AP News Digest 6 p.m.
Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan at https://newsroom.ap.org.
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NEW/DEVELOPING: FRANCE-ATTACK-CHARLIE HEBDO, IRANIAN FUEL, FBI WARNING-RANSOMWARE-HOSPITALS ATTACKED, PHILADELPHIA-POLICE SHOOTING. KASHMIR KILLINGS. TANZANIA-ELECTION, VMI-INVESTIGATION, PEOPLE-SCARLET JOHANSSON-COLIN JOST, MUSIC-PARIS JACKSON
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ONLY ON AP
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LOVE IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS — In an America surging with cases of coronavirus, the AP Road Trip team meets a Mississippi man longing for his wife nearly four months after she was hospitalized with COVID-19. This is a love story. But it’s also a story of coronavirus and who it strikes. And it’s a look at the people who take COVID-19 seriously, the people who don’t, and how that divide can break uncomfortably along racial lines. By Tim Sullivan. SENT: 2,190 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,030 words is also available.
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ELECTION 2020 — President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden appeal for voters to turn out in person on Election Day. Both candidates are chasing votes in Florida, a state all but essential to the Trump’s pathway to another term. By Zeke Miller, Aamer Madhani and Alexandra Jaffe. SENT: 1,160 words, photos, video. UPCOMING: 1,200 words after 6:30 p.m. Biden event in Florida. With ELECTION 2020-THE LATEST, developing.
ELECTION 2020-TRUMP’S RALLIES — There are no crowds at Disneyland and attendance was strictly limited at this year’s World Series. But there’s a different vibe in Trumpland: Day in and day out, thousands of supporters cram together at Trump campaign rallies across the country — with masks optional and social distancing frowned upon. By Deb Riechmann. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
FRANCE-ATTACK — A man armed with a knife attacked people inside a French church and killed three Thursday, prompting the government to raise its security alert to the maximum level hours before a nationwide coronavirus lockdown. The attack in Mediterranean city of Nice was the third in two months that French authorities have attributed to Muslim extremists, including the beheading of a teacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in class after the images were republished by a satirical newspaper targeted in a 2015 attack. By Lori Hinnant and Daniel Cole. SENT: 1,235 words, photos. WITH: FRANCE-ATTACK-CHARLIE HEBDO, SAUDI ARABIA-FRANCE-STABBING, FRANCE-PARIS-ATTACKS-TIMELINE (sent).
VIRUS OUTBREAK — A president who downplayed the coronavirus threat, scorned masks and undercut scientists at every turn. Governors who resisted or rolled back containment measures amid public backlash. State lawmakers who used federal COVID-19 aid to plug budget holes instead of beefing up testing and contact tracing. As a powerful new wave of infections sweeps the U.S. just ahead of Election Day, the nation’s handling of the nearly 8-month-old crisis has been marked by what health experts see as grave missteps. By Matt Sedensky and Mike Stobbe SENT: 1,240 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ECONOMY — The resurgence of coronavirus cases engulfing the United States and Europe is imperiling economic recoveries on both sides of the Atlantic as millions of individuals and businesses face the prospect of having to hunker down once again. By Martin Crutsinger. SENT: 1,200 words, photos. WITH: UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS —The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 751,000, the lowest since March but a figure that remains historically high. SENT: 715 words, photos. WITH: FINANCIAL-MARKETS —U.S. stocks shook off an early slide and closed broadly higher Thursday as the market steadied after its worst drop in more than four months. SENT: 835 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-ELECTION LITIGATION — Acting in lawsuits involving absentee ballot deadlines in three battleground states, the Supreme Court has allowed extensions for ballots in North Carolina and Pennsylvania to remain in place, but refused a plea for a relaxed deadline in Wisconsin. By Mark Sherman. SENT: 980 words, photo.
FBI WARNING-RANSOMWARE-HOSPITALS ATTACKED — Federal agencies warned that cybercriminals could unleash a wave of data-scrambling extortion attempts against the U.S. health care system, an effort that, if successful, could paralyze hospital information systems just as nationwide cases of COVID-19 are spiking. By Frank Bajak. SENT: 795 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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GIRL SCOUTS-BARRETT — A tweet by the Girl Scouts congratulating new Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett drew such outrage from Barrett’s critics that the youth organization swiftly deleted it – only to draw a new backlash from Barrett’s supporters. By David Crary. SENT: 530 words, photo.
PEOPLE-SCARLET JOHANSSON-COLIN JOST — Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost have tied the knot a year after engagement. SENT: 118 words.
ELECTIONS 2020-TEXAS VOTING — A federal appeals court has suspended a judge’s order requiring people in Texas to wear face masks inside polling stations. SENT: 165 words.
ELECTION 2020-WISCONSIN — Hackers have stolen $2.3 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party’s account that was being used to help reelect President Donald Trump in the key battleground state, the party’s chairman told The Associated Press on Thursday. By Scott Bauer. SENT: 765 words, photo.
