AP News Digest 2 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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VIRUS-OUTBREAK — With some Americans now paying the price for what they did over Thanksgiving and falling sick with COVID-19, health officials are warning people — begging them, even — not to make the same mistake during the Christmas and New Year’s season. “It’s a surge above the existing surge,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. “Quite honestly, it’s a warning sign for all of us.” By Carla K. Johnson and Amy Forliti. SENT: 895 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP — President Donald Trump has zeroed in on lots of big numbers this week: New highs in the stock market. The many states that have joined a lawsuit challenging his election loss. The 75 million people who voted for him. Other staggering numbers have gone unacknowledged by the president: Record coronavirus deaths in the U.S., record hospitalizations, record new cases. By Nancy Benac. UPCOMING: 750 words by 5 p.m., photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — Congress is giving itself another week to sort through messy negotiations on COVID-19 relief, but progress is scant after a bipartisan effort came up short. Neither side is willing to leave Washington for good until the problem is solved, putting the end-game firmly in the hands of congressional leadership. By Andrew Taylor. SENT: 1080 words. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m., photos.
TRUMP-CONGRESS-DEFENSE BILL — The Senate overwhelmingly approves a wide-ranging defense policy bill, sending it to President Donald Trump, despite his threat to veto the bill because it doesn’t clamp down on big tech companies he claims were biased during the election. The approval margins in both chambers would be enough to override a presidential veto. By Matthew Daly. SENT: 855 words, UPCOMING: 890 words by 5 p.m., photos.
FRANCE-BREXIT-SCENES AT THE COAST — Long lines of trucks carrying stockpiles for British companies jam the highways leading to France’s northern port of Calais. Up and down France’s northern coast, the uncertainty of Brexit is causing ripples of chaos and frustration. With just three weeks left to go before Britain is completely out of the European Union, no one knows if there will be a post-Brexit trade deal or a chaotic economic rupture between the two sides starting Jan. 1. By Jeffrey Schaeffer and Thomas Adamson. SENT: 745 words, photos. With BREXIT — British businesses and some European Union leaders urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to strike a last-minute trade deal with the EU, as the two sides told their citizens to brace for New Year upheaval in the U.K.-EU trading relationship. SENT: 570 words, photos.
NO VIVA LAS VEGAS — In an America struggling with the economic impact of coronavirus, the AP Road Trip team headed to Las Vegas, where armies of unemployed housekeepers and waitresses are struggling with unemployment. For decades, working-class neighborhoods here called out to foreigners. Beckoned by an ever-growing city with a seemingly endless appetite for workers, they came from Ethiopia and India and the Philippines -- but mostly from Latin America, especially Mexico. They changed Las Vegas. But the city’s economy has been shattered by the pandemic. To be an immigrant in Las Vegas is to see the coronavirus economy at its worst. By Tim Sullivan. SENT: 1,590 words, photos. Eds: An abridged version of 975 words is available.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-SNOW LEOPARD - A snow leopard at a Kentucky zoo is the first in the U.S. to test positive for the coronavirus, federal officials announced. SENT: 150 words.
MUSIC-TOURING SALES — Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, concert trade publication Pollstar puts the total lost revenue for the live events industry in 2020 at more than $30 billion. SENT: 330 words, photo.
GRADUATE-NICKI MINAJ — A University of Louisiana at Lafayette student who just graduated is thanking rap artist Nicki Minaj for paying his tuition. SENT: 170 words, photos.
