AP News Digest 6:15 p.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 EDT. 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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Adds: VIRUS OUTBREAK-AFRICA, VIRUS OUTBREAK-INTERNET, VIRUS OUTBREAK-FREE WI-FI, VIRUS OUTBREAK-SKI RESORTS.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK — Spain locks down its 46 million citizens and France orders the closing of just about everything the rest of the world loves about it — the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the cafes, restaurants and cinema — as governments took increasingly desperate measures to put more space between people and contain the coronavirus. More borders have snapped shut around the globe: President Donald Trump has announced that the U.S., which days ago barred travelers from most of Europe, will extend the ban to Britain and Ireland, where cases are on the rise. The president also said that he had been tested for the virus; the results were not immediately released.. By Joseph Wilson and Geir Moulson. SENT: 1,200 words, photos. WITH: VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST (sent); VIRUS OUTBREAK-WHAT'S HAPPENING — SENT: 960 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-US — Parents are setting up Facebook groups for parents with kids at home due and getting bombarded with messages. Governors are invoking World War II in urgently crafting plans to create child-care centers for hospital workers. Parents find themselves consumed by a new routine of dashing off to the supermarket to stock up on grocery staples while at the same time coming up with ways to entertain children with no Little League games and school events. With much of the U.S. grinding to a halt because of the coronavirus, Americans' lives have been engulfed in chaos. By Jocelyn Gecker. SENT: 1,400 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP — President Donald Trump says he’s been tested for the coronavirus and is awaiting the results. He also defends his high-profile handshake. The White House begins checking the temperature of anyone who comes into close contact with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. By Jill Colvin and Aamer Madhani. SENT: 940 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NURSING-HOME — Seniors and their loved ones face a grim reality as the coronavirus spreads around the country and enters other assisted living facilities, where residents are especially at risk. And it's about more than the disease itself. “He’s an inmate as much as he is a patient,” one man said of his quarantined 86-year-old father. "Loneliness kills a lot of people, too.” By Gene Johnson and Ted S. Warren. SENT: 1,290 words, photos, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-WASHINGTON — The United States will broaden its European travel ban, adding the United Kingdom and Ireland to its list, and is considering limits on domestic travel to areas hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. By Colleen Long, Michael Balsamo and Aamer Madhani. SENT: 1,2809 words, photos.
Find more all-format coverage below and on the coronavirus outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
ELECTION 2020-DEBATE-QUESTIONS — It’s the first one-to-one presidential primary debate of 2020 after months of Democratic free-for-alls. Some key questions to look for about Sunday night’s debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. It’s been moved from Phoenix to Washington and will go on without an audience due to the coronavirus. By Bill Barrow. SENT: 910 words, photos.
IRAQ-US — A barrage of rockets hit a base housing U.S. and other coalition troops north of Baghdad, Iraqi security officials say, just days after a similar attack killed three three servicemen, including two Americans. By Qassim Abdul-Zahra. SENT: 500 words.
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MORE ON VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONTAINMENT GAPS — A review of the spread of the coronavirus from its earliest days shows U.S. officials have often been steps behind in halting its spread from overseas travelers. In the weeks before President Donald Trump banned travelers from most of Europe, thousands of people from the region arrived in the U.S., and an untold number carried the virus. The same can be said of flights from China in the weeks before the U.S. clamped down. SENT: 1400 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-FAUCI — If Dr. Anthony Fauci says it, you'd be smart to listen. As the coronavirus has upended daily life across the globe, Fauci has become the trusted voice in separating fact and fiction. The fear and confusion of outbreaks aren't new to Fauci, who in more than 30 years has handled HIV, SARS, MERS, Ebola and even the nation's 2001 experience with bioterrorism — the anthrax attacks. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ELECTIONS —Coronavirus is already coloring the 2020 campaign. Democrats are convinced that President Donald Trump's response to the outbreak leaves him and down-ballot Republicans vulnerable over the burgeoning health crisis, his competency and the reeling economy. Republicans accuse Democrats of politicizing the crisis. SENT: 990 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-PREPARING FOR PANDEMICS — Public health and national security experts shake their heads when President Donald Trump says the coronavirus "came out of nowhere" and “blindsided the world.” They've been warning about the next pandemic for years and are criticizing his administration's decision in 2018 to dismantle the White House unit charged with preparing for when, not if, the next pandemic would sweep across the country. SENT: 980 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPAIN — Spain’s government is set to announce Saturday that it is placing tight restrictions on movements and closing restaurants and other establishments in the nation of 46 million people as part of a two-week state of emergency to fight the sharp rise in coronavirus infections
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST — Iranian state TV says the new coronavirus outbreak has killed another 97 people, pushing the death toll in the country to 611 amid 12,729 confirmed cases. Iran is suffering from the worst outbreak in the Middle East. The virus has also infected a number of senior officials there. SENT: 390 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AFRICA — Africa is seeing a steady spread of the coronavirus across the continent, with five new countries confirming cases on Saturday, so that 24 of Africa's 54 countries have COVID-19 patients. SENT: 460 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA-VISA LIMBO — After American consulates in China suspended visa processing amid the coronavirus outbreak, hundreds of Chinese citizens applying for U.S. work visas have been stuck in limbo, fretting as crucial deadlines loom and their jobs look increasingly at risk. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PHILIPPINES — Thousands of Philippine police, backed by the army and coast guard, have started sealing the densely populated capital from most domestic travelers in one of Southeast Asia’s most drastic containment moves against the coronavirus. SENT: 700 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LOBSTERS — Lobster prices are tumbling, and shippers fear the worst could be yet to come as the seafood industry deals with a worldwide slowdown in imports because of the new virus. SENT: 500 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SKI RESORTS — Ski resorts in United States are grappling with how to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus as most planned to stay open as ski season nears an end. SENT: 770 words, photos.
