AP News Digest 3:10 a.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 6 years, 6 months AGO
Here are the AP's latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EST. For up-to-the minute information on AP's coverage, visit Coverage Plan at https://newsroom.ap.org.
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK — South Korea's viral outbreak surged and millions of children in Japan stayed home from school as officials wrestled with the epidemic in more than 60 countries. As new battle fronts against the coronavirus opened with surprising speed, China sent home many recovered patients, freeing treatment space in hardest-hit Wuhan. China still has about three-fourths of the world's nearly 89,000 cases worldwide, but outbreaks were surging in other countries. The United States counted 80 cases as of Sunday and two deaths. SENT: 920 words, photos. By Kim Tong-Hyung and Hyung-Jin Kim. SENT: 630 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-US — Health officials in Washington state said Sunday night that a second person had died from the coronavirus and researchers said it may have been circulating for weeks undetected in the greater Seattle area. State and local authorities stepped up testing for the illness as the number of new cases grew nationwide, with new infections announced in California, Florida, Illinois, Rhode Island, New York and Washington state. By Carla K. Johnson and Gillian Flaccus. SENT: 1,600 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020 -- An emboldened Joe Biden is casting himself as the clear moderate alternative to polarizing progressive Bernie Sanders as the Democrats' shrinking presidential field races toward Super Tuesday. By Steve Peoples, Bill Barrow and Alexandra Jaffe. SENT: 1,295 words, photos. WITH: ELECTION 2020-SELMA — Joe Biden received a warm reception Sunday in this crucible of the civil rights movement as he and other Democratic presidential hopefuls appealed for black support in a town where demonstrators were once beaten for marching for the right to vote. By Jay Reeves. SENT: 755 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
ELECTION-2020-BUTTIGIEG — Pete Buttigieg opened February by sharing victory with one of the Democratic Party's best-known figures and ended it with a humbling defeat at the hands of another. Yet his unlikely path over the last 30 days exceeded virtually everyone's expectations of his presidential ambitions, except perhaps his own. The former mayor of Indiana's fourth largest city, an openly gay 38-year-old whose name most voters still can't pronounce, formally suspended his White House bid Sunday night. By Steve Peoples and Thomas Beaumont. SENT: 1,110 words, photos.
ISRAEL-ELECTION — Israelis have begun voting in the country's unprecedented third election in less than a year. Voters will decide whether longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stays in power despite his upcoming trial on corruption charges. Polls are predicting another deadlock, but Netanyahu faces a stiff challenge once again from retired military chief Benny Gantz. By Aron Heller. SENT: 905 words, photos. With: ISRAEL-ELECTION-AP EXPLAINS; ISRAEL-ELECTION CONTENDERS (Both sent).
SUPREME COURT- ABORTION — The Hope Medical Group for Women in northern Louisiana fields phone calls every day from anxious pregnant women who ask if abortion is still legal and if the clinic, one of only three that provides abortions in the state, is still open. A Supreme Court case to be argued Wednesday could change that and more. By Rebecca Santana and Mark Sherman. SENT: 1,120 words, photos. This is the Tuesday spotlight.
PHILIPPINES-MALL STANDOFF — A dismissed security guard has taken about 30 people hostage in a Philippine shopping mall, where gunshots rang out earlier and sent people rushing out in panic and prompted police to put the popular area in a security lockdown. By Jim Gomez and Aaron Favila. SENT: 370 words, photos.
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MORE ON VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHINA-TEMPORARY HOSPITAL — The head of the largest temporary hospital in the Chinese city at the center of the coronavirus outbreak says his staff has had a heavy workload but should be able to wrap up operations by the end of this month. By Dake Kang. SENT: 625 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-MEDIA — News organizations must walk a fine line in covering coronavirus. They need to convey the story's seriousness without provoking panic and report a flood of news while much remains a mystery. At the same time, they have to remind people who to stay safe and keep their own employees well. By David Bauder. SENT: 1,205 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-OIL — With the viral outbreak spreading to more countries, the price of oil has dropped precipitously as global demand weakens even further. That has sent shares tumbling for oil giants like Exxon and Chevron while smaller producers with idling rigs continue to slash jobs. By Cathy Bussewitz. SENT: 1,010 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST — Iranian officials were taking new precautions against the outbreak of the new coronavirus there, with even its Foreign Ministry holding an online-only briefing. Britain has began evacuating nonessential staff and families from Iran which has the highest death toll outside of China. Iran has reported 978 confirmed cases of the new virus with 54 deaths from the illness it causes, called COVID-19. By Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell. SENT: 600 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-AT A GLANCE — New virus: Over 88,000 infected globally, 3,000 deaths. SENT: 275 words, photos.
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WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
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AT&T-NEW TV SERVICE — AT&T is launching a new internet-delivered TV service Monday as it struggles with a shrinking DirecTV satellite business. SENT: 315 words, photo.
TRUMP-BLIMP — President Donald Trump’s campaign is planning to fly a blimp over swing states to get its message out — and to collect reams of data. SENT: 180 words, photo.
SPIELBERG DAUGHTER-ARREST — Police in Tennessee say a daughter of film director Steven Spielberg has been arrested in a domestic incident involving her boyfriend. SENT: 155 words.
