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-WASHINGTON — President Trump’s new guidelines for recovering from the economic pain of the coronavirus pandemic make clear that the return to normalcy will be a far longer process than he initially envisioned. By Zeke Miller, Alan Suderman and Kevin Freking. SENT: 990 words, photos, video. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW GUIDELINES — A three-phase plan to gradually revive activity and ease up on social distancing. SENT: 480 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST-NO EXIT — Countries are considering how to ease coronavirus restrictions and start taking gradual steps toward reviving business and daily life. For developing nations in the Middle East and Africa, there is little room for any missteps. Easing lockdowns could cause infections to rise and quickly overwhelm hospitals with limited beds and breathing machines. But keeping restrictions in place risks social upheaval and more economic losses in nations battered by conflict, corruption or poverty. By Zeina Karam and Bassem Mroue. SENT: 990 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — China acknowledges that the coronavirus death toll for epicenter of Wuhan was 50% higher than previously reported — a major revision that highlights just how seriously current numbers on infections and deaths around the globe may be understating the true toll of the pandemic. By Nick Perry and Joe McDonald. SENT: 1,040 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP POLITICS — The devastating coronavirus pandemic stands poised to reshape the political map this November. The virus has pummeled battleground states and alarmed Republicans who see early warning signs for an election that could be a referendum on President Trump’s management of the crisis. By Jonathan Lemire, Nicholas Riccardi and Thomas Beaumont. SENT: 990 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDIA LOCKDOWN — As governments debate ways to slow the spread of coronavirus, India has launched one of the most draconian social experiments in human history, locking down its entire population — including hundreds of millions of people who struggle to survive on a few dollars a day. By Tim Sullivan and Sheikh Saaliq. SENT: 3,140 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDIA-PHOTO GALLERY — A lonely burial in India amid virus lockdown (sent). An abridged version has also moved.
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING-25 YEARS LATER — Americans have been through a lot in the 25 years since the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, including foreign wars, mass shootings and the deadly Sept. 11 attacks. But on April 19, 1995, the attack on the nation’s heartland shocked Americans out of their sense of security. The Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum has canceled the ceremony for 25th anniversary remembrance amid the coronavirus outbreak, denying the chance to collectively grieve a past tragedy because a current one is unfolding. By Judy Gibbs. SENT: 850 words, photos. With AP-WAS-THERE-OKLAHOMA-CITY-BOMBING — AP Was There: Oklahoma City Bombing story (sent).
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA — Chinese epicenter Wuhan raises number of virus dead by 1,290. SENT: 550 words, photo.
UKRAINE-PRISONER EXCHANGE — Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels exchange prisoners. SENT: 330 words, photos.
MYANMAR-PRISONER-RELEASE — Almost 25,000 to be freed under Myanmar prisoner amnesty. SENT: 350 words, photos.
EUROPE-CAR SALES — Europe car sales tank 55% in March on coronavirus lockdowns. SENT: 280 words, photo.
CACTUS-EAGLES NEST -- For the first time in decades, bald eagles have been found nesting in an Arizona saguaro cactus. SENT: 130 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ALTERNATIVE MEDICINES — With no approved drugs for the new coronavirus, some people are turning to alternative medicines, often with governments promoting them. This is most evident in India and China, densely populated countries with a deep history and tradition of touting such treatments, and where there’s sometimes limited access to conventional medicine. SENT: 740 words, photos, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPAIN’S JOURNEY-PHOTO GALLERY — Spain was expecting a bright, hopeful spring. After years of sacrifices and austerity, the country had turned a page on the worst of the past decade’s economic crisis. There was certain room for optimism in politics too, after four general elections in as many years. Then the coronavirus arrived in all its lethal force and raced across the country. SENT: 770 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PROTESTS — A growing number of protests are being staged across the U.S. to oppose stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic. In places like Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia, small-government groups, supporters of President Donald Trump, anti-vaccine advocates and others have united behind a deep suspicion of efforts to shut down daily life to slow the spread of the virus. By Sara Burnett and Brian Slodysko. SENT: 1,240 words, photos, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ORTHODOX EASTER — For Orthodox Christians, this is normally a time of reflection and communal mourning followed by joyful release, of centuries-old ceremonies steeped in symbolism and tradition. But this year, Easter — by far the most significant religious holiday for the world’s roughly 300 million Orthodox — has essentially been cancelled. As the coronavirus rampages across the globe, claiming tens of thousands of lives, governments have imposed lockdowns in a desperate bid to halt the pandemic. SENT: 990 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNITED STATES-FOREIGN AID — President Trump’s well-known disdain for foreign aid is colliding with the imperatives of fighting the coronavirus pandemic, as his administration boasts about America’s generosity for countries in dire need while still generating confusion and anger on the global stage. By Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee. SENT: 880 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT — Congress planned robust oversight of the $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package, creating at least four different bodies to help prevent fraud and abuse. But none of those bodies has been set up yet. By Mary Clare Jalonick and Matthew Daly. