AP News Digest 5:30 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 — South Korea has announced plans to strap tracking wristbands on people who defy quarantine orders and Christians are urged to stay home this Easter weekend as the global coronavirus death toll passed 100,000. South Korean officials say stricter controls are required because some of the 57,000 people who are under orders to stay home have slipped out by leaving behind smartphones with tracking apps. U.S. health authorities reported more outbreaks in New York City and the surrounding region, an area with some 20 million people that accounts for more than half of the 500,000 American cases. By Kim Tong-Hyung and Joe McDonald. SENT: 890 words, photos. WITH: VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LASTEST (sent).
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CALLING TRUMP — The Trump administration says it relies on a data-driven system to steer critical medical supplies to communities in need during the coronavirus pandemic. But watchdog groups are pointing to a pattern in which those who are politically connected and have the president’s ear have, at times, been able to bypass the formal allocation process and move to the front of the line. By Jill Colvin. SENT: 990 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ITALY-WHAT’S NEXT — With warmer weather beckoning, Italians are straining against a strict lockdown to halt the coronavirus that is just now showing signs of ebbing at the end of five weeks of mass isolation. The official line is patience with measures that have shown success in slowing the virus’ spread, until there is a clear decline in the number of new cases. Still, officials have begun grappling with the question of how to manage social distancing on mass transit, re-open ordinary commerce and relaunch manufacturing without risking another peak. By Colleen Barry. SENT: 960 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGO EBOLA — Congo has been battling an Ebola outbreak that has killed thousands of people for more than 18 months, and now it must also face a new scourge: the coronavirus pandemic. Ebola has left those living in the country’s east weary and fearful. Just as they were preparing to declare an end to the outbreak, a new case popped up. Now, they will have to manage both threats at once. The new virus has overwhelmed some of the world’s best hospital systems in Europe and ripped through communities in New York. By Carley Petesch and Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro. SENT: 980 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-EMPTY SARAJEVO — Sarajevo has been a religious melting pot throughout its more than five-centuries-long history. It would normally be teeming with life this April. Instead, along with the rest of Bosnia and most of the world, it is under a lockdown to try to bring the new coronavirus under control. Sarajevo’s churches, mosques and synagogues are quiet. There will be no gathering of Christians in churches and communal egg-cracking contests this Easter. SENT: 350 words, photos.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-HAZMAT SUITS — An Indonesian businesswoman was worried about her friends working in hospitals. Some had cried as they talked of the shortage of protection gear that left medical workers wearing plastic raincoats while treating suspected COVID-19 patients. Maryati Dimursi asked her friends about materials and designs that protect better and settled on a suit she wants to offer to hospitals and clinics for free. She has a list of 20 hospitals who need her suits urgently and the tailors have begun sewing. SENT: 500 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LIVES LOST-EGYPTIAN DOCTOR — Dr. Ahmed el-Lawah was a pillar of the medical community in his home city of Port Said in Egypt, but more than that he was the backbone of his family. The eldest son, he was like a father figure to his siblings, their kids and even their kids’ kids. He loved to gather them around every week in the family home. The 57-year-old pathologist was known for his charity works in the city, and his lab would turn no one away even if they couldn’t pay. He contracted the new coronavirus from a patient who’d come for testing. SENT: 870 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP WINERY — President Trump’s Virginia vineyard could be eligible for a federal bailout under the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus he signed into law last month, despite provisions that were intended to prevent him and his family from personally benefiting. By Brian Slodysko. SENT: 760 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK CALIFORNIA — California’s top public health official says the spread of coronavirus throughout the state might not be as high as state officials had anticipated. Secretary of California Health and Human Services Agency Mark Ghaly said Friday the number of hospitalizations today might not look much different over the next few weeks. SENT 930 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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INDONESIA-VOLCANO ERUPTS — Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano has spewed a column of ash 1,640 feet into the sky in the longest eruption since the explosive collapse of the island caused a deadly tsunami in 2018. SENT: 120 words, photo.
GIRAFFE BIRTH-NEW ORLEANS — The Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans has welcomed a baby giraffe named Hope. The Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center announced the birth Friday. SENT: 300 words.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-NO CRIME — Chicago’s crime declined 10% last month, a trend playing out across the U.S. and globally as cities report stunning crime drops in the weeks since measures were put into place to slow the spread of coronavirus. By Stefanie Dazio, Franklin Briceno and Michael Tarm. SENT: 960 words, photos.
BORDER AGENT-SEXUAL ABUSE — A U.S. Border Patrol agent, who police say barricaded himself in a church for four hours, is facing charges on suspicion of sexually abusing multiple children over several years. The Arizona Republic reports police in Sierra Vista said Friday that Dana Thornhill had been arrested the previous night following an armed standoff at a church in nearby Huachuca City. SENT 580 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-WASHINGTON — White House officials point to hopeful signs that the spread of the coronavirus could be slowing, even as President Donald Trump insists he will not move to reopen the country until it is safe. By Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville. SENT: 840 words, photos, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LIBERTARIAN DEBATE — For libertarians the very thought of massive government aid or the enforced closings of businesses is usually indefensible. But those beliefs can change in a time of crisis, like now. The spread of the coronavirus has renewed a long-running debate among libertarians over such core beliefs as private enterprise and individual autonomy. In speeches, blogs and other online postings they ask whether it’s appropriate, and in what ways, for the government to help those who have lost jobs and businesses. SENT: 990 words, photos.
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INDONESIA-PAPUA CLASH — Indonesian security forces have shot and killed three separatist rebels who were suspected in an attack that killed a New Zealander near the world’s largest gold mine in the easternmost province of Papua. Clashes near the Grasberg copper and gold mine began Feb. 29 and had left two security personnel and four rebels dead. On March 30, eight gunmen shot and killed New Zealand miner Graeme Thomas Wall when he and six employees of PT Freeport Indonesia were in a parking lot at the company’s office in the restive province. SENT: 380 words, photos.
JAPAN-OBIT-NOBUHIKO OBAYASHI — Nobuhiko Obayashi, one of Japan’s most prolific filmmakers who devoted his works to depicting war’s horrors and singing the eternal power of movies, has died. He was 82. The official site for his latest film, “Labyrinth of Cinema,” says he died late Friday. Obayashi was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2016, and was told he had just a few months. SENT: 640 words, photos.
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AP WAS THERE:-1997 MASTERS — A panel of 15 golf writers voted on what they considered the five best Masters in history. Selections received 10 points for a first-place vote to two points for a No. 5 selection. Coming in second was 1997, the first of Tiger Woods’ five Masters and 15 majors. For all the hype, Woods was better than advertised. He became the youngest Masters champion at 21. He was the first man of color to win the Masters. SENT: 1,590 words, photos.
VERSATILE DON — Denver Broncos star linebacker Von Miller isn’t just working on his football game this offseason. He’s refining his craft as a fledgling disc jockey. Miller’s deejay name is DJ Sauce Von the Don. It’s something he’s been doing since last season and he had big plans to take his show on the road this offseason for club concerts at events such as the Kentucky Derby. All of that is on hold with the coronavirus outbreak. SENT: 760 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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