DRUG ARREST-TEXAS PARDON — A Texas man released from prison after being pardoned by former President Obama has again been indicted on federal drug trafficking charges, according to Department of Justice officials. SENT: 200 words.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-US SURGE —The coronavirus is soaring to new records each day and prompting more states to impose curfews and business restrictions to halt the spread of a disease that has killed more than 20,000 Americans this month. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 4 p.m.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW YORK — Indoor dining restrictions will be reinstated indefinitely in New York City, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue climbing in the city and throughout the state. SENT: 425 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-DEALING-WITH-DEATH — Even for hospital staff for whom death is a constant, witnessing the loss of a fellow human being to COVID-19 is a churn of emotions. At the Paris hospital that recorded the first virus death outside Asia, nurses and paramedics in the intensive care unit have their own coping mechanisms. Some use meditation. Others try to remain detached. But in treating the critically sick, they also become involved emotionally. SENT: 1,240 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — Hong Kong has secured delivery of 15 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with the first million to arrive as early as January, the city’s leader says. SENT: 700 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN-VACCINE — Drugmakers GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi said that their potential COVID-19 vaccine won’t be ready until late next year because they need to improve the shot’s effectiveness in older people. SENT: 800 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GERMANY — Calls grew for tougher lockdown measures in Germany as the country’s disease control center reported record daily increases in both coronavirus cases and deaths. SENT: 660 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AUSTRALIA — Australia’s prime minister says that his government won’t rush approval of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine because he wants people to have confidence in the product. SENT: 700 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST — Bahrain has announced plans to give the public free coronavirus vaccines, as Saudi Arabia said it approved an inoculation by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech to fight the pandemic. SENT: 450 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA-CONFUSING MESSAGES — Local governments in California are issuing confusing messages as most of the state is under a broad shutdown order that includes an overnight curfew to try to stem record-breaking coronavirus cases that threaten to overwhelm the hospital system. SENT: 1,070 words, photos.
ONE GOOD THING-INDONESIA-VIRTUAL BAZAAR — Cash-strapped Indonesians turn to online Sunday market. SENT: 540 words, photos, video.
STRUGGLING-RESTAURANTS-PHOTO GALLERY — New York City bars, restaurants pursue adaptation to survive. SENT: 340 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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BIDEN CABINET- President-elect Joe Biden introduces five top picks for his domestic policy team, drawing on leading names from the Obama White House: Susan Rice, Tom Vilsack and Denis McDonough. He’s also tapping an Ohio congresswoman and a congressional committee veteran. SENT: 490 words. UPCOMING: Developing from 2:30 p.m. event, 700 words by 4:30 p.m., photos, video. With BIDEN-THE LATEST, developing.
TRUMP-LEGAL CHALLENGES-THE CLAIMS — The lawsuit seeking to subvert President Donald Trump’s loss makes a barrage of claims that don’t hold up under basic scrutiny, no matter how relentlessly he promotes the case and pushes lawmakers to support it. A look at some of the biggest and wildest claims in the lawsuit, and why those claims are wrong. UPCOMING: 750 words by 5 p.m., photos.
ELECTORAL COLLEGE-EXPLAINER - Voters cast their ballots for president more than a month ago, but the votes that officially matter will be cast Monday, when the Electoral College meets. Questions and answers about the Electoral College and what to expect. SENT: 845 words, photos.
Find the AP’s full coverage plan for Monday’s Electoral College vote here.
ELECTION 2020-WISCONSIN — President Trump lost a Wisconsin lawsuit seeking to disqualify more than 221,000 ballots and overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the battleground state, the latest in a string of legal defeats. SENT: 600 words, photo.
CONGRESS-MUSEUMS— A lone senator from Utah has singlehandedly blocked the bipartisan approval of two new national museums to honor American Latinos and women, arguing that “last thing we need is to further divide an already divided nation.” SENT: 540 words, photo.
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FEDERAL EXECUTIONS — The Trump administration plans to continue its unprecedented series of post-election federal executions Friday by putting to death a Louisiana truck driver who severely abused his 2-year-old daughter for weeks in 2002, then killed her by slamming her head against a truck’s windows and dashboard. Lawyers for 56-year-old Alfred Bourgeois say he has an IQ that puts him in the intellectually disabled category. SENT: 800 words, photos, developing.
SEXUAL MISCONDUCT-WEINSTEIN — Former movie producer Harvey Weinstein will remain in a New York prison for now after his lawyers and prosecutors agreed to postpone efforts to send him to California to face sexual assault charges. SENT: 280 words, photos.
NAVY SAILOR SEARCH — Search crews are combing the ocean off Southern California for a sailor who may have gone overboard from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. SENT: 100 words.
