AP News Digest 2:10 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 6 years, 3 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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SUPREME COURT-LGBT RIGHTS — The Supreme Court rules that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment, a resounding victory for LGBT rights from a conservative court. By Mark Sherman. SENT: 940 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing, 990 words by 5 p.m., photos, video. With SUPREME COURT-GUNS, SUPREME COURT-QUALIFIED IMMUNITY (both sent)
AMERICA PROTESTS — Pleading through grief and tears, the family of a black man killed by Atlanta police outside a fast-food drive-thru called on protesters to refrain from violence and demanded changes in the criminal justice system to prevent such deaths. An autopsy found that 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks was shot twice in the back late Friday by an officer trying to arrest him for being intoxicated behind the wheel of his car. “Not only are we hurt, we are angry,” said Chassidy Evans, Brooks’ niece. “When does it stop? We’re not only pleading for justice. We’re pleading for change.” By Russ Bynum and Kate Brumback. SENT: 760 words, photos.
AMERICA PROTESTS-CONGRESS — Driven by a swiftly moving national debate, Senate Republicans are on the brink of introducing a package of far-reaching policing changes to restrict the use of chokeholds and other provisions as Washington races to respond to mass protests over the deaths of black Americans by law enforcement. By Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 600 words. UPCOMING: 800 words by 4 p.m., photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-RACIAL-DISPARITY-POLL — African Americans are disproportionately likely to say a family member or close friend has died of COVID-19 or respiratory illness since March, according to a series of surveys conducted since April that lays bare how black Americans have borne the brunt of the pandemic. SENT: 950 words, photo, graphic.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NURSING HOMES -- A grim blame game with partisan overtones is breaking out over COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents, a tiny slice of the population that represents a shockingly high proportion of Americans who have perished in the pandemic. By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. SENT: 880 words, photos.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
RUSSIA-US ESPIONAGE — A Russian court convicted an American corporate security executive Monday of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison after a closed trial that the U.S. denounced as a “mockery of justice,” and it angrily said his treatment in jail was “appalling.” SENT: 640 words, photos.
PHILIPPINES-CONVICTED JOURNALISTS — Journalist Maria Ressa has been convicted of libel in a Philippine court decision called a blow to press freedom in an Asian bastion of democracy. Ressa was sentenced to a 6-year term over a story on her news website that linked a businessman to murder and other crimes. President Rodrigo Duterte and other Philippine officials have said the case was not a press freedom issue but arose from alleged crimes. But Duterte has openly lambasted media who have reported critically about his policies, including his anti-drug campaign that has left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead. SENT: 790 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK – European countries reopened borders after a three-month coronavirus shutdown, although international visitors are still being kept away and there was uncertainty over whether many Europeans will quickly embrace travel outside their home countries. The virus is far from being wiped out, and the need for constant vigilance came into sharp focus again as China, where COVID-19 first emerged last year, rushed to contain an outbreak in the capital of Beijing. By Ken Moritsugu, Geir Moulson and Menelaos Hadjicostis. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
MED--VIRUS OUTBREAK-MALARIA DRUG — U.S. regulators have revoked emergency authorization for malaria drugs promoted by President Donald Trump for treating COVID-19 amid growing evidence they don’t work and could cause serious side effects. SENT: 560 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-DISTANCE LEARNING — With huge percentages of students unplugged from distance learning, educators at schools around the country have been working to understand why. Some describe an urgent need to address impediments in case remote learning resumes in the fall, when the stakes will be raised by the return of formal grading and attendance tracking. In Hartford, Connecticut, where a school principal has been going door to door to speak with parents of children who have not been participating, she sees many of the reasons why. Internet service is unreliable. Parents are away at work. And some are uncomfortable with the technology. By Michael Melis. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDIA-PHOTO GALLERY — Izhaar Hussain Shaikh is an ambulance driver who is working tirelessly to ferry patients with the coronavirus to hospitals in India’s coastal city of Mumbai. It’s an exhausting job, fraught with health risks to him and his family, but he does it anyway at the expense of grueling daily shifts that sometimes stretch 16 hours. SENT: 450 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-PEN PALS — An effort to connect nursing home residents in two neighboring New Hampshire communities during the coronavirus pandemic has ended up fostering friendships across the country. An activity aide at Sullivan County Health Care in Claremont, came up the idea to match his residents with pen pals at Summercrest Senior Living Community 12 miles away in Newport after the facilities stopped accepting visitors because of the virus. But it has since expanded and letters now pour in from around the country. SENT: 580 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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BRITAIN-US-FIGHTER CRASH — The pilot of a fighter jet that crashed into the North Sea off the coast of northern England has been found dead, the U.S. Air Force says. SENT: 230 words.
