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-THANKSGIVING TRAVEL — Millions of Americans took to the skies and hit the road ahead of Thanksgiving at the risk of pouring gasoline on the coronavirus fire, disregarding increasingly dire warnings that they stay home and limit their holiday gatherings to members of their own household. By Lisa Marie Pane. SENT: 650 words photos.
BIDEN — In a Thanksgiving address, Joe Biden is aiming to unify Americans in the face of the coronavirus pandemic as experts warn of a possible spike in cases resulting from the holiday. Aides say the president-elect’s speech Wednesday afternoon will note the sacrifices people are making against the backdrop of disrupted family gatherings. By Alexandra Jaffe. SENT: 550 words, photos. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 3 p.m. Biden’s speech expected after 2 p.m.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS-VACCINE — Congress is bracing for President-elect Joe Biden to move beyond the Trump administration’s state-by-state approach to the COVID-19 crisis and build out a national strategy to fight the pandemic and distribute the eventual vaccine. The incoming administration’s approach reflects Democrats’ belief that a more comprehensive plan, some of it outlined in the House’s $2 trillion coronavirus aid bill, is needed to get the pandemic under control. Republicans have resisted big spending but agree additional funding is needed. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 960 words, photos.
SCI-VIRUS OUTBREAK-SURFACES — To avoid any traces of the coronavirus that might be lurking on surfaces, Americans have been wiping down groceries, wearing surgical gloves in public and leaving mail packages out for an extra day or two. But experts say the national fixation on scrubbing can sometimes be overkill. Health officials say it’s become clearer the main way the virus spreads is between people, through the respiratory droplets they spray when talking, coughing, sneezing or singing. It’s why officials emphasize the importance of wearing masks and social distancing. That doesn’t mean surfaces don’t pose any risk. By Candice Choi. SENT: 935 words, photos.
ECONOMY — Gripped by the accelerating viral outbreak, the U.S. economy is under pressure from persistent layoffs, diminished income and nervous consumers, whose spending is needed to drive a recovery from the pandemic. A flurry of data released suggested that the spread of the virus is intensifying the threats to an economy still struggling to recover from the deep recession that struck in early spring. The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose last week for a second straight week to 778,000, evidence that many employers are still slashing jobs more than eight months after the virus hit. By Martin Crutsinger and Paul Wiseman. SENT: 1,145 words, photos.
SOC-OBIT-MARADONA — Diego Maradona, the Argentine soccer great who scored the “Hand of God” goal in 1986 and led his country to that year’s World Cup title before later struggling with cocaine use and obesity, has died. He was 60. A person close to Maradona said he died of a heart attack. Maradona died two weeks after being released from a Buenos Aires hospital following brain surgery. By Debora Ray. SENT: 1,490 words, photos. WITH: SOC-MARADONA-AP-WAS-THERE — The quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup encapsulated the best and worst of Diego Maradona. SENT: 850 words, photos. WITH: SOC-MARADONA-NAPOLI MOURNS— If there’s one place outside Argentina that will likely match the outpouring of mourning for Diego Maradona it’s in Naples. SENT: 440 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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ODD-HOLIDAY HOOT — Rocky the stowaway owl is back in the wild. The tiny Saw-whet owl was named Rockefeller after it was found by a worker setting up the holiday tree at Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center. SENT: 200 words, photos.
CASINO ARMORED CAR THEFT — Describing it as “something out of the 1930s,” authorities say a former guard and two others stole more than $1.7 million from an armored car parked outside an Atlantic City casino earlier this month. SENT: 315 words, photos.
RUSSIA ICE STORM — Thousands of people in Russia’s Far East region of Primorye remained without heating or electricity, as local authorities and emergency services wrestled with the consequences of an unprecedented ice storm that hit the region last week. SENT: 254 words, photos.
BRITAIN-DUCHESS-OF-SUSSEX — Meghan, wife of Prince Harry, reveals she had miscarriage in July. SENT: 490 words, photos.
GERMAN CHANCELLERY CRASH — German authorities say a car has crashed into the front gate of the building housing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s offices, causing minor damage. The driver, who authorities say had been involved in an almost identical incident six years ago, was detained. SENT: 390 words, photos.
HOUSE FIRE-NURSE DIES — The Louisiana state fire marshal says a 64-year-old home nurse has died saving her 71-year-old paraplegic patient from a fire. SENT: 160 words.
