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 BIDEN-INTERIOR DEPARTMENT, VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINE-STATES, VIRUS OUTBREAK-US SURGE, VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FEDERAL-EXECUTIONS, VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VACCINES-NATIVE-AMERICANS, VIRUS OUTBREAK-CARIBBEAN-US, VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BETHLEHEM-CHRISTMAS, IRAQ-ECONOMY, FLORIDA WETLANDS, HOUSE-JOE CUNNINGHAM
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FEDERAL AGENCIES HACKED — Federal authorities express increased alarm about an intrusion into U.S. and other computer systems around the globe that officials suspect was carried out by Russian hackers. The nation’s cybersecurity agency warns of a “grave” risk to government and private networks. By Ben Fox. SENT: 860 words, photos.
MED-VIRUS OUTBREAK VACCINE — A government advisory panel has endorsed a second COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for the shot to be added to the U.S. vaccination campaign. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to follow the recommendation for the vaccine from Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. The FDA advisers, in a 20-0 vote, agreed the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks for those 18 years old and up. By Matthew Perrone and Lauran Neergaard. SENT: 860 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINE-STATES — Several states have been told to expect far fewer doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in its second week of distribution, but the reason remains a mystery as the company said that its production expectations remain unchanged. By Jim Salter and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. SENT: 700 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — Congressional negotiators on a must-pass, almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package struggle through a handful of remaining snags. The holdups mean a weekend session now appears virtually certain, along with a stopgap spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown at midnight Friday. By Andrew Taylor. SENT: 900 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing, 950 words by 10 p.m.
NIGERIA-BOKO HARAM ATTACK — More than 300 schoolboys abducted last week by armed men in northwestern Nigeria have been released, the Katsina state governor says. More than 800 students were at the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, when it was attacked Dec. 11 by armed men. Hundreds escaped and it was believed there were more than 330 still captive. By Carley Petesch and Haruna Umar. SENT: 980 words, photo.
AFGHANISTAN-MILLEY — In his three tours of Afghanistan, Gen. Mark Milley regarded the Taliban as a formidable foe, one unlikely to “fade away in the dust.” This week, Milley, now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sat across a negotiating table with leaders of the militant group that will remain a force in Afghanistan even as the U.S. sends its troops home. By Robert Burns. SENT: 910 words. photos.
YE-VIRUS OUTBREAK-STUBBORN MISINFORMATION — An overwhelming amount of false information about COVID-19 followed the coronavirus as it circled the globe over the past year. Public health officials, fact checkers and doctors tried to quash hundreds of rumors, including speculation that the virus was created in a lab and hoax cures. But with the U.S., England and Canada now administering vaccines to millions of people, many falsehoods are seeing a resurgence online. By Amanda Seitz and Beatrice Dupuy. SENT: 940 words, photos.
Find more year-end coverage on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BETHLEHEM-CHRISTMAS — Christmas celebrations in the birthplace of Jesus will be limited to just a handful of people this year as Palestinian officials announced a strict new lockdown across the West Bank. SENT: 360 words, photos.
HOUSE-JOE CUNNINGHAM — Congressman cracks open beer in final US House speech. SENT: 400 words, photos.
FRANCE-EPSTEIN PROBE — Model’s ‘tears of joy’ as agent held over alleged sex crimes. SENT: 550 words, photos.
POT ARREST — Man jailed for life over $20 marijuana sale has been freed. SENT: 250 words.
