AP News Digest 3 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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VENEZUELA-AMERICAN MERCENARY — Some 300 heavily armed volunteers planned to sneak into Venezuela and ignite a popular rebellion that would end in President Nicolas Maduro’s arrest. But instead the ringleader of the plot is jailed in the U.S. on narcotics charges and his former Green Beret adviser is facing questions about his visits to secret training camps in Colombia. By Joshua Goodman. SENT: 3,030 words, photos. An abridged version is also available.
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK — Russia reports its highest one-day jump in new coronavirus infections as some other countries and U.S. states where numbers of cases are stabilizing allowed businesses and public activities to reopen. China, where the pandemic began in December, reports a single new infection, extending a steady decline in confirmed cases. The country has allowed factories and some other businesses to resume work, along with some tourist spots for this weekend’s May Day holiday. By Joe McDonald. SENT: 850 words, photos. With VIRUS-OUTBREAK-THE-LATEST, VIRUS OUTBREAK-WHAT’S HAPPENING.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PROTESTS — Gun-carrying protesters have been a common sight at demonstrations calling for coronavirus-related restrictions to be lifted. But an armed militia’s involvement in an angry protest in the Michigan statehouse Thursday marked an escalation that has drawn alarmed reactions. By Sara Burnett. SENT: 990 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-HOSPITAL LOBBYING — The Greater New York Hospital Association, which represents health care providers at the epicenter of the pandemic, is a nonprofit organization. But it has the balance sheet of a robust private company, pays executive salaries that top $3 million and has spent millions more to lobby in Washington for some of the nation’s most profitable hospitals. By Brian Slodysko and Richard Lardner. SENT: 1,160 words, photo.
NKOREA-KIM — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made his first public appearance in 20 days as he celebrated the completion of a fertilizer factory near Pyongyang, state media says, ending an absence that had triggered global rumors that he may be seriously ill. By Kim Tong-Hyung. SENT: 940 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-BURIAL AIRLIFT — Air travel to Israel has come to a near standstill due to coronavirus restrictions, but one type of voyage still endures: the final journey of Jews wishing to be buried in Israel. For centuries, Jews have sought to be interred in the Holy Land, going to great lengths to secure their final resting place in the land of their biblical forefathers. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FARMERS-MARKETS — Farmers, growers and operators of open-air markets are heading into a busy time of the year as many states still are under stay-at-home orders for residents and non-essential businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Shoppers venturing out this year are just as likely to come across tables of hand sanitizer and face mask-wearing produce peddlers as they are to see bushels of corn, quarts of blueberries or flats of petunias. SENT: 780 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-US RESPONSE — The U.S. government was slow to understand how much coronavirus was spreading from Europe, which helped drive the acceleration of outbreaks across the nation, a top health official says. By Medical Writer Mike Stobbe. SENT: 740 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA-COUNTY-REOPENS — The lights are back on at restaurants, bars and other businesses in California’s Modoc County after nearly six weeks. The county of 9,000 in the far northeast of the state became the first to reopen, in defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-home order. SENT: 730 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW YORK NURSING HOME — A New York City nursing home reports the deaths of 98 residents believed to have had the coronavirus — a staggering death toll that shocked public officials. SENT: 670 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-NEW-MEXICO — A modern-day trading post on the southern outskirts of the Navajo Nation was on lockdown over the weekend under the watch of National Guard troops and state police to discourage nonessential travel and commerce as local coronavirus infections soar. SENT: 630 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-OLDER-PEOPLE — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the COVID-19 pandemic is causing “untold fear and suffering” for older people around the world who are dying at a higher rate, and especially for those over age 80, whose fatality rate is five times the global average. SENT: 540 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GRIEF UNCORKED-PHOTO GALLERY — As body after body has passed through his rubber-gloved hands, sealed in double-layered bags for disposal, Paris undertaker Franck Vasseur has become increasingly concerned about the future after the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 520 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SEA OF GALILEE — The Sea of Galilee in northern Israel is at its highest level in two decades after an especially rainy winter, but the beaches and major Christian sites along its banks are empty. Tourism usually peaks in April, when Christians flock to the holy sites during the Easter season and Israelis descend on the beaches and nearby national parks to enjoy the spring weather and see the wildflowers bloom. This year, that coincided with a lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus. SENT: 450 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ABORTION — Arkansas’ only surgical abortion clinic challenges a state rule requiring coronavirus tests before elective surgeries, saying it’s preventing women from having the procedure. SENT: 260 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — South Korea reports six fresh cases of the coronavirus, continuing a monthlong streak of below 100, as infections continue to wane in the hardest-hit city of Daegu. Figures released by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention brought national figures to 10,780 confirmed cases and 250 virus-related deaths. SENT: 160 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-HONG KONG MALL PROTEST — Hong Kong police use pepper spray to clear May Day protest (sent).
