AP News Digest 2:20 p.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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MED--VIRUS OUTBREAK-SECOND WAVE — What’s all this talk about a “second wave” of U.S. coronavirus cases? About 120,000 Americans have died from the new virus and daily counts of new cases in the U.S. are the highest they’ve been in more than a month, driven by alarming recent increases in the South and West. “When you have 20,000-plus infections per day, how can you talk about a second wave?” said Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health. “We’re in the first wave. Let’s get out of the first wave before you have a second wave.” By Mike Stobbe. SENT: 540 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020 — President Donald Trump’s campaign return was supposed to show strength and enthusiasm. Instead, his weekend rally in Oklahoma highlighted growing vulnerabilities and crystallized a divisive reelection message that largely ignores large groups of voters — independents, suburban women and people of color — who could play a decisive role on Election Day. By National Political Writer Steve Peoples. UPCOMING: 850 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-THE BALLOT — The ballot has long been the essential instrument of democracy. People around the world have cast ballots using pieces of glass or beans and corn. Now most of us touch a screen. The act of voting is so ingrained in the country that it is often taken for granted. But in this election season, the ballot is under siege, with efforts to suppress votes in some areas and restrict the ease of voting by mail. And it is all coming at a time of the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests over police mistreatment of African Americans. By Michael Tackett. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
AMERICA PROTESTS-RIOT GEAR — In law enforcement, they’re referred to as “nonlethal” tools for dealing with demonstrations that turn unruly. Examples include rubber bullets, pepper spray, batons and flash-bangs. But the now-familiar scenes of U.S. police officers in riot gear clashing with protesters at Lafayette Park across from the White House and in other cities have police critics charging that the weaponry too often escalates tensions and hurts innocent people. An official with the International Association of Chiefs of Police says the tools are necessary when peaceful rallies are hijacked by individuals with a nefarious purpose. By Larry Neumeister and Tom Hays. SENT: 970 words, photos.
AMERICA PROTESTS-SOROS MISINFORMATION -- A growing number of people on the far right are falsely claiming that liberal billionaire George Soros orchestrated the protests that have roiled the U.S. They allege without evidence that he’s paid demonstrators and even arranged for piles of bricks to be left near protests. Researchers who study conspiracy theories say it’s a way to delegitimize the demonstrations and the thousands who have gathered to protest racial injustice. By David Klepper. SENT: 800 words, photos.
For coverage of Racial Injustice on AP News.
VIRUS OUTBREAK - Dads at nursing homes around the country are marking Father’s Day at a forced distance from their loved ones, many of whom are not being allowed to get close enough for a hug. Some will have to stay behind plexiglass. By Martha Irvine. Developing. 700 words, photos by 4 p.m. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST (sent)
Find more all-format coverage on the Virus Outbreak featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-GLOBAL — Spain reopened its borders to European tourists in a bid to kickstart its economy, while Brazil and South Africa struggled with rising coronavirus infections. SENT: 760 words, photos.
COLLEGE-TOWNS-UNEMPLOYMENT — What happens to a college town when the students disappear? Ithaca, a small upstate New York city nearby gorges and vineyards, is finding out. SENT: 850 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ALABAMA — Will Boyd was at the funeral for a relative who had died after contracting the new coronavirus when he got the call with the news. His brother had also passed away from COVID-19. “The virus is real. It’s real. If they don’t know it’s real, they can come and walk with me to the cemetery,” Boyd said. Alabama and much of the Deep South are seeing a spike in coronavirus cases as some have stopped heeding warnings of the virus, alarming public health officials and people who have lost loved ones because of COVID-19. SENT: 910 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-POULTRY — Tyson Foods is looking into reports that China’s customs agency has suspended poultry imports from a Tyson facility in the United States after coronavirus cases were confirmed among its employees. SENT: 340 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — South Korea has reported 48 new cases of COVID-19 as health authorities struggle to contain a resurgence that’s erasing some of the country’s hard-won gains against the virus. SENT: 390 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-IRAQ — In Baghdad’s vast exhibition grounds, masked workers lugged hospital beds into rows for makeshift coronavirus wards, as doctors and officials sounded the alarm Sunday over a surge in virus cases in the capital. SENT: 800 words, photos.
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RELIGION-BLACK CATHOLICS — Black Roman Catholics are hearing their church’s leaders calling for racial justice once again after the killing of George Floyd, but this time they’re demanding not just words but action. As protests against racism and police brutality continue nationwide, there are rising calls for huge new investment in Catholic schools serving Black communities; a commitment to teach the complex history of Black Catholics; and a mobilization to combat racism with the same zeal the church shows in opposing abortion. By David Crary. SENT: 980 words, photos.
