Wednesday, December 24, 2025
32.0°F

AP News Digest 2 p.m.

| June 16, 2020 11:03 AM

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.

-------------------

ONLY ON AP

-------------------

VIRUS OUTBREAK-HAPPINESS POLL — The year has been rough on the American psyche. People. are more unhappy today than they’ve been in nearly 50 years. This bold — yet unsurprising — conclusion comes from the COVID Response Tracking Study, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. It finds that just 14% of American adults say they’re very happy, down from 31% who said the same in 2018. That year, 23% said they’d often or sometimes felt isolated. Now, 50% say that. By Tamara Lush. SENT: 990 words, photos, graphic.

-------------------

TOP STORIES

------------------

AMERICA PROTESTS — The killing of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta has led to a push in the U.S. for more training of police officers in how to “deescalate” tense situations before they explode in violence. Officers undergoing deescalation training are taught how to keep their cool, calm people down and use the least amount of force required. By Kate Brumback. SENT: 770 words, photos, videos. UPCOMING: New approach With AMERICA PROTESTS-THE LATEST.

AMERICA PROTESTS-TRUMP — Following weeks of national protests since the death of George Floyd, President Donald Trump signs an executive order on policing that would encourage better police practices and establish a database to keep track of officers with a history of excessive use-of-force complaints. By Jill Colvin. SENT: 880 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing, 930 words, photos, video by 5 p.m. With AMERICA PROTESTS-TRUMP Q&A — Questions about President Donald Trump’s executive order. UPCOMING: 700 words by 4 p.m., photos.

TRUMP-LEGACY OF A MASSACRE — In the city where President Donald Trump will resume rallies with his overwhelmingly white base of supporters, teachers this fall will teach children as young as 4 about a 99-year-old act of racism and violence that Tulsa’s African-Americans say still does harm to this day. By Ellen Knickmeyer. UPCOMING: 1,000 words, photos by 3 p.m., photos.

For coverage of the death of Racial Injustice on AP News.

VIRUS OUTBREAK — Researchers announced the first drug shown to save lives among severely ill coronavirus patients, offering hope even as infection rates rose in Africa and Asia, and there were worrisome upticks of contagion in countries that had largely contained the virus. By Menelaos Hadjicostis, Cara Anna and Ken Moritsugu. SENT: 990 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST

VIRUS OUTBREAK-HEALING HEALTH WORKERS — At hospitals around the country, health care workers are reckoning with the psychological toll of the fight against the coronavirus, and fears that the disease could flare anew later this year. At New York City’s Elmhurst Hospital, workers have been cheered as heroes in the virus crisis. But the work also has been exhausting and traumatic. By Jennifer Peltz. SENT: 1,010 words, photos, videos.

Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.

-----------------------------------------------

MORE ON AMERICA PROTESTS

-----------------------------------------------

AMERICA PROTESTS-CONGRESS — The Senate Judiciary Committee takes up police reform at a hearing, while Republicans consider an extensive package with new restrictions on police chokeholds and other practices. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 700 words, photos. UPCOMING: 850 words after 2:30 Senate hearing.

AMERICA PROTESTS-BODY CAMERAS — Nationwide, police departments have rushed in recent years to ramp up the use of body cameras, which have been hailed as a potential equalizer that would show the unvarnished truth of an encounter with officers. But contrasting cases in Georgia and Oklahoma highlight why the technology’s benefit has come into question amid protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd and calls for sweeping changes to American law enforcement. By Jake Bleiberg. SENT: 990 words, photos, video.

AMERICA PROTESTS-CONQUISTADOR — A 31-year-old man has been arrested in a shooting that happened as protesters in New Mexico’s largest city tried to tear down a bronze statue of a Spanish conquistador outside the Albuquerque Museum, police say. SENT: 770 words, photos.

CIVIL-WAR-PLAQUE-MARYLAND — A Maryland panel votes to remove a plaque from Maryland’s Capitol that honors the Civil War’s Union and Confederate soldiers and until recently showed the U.S. flag and Confederate flag crossed. SENT: 600 words, photos.

-----------------------------------------------

MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

——————————————————————

VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP — President Donald Trump’s suggestion that “if we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases” reflects a broader administration effort to play down the ongoing threat of the coronavirus, which public health experts and Democratic officials worry is sending a dangerous message to the American public. By Aamer Madhani. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m., photos, video.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-INTERNSHIPS — Even as economies slowly reopen, the global coronavirus crisis is disrupting summer internships, an important stepping stone to working life for many university students and recent graduates. By Business Writer Kelvin Chan. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-GERMANY-TRACING-APP — Germany launches a coronavirus tracing app that officials say is so secure even government ministers can use it. SENT: 1,070 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VIRAL-QUESTIONS-LONG-TERM EFFECTS — What are the potential long-term effects of having COVID-19? It’s hard to say exactly. SENT: 330 words, graphic.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-EUROPE-REOPENS-PHOTO-GALLERY — Sunshine, espressos, shopping as Europe opens up. SENT: 340 words, photos.

TRIBES-CORONAVIRUS-RELIEF-FUNDING — The U.S. Treasury Department must release $679 million in coronavirus relief funding for tribes that it intended to withhold while a court challenge over the agency’s initial round of payments to tribal governments played out in court, a federal judge rules. SENT: 530 words.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-DIARY-LOVE AND PANDEMIC — The specters of loss have been constants during the pandemic. For one writer, COVID-19 has made it difficult to mourn his wife’s death in April after a prolonged struggle with cancer. Stay-at-home orders and worries about contracting the disease have interrupted all the norms meant to provide comfort after the death of a loved one. SENT: 640 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-ICELAND HOOPS — The Golden State Warriors had to adapt their popular youth basketball camps and make them virtual given the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of that, an 11-year-old boy in Iceland and Stephen Curry superfan gets to participate virtually from a world away. SENT: 590 words, photos.