ONE-GOOD-THING-ESTONIA-STRAY-DOG — Estonians erect statue and give home to beloved stray dog. SENT: 600 words, photos.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-US SURGE — Hospitals across California have all but run out of intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients, ambulances are backing up outside emergency rooms, and tents for triaging the sick are going up as the nation’s most populous state emerges as the latest epicenter of the U.S. outbreak. SENT: 950 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THINGS TO KNOW, VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST (both sent)
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FEDERAL-EXECUTIONS — An inmate scheduled to be executed just days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office has tested positive for coronavirus. The diagnosis comes amid concern about an exploding number of coronavirus cases in the federal prison system and at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, where the executions are carried out. By Michael Balsamo and Michael Tarm. SENT: 530 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FRANCE — Wearing a white medical mask, French President Emmanuel Macron went ahead with a planned speech by videoconference, hours after testing positive for COVID-19 following a week in which he met with numerous European leaders. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VACCINES-NATIVE-AMERICANS — The first doses of the coronavirus vaccine are being administered in Native American communities from the desert highlands of New Mexico to a coastal fishing tribe outside Seattle as the federal government and states rush to protect one of the most vulnerable U.S. populations. SENT: 950 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose again last week to 885,000, the highest weekly total since September, as a resurgence of coronavirus cases threatens the economy’s recovery from its springtime collapse. SENT: 890 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-EVICTIONS — States and cities that passed eviction moratoriums amid the coronavirus-battered economy are wrestling with what comes next. The plight of renters who can’t pay and face eviction foreshadows a national crisis that’s expected to grow next year. SENT: 970 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SAFE SANTAS-PHOTO GALLERY —It’s Christmas in 2020, and everything is different. Santa sits behind plexiglass, or in a life-sized snow globe. Some Santas need to wear a face mask, and then, of course, there’s Zoom Santa. Yet the kids keep coming, and as one Santa says, “It’s different this year, but it’s still magical.” SENT: 430 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VIRAL-QUESTIONS-VACCINES-KIDS — COVID-19 vaccinations have started in the U.S., but children won’t be able to get them until there’s enough study data showing the shots are safe and effective for younger ages as well. SENT: 300 words, graphic.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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BIDEN-INTERIOR DEPARTMENT — President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as interior secretary. The historic pick would make her the first Native American to lead the powerful federal agency that has wielded influence over the nation’s tribes for generations. By Ellen Knickmeyer. SENT: 990 words, photos. With BIDEN-CABINET — Biden offers the leadership of the Environmental Protection Agency to Michael Regan, a North Carolina regulator who’s made a name pursuing cleanups of industrial toxins and helping low-income and minority communities hit hardest by pollution. SENT: 670 words, photos.
SENATE-GEORGIA — Vice President Mike Pence is seemingly holding rallies everywhere in Georgia lately — except Atlanta and its inner suburbs. The anywhere-but-Atlanta strategy is a window into the new political geography that put Georgia in the Democrats’ presidential win column for the first time since 1992. By Ben Nadler and Bill Barrow. SENT: 780 words, photos, video.
TRUMP-MAR-A-LAGO — President Trump’s expected move to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after he leaves office next month is being challenged by a neighbor. The neighbor’s lawyer says a 1990s agreement between Trump and the Town of Palm Beach prohibits anyone from living there, including him. SENT: 920 words, photo.
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RUSSIA-PUTIN — Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected allegations that the Kremlin was behind the poisoning of his top political foe, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and accused U.S. intelligence agencies of fomenting the claims even as he held out hope for better ties with Washington. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
IRAQ-ECONOMY — A leaked draft of Iraq’s state budget sent Iraqis into a panic as it confirmed the government’s intentions to devalue the national currency, the Iraqi dinar, and cut salaries to cope with the impacts of a severe economic crisis. SENT: 670 words, photos.
TUNISIA-ARAB SPRING-SELF-IMMOLATION — Hundreds of desperate Tunisians have set themselves on fire over the past 10 years in an act of protest, following the example of 26-year-old fruit seller Mohammed Bouazizi, whose self-immolation in 2010 led to the downfall of Tunisia’s dictator of 23 years. Bouazizi’s public suicide unleashed the Arab Spring uprisings and a decade of crackdowns and civil wars across the region. While Tunisia now has more civil liberties and freedom of expression, it is plagued by an ever-worsening economic crisis. SENT: 1,120 words, photos. With TUNISIA-REVOLUTION TRIGGER — The economically troubled region where Bouazizi's self-immolation took place is still waiting a decade later to reap rewards from the uprising. SENT: 370 words, photos.
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WINTRY WEATHER — The Northeast’s first whopper snowstorm of the season buried parts of upstate New York under more than 3 feet of snow, broke records in cities and towns across the region, and left plow drivers struggling to clear the roads as snow piled up at more than 4 inches per hour. SENT: 720 words, photos. With WINTRY-WEATHER-SNOW DAYS — Add snow days to the list of things that coronavirus has stolen from some children. SENT: 850 words, photos.