GEORGE FLOYD-JAIL COMPLAINT — Eight minority corrections officers who work at the jail holding a former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd allege that they were barred from guarding or having contact with the officer because of their race. SENT: 340 words, photo.
AMERICA PROTESTS-LOS ANGELES PROSECUTOR — Protests over the death of George Floyd are being felt in the race to see who will run the Los Angeles district attorney’s office. Police accountability was a key issue but protests calling for the ouster of District Attorney Jackie Lacey have grown by thousands since Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. Lacey, who is the first Black person and woman to run the largest local prosecutors’ office in the nation, says the death has forced her to consider new ways to investigate police. Her opponent says Lacey is incapable of holding police accountable. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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PEOPLE-DL HUGHLEY — Comedian DL Hughley COVID-19 positive after fainting onstage. SENT: 340 words, photo.
RUSSIA-SIBERIA-HEAT — Temperature hits 100 F degrees in Arctic Russian town, SENT: 170 words, photos.
OBIT-CONGO-BOMPENGO — Longtime AP video journalist in Congo dies of COVID-19. SENT: 410 words, photos.
RUSSIA-PUSSY RIOT — Report: Pussy Riot member held in Russia extremism probe. SENT: 130 words, photo.
BRITAIN-STONEHENGE — Coronavirus dampens Stonehenge solstice celebrations. SENT: 180 words, photos.
INDONESIA-VOLCANO — Indonesia’s most volatile volcano spews ash in new eruption.. SENT: 160 words, photo.
SYRACUSE SHOOTING — Police say 9 shot, wounded at party in Syracuse, New York. SENT: 390 words.
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TRUMP-RALLY-TIKTOK TICKETS — Did teenagers, TikTok users and Korean pop music fans troll the president of the United States? For more than a week before Donald Trump’s first campaign rally in Tulsa Saturday, these tech-savvy groups have been mobilizing to reserve tickets for the rally they had no intention of attending. While it’s not likely that they were responsible for the low turnout, their antics may have inflated the campaign’s expectations for attendance numbers. UPCOMING: 520 words, photo by 3 p.m.
MANHATTAN-FEDERAL PROSECUTOR-DÉJÀ VU — Two defiant Manhattan federal prosecutors, one Democrat and one Republican, have met the same fate under President Donald Trump. Both were fired on a Saturday after refusing to go quietly on a Friday night. By Larry Neumeister and Eric Tucker. SENT: 940 words, photos.
BOOKS-BOLTON-ONLINE PIRACY — Pirated editions of John Bolton memoir have appeared online. SENT: 250 words, photo.
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BRITAIN STABBINGS — A stabbing rampage that killed three people as they sat in a British park on a summer evening is being considered a terrorist attack, police say. A 25-year-old man who is believed to be the lone attacker was in custody, but officials said the motive for the carnage was unclear. SENT: 710 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN-UN REPORT — The United Nations released a special report expressing concerns over what it called recent “deliberate attacks” against health care workers and facilities in Afghanistan during the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 470 words, photos.
CHINA-HONG KONG — China’s top lawmaking body has announced a three-day session for the end of this month, a move that raises the possibility of the enactment of a national security law for Hong Kong that has stirred debate and fears in the semi-autonomous territory.. SENT: 540 words, photos.
SERBIA-ELECTION — Serbia’s ruling populists looked set to tighten their hold on power in a parliamentary election held despite concerns over the spread of coronavirus in the Balkan country and a partial boycott by the opposition. SENT: 510 words, photos.
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MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING — A shooting in a popular Minneapolis nightlife area left one man dead and 11 people wounded in a chaotic scene that sent people ducking into restaurants and other businesses for cover.. SENT: 610 words, photos.
BLACK LAWMAKERS-FRUSTRATION — Tennessee’s Black lawmakers came back to the Capitol earlier this month with a request for their white colleagues: Advance public policy to send modest signals that say, ’Yes, Black lives do matter.' Nearly three weeks later, the GOP-dominant General Assembly has adjourned after largely ignoring measures proponents said would right some of the wrongs of racial injustice in Tennessee. SENT: 760 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-LOAN TRANSPARENCY — The Trump administration has relented to public pressure and pledged to provide more details about which small businesses received loans from a $600 billion-plus coronavirus aid program. But government watchdogs say even more transparency is needed to get an accurate picture of who was helped, and who was left out. SENT: 640 words.
SHIPYARD UNION — Production workers at one of the Navy’s largest shipbuilders overwhelmingly voted to strike, rejecting Bath Iron Works’ three-year contract offer Sunday and threatening to further delay delivery of ships. SENT: 190 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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