MUSIC-BET AWARDS — Drake tops BET Awards nods; show to air on CBS for 1st time. SENT: 260 words, photos.
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ELECTION 2020-TRUMP SPENDING — President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign poured nearly $24 million into paid advertising across six battleground states between April and early June, according to spending data obtained by The Associated Press. By Steve Peoples. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 6 p.m.
UNITED STATES-VOICE OF AMERICA — The director of U.S.-funded Voice of America and her deputy resign following recent clashes with the Trump administration that have sparked fears for its independence. By Ben Fox. SENT: 500 words. UPCOMING: 690 words, photos by 5 p.m.
MELANIA TRUMP — Melania Trump announces youth art project to coincide with the ratification nearly 100 years ago of the constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote. By Darlene Superville. SENT: 300 words, photo.
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AMERICA PROTESTS-EUROPE-TASERS — Less than a week after France banned police chokeholds, the government responded to growing officer discontent by announcing it would test stun guns for wider use, adding to the ranks of European law enforcement agencies that have recently adopted the weapons that many in the U.S. equate with excess police violence. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
ISRAEL-GIFTS FOR NETANYAHU – Israel’s prime minister is on trial for accepting gifts from wealthy friends. But that has not stopped him from seeking another gift from a wealthy friend to pay for his multimillion-dollar legal defense. Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping an oversight committee approves his request to accept $2.9 million from Michigan-based magnate Spencer Partrich. The awkward arrangement opens a window into the very ties with billionaire friends that plunged Netanyahu into legal trouble and sheds light on the intersection of money and Israeli politics. SENT: 990 words, photos.
VENEZUELA-VIRTUAL EMBASSY — The U.S. diplomat has found a rare path back into Venezuela a year after leaving the South American nation amid a historical break between the two political foes. James Story takes to Facebook Live once a week talking on a wide variety of topics from corruption to the oil-rich nation’s gasoline shortages. SENT: 930 words, photo.
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POLICE CHASES-DEADLY CRASHES — Crashes involving Chicago police vehicles that killed retired teacher Verona Gunn last year and a young mother this month highlight the dangers of police speeding to crime scenes or during car chases. Gunn’s son says it’s a police reform issue that’s not getting the same attention as officers’ use of excessive force. Audio obtained by The Associated Press of police radio transmissions reveal that speeding officers were repeatedly told by a dispatcher to slow down before the crash that killed 84-year-old Verona Gunn. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Markets worldwide are swinging sharply, with Wall Street slumping to a big morning loss only to erase all of it within a few hours, as uncertainty weighs about where the economy and the coronavirus pandemic are heading. SENT: 770 words, photos.
ECONOMY-JOB MARKET'S UNCERTAINTIES — Layoffs are slowing, unemployment is declining and hiring is gradually rising, suggesting that a steady rebound may be afoot in the U.S. job market. Or is it? So many uncertainties are overhanging the economy that no one knows whether hiring will expand steadily in the months ahead or merely plateau as employers recall only enough of their laid-off staffers to partially reopen for business. By Christopher Rugaber and Josh Boak. SENT: 1,280 words, photo.
BRITAIN-BP — BP says it will cut the value of its oil and gas assets by as much as $17.5 billion and review plans for some oil wells as the COVID-19 pandemic reduces demand for oil and gas and forces major energy companies to speed up the shift away from fossil fuels. SENT: 560 words, photo.
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FIFA-TAKING A KNEE — FIFA appealed for “tolerance, mutual respect and common sense” after U.S. President Donald Trump denounced the annulment of a policy that required soccer players to stand during the national anthem. SENT: 300 words, photos.
TOUR RETURNS — The PGA Tour returned after three months and Commissioner Jay Monahan felt every bit a winner as Daniel Berger at Colonial. There were no positive tests from the 487 administered at the Charles Schwab Challenge to players, caddies and key personnel. There were no fans, either. SENT: 870 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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