AP News Digest 7 a.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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SENATE-GEORGIA — Georgia voters are set to decide the balance of power in Congress in a pair of high-stakes Senate runoff elections that will help determine President-elect Joe Biden’s capacity to enact what may be the most progressive governing agenda in generations. Democrats must win both elections to seize the Senate majority. By Steve Peoples and Bill Barrow. SENT: 980 words, photos, video. UPCOMING: Updates throughout the day; polls close at 7 p.m.
Find complete coverage for the Georgia runoff election here.
UNITED STATES-IRAN-TENSIONS — Joe Biden has an Iran problem, and it’s getting more complicated by the day. Thanks to provocative moves by Iran and less-than-coherent actions by the outgoing Trump administration, the president-elect is facing an increasingly uncertain situation when it comes to Iran. By Matthew Lee, Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor. SENT: 940 words, photo.
QATAR-GULF CRISIS — Qatar’s ruling emir arrived in Saudi Arabia and was greeted with an embrace by its crown prince, following an announcement that the kingdom would end its yearslong embargo on the tiny Gulf Arab state. By Aya Batrawy, Isabel Debre and Amr Nabil. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.
TRUMP-PENCE — Vice President Mike Pence will find himself in the most precarious position of his tenure Wednesday when he presides over the congressional Electoral College tally that will be the last gasp of President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn Biden’s victory in the November election. By Zeke Miller and Jill Colvin. SENT: 1,100 words, photos. Also see CONGRESS-ELECTORAL COLLEGE below.
AFGHANISTAN-PEACE-TALKS — Afghan negotiators are to resume talks with the Taliban aimed at finding an end to decades of relentless conflict even as hopes wane and frustration and fear grow over a spike in violence across Afghanistan that has combatants on both sides blaming the other. By Kathy Gannon. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.
CHINA-WHERE’S-JACK-MA? — China’s best-known entrepreneur, e-commerce billionaire Jack Ma, hasn’t been seen in public since he angered regulators with an October speech. That is prompting speculation about what might happen to the billionaire founder of Alibaba Group, the world’s biggest e-commerce company. It is unclear what awaits Ma, who made his fortune by taking big risks. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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PEOPLE-TANYA ROBERTS — Tanya Roberts, Bond girl and “’70s Show" star, hospitalized. SENT: 270 words, photo.
NORWAY-LANDSLIDE — Dog found alive raises hopes in deadly Norway landslide. SENT: 230 words, photos.
OBIT-YOSEMITE CLIMBER — George Whitmore, legendary climber of El Capitan, dies at 89. SENT: 710 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-US-SURGE — As lawmakers around the U.S. convene this winter to deal with the crisis created by the pandemic, statehouses themselves could prove to be hothouses for infection. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — England is facing a third national lockdown that will last at least six weeks, as authorities struggle to stem a surge in COVID-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm hospitals around the U.K. SENT: 290 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-GERMANY — Germany’s disease control center reported 944 more COVID-19 deaths, fueling expectations that Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s 16 state governors will extend the country’s lockdown until the end of the month. SENT: 380 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MEXICO — Mexico approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, hoping to spur a halting vaccination effort that has only given about 44,000 shots since the third week of December, about 82% of the doses the country has received. SENT: 380 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CANADA — Alberta’s premier reverses course and is now punishing members of his government for vacationing outside Canada despite government guidelines urging people to avoid nonessential travel during the pandemic. SENT: 430 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ASIA — Thailand reported 527 new coronavirus cases, most of them migrant workers who already were isolated, and the government said it was tightening movements of people around the country. SENT: 1,030 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-GREECE — Greece’s new Cabinet is being sworn at three separate ceremonies to comply with national lockdown restrictions. SENT: 110 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-MOROCCO-TOURIST-TOWN-PHOTO-GALLERY — Pandemic empties blue-hued Moroccan tourist town. SENT: 360 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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TRUMP-ANALYSIS — Trump’s ongoing efforts to overturn the 2020 election results — laid bare for the world in an hourlong weekend phone call with a Georgia election official — demonstrate his unrestrained determination to maintain a grip on power no matter the consequences for the nation’s democratic traditions. By Jonathan Lemire and Kate Brumback. SENT: 850 words, photos.
CONGRESS-ELECTORAL COLLEGE — Trump is appealing to Republican lawmakers to reverse his election loss to Biden when they convene this week to confirm the Electoral College vote, but more Republicans are turning against him. By Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 900 words, photos, video. With ELECTORAL COLLEGE-PROTESTS — Washington, D.C., mayor calls in National Guard ahead of pro-Trump protests.
EPA-PUBLIC HEALTH STUDIES — The Environmental Protection Agency has completed one of its last major rollbacks under the Trump administration, changing how it considers evidence of harm from pollutants in a way that opponents say could cripple future public-health regulation. SENT: 450 words, photo.
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PERSIAN-GULF-TENSIONS — Armed Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops stormed a South Korean tanker and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran, the vessel’s owner says, the latest maritime seizure by Tehran amid heightened tensions with the West over its nuclear program. SENT: 1,000 words, photos. With EUROPE-IRAN — EU says it will redouble efforts to save Iran nuclear deal.
UNITED NATIONS-LIBYA — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is recommending that international monitors be deployed to Libya under a U.N. umbrella to observe the October cease-fire agreement from a base in the strategic city of Sirte, the gateway to the country’s major oil fields and export terminals. SENT: 600 words.
ZIMBABWE-TAEKWONDO GIRLS — In Zimbabwe, where girls as young as 10 are forced to marry due to poverty or traditional and religious practices, a teenage taekwondo enthusiast is using the sport to give girls in an impoverished community a fighting chance at life. SENT: 800 words, photos.
BELGIUM-BRUSSELS-ATTACKS-TRIAL — Ten people including the lone known surviving suspect in the 2015 deadly Paris attacks have been ordered to stand trial in connection with the suicide bombings which killed 32 people and injured hundreds in the Brussels subway and airport nearly five years ago. SENT: 300 words.
CHINA-OFFICIAL-SENTENCED — The former head of state-owned China Huarong Asset Management Co. Ltd. Is sentenced to death for bribe taking in one of the harshest punishments for economic crimes in recent years. SENT: 380 words, photo.
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STOCK EXCHANGE-CHINESE COMPANIES — The New York Stock Exchange says it no longer plans to remove shares of three Chinese state-owned phone carriers under an order by Trump. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. SENT: 420 words, photos.
FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Global shares were mixed after a retreat on Wall Street on the first trading day of the year. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 370 words, 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.