AP News Digest 2 p.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 — School districts across America are in the midst of making wrenching decisions over how to resume classes in settings radically altered by the coronavirus pandemic, with school buses running below capacity, virtual learning, outdoor classrooms and quarantine protocols for infected children the new norm. By Patrick Whittle and Carolyn Thompson SENT: 1,060 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BLACK HEALTH -- The coronavirus pandemic has made it even more difficult to manage chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, diseases that disproportionately affect Black people. Doctors offices have been closed or patients have been too worried to come in for visits or to get and fill prescriptions. Then came the killing of George Floyd, an extreme form of over-policing that has been linked with elevated stress, high blood pressure and other chronic illness. Doctors are bracing for the fallout as their offices start opening: a wave of sicker, shell-shocked patients. By Lindsey Tanner. SENT: 1,870 words, photos, A 930-word abridged version has also been sent. This is the Monday Spotlight.
Find more coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-MISINFORMATION — A loose network of Facebook groups that took root across the country in April to organize protests over coronavirus stay-at-home orders has become a hub of misinformation and conspiracy theories that have pivoted to a variety of new targets. Their latest: Black Lives Matter and the nationwide protests of racial injustice. By Amanda Seitz. SENT: 840 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GIG WORKERS — The coronavirus pandemic is pummeling the global economy and U.S. unemployment is reaching heights not seen since the Great Depression. That has left gig workers clamoring for jobs that often pay less while facing stiff competition from a crush of newly unemployed workers who are also trying to patch together a livelihood until the economy recovers. By Cathy Bussewitz and Alexandra Olson. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.
BILL COSBY — Bill Cosby, once the Hollywood paragon of Black family values, was convicted of sexual assault in 2018 as the #MeToo movement exploded. Now, during the national reckoning about the treatment of African Americans and other people of color by police and the criminal justice system, the 82-year-old Cosby has won the right to an appeal. The imprisoned comedian hopes to use the moment to his advantage. By Maryclaire Dale. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
Find more coverage of Racial Injustice in AP Newsroom.
ISRAEL-NETANYAHU'S SON — As Israel’s scandal-plagued Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands trial for corruption, his 28-year-old son has emerged as a driving force in a vicious counterattack against critics and the state institutions prosecuting the longtime leader. A favorite of the prime minister’s nationalistic base and far right leaders around the world, Yair Netanyahu has become an almost daily fixture in the news, clashing with journalists on social media, threatening lawsuits against his father’s adversaries and posting online content deemed so offensive that Facebook briefly suspended his account. By Aron Heller. SENT: 970 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — It seems to have been more like a typical Saturday night than a drunken New Year’s Eve. The reopening of pubs in England does not seem to have overwhelmed emergency services as many had feared ahead of the biggest easing of Britain’s coronavirus lockdown. But one senior police officer said it was “crystal clear” that drunk people struggled with, or ignored, social distancing rules.. SENT: 750 words, photos. With BRITAIN-HEALTH SERVICE — People across the U.K. joined in a round of applause on to mark the 72nd anniversary of the free-to-use National Health Service, one of the country’s most cherished institutions. SENT: 430 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-IRAN — Iran instituted mandatory mask-wearing as fears mount over newly spiking reported deaths from the coronavirus, even as its public increasingly shrugs off the danger of the COVID-19 illness it causes. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST — Israel ordered thousands of people into quarantine after a contentious phone surveillance program resumed while Palestinians in the West Bank returned to life under lockdown amid a surge in coronavirus cases in both areas. SENT: 820 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — India has reported another record 24-hour jump in coronavirus cases as the World Health Organization cautioned against the country’s plans to release a vaccine by August. SENT: 560 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SUMMER CAMPS — After being cooped up for months, kids need summer camp more than ever, but a smaller-than-usual cadre will enjoy the experience this year. Nationwide, the summer camp picture is coming into sharper focus with many of the 15,000-plus summer camps opting to close because of health concerns surrounding the pandemic, or because of delays in getting rules or guidelines from licensing officials. SENT: 950 words, photos.
Find more coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
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BLACK NATIONAL ANTHEM — The Black national anthem was born more than a century ago, but the popular hymn within the African American community called “Lift Every Voice and Sing” has resurrected a beacon of hope during nationwide protests.. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-SEATTLE — One of two people hit by a man who drove his car onto a closed Seattle freeway and into a crowd protesting police brutality has died. SENT: 600 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-FRANCE — Paris police blocked anti-racism groups from leading a “de-colonial tour” of Paris to call attention to monuments and streets honoring historical figures tied to the slave trade or colonial-era abuses. SENT: 470 words, photos.
GEORGE FLOYD-MINNEAPOLIS POLICE — A third former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd has been released from jail. SENT: 200 words, photo.
