AP News Digest 7 a.m.
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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VIRUS OUTBREAK — Scarce supplies of medical equipment are leading to growing competition within the U.S. and among nations, in what one French politician called a “worldwide treasure hunt.” The governor of New York state, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, vowed to seize unused ventilators from private hospitals and companies, while President Donald Trump said he was preventing the export of N95 respirator masks and surgical gloves, a move he said was necessary to ensure that medical supplies are available in the U.S. By Michelle R. Smith, Marina Villenueve and Rebecca Santana. SENT: 970 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE-LATEST.
TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT — President Donald Trump has fired Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the intelligence community who handled the whistleblower complaint that triggered Trump’s impeachment. Trump informed the Senate intelligence committee Friday of his decision to fire Atkinson, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. By Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 600 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MILITARY RECRUITING — America’s armed services are finding it harder to bring in new recruits, even as the country turns increasingly to the military for help. In many cases recruiters are finding people too consumed with their own financial, personal and healthcare worries to consider committing to a military career right now. By Lolita C. Baldor. SENT: 980 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NATURAL DISASTERS — The virus outbreak is compromising the ability of nations to prepare for natural disasters and deal with the aftermath. Every year, the world contends with devastating typhoons, wildfires, tsunamis and earthquakes. That dynamic doesn’t change just because the globe also happens to be fighting a pandemic. But many nations prone to natural disasters appear to have done little to prepare for a dual disaster. By Nick Perry. SENT: 970 words, photos.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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MORE ON VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-MASKS — President Trump announces new federal guidelines recommending that Americans wear face coverings when in public to help fight the spread of the new coronavirus. The president has no intention of following that advice himself, saying, “I’m choosing not to do it.” By Eric Tucker, Zeke Miller and Mike Schneider. SENT: 850 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-WASHINGTON — The Trump administration abruptly changes its description of the Strategic National Stockpile and puts forward a narrower vision of the role the federal government’s repository of life-saving medicines and equipment should play in supplying states’ needs. By Jonathan Lemire, Amanda Seitz and Jill Colvin. SENT: 880 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNITED STATES-RUSSIA — An odd new front in the U.S.-Russian rivalry emerges after a Russian military cargo plane bearing a load of urgently needed medical supplies landed in New York’s JFK airport this week. Russia is touting it as a magnanimous aid contribution — but the State Department insists it was a commercial transaction. By Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee. SENT: 670 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-KEEPING COVERAGE — More than a million people could swamp the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces in the coming months as employers lay off staff during the coronavirus pandemic. The health insurance markets are a backbone of the Obama-era law that President Donald Trump has tried to demolish. SENT: 770 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NURSING HOMES — A California directive that could open the way for some patients sickened with COVID-19 to be sent from overburdened hospitals to nursing homes is being criticized by industry officials who fear vulnerable, elderly residents would be placed at risk. 730 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-FAULTY-SUPPLIES — Some states and cities that have been shipped masks, gloves, ventilators and other essential equipment from the nation’s medical stockpile to fight the coronavirus have gotten an unwelcome surprise: the material is unusable. SENT: 600 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-FEDERAL PRISONS — Attorney General William Barr ordered the Bureau of Prisons on Friday to increase the use of home confinement and expedite the release of eligible high-risk inmates at three federal prisons where coronavirus cases have skyrocketed. SENT: 500 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA-COMMEMORATING-VICTIMS — With air raid sirens wailing and flags at half-mast, China on Saturday held a three-minute nationwide moment of reflection to honor those who have died in the coronavirus outbreak, especially “martyrs” who fell while fighting what has become a global pandemic. SENT: 470 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-UN LEADERS MEETING — The president of the U.N. General Assembly says the 193-member world body will take a decision in the coming month on whether to delay the annual gathering of world leaders in New York in late September because of the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 460 words photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST — At least 17 medics in Egypt’s main cancer hospital have been quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus, officials say, raising fears the pandemic could prey on health facilities in the Arab world’s most populous country. SENT: 390 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AIRCRAFT CARRIER — U.S. defense leaders are backing the Navy’s decision to fire the ship captain who sought help for his cornonavirus-stricken aircraft carrier, even as videos showed sailors cheering him as he walked off the vessel. SENT: 370 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-HAWAII — Hawaii Gov. David Ige says he will ask the U.S. military to postpone the world’s largest maritime exercises because of the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 200 words, photos.
OBIT-JESDANUN — Anick Jesdanun, 51, deputy technology editor for The Associated Press, died in New York City on Thursday of coronavirus-related complications, his family said. By Ted Anthony. SENT: 960 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SUPREME COURT — The Supreme Court says it will postpone arguments scheduled for April because of the coronavirus pandemic, but isn’t ruling out hearing some arguments within months. SENT: 670 words, photo.