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ARGENTINA-ABORTION — Lawmakers in Argentina’s lower house passed a bill that would legalize elective abortions to the 14th week of pregnancy, a proposal from President Alberto Fernández in response to long-sought demands from women’s rights activists in the homeland of Pope Francis. The bill's prospects in the Senate are uncertain. SENT: 705 words, photos.
ETHIOPIA-MILITARY CONFRONTATION — Thousands of refugees fled camps in Ethiopia’s Tigray region as war swept through, food ran out and colleagues were reportedly attacked. But Ethiopia’s government said it’s returning the “misinformed” refugees back to their camps near Eritrea, the country they originally fled. SENT: 875 words, photos.
LEBANON — Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group criticized charges filed by a prosecutor against the caretaker prime minister and three former ministers over the massive explosion in Beirut’s port, describing it as “political targeting.” SENT: 675 words, photos.
SOUTH SUDAN-HUNGER CRISIS — One county in South Sudan is likely in famine and tens of thousands of people in five other counties are on the brink of starvation, according to a new report by international food security experts. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VENEZUELA-WHEELCHAIR CHALLENGES — Working, studying or even leaving one’s home can be a challenge for someone in a wheelchair in Venezuela, where a once-lauded law defending their rights and requiring that buildings be adapted for their use has never been applied. SENT: 495 words, photos.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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CLIMATE-PARIS SUMMIT — Five years after the historic climate deal in Paris, world leaders are again meeting to increase efforts to fight global warming. Experts say data shows the Paris accord is working to some degree. Although the long-term forecast for global warming still looks bleak, the outlook is not quite as catastrophic as it once was. SENT: 845 words, photos. WITH: CLIMATE-NET ZERO — More than 100 countries — responsible for about two-thirds of the world’s heat-trapping gases — have announced plans to cut their greenhouse gas emissions to “net zero” in coming decades to help curb man-made climate change. UPCOMING: 550 words, photos by 5 p.m.; EUROPE-CLIMATE — EU leaders agree to reduce emissions after all-night talks. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRGIN GALACTIC-TEST FLIGHT — The window opens for Virgin Galactic’s first rocket-powered test flight from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico as the company prepares for commercial flights next year. SENT: 540 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-HOLIDAY SHIPPING — A number of retailers, including J.C. Penney, Lowe’s and Kohl’s, are telling shoppers they need to place their online orders soon or else pay expedited shipping fees if they want to get their packages delivered in time for the holidays. The earlier-than-usual deadlines come as more people turn to online shopping during the pandemic, creating a logjam for shipping companies as well as delivery delays. SENT: 975 words, photos.
OFF THE CHARTS-FAST FORWARD MARKETS — Time stood still for most of the world in 2020, as lockdown life had every day bleeding into the next. But for Wall Street, it’s been a year locked in at super fast-forward. The stock market tumbled through years’ worth of losses in just over a month this spring, only to turn around and pack an entire bull market’s worth of gains into less than nine months. SENT: 800 words, photos. WITH: FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Stocks were lower as prospects for another aid package from Washington faded. SENT: 500 words, photo.
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YE-ENTERTAINMENT-MAKING 2020 BETTER – Nothing about 2020 has been normal, but these stars and those inspired by them have tried to do good and brighten a bleak year. SENT: 1,350 words, photos, video.
Find more year-end coverage on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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OLY-TOKYO-MORE SPONSORS NEEDED — Domestic sponsors already have contributed a record $3.3 billion to help pay for the Tokyo Olympics. Now they’re being asked to pay millions more to cover some of the soaring costs of the one-year postponement. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
BKC--MESSY START — The start of the college basketball season has been marred by positive coronavirus tests, cancellations and games scheduled on the fly. Even some prominent coaches wonder if it’s worth playing through a pandemic. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 5 p.m.
BBO-COLLEGE SUMMER LEAGUES — From Cape Cod to Alaska, wood-bat college summer leagues are monitoring closely as Major League Baseball reshuffles its development pipeline and enters the amateur space. While top-level college showcases like the Cape Cod League don’t expect to lose many players, others are concerned MLB’s realignment could compound challenges already created by the coronavirus pandemic and other changes in player development that have limited the player pool. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Richard A. Somma can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Donald E. King (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, Phil Holm (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