A separate advisory has been sent outlining AP’s complete coronavirus coverage.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-TV-CRITICS MEETING — TV critics event that showcases new series is canceled. By Television Writer Lynn Elber. SENT: 180 words, photo.
BLUE-BELL-CHARGES — Blue Bell pleads in ice cream listeria case; ex-CEO charged. SENT: 230 words, photo.
NOT-REAL-NEWS — This week’s Not Real News exposes several falsehoods spreading online. Among them a photo said to show Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden kissing a young girl. It isn’t Biden but it is a president. SENT: 2,170 words, photos.
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ELECTION 2020-BIDEN-DEMOCRATS — Democrats are standing behind presidential nominee Joe Biden, but the sexual assault allegations against him are putting them on the defensive. And that’s causing discomfort among Biden supporters who insisted during Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings that female accusers should be believed. SENT: 880 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page on APNewsroom.
UNITED STATES-SAUDI ARABIA — A beleaguered Saudi Arabia has begun taking modest steps to improve its human rights record as it tries to navigate the coronavirus pandemic and the fallout from plunging oil prices that have rankled the United States. By Matthew Lee and Aya Batrawy. SENT: 960 words, photo.
CUBAN EMBASSY SHOOTING — A Cuban man who sought asylum in the U.S. opened fire with an AK-47 at the Cuban Embassy in Washington, spraying the front of the building with nearly three dozen rounds because he wanted to “get them before they could get him,” according to court papers. SENT: 870 words, photos.
WHITE HOUSE-DOCTOR INVESTIGATION — Jerome Corsi, a conspiracy theorist who was a target in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, says the Justice Department is now scrutinizing his communications with a doctor who has touted an anti-malaria drug as a treatment for the new coronavirus. By Michael Balsamo and Aamer Madhani. SENT: 770 words, photo.
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SYRIA-FALLEN TYCOON — A cousin who has been a bulwark of support for President Bashar Assad posted a homemade video on Facebook pleading with the Syrian leader to prevent the collapse of his major telecommunication company through what he called excessive and “unjust” taxation. The unprecedented video pries open what has been rumored as a major rift in the tight-knit Assad family, which has ruled Syria for nearly 50 years. SENT: 770 words, photo.
UNITED NATIONS-US-TAIWAN-CHINA — The United States tweeted its support for Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations, provoking a sharp response from China expressing “strong indignation and firm opposition.” The tweet from the U.S. Mission to the United Nations says the 193-member global organization was founded to serve “all voices,” welcome “a diversity of views and perspectives” and promote human rights. SENT: 460 words.
VENEZUELA-PRISON RIOT — A riot erupts at a prison in central Venezuela, killing at least 40 people and injuring 50 more, including a National Guard officer who was wounded by an explosion and the warden, who suffered a knife wound, authorities say. SENT: 300 words.
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HARVARD-EPSTEIN FUNDING — Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein visited Harvard University’s campus more than 40 times after his 2008 sex crimes conviction and was given his own office and unfettered access to a research center he helped establish, according to a review of his ties to the school. By Education Writer Collin Binkley. SENT: 840 words, photo.
BEER WARS-CORN SYRUP — A federal appeals court strikes down a lower court’s ruling in favor of brewing giant Molson Coors, determining that Anheuser-Busch can advertise and use packaging implying that its rival beers contain corn syrup. SENT: 430 words.
UNIVERSITY-OF-MICHIGAN-DOCTOR — A former wrestler who claims he was sexually assaulted by a University of Michigan sports doctor waited too long to file a lawsuit, the school says as it asked a judge to dismiss the case. SENT: 320 words.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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VIRGIN-GALACTIC — Virgin Galactic’s spaceship VSS Unity landed in the New Mexico desert on Friday, marking its first glide flight from Spaceport America as the company moves toward commercial operations. SENT: 510 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks ended lower on Wall Street, giving up their gains for the week, after Amazon and other big companies laid out how the coronavirus pandemic is hitting their bottom lines. . SENT: 910 words, photos.
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CALL-TO-UNITE-EVENT — Oprah Winfrey says she wants people to digest coronavirus news wisely during the a 24-hour livestream event. The media mogul along with 200 star-studded participants including President Bill Clinton and Julia Roberts took part in the Call to Unite event on Friday evening. By Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. SENT: 520 words, photos.
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SOC—EQUAL PAY — A federal judge threw out the unequal pay claim by players on the U.S. women’s national soccer team in a surprising loss for the defending World Cup champions but allowed their allegation of discriminatory travel accommodations and medical support services to go to trial. Players led by Alex Morgan claim they have not been paid equally under their collective bargaining agreement to what the men’s national team receives under its labor deal. By Anne M. Peterson and Ronald Blum. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPORTS TESTING — No one is certain how many coronavirus tests the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball would need before they can play again. But it would surely be a lot. That remains the biggest challenge before most sports resume. By Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
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