AP News Digest 7 a.m.
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PAKISTAN-MADRASSA ABUSE — A young Pakistani boy proudly writes his name, one letter at a time, grinning broadly as he finishes. He’s just 11 years old and had dreams of being a doctor. Now school frightens him. Earlier this year, a cleric at the Pakistani religious school he attended tried to rape him. The AP collected dozens of police reports from across Pakistan, traveling to remote regions to review files. The reports allege sexual harassment, rape and physical abuse by Islamic clerics teaching in madrassas, or religious schools, where many of the country’s poorest study. Police say the problem is pervasive, and the reports they’ve received are just the tip of the iceberg. By Kathy Gannon. SENT: 1,790 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK - South Korean officials are warning that hard-earned progress fighting the coronavirus pandemic could be upset by new infections at leisure spots. There are growing global tensions between governments desperate to maintain social distancing and citizens eager to resume their lives as economic pressure mounts and infections slow in some places. Some European nations have started tentative moves to ease their shutdowns. Hard-hit Spain, which on Sunday reported its lowest daily growth in infections in three weeks, will allow workers in some nonessential industries to return to factories and construction sites Monday. By Foster Klug. WITH:VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST. (sent)
VIRUS OUTBREAK-WASHINGTON -- Social restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus could have saved lives if they’d been started earlier, and when they’re eased new cases are certain to arise, said the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, seeming to draw the ire of President Donald Trump. By Mark Sherman and Darlene Superville. SENT: 880 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP-MISSED SIGNS -- By the time President Donald Trump first spoke publicly about the coronavirus, in January, weeks’ worth of warning signs already had come and gone. And in the ensuing month, key steps to help prepare the nation for the coming pandemic were not taken. By Jonathan Lemire, Zeke Miller, Jill Colvin and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. SENT: 1,800 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-EMPATHY ANALYSIS — Early polling in the general election face-off between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden reveals a gap between the two contenders when it comes to who Americans see as more compassionate to their concerns. In March, 43% of registered voters said Trump “cares about average Americans,” according to a Quinnipiac poll. Nearly 60% said Biden cares about average Americans, including 29% of registered Republican voters. Empathy may become an intangible in the presidential race as Americans grapple with the coronavirus pandemic and an economic downturn. By AP Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian shares have fallen and crude prices lost earlier gains following an agreement by OPEC and other oil producing nations to cut output in line with collapsing demand due to the pandemic. OPEC, Russia and other oil producers finalized an unprecedented production cut of nearly 10 million barrels, or a tenth of global supply, seeking to boost crashing prices and end a price war. By AP Business Writer By Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 650 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NURSING HOMES - More than 3,300 deaths nationwide have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, an alarming rise in just the past two weeks, according to the latest count by The Associated Press. Because the federal government has not been releasing a count of its own, the AP has kept its own running tally based on media reports and state health departments. The latest count is up from about 450 deaths just 10 days ago. By Bernard Condon and Randy Herschaft. SENT: 510 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-RUSSIA-PUTIN’S PLANS — Spring is not turning out the way Russian President Vladimir Putin might have planned it. A nationwide vote on April 22 was supposed to finalize sweeping constitutional reforms that would allow him to stay in power until 2036 if he wished. But after the coronavirus spread in Russia, that election had to be postponed – an action so abrupt that billboards promoting it already had been erected in Moscow and other big cities. Now under threat is Victory Day on May 9, celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. The outbreak poses a new and unexpected challenge for Putin. By Daria Litvinova. SENT: 990 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-NEW YORK-OFF KILTER-PHOTO ESSAY — In its highest moments, New York City is dizzying. Today, it is dizzying in a different way. So how to understand this city of cities at this moment in time? How to see it as it really feels, to chronicle it as it is knocked back? Photographer Wong Maye-E and photo editor Enric Marti found a way. On his motorcycle, with him driving and her shooting, they moved across a phantom city overflowing with things that weren’t happening, chronicling daily life that was not taking place. SENT: 750 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SWEDEN'S APPROACH — Sweden is pursuing relatively liberal policies to fight the coronavirus pandemic, even though there has been a sharp spike in deaths. The prime minister has proposed a new emergency law that would allow the authorities to shut down public venues and transportation quickly if needed. But for now, it’s still common to see people swarming on the Stockholm waterfront, sipping cocktails, while children still have group soccer practice. SENT: 850 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW YORK — There are some signs of hope that the coronavirus