AP News Digest 2:20 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.
----------------——
—————————-
TRUMP-PENCE — A second term for President Donald Trump would have been a ticket to frontrunner status for Vice President Mike Pence in 2024. But with Trump’s loss, Pence is contending with the reality of a far more uncertain future made more complicated by Trump’s refusal to accept his defeat and the president’s private flirtations with running again himself four years from now. By Jill Colvin and Zeke Miller. UPCOMING: 1090 words by 4 p.m., photos.
ELECTION 2020-POPULAR VOTE — Democrats have won the popular vote in seven out of eight presidential elections, with President-elect Joe Biden ahead of President Donald Trump by more than 3 percentage points. But many Democrats aren’t celebrating. That’s because the party still lost seats in the House and in statehouses around the country, signaling a growing gap between Democrats’ popular vote tallies and their political power. By Nicholas Riccardi. UPCOMING: 824 words by 2 p.m., photos.
EXPLAINING ELECTION-2020 STATE OF PLAY — The U.S. election is over. Democrat Joe Biden is president-elect, and incumbent Donald Trump has not acknowledged that. And there’s a lot still going on — in the courts, in the recount arena, and in the limbo of transition from one American chief executive to another. Julie Pace, Washington bureau chief for The Associated Press, oversaw AP’s election coverage. Here, she breaks down some of what’s still percolating in the aftermath of the presidential election and what it might mean. SENT: 880 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SCHOOLS — With COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations spiking to record numbers across the U.S. and abroad, many school districts are temporarily shutting down in-person classes as holidays loom. Some experts call the upcoming break season an ’’extremely high-risk period,″ and fear things will worsen as students and staff gather with extended family or travel to other hotspots. By Lindsey Tanner. SENT: 1,175 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-US-SURGE — With the coronavirus coming back with a vengeance across the country and the U.S. facing a long, dark winter, governors and other elected officials are showing little appetite for reimposing the kind of lockdowns and large-scale business closings seen last spring. By Michelle R. Smith, Scott Bauer and Lisa Marie Pane. 900 words, photos, by 3 p.m.
BIDEN-PROGRESSIVES — Leading progressives are pressuring President-elect Joe Biden to embrace their policy solutions to major issues like combating climate change, reducing economic inequality and expanding access to health care even after the election left many Democrats feeling they came up short — failing to take outright control of the Senate and losing House seats. By Will Weissert. UPCOMING: 990 words by 4 p.m., photos.
——————————————————————
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
——————————————————————
GOODEN-DRUG CHARGES — Former New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden has been sentenced to a year of probation in connection with a drug arrest in New Jersey in 2019. SENT: 230 words, photo.
CHEVY BOLT-FIRE RECALL — General Motors is recalling nearly 69,000 Chevrolet Bolt electric cars worldwide because the batteries have caught fire in five of them. SENT: 290 words, photos.
GEORGIA CHASE-DEADLY SHOOTING — A Georgia judge denied bond for the father and son charged with murder in the February slaying of Ahmaud Arbery. SENT: 100 words, developing.
NEVADA EARTHQUAKE — A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck a remote corner of Nevada, shaking the desert and a nearby town, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. SENT: 80 words.
———————————————————-
MORE ON ELECTION 2020
———————————————————
CLIMATE CHANGE-UDALL — President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to abandon the “energy dominance” pursued by the Trump administration in favor of ”climate resilience” follows a blueprint championed by retiring Sen. Tom Udall, the last member of a political dynasty that has represented the West in Washington for nearly seven decades. Udall has emerged as a leading contender to be Biden’s Interior secretary. By Matthew Daly and Ellen Knickmeyer. UPCOMING: 990 words by 3 p.m., photos.
