AP News Digest 6:35 p.m.
Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, 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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NEW/DEVELOPING
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Adds VIRUS OUTBREAK-WORKER PROTECTIONS, AMERICA PROTESTS-CHICAGO POLICE, AMERICA-PROTESTS-ECONOMISTS-RACIAL-BIAS, LEBANON, YEMEN, VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPEEDWAY, VIRUS OUTBREAK-PERU SURFERS, PEOPLE-KELLY CLARKSON DIVORCE, MUSIC-GARTH BROOKS
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-HOMES-FOR-DISABLED — Many homes for people with developmental disabilities were ill-equipped to protect the highly vulnerable population from the coronavirus pandemic, an AP investigation finds. And while nursing homes have come under the spotlight, little attention has gone toward thousands of other facilities for people with disabilities. By Holbrook Mohr, Mitch Weiss and Reese Dunklin. SENT: 2,530 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 870 words is available.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks fell sharply on Wall Street as coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased again, deflating recent optimism that the economy could recover quickly from its worst crisis in decades. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 1,800 points and the S&P 500 dropped 5.9%, its worst day since mid-March, when stocks had a number of harrowing falls as the virus lockdowns began. By Alex Veiga and Damian J. Troise. SENT: 870 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — States are rolling back lockdowns, but the coronavirus isn’t done with the U.S. Cases are rising in nearly half the states, according to an Associated Press analysis, a worrying trend that could worsen as people return to work and venture out during the summer. In Arizona, hospitals have been told to prepare for the worst. Texas has more hospitalized COVID-19 patients than at any time before. And the governor of North Carolina said recent jumps caused him to rethink plans to reopen schools or businesses. By Mike Stobbe. SENT: 1,450 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST (sent)
AMERICA PROTESTS -- The rapidly unfolding movement to pull down Confederate monuments around the U.S. in the wake of George Floyd’s death has extended to statues of slave traders, imperialists and explorers around the world, including Christopher Columbus, Cecil Rhodes and Belgium’s King Leopold II. Protests and, in some cases, acts of vandalism have taken place in such cities as Boston; New York; Paris; Brussels; and Oxford, England, in an intense re-examination of racial injustices over the centuries. By David Crary and Sarah Rankin. SENT: 1,000 words, with photos. Incorporates CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS-TOPPLED.
ELECTION 2020-VOTING — The chaos that plagued Georgia’s primary this week is raising concerns about a potential broader failure of the nation’s patchwork election system, which political leaders and election experts say could undermine November’s presidential vote. By Steve Peoples and Christina A. Cassidy. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
AMERICA PROTESTS-CONGRESS — Senate Republicans narrow in on a package of proposed policing changes after George Floyd’s death. They would create a national database of use-of-force incidents, boost the use of police body cameras and include a long-stalled effort to make lynching a federal hate crime. By Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 870 word, photos. With AMERICA PROTESTS-CONGRESS-CONFEDERATE SYMBOLS — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the names of Confederate figures “have to go” from the U.S. Capitol building and military bases. SENT: 780 words, photos.
AMERICA PROTESTS-BLM MAINSTREAMED -- For much of its seven-year existence, the Black Lives Matter movement has been seen by many Americans as a divisive, even radical force. Its very name enraged its foes, who countered with the slogans “Blue Lives Matter” and “All Lives Matter.” Times have changed — dramatically so — as evidenced during the wave of protests sparked by George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. Black Lives Matter has gone mainstream — and black activists are carefully assessing how they should respond. By David Crary and Aaron Morrison. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
Full coverage of America Protests in AP Newsroom.
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TRUMP — President Trump says he will a pursue executive order that will encourage police departments to meet “the most current professional standards for the use of force,” while slamming Democrats for unfairly broadly branding police as the problem. SENT: 470 words, photos.
AMERICA PROTESTS-SEATTLE ZONE — Following days of violent confrontations with protesters, police in Seattle have largely withdrawn from a neighborhood that protesters have transformed into a festival-like scene that has President Donald Trump fuming. SENT: 500 words, photos.
AMERICA PROTESTS-CHICAGO POLICE — More than a dozen Chicago police officers and supervisors were captured on video “lounging” inside a congressional campaign office and even appeared to be making popcorn and brewing coffee as people vandalized and stole from nearby businesses while protests and unrest spread across the city, a visibly angry Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. SENT: 720 words, photos.
POLICE-EXCESSIVE FORCE SUIT — A federal appeals court has vacated part of a finding that cleared five West Virginia police officers on qualified immunity grounds in an excessive force lawsuit. SENT: 450 words, photos.
AMERICA-PROTESTS-BLACK-EMPLOYEES — After hitting the streets to protest racial injustices, Sharon Chuter was disillusioned by the number of corporate brands posting “glossy” messages spouting support for black lives. The 33-year-old founder of Uoma Beauty launched the #pulluporshutup campaign on Instagram to push brands to reveal the racial makeup of their corporate workforce and executives. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
AMERICA-PROTESTS-ECONOMISTS-RACIAL-BIAS — The field of economics is facing an upheaval, with African American scholars decrying bias in the profession and presenting evidence that leading journals have failed to publish sufficient research that documents racial inequalities. SENT: 760 words, photo.
