AP News Digest 3:55 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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ONLY ON AP
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AMERICAN DRUG MULE — The family of a Virginia man who has been held in Spain for the last year on drug trafficking charges says he was an unwitting courier for a criminal syndicate. The Justice Department is backing that conclusion, telling the Spanish government in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that there’s no evidence 76-year-old Victor Stemberger knew he was transporting cocaine at the time of his arrest. By Eric Tucker. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-GLOBAL — Two of America’s largest states have reversed course and clamped down on bars again in the nation’s biggest retreat yet as the daily number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the U.S. surged to an all-time high of 40,000. By Paul J. Weber and Michelle R. Smith. With VIRUS-OUTBREAK-THE-LATEST.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-WHITE HOUSE — The White House coronavirus task force briefs the public for the first time since late April — a sign of the administration’s effort to show it’s got a handle on the virus but the nation no longer needs to be on a wartime footing that prevents reopening the economy. By Deb Riechmann and Darlene Superville. SENT: 700 words, photos, video.
Find more coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-DEADLOCKED CONGRESS — For a moment, Congress appeared poised to act on policing reform, mobilized by a national trauma and overwhelming public support. Now those efforts have stalled and seem unlikely to be revived in an election year. By Andrew Taylor. SENT: 980 words, photos.
Find more coverage of Racial Injustice in AP Newsroom.
ELECTION 2020-DEMOCRATS — Despite President Donald Trump’s struggles, Democrats aren’t counting on a Joe Biden victory in November just yet. Instead, they’re warning against getting complacent, and they’re wary about Trump and Republicans making it harder for people to vote in a pandemic. By Bill Barrow. SENT: 990 words, photos.
HATE-SPEECH-ONLINE-ADS — Facebook says it will flag all “newsworthy” posts from politicians that break its rules, including those from President Trump. CEO Mark Zuckerberg had previously refused to take action against Trump posts suggesting that mail-in ballots will lead to voter fraud. Twitter, by contrast, slapped a “get the facts” label on them. By AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay. SENT: 780 words photo.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-BARS ON THE ROCKS — A Houston bar owner who believed he could no longer provide a safe environment for his staff, customers and himself felt he had no choice but to shut down his business. The decision by the co-owner of The Cottonmouth Club came a week before Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Friday that bars would again be shuttered as confirmed coronavirus cases swelled across Texas. SENT; 880 words, photos, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-IMMIGRATION DETENTION — A federal judge on Friday ordered the release of children held with their parents in U.S. immigration jails and denounced the Trump administration’s prolonged detention of families during the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 570 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-RELIGIOUS GATHERINGS — A federal judge blocks New York state from enforcing coronavirus restrictions limiting indoor religious gatherings to 25% capacity when other types of gatherings are limited to 50%. SENT: 500 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-HOSPITALIZATIONS — Governors in states seeing huge spikes in the coronavirus often downplay the outbreak by citing statewide data to assure the public they have plenty of hospital capacity to survive the onslaught of cases. But experts say those numbers are often misleading, and call promoting them “irresponsible.” SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LATIN AMERICAN MARKETS — As the coronavirus pandemic swamps countries from Mexico to Argentina, public health officials are struggling to limit the damage caused by Latin America’s iconic covered food markets, a beloved, essential feature of life in the region and a nearly perfect setting for the spread of the disease. SENT: 1,280 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SRI LANKA-TELUGU COMMUNITY-PHOTO GALLERY — Sri Lanka Telugu community fears decline of traditional ways. SENT: 200 words, photos.
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MORE ON RACIAL INJUSTICE
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RACIAL INJUSTICE-ONE TOWN — Monuments honoring figures from Belgium’s colonial era are coming under scrutiny in that country and elsewhere. Protests have been sweeping the world following the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed last month by police in the United States. The demonstrations focus on colonial history and present-day racism. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-CONFEDERATE FLAG-MISSISSIPPI — Emotions are running high as Mississippi legislators consider the future of the last state flag in the U.S. that includes the Confederate battle emblem. Pressure to change the flag has grown rapidly over the past three weeks amid nationwide protests against racial injustice. SENT: 650 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-WISCONSIN — Federal prosecutors charge a Black man whose arrest triggered a violent protest in Wisconsin’s capital city with extorting local businesses. Police arrested 28-year-old Devonere Johnson in Madison on Tuesday after he walked into Cooper’s Tavern near the state Capitol building with a megaphone and a bat. SENT: 430 words.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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GEORGE FLOYD-TRIAL CAMERAS — Judge rejects cameras for ex-cops’ hearings in Floyd death. SENT: 360 words, photo.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-KANSAS STATE TWEET — Kansas State athletes, officials decry student’s Floyd tweet. SENT: 490 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MEXICO — Mexico City reopening shops, street markets, sport complexes. SENT: 180 words, photos.