---------------------------------————————-
MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
---------------------------------————————
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BANKING FOR THE POOR — Across Latin America, the COVID-19 crisis has yielded a rare bright spot: Millions of people who were long excluded from traditional banking have now joined the financial system. They did so using digital banking services. SENT: 950 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — Some tentative signs emerged to suggest that the U.K.‘s coronavirus resurgence is leveling off after wide-ranging restrictions were imposed. In its weekly survey of new infections, Britain’s statistics agency said the rate of growth of the virus in England appeared to be slowing around the time a new four-week lockdown took effect on Nov. 5. SENT: 540 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-INDIA-FESTIVAL — The crowds filling shopping areas ahead of the Diwali festival of lights are raising hopes of India’s distressed business community after months of lockdown losses but also spawning fears of a massive coronavirus upsurge. By Ashok Sharma and Shonal Ganguly. SENT: 680 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-OKLAHOMA — Two members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives confirmed they have tested positive for the coronavirus, just days after a swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol in which many lawmakers and their families weren’t wearing masks or practicing social distancing. SENT: 425 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-MASSACHUSETTS — Experts are warning that Massachusetts could be headed for a bleak winter as coronavirus cases climb again and confirmed deaths surpass 10,000. SENT: 940 words, photos, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NYC SCHOOLS — A resurgence of the coronavirus in New York City is threatening to halt the nation’s biggest experiment with in-person learning. SENT: 915 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PUERTO RICO — Puerto Rico’s governor says she will activate the National Guard to help enforce a curfew aimed at curbing a rise in COVID-19 cases and other measures, including once again closing beaches to everyone except those exercising. SENT: 340 words.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-DIARY-GAMING DIVERSIONS — She started playing Plague, Inc. on her iPad in 2014. A pandemic could never happen in real life, she figured. But six years later, this Florida-based writer is seeking solace in virtual worlds. She found a poignant message in one Nintendo Switch game called Spiritfarer. SENT: 650 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-LIVES-LOST-MEAT-PLANT-WORKER — Mexican meatpacker left legacy of compassion. SENT: 930 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-SINGAPORE VOLUNTEERS — Volunteers spend Sundays to help Singapore’s less fortunate. SENT: 560 words, photos, video.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
———————————-
-----------------------—
TROPICAL WEATHER — Just as the remnants of Tropical Storm Eta finally blow out to sea, another storm is brewing that could follow its path of death and destruction into Central America this weekend. SENT: 485 words, photos.
ISRAEL-BIDEN-SETTLEMENTS — The next two months could provide a key test for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Joe Biden. Netanyahu may seek to take advantage of the final weeks of the settlement-friendly Trump administration to rush forward a new frenzy of settlement construction. But doing so would risk antagonizing the incoming administration in Washington. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
ETHIOPIA-MILITARY CONFRONTATION — Ethnic Amharas killed. Ethnic Tigrayans arrested, in hiding or cut off from the world. Ethiopia’s deadly conflict is spilling beyond its northern Tigray region and turning identity into a mortal threat. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.
ZIMBABWE-MENDING-DOLLARS — One dollar bills are king in Zimbabwe, beset by a continuing economic crisis, as shoppers rely on them to buy their daily bread and other small purchases. SENT: 810 words, photos.
BRITAIN-POLITICS — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s top adviser has been seen leaving Downing Street carrying a moving box, amid reports that he has left his job following a bruising battle for government influence. SENT: 800 words, photos.
REL-VATICAN-MCCARRICK — Polish bishops are defending St. John Paul II against evidence he rejected reports that ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick slept with his seminarians. The head of the Polish bishops conference, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, said that John Paul had been “cynically deceived” by McCarrick as well as other U.S. bishops. SENT: 560 words, photos.
BELARUS — Thousands of people rallied in Belarus on Friday following the death of a 31-year-old opposition supporter who reportedly was beaten by security forces, and the European Union condemned the violent crackdown that Belarusian authorities have continued to enforce against peaceful protesters. SENT: 950 words, photo.
BRITAIN-YORKSHIRE RIPPER — The British serial killer known as the “Yorkshire Ripper” died Friday, reviving unsettling memories of a killing spree that bred fear across northern England in the late 1970s. He was 74. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
PERU-POLITICAL CRISIS — A judge barred former Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra from leaving the nation for 18 months Friday while prosecutors investigate bribery allegations that Congress used to oust him, plunging the nation into a political crisis. SENT: 530 words, photos.
