AP News Digest 6:15 p.m.
Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All Times EST. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan at https://newsroom.ap.org.
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NEW/DEVELOPING
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Adds BARR-ELECTION FRAUD, PEOPLE-ELLIOT PAGE, FILM-PANDEMIC-DOCUMENTARY, TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE, DEVOS-FREE COLLEGE, ELECTION 2020-GEORGIA, UNITED STATES-ISLAMIC STATE, ISRAEL-POLITICS, ARGENTINA-MARADONA-INVESTIGATION, ARIZONA-OFFICIAL-ADOPTION FRAUD, PENN STATE-ABUSE, SPORTS BETTING, SUPREME COURT-NESTLE-CARGILL, US WOMEN-EQUAL PAY, BUFFALO-PATTERSON.
ELECTION 2020-HOUSE-GEORGIA — Polls close 7 p.m.
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ONLY ON AP
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BARR-ELECTION FRAUD — Attorney General William Barr says the Justice Department has not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, disputing President Donald Trump’s baseless but persistent claims. Barr’s comments in an interview with the AP come despite Trump’s concerted effort to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election and the president’s refusal to concede his loss to President-elect Joe Biden. By Michael Balsamo. SENT: 930 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-US SURGE — Nearly 37,000 people died of COVID-19 in the U.S. in November, the most in any month since the dark early days of the pandemic, engulfing families in grief, filling up obituary pages of small-town newspapers and testing the capacity of morgues, funeral homes and hospitals. By Tammy Webber and Heather Hollingsworth. SENT: 800 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — Health care workers and nursing home residents should be at the front of the line when the first coronavirus vaccine shots become available, an influential government advisory panel decides. By Medical Writer Mike Stobbe. SENT: 1,000 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-EUROPE-VACCINES — EU eyes Dec 29 approval for 1st virus vaccine, later than US. SENT: 970 words, photo. VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINE-TIMELINE (sent).
BIDEN — President-elect Joe Biden introduces top advisers he says will help his administration rebuild an economy hammered by the coronavirus pandemic. The liberal advisers have long prioritized the nation’s workers and government efforts to address economic inequality. By Zeke Miller and Will Weissert. SENT: 960 words, photos, video.
NASDAQ-BOARDROOM DIVERSITY — Nasdaq pushes for the more than 3,000 companies listed on its U.S. stock exchange to make their boardrooms less overwhelmingly male and white by hiring directors that better reflect the country’s diverse population. Nasdaq’s plan ups the stakes in what was already a widening push around the world for more diversity on corporate boards. By Michelle Chapman and Stan Choe. SENT: 880 words, photos.
BRAZIL BANK ROBBERY — Dozens of criminals armed with assault rifles invade a city in southern Brazil, taking control of the streets as they hold residents hostage and attack a local bank. It isn’t immediately known how much money was stolen. By David Biller. SENT: 690 words, photos.
YE-TOP PHOTOS 2020 — The world that AP photographers captured in 2020 was beset by every sort of catastrophe — natural and unnatural disaster, violent and non-violent conflict. And, in every corner of that world, the coronavirus. By Jerry Schwartz. SENT: 360 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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PEOPLE-ELLIOT PAGE — The Oscar-nominated actor who starred in “Juno,” “Inception” and “The Umbrella Academy” has come out as transgende. Elliot Page makes the announcement in a moment greeted as a watershed for the trans community in Hollywood. SENT: 360 words, photo.
CHINA MOON PROBE — The Chinese government says a robot probe launched to return lunar rocks to Earth has landed on the moon. SENT: 320 words, photo.
MYSTERIOUS-MONOLITH — New clues surface in the disappearance of a gleaming monolith in Utah that seemed to melt away as mysteriously as it appeared in the red-rock desert. SENT: 400 words, photo.
SALESFORCE-SLACK — Salesforce.com is buying work-chatting service Slack for $27.7B in a deal aimed at giving the companies a better shot at competing against industry power Microsoft. SENT: 500 words, photo.
TV-BIG SKY-INDIAN PROTESTS — ABC’s new Montana-set drama series “Big Sky” is under fire from Native American groups for failing to acknowledge violence against Indigenous women. SENT: 770 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell says he’s sticking with his scaled-back COVID-19 relief bill with the goal of passing a significant down payment during the lame-duck session and then revisiting the topic next year. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
TRUMP-FDA CHIEF — The head of the agency responsible for approving COVID-19 vaccines says federal officials will take the time needed to get the vaccine right. SENT: 980 words, photo.
FILM-PANDEMIC-DOCUMENTARY — “76 Days,” a documentary shot in Wuhan hospitals in January and February, captures a local horror before it became a global nightmare. By Film Writer Jake Coyle. SENT: 790 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-ASYLUM SEEKERS SCHOOL — Pop-up school for U.S. asylum seekers thrives despite pandemic. SENT: 690 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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TRUMP-FUNDRAISING — President Trump has raised roughly $170 million since his Election Day loss, a sum garnered through a nonstop stream of emails requesting contributions for a “election defense fund.” SENT: 560 words, photo.
TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE — Attorney General William Barr bestows extra protection to the prosecutor he appointed to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, giving him the authority of a special counsel to complete his work without being easily fired. SENT: 580 words, photo.