AUSTRALIA-BLACK LIVES MATTER RALLIES — Several thousand people rallied in Black Lives Matter protests across Australia over the weekend to call for racial equality and highlight deaths of Indigenous people while in police custody. SENT: 220 words, photos.
Find more coverage of Racial Injustice in AP Newsroom.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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CONFEDERATE FLAG CAR-MUSEUM — Museum: ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ car with Confederate flag to stay. SENT: 310 words.
INDIA-TREE PLANTING — More than 2 million people have gathered in northern India while trying to practice social distancing to plant 250 million trees as part of a government plan to tackle climate change. SENT: 300 words, photo.
TURKEY-FIREWORKS — Death toll rises to 6 in Turkey fireworks factory explosion. SENT: 140 words, photos.
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ELECTION 2020-CHANGING SOUTH — From Mississippi retiring its state flag to local governments removing Confederate statues from public spaces, a bipartisan push across the South is chipping away at reminders of the Civil War and Jim Crow segregation. Democratic Party leaders want those symbolic changes to become part of a fundamental shift at the ballot box. SENT: 960 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP’S CABINET — With President Donald Trump confronted by skyrocketing joblessness and the coronavirus pandemic as he campaigns for reelection, members of his Cabinet are busy making time in pivotal states. They are carrying a message to voters about what the administration is doing for them — and raising questions about whether they’re running afoul of a law meant to bar overt campaigning by federal officials on the taxpayer tab. SENT: 990 words, photos.
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CROATIA-ELECTION — Amid a spike of new coronavirus cases, voters in Croatia cast ballots in what is expected be a close parliamentary race that could push the latest European Union member state further to the right. SENT: 530 words, photos.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC-ELECTIONS — The Dominican Republic is holding presidential elections that had already been delayed by the pandemic, even as the count of new infections continues to rise. SENT: 280 words, photos. UPCOMING: Initial results likely after 7 p.m.
JAPAN-TOKYO GOVERNOR — Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike has won a second term to head the Japanese capital, propelled to an election victory by public support for her handling of the coronavirus crisis despite a recent rise in infections that has raised concerns of a resurgence of the disease. SENT: 730 words, photos.
JAPAN-HEAVY RAIN — Deep floodwaters and the risk of more mudslides that left at least 34 people confirmed or presumed dead hampered search and rescue operations in southern Japan, including at elderly home facilities where more than a dozen died and scores were still stranded. SENT: 530 words, photos.
NATO-FRANCE-TURKEY — The festering dispute between France and Turkey over a naval standoff in the Mediterranean Sea has shone a glaring searchlight on NATO’s struggle to keep order among its ranks and exposed weaknesses in a military alliance that can only take action by consensus. SENT: 800 words, photos.
AFRICA-LOCUST OUTBREAK — The crunch of young locusts comes with nearly every step. The worst outbreak of the voracious insects in Kenya in 70 years is far from over, and their newest generation is now finding its wings for proper flight. SENT: 700 words, photos.
IRAQ-US — The Iraqi military said that a rocket aimed at Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, home of the U.S. Embassy, struck a residential house and injured a child. SENT: 350 words.
ALGERIA-FRANCE-COLONIALISM — Algeria at last buried the remains of 24 fighters decapitated for resisting French colonial forces in the 19th century, in a ceremony rich with symbolism marking the country’s 58th anniversary of independence. SENT: 280 words, photos.
ETHIOPIA-UNREST — Ethiopian police were patrolling the country’s troubled Oromia region and the capital, Addis Ababa, on Sunday, following a week of unrest in which 166 people were killed and more than 2,000 arrested, after a popular singer was shot dead. SENT: 490 words, photos.
AUSTRIA-CHECHEN KILLED — Police in Austria say they have detained a 47-year-old Russian man after a 43-year-old compatriot was shot dead near Vienna late Saturday. Austrian media report the killing is being investigated as a possible political assassination. SENT: 280 words, photos.
UAE-GOVERNMENT SHAKEUP — The United Arab Emirates announced a wide-ranging government shakeup aimed at creating a more flexible and modern bureaucracy to tackle challenges as the coronavirus and lower oil prices erode what was already sluggish economic growth. SENT: 570 words, photos.
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NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING-SOUTH CAROLINA — A sheriff’s official says a shooting at a South Carolina nightclub left two people dead and eight wounded. No one was immediately taken into custody following the early Sunday shooting at Lavish Lounge, but a Greenville County sheriff’s spokesperson said they were looking for two suspects. SENT: 670 words, photo.
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FBC-VIRUS OUTBREAK-TESTING-COST — Colleges might have to pay into the hundreds of thousands of dollars to have their football players and other athletes tested for coronavirus. Many athletic departments already are in financial binds because of declines in state funding and student fees stemming from the pandemic. Especially hard hit are the small-budget schools on the lower end of the Football Bowl Subdivision. SENT: 950 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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