---------------------------------------------

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

—————————————————————

NICARAGUA-OBIT-EDEN PASTORA — Edén Pastora, Nicarguan revolutionary, dead at 83. SENT: 870 words, photos.

OFFICERS SICKENED-SHAKE SHACK — Shake Shack “horrified” NYPD officers’ drinks may have had bleach; department sees no criminality. SENT: 170 words.

T-MOBILE-NETWORK-ISSUES — FCC calls hours-long T-Mobile service outage ‘unacceptable.’ SENT: 220 words, photo.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-OMAR’S-FATHER — Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., announced the death of her father due to complications from COVID-19.. SENT: 90 words, photo.

TV-EMMYS-HOST — Jimmy Kimmel to host Emmys, first major awards show of pandemic. SENT: 240 words, photo.

—————————————-

WASHINGTON/POLITICS

—————————————-

RUSSIA DISINFORMATION-REPORT — A Kremlin-linked social media disinformation operation that sought to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election has continued its work to divide and discredit Western democracies, a new report finds — but its effectiveness has been limited by its own cautious tactics. By David Klepper. SENT: 470 words, photo.

LGBT RIGHTS-WHAT’S NEXT — LGBT-rights activists are elated by a major Supreme Court victory on job discrimination, and hope the decision will spur action against other biases faced by their community despite Trump administration efforts to slow or reverse advances. By David Crary. SENT: 860 words, photos

CIA-HACKING TOOLS — A specialized CIA unit that developed hacking tools and cyber weapons didn’t do enough to protect its own operations and wasn’t prepared to respond when its secrets were exposed, according to an internal report prepared after the worst data loss in the intelligence agency’s history. By Deb Riechmann and Eric Tucker. SENT: 656 words, photo.

ELECTION 2020-WARREN-VP — Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s overtures with the African American community could help her standing as one of the women Joe Biden is reportedly considering as his running mate. Biden has pledged to pick a woman, and pressure is increasing on him to pick a black woman. By Will Weissert. SENT: 990 words, photo. With ELECTION 2020-BIDEN-OBAMA — Obama to hold joint fundraiser for Biden next week.

ELECTION 2020-BIDEN PROGRESSIVES — More than four dozen progressive groups have signed a letter to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign criticizing his police reform proposals and warning that if he doesn’t adopt more progressive policies he risks losing black voters — and the election — this fall. By Alexandra Jaffe. SENT: 480 words, photo.

———————————-

INTERNATIONAL

———————————-

KOREAS-TENSIONS — North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea in a carefully choreographed, largely symbolic display of anger that puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. SENT: 1,060 words, photos, video.

INDIA-CHINA-HIMALAYAN STANDOFF — The Indian Army has raised the death toll in a clash with Chinese troops on a disputed Himalayan border from three to 20 Indian soldiers. The army said in a statement that the two sides “have disengaged” from the disputed Galwan area where they clashed overnight on Monday. SENT: 930 words, photos.

GERMANY-US-TROOPS — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg played down concern that the United States will rush to pull thousands of its troops out of Germany, as doubts swirled in Europe about when such a withdrawal might take place. President Donald Trump has said that he is ordering a major reduction in U.S. troop strength in Germany, from around 34,500 personnel down to 25,000. Members of his own party have criticized the move as a gift to Russia and a threat to U.S. national security. SENT: 720 words, photos.

HUMAN-RIGHTS-RACISM — African nations have prepared a draft resolution at the U.N.’s top human rights body that singles out the United States and would launch intense international scrutiny of systemic racism against people of African descent in the wake of recent high-profile killings of blacks by American police. SENT: 330 words, photo.

————————

NATIONAL

————————

IMMIGRATION-VISA-RESTRICTIONS — President Donald Trump is expected to announce new restrictions on work visas, and businesses and universities are pleading for restraint. They say cutting off access to talented foreign workers will further disrupt the economy and stifle innovation.. SENT: 1,070 words, photos.

CALIFORNIA-WILDFIRES-UTILITY — Pacific Gas & Electric is expected to plead guilty to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter during a court hearing in which the nation’s largest utility will be confronted with its history of neglect and greed that culminated in a wildfire that wiped out most of a Northern California town. SENT: 570 words, photos.

—————————————

BUSINESS/TECH

—————————————-

FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks are rallying worldwide and Wall Street is heading for its third straight gain after U.S. retail sales rebounded last month by much more than economists were expecting. SENT: 730 words, photos.

—————-

SPORTS

——————

TEN-VIRUS OUTBREAK-US OPEN — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the U.S. Open tennis tournament will held on its scheduled dates starting in late August as part of the state’s reopening from shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Tennis Association had decided to go forward with its marquee event in New York City without spectators, pending an OK from the state. SENT: 630 words, photos.

COMMISSIONERS-ESPN — Roger Goodell would like to see Colin Kaepernick back in the NFL this season. The NFL commissioner said during ESPN’s “The Return of Sports” special that he is encouraging teams to sign the 32-year old quarterback, who hasn’t played the past three seasons. Kaepernick was with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016 when he kneeled during the national anthem to protest racial injustice. SENT: 920 words, photos.

—————————————-

HOW TO REACH US

—————————————-

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.