GEORGE FLOYD-AFRICA’S POLICE — Collins Khosa was killed by law enforcement officers in a poor township in Johannesburg over a cup of beer left in his yard. The 40-year-old black man was choked, slammed against a wall, beaten, kicked and hit with the butt of a rifle by the soldiers as police watched, his family says. Two months later, South Africans staged a march against police brutality. But it was mostly about the killing of George Floyd in the United States, with the case of Khosa, who died on April 10, raised only briefly. SENT: 830 words, photos.
AMERICA PROTESTS-LAFAYETTE PARK — The Trump administration’s use of smoke bombs and pepper balls to rout civil rights demonstrators from Lafayette Park near the White House has emboldened protesters and added a new chapter to the site’s storied history as soapbox for social and political unrest. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
A separate wire advisory has been sent detailing the AP's complete coverage of the protests.
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RELIGION-CATHOLIC SCHOOL CLOSURES — Catholic schools have faced tough times for years, but the pace of closures is accelerating dramatically amid economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, sparking heartbreak and anger in scores of affected communities. SENT: 965 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MEAT PROCESSING — Meatpacking plants have instituted new safety measures and managed to restore production to about 85% of the capacity they had before repeated coronavirus outbreaks this spring, but that improved level still could mean a backlog of hogs and cattle, creating headaches for producers and potentially higher prices at grocery stores. SENT: 950 words, photos.
PUERTO RICO-MISSING MEALS — A judge gave Puerto Rico’s education secretary 24 hours to open all public school cafeterias in the U.S. territory or face arrest as impoverished students struggle to obtain free meals amid the pandemic. SENT: 430 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW YORK — In a city famous for its lack of patience, some businesses have jumped ahead on what’s supposed to be a slow and methodical emergence from coronavirus lockdown. Stores in parts of the New York City have already started to allow customers inside to shop, even though the phased reopening that began Monday only allows retailers to sell merchandise via curbside pickup for now.. SENT: 720 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPEEDWAY — A North Carolina judge ordered a small stock-car track to halt racing after state health officials declared large weekend crowds at recent races violated an executive order by Gov. Roy Cooper designed to halt the spread of COVID-19. SENT: 580 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-DIARY-FINALLY CAMPING -- For someone who grew up on the sandy beaches and the urban jungle that is coastal South Florida, camping – real camping, as this writer imagined it – was the stuff you’d see in the movies: the ones where friends gathered around a fire somewhere in the woods, ate marshmallows and told ghost stories or listened for bears. The adult, pandemic version of this childhood dream finally came true, even if nothing about it was how he imagined it. SENT: 650 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-MEXICO DOCTOR -- The health effects of COVID-19 often persist long after discharge from a hospital. So when Juan Antonio Salas finishes his shifts at two coronavirus wards in Mexico City, he follows up with those who made it. SENT: 610 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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PEOPLE-KELLY CLARKSON DIVORCE — Kelly Clarkson seeks divorce from husband of nearly 7 years. SENT: 150 words, photo.
MUSIC-GARTH BROOKS — Garth Brooks concert to be played at 300 drive-in theaters. SENT: 150 words, photo.
AMERICA PROTESTS-MUSIC-LADY A -- Grammy-winning country group Lady Antebellum is changing its name to Lady A, with members saying they are regretful and embarrassed for not taking into consideration the word’s associations with slavery. SENT: 225 words, photos.
BRITAIN-QUEEN-VIDEO CALL -- Queen Elizabeth II has taken part in her first public video conference call to chat to four carers about the challenges they face looking after people close to them during the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 375 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PERU SURFERS — Peruvian surfers are returning to their nation’s world-famous waves after three months spent in lockdown due to the coronavirus. SENT: 350 words, photos.
COMMISSIONER-MIDDLE FINGER ZOOM — A Florida town commissioner displayed two middle fingers during an online meeting after the mayor muted her during a contentious discussion about a proposed anti-discrimination resolution. SENT: 200 words.
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AMERICA PROTESTS-MILITARY — Army Gen. Mark Milley, the nation’s top military officer, says he was wrong to accompany President Donald Trump on a walk through Lafayette Square that ended in a photo op at a church. Milley’s statement risks the wrath of a president sensitive to anything hinting of criticism of events he has staged. By National Security Writer Robert Burns. SENT: 890 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-WORKER PROTECTIONS — A federal appeals court rejects an attempt to force the Trump administration to issue an emergency rule requiring employers to protect workers from the coronavirus pandemic. UPCOMING: 400 words, photos by 7 p.m.