SAN FRANCISCO-TRANSAMERICA PYRAMID — The Transamerica Pyramid, one of San Francisco’s most iconic buildings, has sold for $650 million, eight months after a sales agreement was reached. SENT: 150 words.
VMI-INVESTIGATION — The Virginia Military Institute’s board voted Thursday to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson that currently stands in front of the historic barracks on campus, a school spokesperson said. SENT: 370 words.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — The major players in Washington’s COVID relief aid blame game lob familiar volleys, marking time in the days before an election that promises to change the landscape for talks that have dragged on for months without producing results. By Andrew Taylor. SENT: 800 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AD CAMPAIGN — Public relations firms hired by the Department of Health and Human Services vetted political views of hundreds of celebrities for a planned $250 million ad blitz aimed at portraying President Trump’s response to the coronavirus outbreak in a positive light. By Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 970 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-EMPTY SAN FRANCISCO — As San Francisco takes major strides in reopening this week, residents and businesses wonder how long it will take to bounce back. The coronavirus has transformed the workplace in the country’s tech capital, where companies have told workers they won’t be returning to the office anytime soon. SENT: 1,625 words, photos. An abridged version of 870 words is available
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CENTRAL-EUROPE — With coronavirus cases surging in many central European countries, soldiers, firefighters, students and retired doctors are being asked to help shore up buckling health care systems. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-VATICAN — Pope Francis is halting his public general audiences and will limit participation at Christmas and other upcoming Masses amid a surge of coronavirus cases in Italy and the Vatican. SENT: 380 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MEXICO DAY OF THE DEAD — Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebration this weekend won’t be the same in a year so marked by death after more than 90,000 people have died of COVID-19. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-BICYCLE-AREPAS — Venezuela’s crushing economic crisis left advertising executive Andrés Burgos practically out of work and increasingly alone as relatives fled seeking a brighter future abroad. Now he’s turning his own hardship into a mission to help feed the hungry. SENT: 605 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PANDEMIC LEARNING-PHOTO GALLERY — When New York schools reopened in September it was anything but business as usual. With state guidelines for social distancing making it impossible for all students to attend classes in person at the same time, educators prepared for a hybrid model of instruction. SENT: 200 words, 25 photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRAL QUESTIONS-CORONAVIRUS-HEART — Even though COVID-19 is known as a respiratory virus, doctors believe the coronavirus can directly infect the heart muscle and cause other problems leading to heart damage. SENT: 350 words, graphic.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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ELECTION 2020-TRUMP-CABINET — Members of President Trump’s Cabinet are logging extra miles as mostly unofficial campaign surrogates in crucial states in the final days before Tuesday’s election. Critics say the officials are blending politics and policy in ways that skirt established norms and may even violate the law. By Ben Fox. SENT: 930 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-HARRIS-MISINFORMATION — New data shows that Democratic vice presidential Kamala Harris is at the center of Twitter misinformation far more often than the white men who have campaigned for the same job. By Amanda Seitz. SENT: 600 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-PELOSI-AGENDA — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is preparing a 2021 legislative agenda with two “great, big initiatives” — expanding health care access and rebuilding American infrastructure — that are longtime Democratic priorities aligned with Joe Biden’s platform. Both are taking on fresh urgency in the COVID-19 crisis. By Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 730 words, photos, video.
ELECTION 2020-POLICE SHOOTING — The fatal shooting of another Black man on America’s streets by police has brought the fraught issues of policing and racism back to the fore of the presidential election in its closing days. Philadelphia police say 27-year-old Walter Wallace Jr. was shot earlier this week in the throes of a mental health crisis after he ignored officers’ orders to drop a knife. SENT: 940 words, photos. WITH: PHILADELPHIA-POLICE SHOOTING
ELECTION 2020-BALLOTING IN FLORIDA — Florida’s election supervisors say lessons have been learned since the state’s infamous presidential recount in 2000 and they expect this year’s election to run smoothly. They say the state’s laws governing recounts are clear and no longer vague and contradictory. The punch-card ballots have long been replaced by paper ballots where voters fill in bubbles, like a school exam. SENT: 980 words, photos.
ELECTION 2020-DEEP SOUTH — In the battle for control of the U.S. Senate this year, the Deep South is fielding more Black candidates than it has since Reconstruction. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AD CAMPAIGN — Public relations firms hired by the Department of Health and Human Services vetted political views of hundreds of celebrities for a planned $250 million ad blitz aimed at portraying President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus outbreak in a positive light, according to House documents. SENT: 937 words, photo.
A separate wire advisory has moved outlining our complete Election 2020 coverage.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
TRUMP-HEALTH INSURANCE — The Trump administration is trying to pull back the veil on health care costs to encourage competition, finalizing a requirement for insurers to tell consumers up front the actual prices for common tests and procedures. By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. SENT: 770 words, photos.
DIVERSITY INITIATIVES-SCRUTINY — Three civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order that prohibits federal agencies, contractors and grant recipients from offering certain diversity training that the president deems “anti-American.” SENT: 750 words.