AP’s coronavirus podcast, “Ground Game: Inside the Outbreak,” today looks at a survey showing what Americans think of how the Trump administration and state and local governments have responded to the outbreak. Listen to the podcast after 3 p.m. at https://appodcasts.com/category/ground-game/. Embed code is available on AP Coverage Plan.
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WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
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PEOPLE-SELENA GOMEZ — Selena Gomez reveals bipolar diagnosis to Miley Cyrus. SENT: 210 words, photo.
NOT-REAL-NEWS — This week’s Not Real News roundup is dominated by false claims around the coronavirus. Several touted supposed home remedies. Among them were suggestions that drinking alcoholic beverages can prevent coronavirus, that eating alkaline foods would fend it off and that coating your nostrils with antibiotic ointment would kill it. SENT: 1,970 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP-OIL EXECUTIVES — President Trump offers assurances of better times and coronavirus tests to oil CEOs at a White House summit Friday, but no firm proposals for easing the industry’s way as the coronavirus pandemic and plunging petroleum prices threaten America’s yearslong fracking boom. By Ellen Knickmeyer and Cathy Bussewitz. SENT: 930 words, photos.
ELECTION-2020-SENATE-ARIZONA — Martha McSally is volunteering at the Salvation Army. Mark Kelly is using his background as an astronaut to entertain kids stuck at home. The global pandemic that is shaking up the nation’s way of life is also forcing Arizona’s U.S. Senate candidates to reinvent the political playbook when rallies are verboten, door-to-door campaigning is off limits and voters are much more concerned about staying healthy and paying the bills than they are with politics. 690 words, photos.
TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE-SURVEILLANCE — The chief judge of a secretive national security court is demanding that the FBI provide him with details about its investigations after a Justice Department inspector general identified problems with more than two dozen wiretap applications. SENT: 430 words, photo.
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KENNEDY TOWNSEND-MISSING RELATIVES — Authorities are conducting a “recovery” search for the daughter and a grandson of former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, after a canoe they were paddling in the Chesapeake Bay didn’t return to shore, the family says. SENT: 450 words photos.
XGR-PHOTO-ID-VOTING-VETO — Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday vetoed a bill pushed by Republican lawmakers to require Kentucky residents to show a government-issued photo ID in order to vote. SENT: 420 words, photos.
OBIT-IDITAROD-THIRD-CHAMPION — Emmitt Peters Sr., an Alaska Native who won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race as a rookie in 1975, has died at age 79 in his home village of Ruby. SENT: 340 words, photos.
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SAUDI-ARABIA-RUSSIA-OIL — Saudi Arabia sharply criticized Russia over what it described as Moscow blaming the kingdom for the collapse in global energy prices, showing the tensions ahead of an emergency meeting of OPEC and other oil producers. SENT: 400 words, photos.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES-UTILITY — The former chief financial officer for a Northern California city destroyed in a 2018 wildfire caused by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment is trying to upend the utility’s plan for getting out of bankruptcy because she believes the company is shortchanging the people devastated by its misconduct. By Business Writer Michael Liedtke. SENT: 480 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-3M — President Donald Trump says his administration will try to stop “profiteers” from exporting medical protective gear, shortly after picking a fight with manufacturing giant 3M, a major producer and exporter of face masks used to protect health care workers from the coronavirus. SENT: 880 words, photos.
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BRITAIN-LABOUR-PARTY — Britain’s main opposition Labour Party has elected lawyer and lawmaker Keir Starmer as its new leader, after a contest thrown into turmoil by the coronavirus outbreak. A special conference to announce the winner was scrapped, and the news came in a press release accompanied by a pre-recorded acceptance speech. SENT: 460 words, photo.
VENEZUELA-GAS-SHORTAGES — With gas lines across Venezuela growing, a controversial shipping magnate has stepped in to prevent the country from running out of fuel amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Associated Press has learned. SENT: 840 words, photos.
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TV-QUIBI LAUNCH — Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman are bringing Quibi to a phone near you with movies, shows and news served in quick bites, hence the name, and Hollywood veteran Katzenberg is calling it the next big step for entertainment, SENT: 800 words, photos.
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FBN--NFL MEDICAL — Days after the NFL revealed its hopes of conducting a normal regular season and playoffs, its chief medical officer warns that nothing is a certainty during the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Allen Sills, a neurosurgeon who has been with the NFL since 2017, says he and other league and team medical personnel have been in constant communication with health officials throughout the country, looking at the same data they are using to make public recommendations. By Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner. SENT: 630 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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