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WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-WEDDING JITTERS — RSVP 'maybe'? Coronavirus puts wedding industry on edge. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING-25 YEARS-ART — Oklahoma City marks bombing anniversary with artistic events. SENT: 720 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-APPLE — Apple temporarily shuts stores outside China to fight virus. SENT: 300 words, photos.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA-SOUTH — Medical marijuana bills challenge Bible Belt politics. SENT: 840 words, photos.
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ELECTION 2020-MICHIGAN — Joe Biden's decisive victory in Michigan’s presidential primary offers what some Democrats hope will be the road map for success in November. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
FACT CHECK-WEEK — President Donald Trump has been bullish on America's chances against the coronavirus pandemic. For days he's said tests for the virus are readily available to those who need them. And in his prime-time address this past week, he declared no nation is more prepared than his. An AP Fact Check finds that claim is hard to sustain. SENT: 2,010 words, photos. Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd
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IRAQ-WANING PROTESTS — At the once bustling hub of the largest anti-government protest movement in Iraq's modern history, crowds have dwindled, and donation boxes have sprouted up. The six-month-old movement has faced one setback after another, from the shifting positions of a mercurial Shiite cleric to an apathetic political class and, now, fears over an outbreak of the coronavirus that Iraq’s decrepit health system has struggled to contain, with nearly 93 confirmed cases and nine deaths. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN — The Afghan government postponed the release of 1,500 Taliban prisoners, an Afghan official said, a decision that could sabotage a peace deal signed last month between the Taliban and the United States. SENT: 660 words, photos.
MALI-HOSTAGES FREE — A Canadian woman and an Italian man who had been kidnapped in December, 2018, in Burkina Faso have been released in good health, according to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in neighboring Mali. SENT: 270 words.
GUYANA-ELECTION — The election commission in oil-rich Guyana has declared that the governing coalition won the country's disputed vote, despite international concerns about the credibility of the process. SENT: 430 words, photo.
RUSSIA-CONSTITUTION — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law for constitutional changes that could keep him in power for another 16 years, a step that must still be approved in a nationwide vote. SENT: 170 words, photo. With: RUSSIA-PROTEST — Police in the Russian capital have detained dozens of people at a protest against political repression outside the headquarters of the Federal Security Service. SENT: 110 words.
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SUNSHINE WEEK-MISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN — Political misinformation is often considered a national and international challenge, in part because of the Russian-based trolls and bots who spread false claims and sow division in a bid to influence elections in the U.S. and abroad. It's increasingly a problem on Main Street, too, as local candidates and politicians adopt misinformation tactics and local news organizations shrink or shut down, leaving residents with fewer credible sources of information. UPCOMING. Moved in advance on Tuesday for use beginning Sunday, March 15.
CATHOLIC CHURCH-EL FUTURO — A booming Hispanic population is seen by many U.S. Roman Catholics as a key to the church's future. In large parts of the United States, recent years have been difficult for the church. Hundreds of schools and parishes have closed, and bankruptcy stemming from sexual abuse has hit hard in the Northeast. There's a different mood in the Southwest. Hispanics now account for 40% of all U.S. Catholics and a solid majority of school-age Catholics. But there are also some big challenges. Catholic researchers say Hispanics are strikingly underrepresented in Catholic schools and in the priesthood, and there's hard work ahead to try to close those gaps. SENT: 1900 words, photos. WITH: CATHOLIC CHURCH-EL FUTURO-ABRIDGED — SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ECONOMIC SHUTDOWN — Just a month ago, experts had expected any severe economic pain from the coronavirus outbreak to be confined mainly to Asia and Europe. Now, with Americans hunkered down and with cancellations ranging from the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, to the NCAA's March Madness basketball tournament, forecasters can’t downgrade their outlook for the American economy fast enough. SENT: 1,400 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-INTERNET — Tech experts say the U.S. internet won’t have any trouble handling spikes in traffic from the millions of Americans who are now working from home to discourage the spread of the new coronavirus. But they say connectivity could stumble for some remote home workers if everyone in their family tries to videoconference at once. SENT: 500 words. WITH: VIRUS OUTBREAK-FREE WI-FI — U.S. internet and wireless providers have announced temporary measures to make getting online less expensive and onerous as enforced social distancing due to the new coronavirus forces more human interaction online.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-MOOD IN HOLLYWOOD — Precautions were already being taken in Hollywood to address the coronavirus but by Thursday, there was not sector of the entertainment industry left untouched by efforts to prevent the spread of the virus. Now everyone is trying to forge a way forward in this entirely unprecedented time for the entertainment industry. SENT: 950 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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US-IDITAROD — Officials with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race are encouraging fans, especially those from out-of-state, not to travel to Nome for the finish of the race. They're citing concerns over the new coronavirus. SENT: 600 words, photo.
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HOW TO REACH US
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