AP News Digest 2 p.m.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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
______________________________
IRAN-THREAT–FORT-MCNAIR — Iran has made threats against an Army base in the nation’s capital and against the Army’s vice chief of staff. That’s according to two senior U.S. intelligence officials. The threats are one reason the Army has pushed for more security around Fort McNair, which sits alongside Washington’s bustling Waterfront District. City leaders are fighting the Army’s plan to add a wide buffer zone from the shore of the Washington Channel. That plan would cut off access to as much as half the width of the busy waterway. By James LaPorta. SENT: 930 words, photos, graphic.
_____________
TOP STORIES
_____________
BIDEN-BORDER — The Biden administration is scrambling to manage a growing humanitarian and political challenge at the U.S.-Mexico border that threatens to overshadow its ambitious legislative agenda. By Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 890 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — Despite the clamor to speed up the U.S. vaccination drive against COVID-19 and get the country back to normal, the first three months of the rollout suggest faster is not necessarily better. A surprising new analysis found that states such as South Carolina, Florida and Missouri that raced ahead of others to offer the vaccine to ever-larger groups of people have vaccinated smaller shares of their population than those that moved more slowly and methodically, such as Hawaii and Connecticut. By Carla K. Johnson and Nicky Forster. SENT: 1,140 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE-LATEST (sent).
MASSAGE-BUSINESS-SHOOTINGS-WAITING-PERIOD — Lawmakers and advocates say if the suspect in the deadly Atlanta-area shootings had been forced to wait before getting a gun, he might not have acted on his impulse. Georgia and some other states are looking to create or expand waiting periods. But gun rights groups are opposed, and the legislation may face an uphill battle. By Lindsay Whitehurst. SENT: 870 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN-UNITED-STATES — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived Sunday in Kabul on his first trip to Afghanistan as Pentagon chief, amid swirling questions about how long American troops will remain in the country. By Lolita C. Baldor and Rahim Faiez. SENT: 780 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-THE-GRANDPARENT-GAP — The first 12 months of the pandemic represent a lost year for many in the largest group of grandparents in U.S. history. No sleepovers with popcorn and Disney movies. No dance recitals or holiday pageants, let alone any Grandparents’ Day for visiting the kids’ classrooms. No hugs. Most of the nation’s some 70 million grandparents are in the fourth quarter of their lives, and the clock has kept running. That’s worsened the social isolation of COVID-19 restrictions. By Dan Sewell. SENT: 1,210 words, photos. This is the Monday Spotlight
VIRUS OUTBREAK-COUPLE DIE TOGETHER — Bill and Esther Ilnisky spent nearly seven decades together as Christian ministers and missionaries, including stints in the Caribbean and Middle East before preaching for 40 years in Florida. They complemented each other — he the bookworm, she outgoing and charismatic. One without the other seemed unthinkable. So when they died minutes apart of COVID-19 this month at a Palm Beach County hospice, it may have been a hidden blessing, their only child, Sarah Milewski, said. By Terry Spencer. SENT: 720 words, photos.
______________________________
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
______________________________
BRITAIN-PRINCE-HARRY — Prince Harry gives advice to grieving children in new book. SENT: 280 words, photos.
EGYPT-FEMINIST — Acclaimed Egyptian feminist Nawal Saadawi dies at age 89. SENT: 300 words, photos.
HOOKAH-LOUNGE-STABBING-DETROIT — Police: Man stabs 8 during fight at Detroit hookah bar. SENT: 140 words.
REL--VATICAN-RACISM — Pope decries shame of racism, like ‘virus’ lurking in wait. SENT: 200 words, photo.
AUSTRALIA-FLOODS — Australia’s most populous state hit by severe rains, floods. SENT: 200 words, photos.
FRANCE-TEDDY-BEARS-PHOTO-GALLERY — AP PHOTOS: Bookseller keeps Paris plush with teddy bears. SENT: 200 words, photos.
_________________________________
MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
_________________________________
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VETERANS-HALLS — Local bars and halls run by Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts have fallen on hard times during the coronavirus pandemic. Organizers say many risk permanent closure after states ordered them, like other bars and halls, to shutter last spring. Local veterans groups argue that their facilities aren’t simply private watering holes and should have been allowed to reopen sooner. SENT: 960 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA — In China, the problem doesn’t seem to be a shortage of vaccine. Rather, with the COVID-19 outbreak largely under control at home, not enough people want to get the shot. SENT: 460 words, photos.
SPRING BREAK-MIAMI CURFEW — Miami Beach’s commissioners are holding an emergency meeting to determine whether to extend an 8 p.m. curfew aimed at curtailing spring break crowds that got so out of hand that authorities had to call in SWAT teams. SENT: 500 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-PALESTINIANS-GAZA — The Palestinian Health Ministry began administering the first doses of coronavirus vaccines it received from the global COVAX initiative to health care workers and older residents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. SENT: 600 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-TURKEY — Turkey’s weekly regional COVID-19 figures keep increasing and deaths rising as the country maintains more relaxed restrictions for now. SENT: 270 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FRANCE-LOCKDOWN — Residents of Paris and several other regions of France spent their first weekend under a limited monthlong lockdown. While the French government insisted the rules would be less strict than in the past, the measures have been criticized as messy. SENT: 270 words.
