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-BRITAIN-VACCINE — Drugmaker AstraZeneca says that late-stage trials showed its COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective, buoying the prospects of a relatively cheap, easy-to-store product that may become the vaccine of choice for the developing world. AstraZeneca is the third major drug company to report late-stage data for a potential COVID-19 vaccine as the world waits for scientific breakthroughs that will end a pandemic that has pummeled the world economy and led to 1.4 million deaths. By Danica Kirka and Jill Lawless. SENT: 1,240 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-CERTIFICATION — Michigan election officials meet to consider certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s 154,000-vote victory in the state as President Donald Trump’s brazen attempts to subvert the results of the election face increasingly stiff resistance from the courts and fellow Republicans. By Zeke Miller, David Eggert and Colleen Long. SENT: 980 words, photos. UPCOMING: Vote expected after 1 p.m., timing uncertain, 990 words by 6 p.m. With ELECTION 2020-ELECTORAL COLLEGE-GLANCE — A dozen states already have certified their results from the Nov. 3 presidential election, with several more expected Monday and Tuesday. Absent a recount, certification is the last step in formalizing the state vote before the Electoral College meets Dec. 14. UPCOMING: 200 words by 4 p.m.
BIDEN — President-elect Joe Biden moves to fill out his national security team with a raft of appointments to top positions that signal his intent to repudiate the Trump administration’s “America First” doctrine. Among the picks, many from the Obama administration: Antony Blinken as secretary of state and John Kerry as climate envoy. By Matthew Lee. SENT: 920 words, photos. UPCOMING: 990 words by 4 p.m.. With BIDEN-UN AMBASSADOR — Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a respected diplomat, would be U.S. ambassador to the U.N. By Matthew Lee. UPCOMING: 700 words by 5 p.m., photos; BIDEN-HOMELAND SECURITY — Alejandro Mayorkas, a Cuban-American, would be the first Latino to head the Department of Homeland Security. By Ben Fox. UPCOMING: 690 words by 5 p.m., photo; BIDEN-THE LATEST (sent)
VIRUS OUTBREAK — Despite emphatic warnings from public health authorities to stay home for Thanksgiving, millions of Americans are crowding the nation’s airports ahead of the holiday, many of them unwilling to miss out on seeing family and convinced they can do it safely. More than 3 million people were screened at U.S. airports on Friday and Saturday, according to the Transportation Security Administration. That is the busiest stretch of air travel since mid-March. By Dee-ann Durbin and David Koenig. SENT: 1,000 words, photos. WITH: VIRUS OUTBREAK-TODAY’S-NEWS, VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST (both sent)
VIRUS OUTBREAK-RURAL SCHOOLS — The switch to remote learning in rural New Mexico has left some students profoundly isolated — cut off from others and the grid by sheer distance. In the village of Cuba, New Mexico, population 800, the school system is sending school buses to students’ homes over an hour away to bring them assignments, meals and a little human contact. By Cedar Attanasio. SENT: 1,070 words, photos, video.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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NATION’S CAPITAL-PANDA NAME — More than three months after his birth, the National Zoo’s new panda cub finally has a name: Xiao Qi Ji, which is Mandarin Chinese for “little miracle.” SENT: 220 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BAD-BUNNY — Reggaeton star Bad Bunny tests positive for coronavirus. SENT: 110 words, photos.
ODD-GENEROUS-GRATUITY — Man leaves $3K tip for a beer as restaurant closes for virus. SENT: 140 words.
REL--VATICAN-POPE BOOK — Pope book backs George Floyd protests, blasts virus skeptics, in new book. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
BOOKS-YUSEF SALAAM — One of the five teens wrongly imprisoned for the assault on a Central Park jogger in 1989 has a memoir coming out in the spring. SENT: 260 words, photos.
OBIT-ALS ICE BUCKET CO-FOUNDER — Co-founder of viral ALS Ice Bucket Challenge dies at 37. SENT: 520 words.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — Haircuts, shopping trips and visits to the pub will be back on the agenda for millions of people when a four-week lockdown in England comes to an end next week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says. SENT: 610 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA — Chinese authorities are testing millions of people, imposing lockdowns and shutting down schools after locally transmitted coronavirus cases were discovered in three cities across the country last week. With temperatures dropping, authorities are enacting large-scale measures in the cities of Tianjin, Shanghai and Manzhouli. Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport is testing more than 17,000 people after two new cases of the virus were found and plans to call for the testing of others in surrounding communities. SENT: 580 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-GREECE — Greece’s armed forces are setting up a field hospital with more than 50 beds in the northern city of Thessaloniki as part of plans to tackle a surge in the number of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations, a senior defense ministry official says. SENT: 470 words, photos.
