AP News Digest 6 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: CHRISTMAS-DELAYED MAIL, CHILD-FOUND-IN-CEMETERY, VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BLACK-DOCTOR, RUSSIA-NAVALNY, TARGET-SNOW-PLOW-ROBBERY.
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NASHVILLE EXPLOSION — Two law enforcement officials tell The Associated Press that authorities have found human remains in the vicinity of the explosion that rocked downtown Nashville early Christmas morning. It is unclear how the remains are related to the Friday explosion or whether they might belong to the person believed to be responsible or a victim. It is believed that the blast was intentional. By Kimberlee Kruesi and Thalia Beaty. SENT: 960 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHRISTMAS DAY —Families that usually reunite on Christmas over a hearty, lingering meal stayed home Friday, services were held online, and gift exchanges were low-key in one of the most unusual holiday seasons in decades. The coronavirus left almost no one unaffected. By Frances D'Emilio. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
BREXIT — The fast-track ratification of the post-Brexit trade deal between the U.K. and the European Union got underway on Christmas Day as ambassadors from the bloc’s 27 nations started assessing the accord that takes effect in a week. By Raf Casert and Pan Pylas. SENT: 800 words, photos.
VATICAN POPE-CHRISTMAS: Pope Francis made a Christmas Day plea for authorities to make COVID-19 vaccines available to all, insisting that the first in line should be the most vulnerable and needy, regardless of who holds the patents for the shots. SENT: 475 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS — The United States will require airline passengers from Britain to get a negative COVID-19 test before their flight, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced late Thursday. The U.S. is the latest country to announce new travel restrictions because of a new variant of the coronavirus that is spreading in Britain and elsewhere. SENT: 400 words, photo. WITH: VIRUS OUTBREAK-THINGS TO KNOW, VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA-VACCINES — With rich countries snapping up supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, some parts of the world may have to rely on Chinese-developed shots to try to conquer the outbreak. The question: Will they work? There is no outward reason to believe they won’t, but China has a history of vaccine scandals, and its drugmakers have revealed little about their final human trials and the more than 1 million emergency-use inoculations they say have been carried out inside the country already. SENT: 935 words, photos.
TRUMP-CHRISTMAS — After tossing a grenade that threatens to blow up a massive COVID relief and government funding bill and force a government shutdown in the midst of a pandemic, President Donald Trump spent his Christmas golfing in Florida. Failure to agree on the bill could deny checks to millions of Americans on the brink. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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CHRISTMAS-DELAYED MAIL — The U.S. Postal Service said on its website that it was “experiencing unprecedented volume increases and limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19,” resulting in holiday packages stuck in transit. SENT: 350 words, photos.
BRITAIN-QUEEN — One of the traditional fixtures of any Christmas Day is to see Queen Elizabeth II and her family go to church. Not this year. The coronavirus pandemic has made sure of that. SENT: 480 words.
CHILD-FOUND-IN-CEMETERY — An Ohio police chief is hailing what he called an “overwhelming” response to the story of a young boy found in a cemetery two days before Christmas. SENT: 280 words, photos.
CHRISTMAS FIRE — A Christmas morning fire killed a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old at a home on Detroit’s east side and forced other family members to jump from second-floor window to escape, fire department officials said. SENT: 125 words.
TARGET-SNOW-PLOW-ROBBERY — A Long Island man has been arrested after a Christmas morning crime spree that gave new meaning to the term doorbuster. SENT: 150 words.
MALI-OBIT-CISSE — Mali’s opposition leader Soumaila Cisse, who was held hostage for six months earlier this year by jihadists and was considered a leading contender in 2022 elections, has died in Paris, his family said Friday. Cissé, 71, died after contracting COVID-19, his eldest son Bocar told The Associated Press. SENT: 200 words, photo.
PHILANTHROPIST-FRAUD — Once worth nearly a billion dollars, opera-loving philanthropist Alberto Vilar is seeking financial relief from what his lawyers describe as a destitute existence following his 2018 release from prison. SENT: 430 words.