ELECTION 2020-WISCONSIN — President Trump files suit in Wisconsin seeking to disqualify hundreds of thousands of ballots in a longshot attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the battleground state. SENT: 590 words, photos. With ELECTION 2020-PENNSYLVANIA-MAIL-IN VOTING — U.S. Supreme Court asked to block Biden win in Pennsylvania. SENT: 220 words, photos.
DEVOS-FREE COLLEGE — In a veiled swing at President-elect Biden’s education plans, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos blasts the push for free college as a “socialist takeover of higher education” that could damage the nation’s economy. SENT: 510 words, photo.
UNITED STATES-ISLAMIC STATE — The civilian official overseeing the Pentagon’s campaign to defeat the Islamic State group in the Middle East resigns in the latest jolt to Pentagon leadership in the waning weeks of the Trump administration. SENT: 280 words, photo.
ELECTION 2020-GEORGIA — A top Georgia elections official lashes out at the rhetoric surrounding the election and the threats of violence that have resulted. SENT: 350 words, photos. With ELECTION 2020-HOUSE-GEORGIA — Voters deciding who to send to Washington to briefly fill seat of late civil rights legend John Lewis. SENT: 380 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing; polls close 7 p.m.
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AZERBAIJAN-ARMENIA — Azerbaijan finishes reclaiming territory held by Armenian forces for more than a quarter-century after a peace deal ended six weeks of fierce fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh. SENT: 700 words, photos.
ISRAEL-POLITICS — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief governing partner says he will vote in favor of a proposal to dissolve their troubled coalition. SENT: 800 words, photo.
ETHIOPIA MILITARY CONFRONTATION— The United Nations says food has run out for the nearly 100,000 refugees from Eritrea who have been sheltering in camps in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, which has been cut off from the world for nearly a month amid fighting. SENT: 420 words, photos.
BREXIT — The British government tells businesses to make sure they are ready for big changes when the U.K. makes its final Brexit break from the European Union in exactly a month. SENT: 530 words, photos.
GERMANY-CAR CRASH — A man zig-zags an SUV at high speed through a pedestrian zone in the southwestern German city of Trier, killing five people, including a 9-month-old child, and seriously injuring more than a dozen, officials say. SENT: 600 words, photos.
ARGENTINA-MARADONA-INVESTIGATION — The investigation into Diego Maradona’s death has brought police raids on the office and home of the psychiatrist who cared for the soccer star and is being investigated for possible medical negligence. SENT: 340 words, photos.
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BILL COSBY — Pennsylvania's Supreme Court hears arguments in Bill Cosby's appeal. The 83-year-old Cosby is hoping to overturn his 2018 sex assault conviction because the judge let prosecutors call five other accusers to testify. SENT: 660 words, photos.
ARIZONA-OFFICIAL-ADOPTION FRAUD — A former Arizona politician who admitted running an illegal adoption scheme in three states involving women from the Marshall Islands is sentenced to six years in federal prison. SENT: 710 words, photos.
PENN STATE-ABUSE — A federal appeals court is reinstating former Penn State President Graham Spanier’s conviction for child endangerment over his handling of a report that former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused a child. SENT: 490 words, photos.
PUERTO RICO-OBSERVATORY COLLAPSE — A huge, already damaged radio telescope in Puerto Rico that has played a key role in astronomical discoveries for more than half a century has completely collapsed. SENT: 800 words, photos.
SPORTS BETTING — Huge holes in state budgets due to the pandemic and the demonstrated eagerness of fans to bet on sports are likely to spur a further expansion of sports betting and online casino gambling, experts say. SENT: 700 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Wall Street kicks off December with more milestones after a broad rally for stocks pushes the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite to new highs. SENT: 800 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-NESTLE-CARGILL — The Supreme Court seems concerned about the impact of siding with food giants Nestle and Cargill and ending a lawsuit that claims they knowingly bought cocoa beans from farms in Africa that used child slave labor. SENT: 550 words, photo.
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HEALTH/SCIENCE
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AP INTERVIEW-NUNEZ-SMITH — A top adviser to President-elect Joe Biden on the pandemic response says addressing racial disparities cannot be an afterthought. By Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson. SENT: 700 words, photos.
THREATENED PINE TREES-GRIZZLIES — Climate change, voracious beetles and disease are imperiling the long-term survival of a high-elevation pine tree that’s a key source of food for some grizzly bears and found across the U.S. West, officials say. SENT: 410 words, photos.
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US WOMEN-EQUAL PAY — U.S. Soccer and the women’s national team settle the players’ legal claim over inequitable working conditions, putting to rest a part of the team’s gender discrimination lawsuit. SENT: 620 words, photos.
BUFFALO-PATTERSON — Buffalo's Jaret Patterson, an undersized running back, is the talk of college football after generating 409 yards rushing and scoring eight touchdowns in a drubbing of Kent State. UPCOMING: 700 words by 7 p.m., photos.
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TV-PETRI HAWKINS-BYRD — Bailiff Petri Hawkins-Byrd has stood side-by-side with Judith Sheindlin during approximately 12,500 cases on the hit show “Judge Judy.” But after 25 years, the show is coming to an end. SENT: 890 words, photos, video.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Mike Stewart can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, 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.