UN-CLIMATE-EMISSIONS — A slowdown in industrial activity linked to the coronavirus pandemic has cut emissions of pollutants and heat-trapping greenhouse gases, but hasn’t reduced their record levels in the atmosphere, the United Nations weather agency says. SENT: 360 words.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-MUSIC-LESSONS — These aren’t the music lessons of your childhood. For many people, online lessons and Zoom jam sessions are offering purpose and connection during the pandemic. Music teachers say they’re seeing a lot of people logging on to learn new instruments or rediscover old ones while they’re shut in at home. SENT: 840 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-SEAFOOD — The coronavirus pandemic has hurt the U.S. seafood industry due to a precipitous fall in imports and exports and a drop in catch of some species. SENT: 500 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-NYC-GIFT-SHOPS — In souvenir shops from Times Square to the World Trade Center, shelves full of T-shirts and trinkets still love New York, as the slogan goes. But the proprietors wonder when their customers will, again. SENT: 740 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ONE-GOOD-THING-INDIA-FARMER — When Sijo Zachariah and his father were under lockdown in Kerala, India, after visiting for a family wedding, Zachariah became worried about food insecurity. So the 22-year old aircraft maintenance engineer and his father began to plant seeds from store-bought fruits and vegetables. Using YouTube videos as a guide, they began a garden that helped feed twenty neighboring households during the pandemic. SENT: 610 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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BIDEN-TRANSITION FUNDING — Pressure increases on a Trump appointee to authorize an official transition process for President-elect Joe Biden, as some Republicans, business leaders and others say it’s past time to release funding and begin Biden’s high-level briefings on national security and the coronavirus vaccine distribution plan. By Matthew Daly. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m., photos.
GUNS IN CAPITOL — A firearms-toting congresswoman-elect who owns a gun-themed restaurant in Rifle, Colorado, has already asked Capitol Police about carrying her weapon on Capitol grounds, her office has acknowledged. If she does so, she apparently won’t be alone. By Alan Fram. SENT: 875 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-WHITE HOUSE HOLIDAYS — While public health officials are sounding alarms and warning Americans not to travel and limit gatherings this holiday season, festivities at the White House kicked off Monday, with events and parties planned. By Jill Colvin. UPCOMING: 750 words by 5 p.m., photos.
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ISRAEL-SAUDI ARABIA — Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which would mark the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials. SENT: 890 words, photos. With SAUDI ARABIA — Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they struck a Saudi oil facility in the port city of Jiddah with a new cruise missile, just hours after the kingdom finished hosting its virtual Group of 20 leaders summit. SENT: 560 words, photos.
EMIRATES — The United Arab Emirates has relaxed and removed a range of limits on foreign ownership of companies, state-run media reported, in the country’s latest bid to boost its global status and attract foreign investors. The overhaul signals yet another startling change for the federation of seven desert sheikhdoms as it grapples with the economic fallout of the pandemic. SENT: 480 words, photo.
FRANCE-SARKOZY — The trial of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling was suspended less than two hours after it started, to allow a medical report on one of the defendants. Sarkozy is accused of having tried to illegally obtain information from a magistrate about an investigation involving him in 2014. SENT: 770 words, photo.
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GM-CALIFORNIA LAWSUIT — General Motors says it will no longer support the Trump administration in legal efforts to end California’s right to set its own clean-air standards. CEO Mary Barra said in a letter to environmental groups that GM will pull out of the lawsuit, and it urges other automakers to do so. She said the company agrees with President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to expand electric vehicle use. SENT: 490 words, photo.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-TEACHING THANKSGIVING — More U.S. schools are rethinking traditional Thanksgiving lessons that focus on the English settlers but teach little about Native Americans. They are updating lessons to include more about the Wampanoag people, the Native Americans who attended the 1621 feast. SENT: 920 words, photos.
MED-HEALTH-INSURANCE-SHOPPING — Some companies are turning health insurance shopping over to employees.. They’re sending workers to individual insurance markets to find coverage and then reimbursing them at least partially for the cost. This new approach can give employees more choices while protecting companies from huge cost spikes. But it’s also a big change for workers who may be used to having their employer lay out their benefit choices every year. SENT: 780 words, photos.
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HOLIDAY FORECAST — The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, expects that holiday sales could actually exceed growth seen in prior seasons, despite all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. The reason? Shoppers are looking for opportunities to spend and celebrate the holidays during tough times. SENT: 600 words, photo.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — U.S. stocks edged higher in afternoon trading after investors received several pieces of encouraging news on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, tempering concerns over rising virus cases and business restrictions. SENT: 470 words, photos.
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CHINA-MOON MISSION — Chinese technicians are making final preparations for a mission to bring back material from the moon’s surface for the first time in more than four decades — an undertaking that could boost human understanding of the moon and of the solar system more generally. SENT: 850 words, photos.
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FBN-RAMS-BUCCANEERS — Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers try to bolster their position in the NFC playoff race when they face Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams. By Fred Goodall. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. Game starts at 8:15 p.m.
FBC-T25-ALABAMA-REMATCH — No. 1 Alabama left the last Iron Bowl with its playoff hopes dashed by a 48-45 loss to rival Auburn, whose euphoric fans filled the field from end zone to end zone. By John Zenor. UPCOMING: 500 words, photos by 3 p.m.
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HOW TO REACH US
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