______________________________
WASHINGTON/POLITICS
______________________________
PERSIAN GULF TENSIONS — The U.S. Navy says it will hold a major naval exercise alongside Belgium, France and Japan in the Mideast amid tensions over Iran’s nuclear program in the region. SENT: 200 words, photo.
TURKEY-WOMEN'S RIGHTS — U.S. President Joe Biden has called Turkey’s abandonment of an international agreement aimed at preventing violence against women “deeply disappointing.” SENT: 230 words.
_________________
INTERNATIONAL
_________________
REPUBLIC OF CONGO-ELECTION — Republic of Congo pressed ahead Sunday with an election in which President Denis Sassou N’Guesso is widely expected to extend his 36 years in power, while the leading opposition candidate was flown to France after suffering COVID-19 complications.. SENT: 320 words, photos.
INDIA-MYANMAR — Myanmar police officers who fled to India after they said they defied orders to shoot people protesting their country’s military coup are urging India’s government not to send them back and to grant them asylum on humanitarian grounds.. SENT: 450 words, photos. With MYANMAR — Doctors protest in Myanmar as state violence continues. SENT: 530 words, photos.
MALAYSIA-NORTH-KOREA — North Korean diplomats vacated their embassy in Malaysia and were expelled after the two nations cut diplomatic relations in a spat over the extradition of a North Korean criminal suspect to the United States. SENT: 650 words, photos. With MALAYSIA-NORTH-KOREA-EXTRADITION — North Korean man extradited to US in sanctions case. SENT: 270 words, photos.
PHILIPPINES-RESCUED HOSTAGES — Philippine troops has killed an Abu Sayyaf rebel commander blamed for years of ransom kidnappings and rescued the last of his four Indonesian captives, the military said. SENT: 480 words, photo.
SYRIA — Artillery shells fired from government areas hit a major hospital in a rebel-controlled town in northwestern Syria on Sunday, killing at least six patients, including a child, wounding medical staff and forcing the facility to shut its doors, rescuers, an aid group and activists reported. SENT: 420 words.
MALTA-CORRUPTION — A former top government aide in Malta who was investigated by a journalist later killed by a car bomb has been arraigned in a Maltese court on charges of money laundering, fraud and corruption. SENT: 540 words, photos.
THAILAND-PROTESTS — Scores of people were injured and arrested in the Thai capital after police used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a rally by pro-democracy protesters calling for the release of detained activists, constitutional changes and reform of the nation’s monarchy. SENT: 520 words, photos.
SOUTH CHINA-SEA — The Philippine defense chief demanded more than 200 Chinese vessels he said were manned by militias leave a South China Sea reef claimed by Manila, saying their presence was a “provocative action of militarizing the area.” SENT: 500 words, photo.
TURKEY-KURDS — Turkish police detained a prominent pro-Kurdish party politician who was staging a days-long protest in parliament. He was released after questioning several hours later. SENT: 590 words, photos.
JAPAN-SUGA — Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to do his utmost to prevent a resurgence of the coronavirus ahead of the Olympic torch relay and his upcoming visit to Washington. SENT: 430 words, photos.
———————————
HEALTH/SCIENCE
———————————
EXCHANGE-MARS-ROVER-NAVAJO — Native people have had ties to land in North America since time immemorial, and now that connection is expanding to the cosmos. The Perseverance rover has been on Mars for a month, collecting data and making discoveries with each passing day. A number of the findings, through a collaboration with NASA, have been catalogued in Diné Bizaad, the Navajo language. SENT: 520 words, photos.
———————
BUSINESS
———————
SMALL-BUSINESS-SUPPLY-BOTTLENECKS — A trade bottleneck born of the COVID-19 outbreak has U.S. businesses anxiously awaiting goods from Asia — while off the coast of California, dozens of container ships sit anchored, unable to unload their cargo. The pandemic has wreaked havoc with the supply chain since early 2020, when it forced the closure of factories throughout China. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
TRADE-DISPUTE-WHISKEY — A hangover from Trump-era tariff disputes could become more painful for American whiskey distillers unless their entanglement in the trans-Atlantic fight is resolved soon. Bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey were left out of recent breakthroughs to rebuild U.S trade relations with the European Union and the United Kingdom. SENT: 710 words, photo.
SAUDI-EARNS-ARAMCO — Saudi Arabia’s state-backed oil giant Aramco has announced that its profits nearly halved in 2020 to $49 billion, a big drop that came as the coronavirus pandemic roiled global energy markets. SENT: 760 words, photos.
—————-
SPORTS
—————-
BKC--NCAA-QUIET MADNESS —No bands. No cheer squads. No packed buildings filled with neutral fans suddenly throwing their support behind a plucky double-digit underdog hoping to pull off an upset. The games during the first week of the NCAA Tournament may still bring madness, but it’s a much quieter version than in the past. The joy is still there to see for the upsets and the big shots, but the roar of the big crowd won’t be heard this March. UPCOMING: 850 words, photos by 6 p.m.
___________________
HOW TO REACH US
___________________
At the Nerve Center, Dave Clark can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Donald E. King (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, 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.