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BRITAIN-VACCINE — With major COVID-19 vaccines showing high levels of protection, British officials are cautiously — and they stress cautiously — optimistic that life may start returning to normal by early April. Even before regulators have approved a single vaccine, the U.K. and countries across Europe are moving quickly to organize the distribution and delivery systems needed to inoculate millions of citizens. SENT: 1,010 words, photos. With VIRUS-OUTBREAK-EUROPE-VACCINES — EU says first virus vaccinations possible by Christmas. SENT: 545 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-RURAL KANSAS — The cancellation of the beloved Christmas Drawing in Norcatur, Kansas, shines a spotlight on a global coronavirus pandemic that has reached deep into rural America. SENT: 700 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-VETERANS HOME — State officials have launched investigations into a coronavirus outbreak at a veterans nursing home in Illinois that has infected nearly 200 residents and staff members, and killed 27 veterans. SENT: 380 words, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TOURIST FREE HAWAII — For months, Hawaii locals had Waikiki’s famous beaches and other tourist hot spots to themselves as a mandatory two-week quarantine on travelers curbed tourism during the coronavirus pandemic. Residents could drive along Oahu’s famed North Shore without spending hours in traffic from tourists gawking at sea turtles or take walks along Waikiki’s main drag without having to sidestep throngs of awestruck tourists. But now officials are allowing visitors to produce a negative COVID-19 test to avoid the quarantine. SENT: 945 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-JAPAN — Tokyo’s governor asks bars and other places where alcohol is served to close earlier for three weeks to help prevent a resurgence of coronavirus infections from turning explosive. SENT: 560 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — The British government has ditched its long-standing target for overseas aid in order to finance other spending priorities in the year ahead. SENT: 665 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-MALAYSIA-GLOVE MAKER — Malaysia’s Top Glove, the world’s largest rubber glove maker, says that supply disruptions at its factories due to a coronavirus outbreak may push glove prices up. SENT: 570 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA — With California desperately battling an out-of-control coronavirus surge, the state’s health secretary is urging families to avoid gathering for Thanksgiving and Los Angeles County appeared on the brink of issuing a stay-home order to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed. SENT: 730 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-EUROPE SKI SEASON — Though the first real snow has yet to fall across much of Europe, ski buffs are imagining with dread a bizarre scene: Skiing in Zermatt in Switzerland while lifts idle across the border in Italy’s Aosta valley. So far, restrictions to slow the curve of infections have kept lifts closed in Italy, France, Germany and Austria, as well as countries further east. But skiers are already heading to mountains in Switzerland, drawing an envious gaze from ski industry and local officials in mountain regions elsewhere on the continent who lost most of last season due to the virus. They are warning of irreversible economic damage if they are not permitted to open this season. SENT: 710 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-MIGRANT NURSE — A migrant’s odyssey from boat to COVID-19 nursing job in Spain. SENT: 810 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — India has registered 44,376 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. SENT: 630 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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SENATE-LAMAR ALEXANDER — Sen. Lamar Alexander says the “internet democracy” in which an angry president can quickly tweet to tens of millions of people has driven division in the U.S. But he says it’s something Americans need to figure out if they are going to solve big problems. A dealmaker from another era, Alexander says his final years have involved a lot of decision-making about how to react to President Trump’s incendiary tweets without losing a partner in the White House. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, the retiring Tennessee Republican said many Democrats wish he spent more time criticizing Trump’s behavior. SENT: 890 words, photos.
SENATE-GEORGIA-PERDUE-STOCKS — As the coronavirus forced millions of people out of work, shuttered businesses and shrank the value of retirement accounts, GOP Sen. David Perdue of Georgia saw a stock-buying opportunity last March. And for the second time in less than two months, Perdue’s timing was impeccable. He avoided a sharp loss and reaped a stunning gain by selling and then buying the same stock: Cardlytics, an Atlanta-based financial technology company on whose board of directors he once served. SENT: 1,280 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-HOUSE 2-IOWA—The historically close race for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District seat could be approaching a tie. Democrat Rita Hart has cut Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ lead to 35 votes out of more than 394,400 cast, with all but three of the district’s 24 counties reporting the results of their recounts. SENT: 750 words, photos.
BIDEN-TRANSITION-ANALYSIS — Competence is making a comeback. President-elect Joe Biden has prized staying power over star power when making his first wave of Cabinet picks and choices for White House staff, with a premium placed on government experience and proficiency as he looks to rebuild a depleted and demoralized federal bureaucracy. President Donald Trump openly distrusted the very government he led, but Biden has faith in the bureaucracy that was born out of his nearly five decades in Washington. A News Analysis by Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 980 words, photos.
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OPIOID CRISIS EMERGENCY FUND — A $200 million account set aside as part of Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy case is going unused because attorneys involved in lawsuits against the OxyContin maker can’t agree how to spend it. Advocates for addiction treatment want it spent to help those struggling with opioid addiction. One attorney says leaving the money sitting in a bank account is a “travesty of epic proportions.” The spending is being held up because of disagreements among state attorneys general and others who are suing the company. SENT: 935 words, photos.
PEBBLE MINE — The Trump administration denied a permit to build a controversial gold and copper mine near the headwaters of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery in southwest Alaska. The Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement that the permit application for the Pebble Mine was denied under both the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act. SENT: 420 words.