OPIOID CRISIS-PURDUE — Two of the owners of the company that makes OxyContin acknowledged to a congressional committee that the powerful prescription painkiller has played a role in the national opioid crisis but stopped short of apologizing or admitting wrongdoing. SENT: 970 words, photos.
FLORIDA WETLANDS — The federal government granted Florida’s request for wider authority over wetland development, a move announced Thursday that came under immediate fire by environmentalist who worry that the country’s largest network of wetlands could be at risk of being further degraded. SENT: 680 words, photos.
MAN RUN OVER-DEPUTY — A Kansas sheriff’s deputy is the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging excessive force. Dashcam video shows Kiowa County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Rodriguez mowing down Lionel Womack as he runs, shirtless, across a dark field in August. SENT: 990 words, photo.
BORDER WALL ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE — Government contractors are igniting dynamite blasts in the remote and rugged southeast corner of Arizona, forever reshaping the landscape as they pulverize mountaintops. The pace to build President Trump’s border wall has picked up in his last weeks in office. It’s created environmental damage, the worst of it along Arizona’s border. Century-old saguaro cactuses have been toppled, and ponds with endangered fish are shrinking. SENT: 990 words, photos.
MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING PLOT — A federal grand jury has charged six men with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in what investigators say was a plot by anti-government extremists who were angry over her coronavirus policies. SENT: 430 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Major U.S. stock indexes climbed to new highs as investors remained optimistic that Washington will deliver another round of financial support for the economy and as vaccines begin slowly rolling out to the public. SENT: 580 words, photo.
GOOGLE-LAWSUIT — Dozens of states file an antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging that the search giant has an illegal monopoly over the online search market that hurts consumers and advertisers. SENT: 700 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-OFFICE-PARTIES — With dancing, drinking and fancy dinners a no-go because of virus concerns, companies are getting creative about their holiday office parties this year. SENT: 860 words, photo.
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YE-AP BREAKTHROUGH ENTERTAINERS-FINNEAS — In 2020, Finneas has emerged as a vibrant addition to the world of music, writing songs, recording his own music and serving as producer and engineer to his younger sister, Billie Eilish. He’s among the AP’s Breakthrough Entertainers this year. SENT: 820 words, photos, video.
YE-AP BREAKTHROUGH ENTERTAINERS-SARAH COOPER — Months after Sarah Cooper’s videos lip-syncing President Donald Trump’s words made her social media sensation, the comedian was filming her own hour-long Netflix special alongside anyone’s dream guest stars: Helen Mirren, Marisa Tomei, Ben Stiller, Jon Hamm and Winona Ryder. SENT: 830 words, photos and video.
Find more year-end coverage on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
SMITHSONIAN-EMOJI ACQUISITION — The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has acquired two emoji that have helped broaden diversity for users of the tiny pictures. It becomes the third museum to add emoji to their digital collections. The New York museum acquired the “person with headscarf” and “inter-skintone couple” emoji for its burgeoning collection of digital assets. SENT: 850 words, photos.
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OLY-RUSSIAN DOPING — Russia will not be able to use its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympics or at any world championships for the next two years after a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. SENT: 770 words, photos.
FBN-CHARGERS-RAIDERS — The Las Vegas Raiders look to bounce back from a lopsided loss that cost defensive coordinator Paul Guenther his job and keep their playoff hopes alive when they host the Los Angeles Chargers. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos. Game starts at 8:20 p.m.
HKN-CAPITALS-LUNDQVIST-HEART-CONDITION — Star goalie Henrik Lundqvist says he will sit out the upcoming NHL season because of a heart condition. He announcing the news about two months after joining the Washington Capitals. SENT: 480 words, photos.
NCAA COMPENSATING ATHLETES — A bill being introduced by four Democratic lawmakers would grant college athletes sweeping rights to compensation, including a share of the revenue generated by their sports, and create a federal commission on college athletics. SENT: 770 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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