OBIT-NICARAGUA-ERNESTO CARDENAL — Ernesto Cardenal, the renowned poet and Roman Catholic cleric who became a symbol of revolutionary verse in Nicaragua and around Latin America, and whose suspension from the priesthood by St. John Paul II lasted over three decades, has died at 95. SENT: 870 words, photo.
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ELECTION 2020-SANDERS-BLACK VOTERS — Bernie Sanders has vowed to build a “multi-generational, multiracial movement" that can catapult him to the White House. So far, though, there's little evidence to show the Vermont senator is connecting with African American voters more than he did during his 2016 presidential run. By Will Weissert and Meg Kinnard. SENT: 1,125 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-SUPER TUESDAY — For more than 30 years, Super Tuesday has been the biggest day in the presidential nominating contest. A strong showing on Super Tuesday can launch a candidate to the nomination, a weak one can virtually end a campaign. By Kathleen Ronayne. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-BLOOMBERG — Mike Bloomberg has spent half a billion dollars on advertising, visited 67 cities across 27 states and hired more than 2,400 staffers to support his White House ambitions. But his unprecedented investment in a presidential campaign may have little payoff if a diverse coalition of voters spurn him in the 14 states that vote Tuesday. By Alexandra Jaffe and Kathleen Ronayne. SENT: 1,315 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-MINNESOTA — Bernie Sanders has a shot at delivering an embarrassing blow to Amy Klobuchar in the moderate senator's home state on Super Tuesday. That's thanks to a large and motivated progressive base in a state where she was once considered a shoo-in to win. By Steve Karnowski. SENT: 775 words, photo.
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NORTH KOREA-LAUNCH — North Korea fired two unidentified projectiles as it resumed weapons demonstrations following a months-long hiatus. The launches came two days after North Korea’s state media said leader Kim Jong Un supervised an artillery drill aimed at testing combat readiness of units in front-line and eastern areas. By Kim Tong-Hyung and Hyung-Jin Kim. SENT: 935 words, photos.
TURKEY-SYRIA — Thousands of migrants and refugees massed at Turkey's western frontier, trying to enter Greece by land and sea after Turkey said its borders were open to those hoping to head to Europe. In Syria, Turkish troops shot down two Syrian warplanes after the Syrian military downed a Turkish drone, a major escalation in the direct conflict between Syrian and Turkish forces. By Costas Kantouris and Andrew Wilks. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
MEXICO-SUSPECT AT THE FUNERAL — The man was obsessed with Marbella Valdez. He sent her gifts, bought food for her friends. Prosecutors say he even planted a tracking device on her car. And when the 20-year-old law student's body was found at a garbage dump in Tijuana, he approached police to demand the case be solved. He even turned up at her funeral wearing a T-shirt with her photograph and the feminist slogan “Not One More Woman” printed on it. A week later, he was arrested and charged with her murder. The man — identified by Mexican rules only by his first name, Juan — has insisted on his innocence. By Mark Stevenson. SENT: 910 words, photos.
COSTA RICA-NICARAGUA REFUGEES — In Costa Rica's rural north several hundred Nicaraguan refugees are carving out an existence with machetes and a firm belief that they could be killed if they return too soon to their country. They are a fraction of the approximately 75,000 Nicaraguans who have sought asylum in neighboring Costa Rica since Nicaragua plunged into a political crisis in April 2018, but their initiative has drawn attention. By Christopher Sherman. SENT: 1,355 words, photos.
IRAQ-POLITICS — Iraq's prime minister-designate announces his withdrawal from the post after failing to secure parliamentary support for his Cabinet selection, prolonging the political deadlock in the country amid multiple economic, health and security challenges. By Qassim Abdul-Zahra. SENT: 515 words, photos.
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POLICE SHOOTING-CHURCH — The Orange County Register reports that Santa Ana police officers fatally shot an armed man Sunday afternoon inside a Catholic church. Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna says the shooting took place shortly after the officers were flagged down at 4:20 p.m. and told someone inside Immaculate Heart of Mary Church had a gun. SENT: 325 words, photos.
CHICAGO POLICE-TRANSIT SHOOTING — A man shot and seriously wounded by a Chicago police officer in a downtown train station won't face charges, as prosecutors drop the criminal case stemming from an incident captured on bystander video and shared widely. SENT: 550 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Share prices in Asia bounced back Monday from last week's retreat, with mainland Chinese indexes gaining more than 3% as data showed progress in restoring factory output after weeks of disruptions from the viral outbreak. Stocks have been swooning as investors fret the coronavirus outbreak will derail the global economy. But in those declines, some see opportunities to buy. By Elaine Kurtenbach. SENT: 1,070 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHINA-MANUFACTURING-SLUMP — Two measures of Chinese manufacturing fell to their lowest levels on record in February as anti-virus controls shut factories. But companies express confidence activity will rebound following government stimulus efforts. By Joe McDonald. SENT: 650 words, photos.
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FILM-BOX OFFICE — The Elisabeth Moss thriller “The Invisible Man” tops the box office over the weekend with an estimated $29 million from North American theaters. The film from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse cost under $10 million to produce. SENT: 500 words, photos.
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