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IRAN AUSTRALIA — Iran freed a British-Australian academic who had been detained in the country for over two years, in exchange for three Iranians held abroad, state TV announced. The television report was scant on detail, saying only that the three Iranians freed in the swap had been imprisoned for trying to bypass sanctions on Iran. SENT: 490 words, photos.
ETHIOPIA-MILITARY-CONFRONTATION — Ethiopia’s prime minister is rejecting a growing international consensus for dialogue and a halt to deadly fighting in the country’s Tigray region as “interference,” saying his country will handle the conflict on its own as a 72-hour surrender ultimatum runs out. SENT: 700 words, photos.
PAKISTAN-TRANSGENDER CHURCH — Pakistan’s Christian transgender people, often mocked, abused and bullied, say they have found peace and solace in a church of their own. Shunned by other churches, they can raise their voices high here. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
THAILAND-PROTESTS — Pro-democracy demonstrators in Thailand again took to the streets of the capital, even as the government escalated its legal battle against them, reviving the use of a harsh law against defaming the monarchy. SENT: 930 words, photos.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN — Azerbaijan’s president vowed to rebuild and revive the Kalbajar region, the latest territory that Armenian forces have ceded in a truce that ended six weeks of intense fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh. SENT: 615 words, photos.
SAUDI ARABIA — A mine in the Red Sea off Saudi Arabia’s coast near Yemen exploded and damaged an oil tanker, authorities said, the latest incident targeting the kingdom amid its long war against Yemen’s Houthi rebels. SENT: 570 words, photos.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN — In a global push to end violence against women, activists have held rallies and world leaders called for action to stop the abuse, which worsened during the coronavirus pandemic this year. Protests from France to Ukraine were held Wednesday on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to draw attention to domestic violence in what is an uphill struggle to protect millions of women killed or abused every year by their partners and close relatives. SENT: 815 words, photos.
INDIA CYCLONE — Tens of thousands of people fled their homes in low-lying areas of southern India and moved to evacuation shelters to escape a cyclone that was barreling toward the region’s coast. SENT: 245 words, photos.
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FINANCIAL-MARKETS —Stocks were mostly lower on Wall Street, giving back some of their gains from a record-setting climb a day earlier. SENT: 495 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LIVESTREAM SHOPPING — Stores have a new way to get you to shop: pick up the phone, sit back and watch. Merchants have turned themselves into amateur home shopping network hosts, broadcasting live to thousands of people on Amazon, Facebook or their store’s apps. They put on outfits, spin for the camera and try to get you to buy. SENT: 815 words, photos.
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MACY’S THANKSGIVING PARADE — At last year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the big fear was high wind. This year it’s a deadly pandemic. But the show will go on thanks to an overhaul and creative thinking. By Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy. SENT: 800 words, photos.
FILM-CHANGING HOLLYWOOD — The film business isn’t going to be the same after the pandemic. Systemic changes are already already taking root, with studios reorienting their operations around streaming. For some, “Wonder Woman 1984,” a movie that might have made $1 billion at the box office but will instead go to HBO Max, is a signal of more change to come. By Film Writer Jake Coyle. SENT: 1,372 words, photos. Eds: An abridged version of 892 words is also available.
TV-KALEY CUOCO-THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT — After 12 seasons on CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory,” Kaley Cuoco stumbled on her latest role while online. She came across Chris Bohjalian’s best-selling novel “The Flight Attendant’ and the cover and its one sentence summary made her want to adapt it for television. She instructed her team to option it and pretended she had read the book to save time. Fast forward to now and the eight-episode series “The Flight Attendant” debuts on HBO Max on Thursday. Cuoco stars as a party girl flight attendant who wakes up to a man dead in her bed. Cuoco says the series was written with her voice in mind. SENT: 425 words, photos.
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FBN-VIRUS OUTBREAK-NFL — The Thanksgiving night game between the Ravens and Steelers has been switched to Sunday because of coronavirus issues with Baltimore. The NFL announced the move Wednesday, but did not specify a time of game nor which network would televise it. Previously, it was scheduled for NBC’s prime-time telecast. SENT: 600 words, photos.
FBC-VIRUS OUTBREAK-COLLEGE SPORTS — Alabama football coach Nick Saban has tested positive for COVID-19 just days before the Iron Bowl. Team physician Dr. Jimmy Robinson and head trainer Jeff Allen said in a joint statement that the positive test came Wednesday morning. The top-ranked Crimson Tide host No. 22 Auburn on Saturday. The statement says Saban has “very mild symptoms, so this test will not be categorized as a potential false positive.” SENT: 450 words, file photos
BKO-COLLEGE BASKETBALL BEGINS — College basketball is set to begin after a string of delays and cancelations due to the coronavirus pandemic. The strangeness is sure to continue on the court as teams play in empty arenas across the country. By Basketball Writer John Marshall. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 6 p.m.
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HOW TO REACH US
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