UNITED STATES-ASIA — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo renews the Trump administration’s rhetorical onslaught against China in Indonesia, taking aim at Chinese aggressiveness in the South China Sea. SENT: 750 words, photos.
IRANIAN FUEL — The Trump administration says it plans to use proceeds from the sale of fuel confiscated from Iranian tankers to benefit victims of terrorism. SENT: 340 words, photo.
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TROPICAL WEATHER — Millions of people were without power and at least six were dead Thursday after Hurricane Zeta slammed into Louisiana and made a beeline across the South, leaving shattered buildings, thousands of downed trees and fresh anguish over a record-setting hurricane season. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY-FALWELL — Jerry Falwell Jr. has sued Liberty University, alleging the evangelical school founded by his late pastor father damaged his reputation after he resigned as president and chancellor in August amid a series of scandals. SENT: 960 words, photo.
GIULIANI ASSOCIATES-INDICTMENT — Prosecutors have secured a guilty plea from a Florida businessman who hired one of President Donald Trump’s lawyers, Rudy Giuliani, to lend credibility to a company authorities say was operated fraudulently. SENT: 510 words, photo.
POLICE SHOOTING-ILLINOIS — A Black woman who was seriously injured when a suburban Chicago police officer shot her and killed her boyfriend is suing the officer who opened fire and the officer who initially questioned them minutes earlier. SENT: 490 words, photos.
SANDY ANNIVERSARY-MASS TRANSIT — For many, Superstorm Sandy is a dimming memory, pushed aside by the more pressing concerns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet on the storm’s eighth anniversary, billions of dollars in repairs to the New York area’s mass transit systems still aren’t completed, and additional projects to protect against future flooding are years from completion. SENT: 965 words, photos.
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ELECTIONS 2020-CUBA — Cuban entrepreneurs who saw a boom in business during the Obama administration are keeping a close eye on the upcoming presidential election. A Trump reelection would likely spell another four years of tightened U.S. sanctions while some expect a Biden administration to carry out at least some opening. SENT: 845 words, photos.
KASHMIR KILLINGS — Assailants shot and killed three politicians from India’s ruling party in Kashmir late Thursday, police said, blaming militants fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region. SENT: 375 words.
ASIA TYPHOON — A typhoon that officials said was the most powerful to hit Vietnam in 20 years blew away from the country after setting off landslides, sinking boats and knocking out power to at least 1.7 million people. At least 35 people were killed and more than 50 were missing, state media said. SENT: 610 words, photos.
TANZANIA-ELECTION — Whatever happened on Wednesday wasn’t an election and was like “spitting in the face of democracy,” Tanzania’s leading opposition candidate says, rejecting the vote after alleging widespread fraud. The U.S. notes “serious doubts about the credibility of the results.” SENT: 800 words.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN — Fighting over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh ground on for a fifth week as top diplomats from Armenia and Azerbaijan prepared for more talks on a peaceful settlement of the conflict. SENT: 520 words, photos.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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MED-GENE EDITING EMBRYOS — A lab experiment aimed at fixing defective DNA in human embryos shows what can go wrong with this type of gene editing and why leading scientists say it’s too unsafe to try. In more than half of the cases, the editing caused unintended changes, such as loss of an entire chromosome or big chunks of it. SENT: 585 words, photos.
GRAY WOLVES-ENDANGERED — The Trump administration has removed gray wolves in most of the U.S. from the endangered species list. Gray wolves have recovered from near extinction in parts of the country but remain absent from much of their historical range. Biologists who reviewed the administration’s plan to strip protection from wolves say it lacked scientific justification. SENT: 670 words, photos.
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EX-NISSAN BOSS-ESCAPE ARRESTS — The U.S. State Department has agreed to turn over to Japan two American men accused of smuggling former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn out of the country while he was awaiting trial, the men’s lawyers said in legal filing. SENT: 520 words, photo.
OFF THE CHARTS-TRUMP'S STOCK MARKET — After Donald Trump shocked markets by winning the presidency in 2016, investors quickly agreed on which stocks would benefit most from his election. But four years later, many of those stocks have since fallen back, and stocks that were afterthoughts have become the market’s leaders. SENT: 1,000 words, photo.
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MUSIC-PARIS JACKSON — Paris Jackson has turned coping with the heartache of a recent break up into her debut solo album. The 22-year-old daughter of Michael Jackson has written 11 songs for the concept album “Wilted,” an ethereal acoustic sound which she calls alternative-folk. SENT: 720 words, photos.
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FBN-TITANS-HENRY — Derrick Henry has few words to say until he’s asked about his favorite running backs. The Tennessee Titans’ star running back quickly runs down a list of 16 former backs from Gale Sayers, Walter Payton and Eric Dickerson to Emmitt Smith, LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson. UPCOMING: 750 words by 5 p.m., photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Richard A. Somma can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Courtney Dittmar (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.