AMERICA PROTESTS-TRUMP JUNETEENTH — Black community and political leaders called on President Donald Trump to at least change the Juneteenth date for a rally kicking off his return to public campaigning, saying that plans for a rally on the day that marks the end of slavery in America come as a “slap in the face.” By Ellen Knickmeyer SENT: 720 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-BIDEN — Joe Biden is adopting an increasingly aggressive stance as he looks to break out of a monthslong campaign freeze imposed by the coronavirus outbreak. He is warning that President Trump could steal the election, lashing out at Facebook and unveiling a plan to restart the U.S. economy that he says won’t make Americans choose between their health and livelihoods. SENT: 960 words, photos.
TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE-CONGRESS — The Senate Judiciary Committee is swiftly moving forward with its investigation of the Justice Department’s Russia probe, voting to allow dozens of subpoenas over Democratic objections that it’s an effort to help President Donald Trump’s reelection. SENT: 790 words, photos.
UNITED STATES-INTERNATIONAL COURT — President Trump levels a broadside against the International Criminal Court, authorizing economic penalties and travel restrictions against court workers directly involved in investigating American troops and intelligence officials for possible war crimes in Afghanistan and elsewhere. SENT: 970 words, photos, video.
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CALIFORNIA-DEPUTY SHOT — Hundreds of California police officers were searching for a gunman suspected of opening fire at a police station, wounding a deputy with a shot to the face and killing a transient man. SENT: 580 words, photos, video.
IRAN-VENEZUELA SANCTIONS -- A New York federal judge has scolded prosecutors for potentially withholding evidence against an Iranian businessman convicted of being a key nexus in growing ties between the Islamic republic and fellow U.S. adversary Venezuela. SENT: 510 words, photos.
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SYRIA — Syrian President Bashar Assad fired his prime minister, a month ahead of elections and as the economic crisis worsens and public anger rises in the territory under his control. SENT: 750 words, photos.
LEBANON — Hundreds of Lebanese poured into the streets to protest the tumbling of the national currency to a new low against the dollar on Thursday, blocking roads and highways in several places across the small country that had started slowly opening up after months of coronavirus restrictions. SENT: 470 words, photos.
YEMEN — The U.N. refugee agency announced on Thursday that fighting has forced more than 94,000 to flee their homes in war-torn Yemen since January, a grim statistic reflecting the devastation brought on by the civil war in the Arab world’s most impoverished country. SENT: 650 words, photo.
IRAQ-IRAN’S INFLUENCE — Iran is struggling to maintain its influence over Iraqi militias since the killing of a top Iranian general and top militia leader in a U.S. drone strike in January. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-LUNG TRANSPLANT — Surgeons in Chicago have given a new set of lungs to a young woman with severe lung damage from the coronavirus. SENT: 280 words, photos.
MED-VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINE STUDY — The first experimental COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. is on track to begin a huge study next month to prove if it really can fend off the coronavirus, while hard-hit Brazil is testing a different shot from China. SENT: 570 words, photos.
WORLD FOOD PRIZE — A soil scientist whose research led to improved food production and a better understanding of how atmospheric carbon can be held in the soil to help combat climate change was named this year’s recipient of the World Food Prize. SENT: 565 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS — About 1.5 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week, evidence that many Americans are still losing their jobs even as the economy appears to be slowly recovering with more businesses partially reopening. By Christopher Rugaber. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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MUSIC-SINGING NURSES — Providing palliative care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center can be taxing for nurses trying to extend and improve the lives of seriously ill patients, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic. Sometimes a song helps. SENT: 540 words, photos, video.
COMCAST-BYRON ALLEN — Comcast and Byron Allen have settled a long-running a long-running racial discrimination dispute and the cable giant will add three of the black media mogul’s channels to its cable packages. SENT: 250 words, photo.
ITALY-RECOVERED BANKSY — Italian authorities unveiled a stolen artwork by British artist Banksy that was painted as a tribute to the victims of the 2015 terror attacks at the Bataclan music hall in Paris. SENT: 270 words, photos.
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FBN-OFFSEASON-UPDATE KNEELING — NFL players who want to kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racism have far more support than Colin Kaepernick did four years ago. Still, it might not be widespread for a few reasons. SENT: 920 words, photos.
BBO-FIELD OF DREAMS GAME — Spurred by a voice telling him, “If you build it, he will come,” the Iowa farmer played by Kevin Costner dutifully carved a baseball field out of his cornfield and then watched as Shoeless Joe Jackson and his Chicago White Sox teammates strode out of the stalks and onto the Field of Dreams. Major League Baseball is building another field a few hundred yards down a corn-lined path from the famous movie site in eastern Iowa but unlike the original, it’s unclear whether teams will show up for a game this time as the league and its players struggle to agree on plans for a coronavirus-shortened season. SENT: 960 words, photos.
BBO—BASEBALL DRAFT-DAY 2 — The Major League Baseball draft resumes with teams selecting players in rounds two through five, after the first round was held Wednesday night. Teams will likely focus on players who are potential impact pitchers and hitters but, perhaps more importantly, are likely to sign pro contracts rather than head to college or return to school. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. Draft resumes at 5 p.m.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Dave Clark can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Courtney Dittmar (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, Phil Holm (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.