AP News Digest 3 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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NEW/DEVELOPING
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R-KELLY — Singer R Kelly to enter plea to reworked federal charges in Chicago. SENT: 290 words, photo. UPCOMING: Hearing at 11 a.m.
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ONLY ON AP
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CHINA-UIGHURS-FORCED-TO-WORK — In a lively Muslim quarter of Nanchang city, a sprawling Chinese factory turns out computer screens, cameras and fingerprint scanners for a supplier to international tech giants such as Apple and Lenovo. The mostly Muslim ethnic Uighurs who labor in the factory are isolated within a walled compound that is fortified with security cameras and guards at the entrance. Their forays out are limited to rare chaperoned trips, they are not allowed to worship or cover their heads, and they must attend special classes in the evenings, according to former and current workers and shopkeepers in the area. By Dake Kang and Yanan Wang. SENT: 2,650 words, photos. With abridged.
ELECTION 2020-BLACK VOTERS — Black voters propel Joe Biden to huge victories in the South on Super Tuesday, giving his campaign a momentous boost and cementing his front-runner status in the Democratic presidential race. According to AP VoteCast surveys, black voters strongly aligned behind Biden over other candidates. By Kat Stafford and Hannah Fingerhut. SENT: 870 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-US — Federal authorities announce an investigation of the Seattle-area nursing home at the center of an outbreak of the new coronavirus as the U.S. death toll climbs to 11, including the first fatality outside Washington state. By Gene Johnson, Rachel La Corte and Martha Bellisle. SENT: 1,220 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK — Virus outbreak delays Xi's state visit to neighboring Japan; VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST; VIRUS-OUTBREAK-WHAT'S-HAPPENING.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-FEELINGS OF RISK — Emotion and other psychological factors determine how much people worry about catching the coronavirus. Experts say judgment isn't just a rational analysis, and the outbreak presents “hot buttons” that bump up our perceptions of the risk. These include its novelty and a sense that neither authorities nor individuals can control its spread. But there are ways that people can minimize the risk of overreaction. One of them is not to constantly scour the internet for information. By Science Writer Malcolm Ritter. SENT: 780 words, photos, video.
Find more all-format coverage on the coronavirus outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN — Joe Biden has hit his stride and found his voice after wins in South Carolina and across Democrats' Super Tuesday presidential primary map. The whispering, sometimes meandering former vice president who finished fourth in Iowa and fifth in New Hampshire has been replaced by a confident, scrappy politician promising to unite the Democratic Party and defeat Donald Trump. By Bill Barrow. SENT: 1,190 words, photos, video. With ELECTION 2020 — Sanders refocusing his campaign after Biden's super Tuesday. With ELECTION 2020-THE LATEST.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
MIDEAST-SYRIA SUMMIT — A summit between the Turkish and Russian leaders may be the last chance to work out a deal that avoids further calamity in Syria’s northwest. Faced with mounting losses for his troops in Syria's Idlib province and a potential wave of refugees fleeing the fighting, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is eager for a cease-fire, and Vladimir Putin is ready to bargain. By Suzan Fraser and Zeina Karam. SENT: 1,040 words, photos. With SYRIA-ISRAEL Israeli warplanes strike targets in central Syria.
UNITED STATES-AFGHANISTAN — An uptick in Taliban attacks against Afghan forces that prompted a retaliatory U.S. airstrike underscores the fragility of the peace deal between the Trump administration and the group. By Matthew Lee and Lolita C. Baldor. SENT: 830 words, photos. With INTERNATIONAL COURT-AFGHANISTAN — ICC set to rule on Afghanistan investigation appeal.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian shares rise, taking their cue from a surge on Wall Street as governments and central banks took more aggressive measures to fight the virus outbreak and its effects on the economy. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 860 words, photos.
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHINA-BACK-TO-WORK — Factories in China that make the world's smartphones, toys and other consumer goods are trying to protect their employees from a virus outbreak as they resume production. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST — The United Arab Emirates warns its citizens and its foreign residents not to travel anywhere abroad amid the ongoing worldwide coronavirus outbreak, a stark warning for a country home to two major long-haul airlines. SENT: 270 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — The House easily passes an $8.3 billion measure to battle the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., sending the bill to the Senate. SENT: 850 words, photos. UPCOMING: 900 words after Senate vote, time uncertain.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PETS — Pet cats and dogs cannot pass the new coronavirus on to humans, but they can test positive for low levels of the pathogen if they catch it from their owners. SENT: 360 words, photo.
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MORE ON 2020 ELECTION
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ELECTION 2020-MONEY — Biden barely had enough money to air television ads in critical Super Tuesday battlegrounds, but he won't have that problem again. SENT: 850 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP — Super Tuesday leaves the Democrats with a pair of front-runners whom President Donald Trump believes he can define and defeat, but there are still some private worries in the White House. SENT: 1,110 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-SENATE-MONTANA — Democrat Steve Bullock, the Montana governor who has insisted he won’t run for the Senate, is poised to do just that, according to two people familiar with his plans. By Matt Volz and Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 450 words, photos.
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FILM-SXSW — Netflix cancels SXSW screenings, events amid virus concerns. SENT: 140 words, photo.
RAYS-THREATS — Man charged with threatening Rays players, other athletes. SENT: 460 words.
TRUMP-MEDAL OF FREEDOM — Trump to present Medal of Freedom to retired general. SENT: 130 words, photo.
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SEVERE WEATHER-TENNESSEE — In the Tennessee community hardest hit by devastating tornadoes, the few houses still standing have become beacons of hope. SENT: 800 words, photos, video.
ALABAMA EXECUTION — Alabama is set to execute an inmate for the murders of three police officers who were shot by another man in a hail of gunfire at a suspected crack house in 2004. SENT: 520 words, photos.
IMMIGRATION-REMAIN-IN-MEXICO — In the latest twist on a key Trump administration immigration policy, a federal appeals court says it will prevent the government from making asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for U.S. court hearings starting next week unless the Supreme Court steps in sooner. SENT: 530 words, photos.
MADOFF-FRAUD — Bernard Madoff should not be released early from prison even if kidney disease kills him within months, prosecutors say as they cite the scope and magnitude of his decades-long Ponzi scheme that cost thousands of investors billions of dollars. SENT: 600 words, photos.
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OBIT-PEREZ DE CUELLAR — Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, the two-term U.N. secretary-general who brokered a historic cease-fire between Iran and Iraq in 1988 and who in later life came out of retirement to help re-establish democracy in his Peruvian homeland, has died. He was 100. SENT: 1,550 words, photo.
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BRITAIN-FLYBE — The struggling British airline Flybe collapses, leaving passengers stranded and told to find their own way home. SENT: 340 words, photos.
OPEC-MEETING — The oil-producing countries of the OPEC cartel are considering slashing output to contain a plunge in prices that has been worsened by concerns about the virus outbreak's disruption to the world economy. SENT: 350 words, photos.
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CROUCH'S AVALANCHE COMEBACK — Snowboarder Brock Crouch, swept away in an avalanche two years ago and severely injured, is dreaming of making the U.S. slopestyle squad for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. By Sports Writer Pat Graham. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
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