GAZA-HERITAGE PRESERVATION — A group of artists in the Gaza Strip has launched an initiative to save an ever-dwindling number of historic structures at risk of demolition. The buildings go back hundreds of years — to the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. SENT: 610 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — Around 1,000 British soldiers were spending Christmas Day trying to clear a huge backlog of truck drivers stuck in southeast England after France briefly closed its border to the U.K. then demanded coronavirus tests from all amid fears of a new, apparently more contagious, virus variant. SENT: 600 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — South Korea has reported its largest daily increase in coronavirus infections on Christmas Day, as the prime minister pleaded for vigilance to arrest a viral surge that has worsened hospitalization and deaths. The 1,241 new cases confirmed by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Friday brought the country’s caseload to 54,770. SENT: 545 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SOUTH AFRICA — South Africa’s normally joyful and lively Christmas celebrations have been dampened by the spike in new cases and deaths driven by the country’s variant of COVID-19. SENT: 630 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-FACTORIES — U.S. factories have been cranking out goods during much of the pandemic at rates that are remarkably close to normal. However, manufacturers are concerned they may not be able to keep pace until most of the country is vaccinated because the coronavirus continues to surge in areas where many plants are based. SENT: 1,070 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BLACK-DOCTOR — A Black doctor who died battling COVID-19 complained of racist medical care in widely shared social media posts days before her death, prompting an Indiana hospital system to promise a “full external review” into her treatment. SENT: 640 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GREECE-EMPTY STREETS — It’s been a while since visitors to Greece sought out souvenirs in Athens’ oldest neighborhood. The winding streets of Plaka, laid out long before the city imported a grid system, are lined with closed stores behind aluminum shutters. The coronavirus pandemic has kept tourists away from the historic city center that forms a semi-circle around the Acropolis, and the area remained unusually devoid of pedestrians and motorists before Christmas. SENT: 250 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-HONG KONG FRIDGE — Most people who head to Woosung Street in Hong Kong’s old-school neighborhood of Jordan are visiting its popular restaurants serving everything from curries to seafood. Others may be headed for a lone refrigerator, painted blue, with a sign that reads: “Give what you can give, take what you need to take.” SENT: 360 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LATIN AMERICA — An intensive care nurse in Mexico City on Thursday became the first person in Latin America to receive an approved coronavirus vaccine. SENT: 585 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — President Donald Trump’s sudden demand for $2,000 checks for most Americans was swiftly rejected by House Republicans as his haphazard actions throw a massive COVID relief and government funding bill into chaos. By Lisa Mascaro and Andrew Taylor. SENT: 1,070 words, photos.
FEDERAL EXECUTIONS — A federal judge said the Justice Department unlawfully rescheduled the execution of the only woman on federal death row, potentially setting up the Trump administration to schedule the execution after president-elect Joe Biden takes office. SENT: 480 words, photo.
ELECTION 2020-SENATE-GEORGIA — The Democrats running for Georgia’s two U.S. Senate seats each raised more than $100 million over two months, a massive haul that eclipsed campaign contributions to their Republican opponents and reflects the high stakes of the twin contests. SENT: 225 words.
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TUNISIA-MIGRANTS — Four pregnant women were among 20 migrants whose bodies were found off Tunisia’s coast after their smuggling boat sank, Tunisian authorities said Friday, as search efforts continued for 13 others believed missing. SENT: 200 words, photos.
INDIA-FARMER PROTESTS — Prime Minister Narendra Modi held virtual talks with Indian farmers Friday and asked them to explain how the government’s agricultural policies have benefited them, a month into massive farmer protests that have rattled his administration. SENT: 450 words, photos.
RUSSIA PROFESSOR-DISMEMBERED STUDENT — A court in St. Petersburg on Friday convicted a prominent history professor on charges of murdering and dismembering a female student and sentenced him to 12 1/2 years in prison. SENT: 230 words, photos.
JAPAN-GREEN-GROWTH PLAN — Japan aims to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles in about 15 years, the government said Friday in a plan to achieve Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s ambitious pledge to go carbon free by 2050 and generate nearly $2 trillion growth in green business and investment. SENT: 280 words.
JAPAN-GENDER EQUALITY — Japan on Friday adopted a plan that delays women’s advancement goals by up to a decade after failing to reach even half of the 30% target by 2020 and other measures. SENT: 355 words, photo.
SAUDI ARABIA — A sea mine planted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea on Friday, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned television channel reported. SENT: 200 words.
LEBANON-ISRAEL — Israeli jets flew very low over parts of Lebanon early Friday, terrifying residents on Christmas Eve, some of whom reported seeing missiles in the skies over Beirut. SENT: 250 words.
RUSSIA-NAVALNY — A top associate of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was detained after doorstepping an alleged security operative who has inadvertently revealed details of Navalny’s supposed poisoning with a Soviet-era nerve agent. SENT: 350 words, photos.
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FIRST BLACK COLLEGE PRESIDENT — The first Black president of an American college is being honored with a sculpture installed in the Vermont city where he was born in 1826. SENT: 890 words, photo.
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WINTER RETAIL — Over the summer, people looking to get out of the house snapped up boats, bicycles and patio furniture, figuring they were safer socializing and being active outdoors than inside. Now that temperatures are dropping, they’re buying snowshoes, skis, boots and winter coats, boosting the beleaguered retail sector. SENT: 600 words, photos.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks rose in China and were little changed in Japan on Friday with most world markets closed for Christmas holidays. SENT: 300 words.
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FRANCE-OBIT-GITLIS — Ivry Gitlis, an acclaimed violinist who played with famed conductors, rock stars and jazz bands around the world and worked to make classical music accessible to the masses, has died in Paris at 98. SENT: 240 words, photos.
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FBN—ON FOOTBALL-COACHING CAROUSEL — With jobs already open in Houston, Detroit and Atlanta, the NFL head coaching chase also figures to touch a few more cities in January. The Jets, Jaguars, Chargers are prime candidates to be looking. The Bengals and possibly the Broncos, too. By Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos. For weekend use.
YE—MEMORABLE MOMENTS — The coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on the sports world, but it wasn’t all bad news in 2020. The year no one will ever forget produced some memorable moments, from the Kansas City Chiefs winning their first Super Bowl in 50 years to Collin Morikawa driving the par-4 16th hole at Harding Park on his way to winning the PGA Championship at 23. By John Marshall. SENT: 800 words, photos.
Find more year-end coverage on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Rob Jagodzinski 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.