SEXUAL-MISCONDUCT-RON-JEREMY — Adult film star Ron Jeremy pleads not guilty to 3 rapes. SENT: 330 words, photos.
TV-FAMILY-GUY — Mike Henry to stop voicing Black character on ‘Family Guy.’ SENT: 200 words, photos.
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ELECTION 2020-HEALTH CARE — Democrats are again going after Republicans on the issue of healthcare, hoping a line of attack that proved potent for the party during last year’s midterms will help deliver them sweeping wins again this fall. By Alexandra Jaffe and Alan Fram. SENT: 980 words, photos. With HEALTH OVERHAUL-Q&A — President Trump asks the Supreme Court to overturn “Obamacare.” Some questions and answers as the case unfolds. SENT: 800 words, photos.
TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE-STONE — A federal judge is giving Roger Stone, a longtime ally and confidant of President Donald Trump, an additional two weeks before he must report to serve his federal prison sentence. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s ruling comes days after Stone asked the court to allow him to put off serving his more than 3-year sentence until September, citing coronavirus concerns. SENT: 510 words, photo.
CONGRESS-DC STATEHOOD — The Democratic-controlled House approves a bill to make the District of Columbia the 51st state, but action in the GOP-controlled Senate is unlikely. By Matthew Daly. SENT: 850 words, photos, video.
BORDER WALL-LAWSUITS — A federal appeals court has ruled against the Trump administration in its transfer of military money to build sections of the U.S. border wall with Mexico. SENT: 710 words, photos.
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MEXICO-VIOLENCE — Dozens of gunmen believed tied to the hyper-violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel deployed for a complex, multi-point dawn ambush meant to kill Mexico City’s police chief, unleashing one of the most brazen attacks in Mexico since the equally ruthless Zetas carved a path of terror across the country nearly a decade ago. SENT: 810 words, photos.
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1952-PLANE-CRASH-VICTIMS-ALASKA-GLACIER — A military excavation at a glacier north of Anchorage has retrieved about 480 bags of fragments of human remains from a 1952 plane crash. The military every summer since 2012 has scouted Colony Glacier to search for remains and wreckage after the C-124 Globemaster slammed into Mount Gannett, killing all 52 onboard. SENT: 750 words, photos.
SHOOTING LAWSUIT-SOUTH CAROLINA — A Black man who was shot in the back of the head during a traffic stop in South Carolina last fall is suing the Columbia Police Department, the city and the officer. SENT: 710 words,
WAREHOUSE-SHOOTING-SPRINGFIELD — The 48-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting two coworkers and critically wounding another at a central Illinois warehouse dies after apparently shooting himself, the city’s police chief says. SENT: 560 words, photos.
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GM-FIAT-CHRYSLER — General Motors asks a federal appeals court to overturn an order that requires its CEO to meet with the head of Fiat Chrysler by next week to try to settle a lawsuit related to corruption by union leaders. SENT: 360 words.
BORDEN-DAIRY SALE — Elsie the cow has a new home. Borden dairy, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, has been sold to two private equity firms. By Business Writer Dee-Ann Durbin. SENT: 260 words, photo.
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ISRAEL-IRAN-TV SHOW — Israel’s latest hit TV series takes the viewers straight into the heart of the country’s archenemy Iran. “Tehran” tells the story of Tamar Rabinyan, a young Mossad operative tasked with hacking into and disabling an Iranian nuclear reactor so the Israeli military can carry out an airstrike. But when the mission goes wrong, the agent goes rogue, falls in love with a local pro-democracy activist and rediscovers her Iranian roots in the city of her birth. SENT: 680 words, photos.
OBIT-MILTON-GLASER — Milton Glaser, the groundbreaking graphic designer who adorned Bob Dylan’s silhouette with psychedelic hair and summed up the feelings for his native New York with “I (HEART) NY,” died Friday, his 91st birthday. The cause was a stroke and Glaser had also had renal failure, his wife, Shirley Glaser, told The New York Times. SENT: 810 words, photos.
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NBA RESTART-10 THINGS — There’s still a lot of time before NBA games are back for real. But with the deals now done and the schedule for the Disney restart now out, here are some storylines to follow in the coming weeks and when play resumes starting July 30. Among them: how the race for the final West playoff spot should be hectic, how Orlando will be at home but on the road, and why Disney is going to look very familiar for a slew of NBA players. By Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.
BASEBALL’S RETURN-SUMMER CAMP — Major league teams are planning to jump right into their preparation for the season when they start working out again next week. The first few days of camp will see much more strenuous work compared to the beginning of spring training. The reason is time. When full-squad workouts begin again, there will only be about three weeks before opening day. It’s a tricky balance for players trying to get their teams ready while also worrying about potential health issues that could pop up with more frequency during a truncated training period. By Sports Writer Jay Cohen. SENT: 800 words, photos.
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