infection rate is plateauing in New York. But the state is still wrapping up its worst week in deaths so far since the outbreak began. Officials announced Sunday that the daily death toll for the state topped 700 for the sixth straight day. SENT: 960 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-NEPAL AMIN — Every morning and evening, guards and volunteers at Nepal’s most revered Hindu temple gather to feed hundreds of monkeys, cows and pigeons. The animals, which normally are fed by thousands of devotees at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, had found themselves at a risk of starvation after Nepal’s government ordered a complete lockdown last month to stop the spread of the coronavirus. SENT: 350 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “stay home” message has fueled anger and accusations that he was insensitive to people who cannot rest at home. Japan’s social distancing measures are voluntary and don’t come with compensation. Elsewhere around Asia, South Korean officials say new cases may indicate eased attitudes toward social distancing. SENT: 490 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BACKUP HOSPITALS — The inclusion of a Memphis, Tennessee, shopping center on a list of potential locations for makeshift coronavirus hospitals has some neighborhood residents concerned. Those who live in the Nutbush area note that it is predominantly black and low-income — and that it is the only site on the list located in the middle of a residential neighborhood. SENT: 870 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TOO MANY DECISIONS — The notion of decision fatigue has been around for a long time — long before the virus came. But for many, it was often the fatigue of a consumer society. Selecting channels and streaming services and apps. Choosing tech. Swiping Tinder. The thing about these tiny decisions, though, was that we didn’t HAVE to make many of them. And if we did, and messed up, the stakes were generally lower. Now, though, the most fleeting of daily choices — no matter who or where you are — suddenly have potentially monumental consequences. SENT: 1,010 words.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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ALABAMA ABORTION-VIRUS OUTBREAK — A federal judge ruled that Alabama cannot ban abortions as part of the state’s response to coronavirus. SENT: 320 words, photo.
PAKISTAN-MILITARY CRASH — Pakistan’s military says one of its jets has crashed during a routine training mission in eastern Punjab province, killing both the instructor and the trainee pilot. Monday’s incident took place near the city of Gujrat. There was no damage or casualties on ground. SENT: 260 words, photo.
TURKEY POLITICS-VIRUS — Turkey’s president has rejected the resignation of his interior minister who took responsibility for a poorly timed announcement of a weekend curfew that prompted thousands of people to rush into the streets. SENT: 210 words, photos.
OBIT-SPORTS REPORTER — Anthony Causi, a highly skilled and exceedingly popular sports photographer for The New York Post who covered the city’s teams for 25 years, died Sunday from the new coronavirus. He was 48. SENT: 500 words.
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FACT CHECK-WEEK -- In firing one inspector general, sidelining another and assailing a third, President Donald Trump in recent days put his aversion to agents of federal accountability on stark display in a country consumed by the coronavirus. He also spread falsehoods about the extent of mail-in voting fraud. By Hope Yen and Calvin Woodward. SENT: 2,990 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-WISCONSIN — Clerks across Wisconsin will count votes Monday, six days after last week’s chaotic presidential primary. District Judge William Conley rejected a plea by Democrats and liberal groups to postpone the election, but ordered an extended period for absentee voting and barred clerks from counting the returns until Monday. SENT: 520 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN-ASSAULT ALLEGATION -- A former aide to Joe Biden is accusing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of sexually assaulting her during the early 1990s when he was a senator. Biden’s campaign denies the charges. By Alexandra Jaffe. SENT: 1,400 words, photos.
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SEVERE WEATHER-SOUTH: Strong storms pounding the Deep South have killed at least six people in south Mississippi and damaged up to 300 homes and other buildings in northern Louisiana. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency Sunday night. The National Weather Service said large parts of the South remain at risk of severe weather. Much of the region was under flash flood, tornado and thunderstorm warnings and watches overnight and around 750,000 people were without power in a 10-state swatch. SENT: 490 words, photos. DEVELOPING.
OBIT-SANDERS — The PGA Tour says Doug Sanders died Sunday morning in Houston at age 86. Sanders was one of golf’s most colorful figures with his wardrobe and lifestyle. Sanders won 20 times on the PGA Tour, the first one as an amateur in the 1956 Canadian Open. But he is best known for the four times he was runner-up in a major. SENT: 530 words, photos.
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SPORTS-WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN — There will be no Major League Baseball players wearing No. 42 this week. The sports calendar is going into its second month on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. Among the events that would have been scheduled this week was Jackie Robinson Day on Wednesday. That is the annual day marking the anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier on April 15, 1947. Every player wears Robinson’s retired No. 42 on that day. SENT: words, photos. SENT: 520 words, photo.
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