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — Lawmakers struggle to break a stalemate over the Trump administration’s request for $250 billion to shore up a small-business program. SENT: 770 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LIVES LOST-HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR — Arie Even survived the Holocaust in Hungary, and some other close calls since, but he couldn’t escape the wrath of the global pandemic ravaging the elderly. The 88-year-old was infected last month in his assisted living facility in Jerusalem and became Israel’s first coronavirus fatality. SENT: 740 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRAZIL-HEALTH MINISTER — Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, whose dismissive stance toward the COVID-19 pandemic has angered many health experts, fired his popular health minister following a series of disagreements over the proper response to contain the virus’ spread in South America’s most populous country. SENT: 680 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatens martial law-style enforcement of a monthlong lockdown in the main northern region of the country as violations of the quarantine soared. Duterte says he would order the military and police to strictly enforce social distancing and curfews if compliance would not improve. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-ITALIAN CYCLIST — Professional cyclist Davide Martinelli is using his bike to help deliver medicine to elderly residents and others in need during the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 610 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-EUROPE-TRACING-APPS — The European Union is urging its 27 member countries to make the use of mobile telephone tracing apps voluntary and to apply similar standards to ensure that national systems can work together in fighting the spread of the coronavirus. SENT: 450 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-UN-CHILDREN — Children have so far largely escaped the most severe symptoms of COVID-19 but the social and economic impact “is potentially catastrophic for millions of children,” according to a U.N. report. SENT: 410 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AFRICA — Africa could see 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus even under the best-case scenario, according to a new report that cites modeling from Imperial College London. SENT: 590 words, photo.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-WUHAN LAB — President Trump and some of his officials step up efforts to pin blame on China for the coronavirus pandemic, floating a theory that the coronavirus was set loose on the world by a Chinese lab that let it escape. By Calvin Woodward. SENT: 870 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MICHAEL COHEN — President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen will be released from federal prison to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement amid the coronavirus pandemic, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. SENT: 570 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-IMMIGRATION DETENTION — A detained immigrant who said he tested positive for COVID-19 was required to call in for a court hearing even after a guard said he was too weak to talk, his attorney says. SENT: 730 words, photos.
TRIBES-CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUNDING — Native American leaders are raising questions about how $8 billion in federal coronavirus relief for tribes will be distributed, with some arguing that for-profit Alaska Native corporations shouldn’t get a share of the funding. SENT: 700 words, photos.
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SCIENCE
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SPACE STATION — A U.S.-Russian space crew lands safely in the steppes of Kazakhstan, greeted with extra precautions amid the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 500 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Shares advanced in Asia while U.S. benchmark crude plunged below $19 per barrel. The mixed reaction followed news that China’s economy contracted 6.8% in the last quarter from a year earlier as the country battled the coronavirus. It is the worst downturn since 1979 but better than some analysts had feared. SENT: 810 words, photos.
CHINA-ECONOMY — China suffered its worst economic contraction since at least the 1970s in the first quarter as it fought the coronavirus, and weak consumer spending and factory activity point to a longer, harder recovery than initially expected. The world’s second-largest economy shrank 6.8% from a year ago in the three months ending in March after factories, shops and travel were closed to contain the infection, official data shows. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. SENT: 850 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-VON MILLER — NFL star Von Miller has tested positive for the coronavirus. His agent says the Denver Broncos linebacker who was a unanimous pick last week for the NFL All-Decade team wanted to come forward with his diagnosis to show doubters how serious the disease is. By Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton. SENT: 550 words, photo.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Richard A. Somma can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, ext. 1900. For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://newsroom.ap.org. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport(at)ap.org or call 877-836-9477.