Newsroom.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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OBIT-NICK CORDERO — Tony Award-nominated actor Nick Cordero, who specialized in playing tough guys on Broadway in such shows as “Waitress,” “A Bronx Tale” and “Bullets Over Broadway,” has died in Los Angeles. He suffered severe medical complications after contracting the coronavirus. He was 41. SENT: 635 words, photos.
NATIONAL GALLERY-NATIVE AMERICAN — A painting by artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith is joining works by the legendary pop artists Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol at the National Gallery of Art. Smith’s “I See Red: Target” is the first painting on canvas by a Native American artist to enter the collection. SENT: 450 words.
ISRAEL-SATELLITE — Israel’s Defense Ministry has announced the successful launch of a new spy satellite. SENT: 115 words.
BALD-EAGLE-RESCUE — A bird symbolizing America’s freedom had to be liberated on Independence Day after becoming stuck in a tree in Alaska. SENT: 235 words.
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ELECTION 2020-LATINOS — Joe Biden’s Democratic campaign for president is hoping to capture Florida and other pivotal states by pushing Latino turnout rates higher than when Hillary Clinton was defeated in 2016. A key to doing that is a deeper understanding of Latino voters’ backgrounds thanks to new advancements in “micro-targeting.” By Will Weissert. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
FACT CHECK-WEEK — President Donald Trump is understating the danger of the coronavirus to people who get it, as more and more become infected in the U.S. In his latest of many statements playing down the severity of the pandemic, Trump declared that 99% of cases of COVID-19 are harmless. That flies in the face of science and of the reality captured by the U.S. death toll of about 130,000. By Hope Yen and Calvin Woodward. SENT: 1,760 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP — President Donald Trump is set to hold an outdoor campaign rally Saturday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The campaign rally will come three weeks after an indoor rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the president’s first of the COVID-19 era, drew a smaller-than-expected crowd amid concerns of rising infections in the region. By Aamer Madhani and Zeke Miller. SENT: 605 words, photo.
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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. Anguished families are searching through leaked photos of torture victims, and in some cases are finding their slain loved ones, tragic evidence of their fate years after they disappeared. By Bassem Mroue. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
HONG KONG — Hanscom Smith, the top American diplomat in Hong Kong, says that it is a “tragedy” to use the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s new national security law to chip away at “fundamental freedoms” in the Asian financial hub and create an “atmosphere of coercion and self-censorship.” By Zen Soo. SENT: 460 words, photos.
JAPAN-TOKYO GOVERNOR — Tokyo’s governor and her political rival, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have agreed to cooperate on handling the coronavirus outbreak to safely hold the Olympics next year. Gov. Yuriko Koike met with Abe a day after she was elected to her second term. SENT: 470 words, photos.
THAILAND-CINEMA FAREWELL — Bangkok’s Scala theater was where Thais cheered Hollywood heroes, laughed at quirky comedies and fell in love with film. The images shown on the huge, curved screen were well-suited to the art deco theater, the vast lobby with its glitzy ceiling, the curved columns and sweeping staircase. Now only the memories will remain. The Thai capital’s last stand-alone big screen cinema has shut its doors after 51 years. By Jerry Harmer. SENT: 910 words, photos.
IRAN-NUCLEAR — Iran has confirmed that a damaged building at the underground Natanz nuclear site was a new centrifuge assembly center. SENT: 480 words, photo.
CROATIA-ELECTION — The ruling conservatives overwhelmingly won Croatia’s parliamentary elections held Sunday amid a spike in new coronavirus cases as the latest European Union member state leaned further to the right. SENT: 415 words, photos.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC-ELECTIONS — With COVID-19 cases still surging, the Dominican Republic on Sunday held presidential elections that had already been delayed by the pandemic, and polls indicated that a businessman with no previous experience in government was favored to oust a party that has ruled for the past 16 years. SENT: 355 words, photos.
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JEFFREY EPSTEIN-ASSOCIATE — Prosecutors have told a judge they’d like to schedule a Friday court appearance for Jeffrey Epstein’s associate on charges she helped him recruit women to sexually abuse. British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested Thursday. She has been detained without bail after agreeing to be moved to New York. SENT: 475 words, photo.
CHICAGO VIOLENCE — At least 13 people, including a 7-year-old girl at a family party and a teenage boy, were killed in Chicago over the Fourth of July weekend, police said. In all, at least 59 others were shot and wounded. SENT: 355 words, photos.
IDAHO PLANE CRASH — Two people died and as many as six other people may be missing in a plane crash over Lake Coeur d’Alene. Witnesses say they saw two planes colliding above the water. SENT: 300 words, photo.
NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING-SOUTH CAROLINA — A shooting at a South Carolina nightclub left two people dead and eight wounded. No one was immediately taken into custody following the early Sunday shooting at Lavish Lounge, but a Greenville County sheriff’s spokesperson said they were looking for two suspects. SENT: 680 words, photo.
ATLANTIC COAST PIPELINE — The developers of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline have announced they are canceling the multi-state natural gas project due to delays and “increasing cost uncertainty.” The project had drawn fierce opposition from a coalition of landowners, activists and environmental advocates. SENT: 770 words.
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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 re-start of the NBA season later this month in Orlando. SENT: 840 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: 565 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NHL — Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly says the NHL and NHL Players’ Association have agreed on protocols to resume the season but are still negotiating an extension of the collective bargaining agreement. If ratified, games would resume in late July or early August with 24 teams taking part in an expanded playoffs, finishing with the Stanley Cup being awarded in October. SENT: 785 words, photos.
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