————————
————————-
2020-CENSUS — A month after the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to end the 2020 head count of every U.S. resident, the case that propelled the ruling is heading back to a district court, with advocacy groups and the Trump administration at odds over how to proceed. SENT: 470 words, photo.
VETERANS HOSPITAL-EXPLOSION — An apparent steam explosion in a maintenance building at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Connecticut killed a VA employee and a contractor and left a third person missing, officials said. SENT: 290 words., photos.
MICHIGAN PIPELINE - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is taking legal action to force the shutdown of a pipeline that carries oil beneath the channel linking Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. SENT: 410 words, photo.
TEXAS AG-CRIMINAL ALLEGATIONS — Former deputies to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are suing him for wrongful firing and retaliating against them for reporting him for alleged bribery and abuse of office. SENT: 710 words, photo.
WHITE SUPREMACIST-ETHIOPIAN ADOPTION — The San Diego attorney who collected money from white supremacist Tom Metzger to pay off a judgment for his role in the fatal beating of Ethiopian immigrant formed an unusual bond with the victim’s son. He ended up adopting him. SENT: 980 words, photos.
——————————————
HEALTH & SCIENCE
——————————————
MED-HEART POLYPILL — A daily pill combining four cholesterol and blood pressure medicines taken with low-dose aspirin cut the risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart-related deaths by nearly one third in a large international study that’s expected to lead to wider use of this “polypill” approach. SENT: 700 words, photos.
SCI-SPACE X-CREW LAUNCH — SpaceX chief Elon Musk may have to steer clear of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center after getting mixed COVID-19 test results on the eve of his company’s second crew launch. Musk took to Twitter to say he tested positive for coronavirus, then negative twice, then positive again. SENT: 475 words, photos.
WOLVES VERSUS BEAVERS — Wolves preying on beavers in Minnesota reshape wetlands. SENT: 580 words, photos.
—————————————————-
—————————————————-
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS — When small business owners are diagnosed with the coronavirus, being sick is just one problem they contend with. Suffering through the virus has changed some owners’ perspectives about the balance between work and personal time — for their employees as well as for themselves. That’s led some owners to create more liberal policies about time off. SENT: 910 words, photos.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks were moderately higher, recovering some of the declines markets posted the day before. SENT: 525 words, photos.
MICROSOFT VACCINE HACKERS — Microsoft said it has detected attempts by state-backed Russian and North Korean hackers to steal valuable data from leading pharmaceutical companies and vaccine researchers. It said in a blog post that most of the attacks in recent months were unsuccessful, but provided no information on how many succeeded or how serious those breaches were. SENT: 295 words, photos.
————————————-
—————————————
TV-THE CROWN-GILLIAN ANDERSON — Gillian Anderson’s transformation into British politician Margaret Thatcher in “The Crown” is so effective it’s drawing praise and provoking chills. SENT: 650 words, photos and video.
TV-MURDER ON MIDDLE BEACH — Madison Hamburg was 18 when he learned his mother had been stabbed and bludgeoned to death. Now 29, Hamburg has directed a nail-biting and hauntingly personal documentary series about the murder. SENT: 550 words, photos, video.
—————-
—————-
BBN-MARLINS NG-HIRED —Kim Ng has become the highest-ranking woman in baseball operations in the major leagues. She was hired as general manager of the Miami Marlins. The team says Ng is believed to be the first female general manager for a men’s team in a major professional sport in North America. SENT: 670 words, photo.
OBIT-PAUL HORNUNG — Paul Hornung, the dazzling “Golden Boy” of the Green Bay Packers whose singular ability as a runner, receiver, quarterback and kicker helped turn the team into an NFL dynasty, has died. He was 84. SENT: 900 words, photos.
GLF-MASTERS — The Masters is behind schedule, this time because of the rain. Paul Casey ended the first day with the lead. Casey, Tiger Woods and other late starters are not expected to finish Friday afternoon. By Golf Writer Doug Ferguson. UPCOMING: 500 words, photos, final wrapup by 7 p.m.
—————————————
HOW TO REACH US
------------------------——-
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.