AP News Digest 2 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 5 years, 9 months AGO
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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FEDERAL AGENCIES HACKED — U.S. authorities are expressing increased alarm about an intrusion into computer systems around the globe that officials suspect was carried by Russia. The cybersecurity unit of the Department of Homeland Security said Thursday that the hack “poses a grave risk to the Federal Government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations.” By Ben Fox. SENT: 135 words, photos, developing.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — Congressional negotiators on the long-delayed $900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package work through a handful of remaining holdups to try to seal a final agreement for more help to businesses and the unemployed and $600 stimulus payments to most Americans. By Andrew Taylor. SENT: 900 words. UPCOMING: Developing, 950 words by 5 p.m., photos
AFGHANISTAN-MILLEY — In his three tours of Afghanistan, Gen. Mark Milley regarded the Taliban as a formidable foe, one unlikely to “fade away in the dust.” This week, Milley, now chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sat across a negotiating table with leaders of the militant group that will remain a force in Afghanistan even as the U.S. sends its troops home. By Robert Burns. SENT: 918 words, photo. UPCOMING: New approach of 900 words by 4 p.m., photos.
MED-VIRUS OUTBREAK VACCINE — A second COVID-19 vaccine is moving closer to joining the U.S. fight against the pandemic. A panel of independent experts is meeting Thursday to discuss the vaccine made by Moderna. The panel’s review for the Food and Drug Administration is the next-to-last step before the agency decides whether the shots can be used on an emergency basis. The FDA staff issued a positive review earlier in the week, confirming the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness. By Matthew Perrone and Lauran Neergaard. SENT: 875 words, photos. Developing.
YE-VIRUS OUTBREAK-STUBBORN MISINFORMATION — An overwhelming amount of false information about COVID-19 followed the coronavirus as it circled the globe over the past year. Public health officials, fact checkers and doctors tried to quash hundreds of rumors, including speculation that the virus was created in a lab and hoax cures. But with the U.S., England and Canada now administering vaccines to millions of people, many falsehoods are seeing a resurgence online. By Amanda Seitz and Beatrice Dupuy. SENT: 940 words, photos.
Find more year-end coverage on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose again last week to 885,000, the highest weekly total since September, as a resurgence of coronavirus cases threatens the economy’s recovery from its springtime collapse. By Paul Wiseman. SENT: 885 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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REAL HOUSEWIVES ASSAULT CHARGES — A reputed mobster has admitted to assaulting the then-boyfriend and now husband of a former “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast member in exchange for a deeply discounted lavish wedding reception. SENT: 190 words, photos.
POT ARREST — A Louisiana man who was arrested and sentenced to life for selling $20 in marijuana to undercover officers when he was homeless is now free. SENT: 250 words.
FRANCE-EPSTEIN PROBE — A modeling agent associated with disgraced U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein has been taken into custody in France. SENT: 550 words, photos.
CHICKEN FARM FIRE— A fire killed as many as 240,000 chickens at a Florida farm operated by one of the nation’s largest egg producers. SENT: 125 words.
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FRANCE — Wearing a white medical mask, French President Emmanuel Macron went ahead with a planned speech by videoconference, hours after testing positive for COVID-19 following a week in which he met with numerous European leaders. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-MIDEAST-VACCINES-INEQUALITY — Israel will begin rolling out a major coronavirus vaccination campaign next week after the prime minister reached out personally to the head of a major drug company. Millions of Palestinians living under Israeli control will have to wait much longer. Worldwide, rich nations are snatching up scarce supplies of new vaccines as poor countries largely rely on a World Health Organization program that has yet to get off the ground. SENT: 1,160 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-EVICTIONS — States and cities that passed eviction moratoriums amid the coronavirus-battered economy are wrestling with what comes next. The plight of renters who can’t pay and face eviction foreshadows a national crisis that’s expected to grow next year. SENT: 970 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-RUSSIA-VACCINATION — While excitement and enthusiasm greeted the Western-developed coronavirus vaccine when it was rolled out, the Russian-made version has received a mixed response, with reports of empty Moscow clinics that offered the shot to health care workers and teachers — the first members of the public designated to receive it. SENT: 1,290 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — Large parts of southern England will be placed under the country’s strictest coronavirus restrictions from this weekend, Britain’s health secretary said, as infections and hospital admissions continue to surge in those areas. SENT: 315 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ASIA — South Korea has added more than 1,000 infections to its coronavirus caseload for the second straight day amid growing fears that the virus is spreading out of control in the greater capital area. SENT: 1,090 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA-STRIP-CLUBS — San Diego County has suspended enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions on restaurants and live entertainment establishments after a local judge found in favor of two strip clubs that defied a state shutdown order and indicated the ruling applied more broadly. SENT: 800 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SWEDEN — Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf says he believes his country has failed to protect the elderly in care homes from the effects of the pandemic. SENT: 600 words.
ONE-GOOD-THING-ESTONIA-STRAY-DOG — Estonians erect statue and give home to beloved stray dog. SENT: 600 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SAFE SANTAS-PHOTO GALLERY —It’s Christmas in 2020, and everything is different. Santa sits behind plexiglass, or in a life-sized snow globe. Some Santas need to wear a face mask, and then, of course, there’s Zoom Santa. Yet the kids keep coming, and as one Santa says, “It’s different this year, but it’s still magical.” SENT: 430 words.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VIRAL-QUESTIONS-VACCINES-KIDS — COVID-19 vaccinations have started in the U.S., but children won’t be able to get them until there’s enough study data showing the shots are safe and effective for younger ages as well. SENT: 300 words, graphic.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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TRUMP-MAR-A-LAGO — President Trump’s expected move to his Mar-a-Lago club after he leaves office next month is being challenged by a lawyer who says a 1990s agreement allowing Trump to convert the Florida property into a business prohibits anyone from living there, including him. SENT: 900 words, photos.
BIDEN-CABINET — President-elect Joe Biden offers Environmental Protection Agency post to Michael S. Regan, a North Carolina regulator who made a name pursuing clean-ups of industrial toxins and help for low-income and minority communities hit hardest by pollution. SENT: 470 words. UPCOMING: Developing, 790 words by 4 p.m., photo.
SENATE-GEORGIA —Vice President Mike Pence returns to Georgia for a pair of rallies to support incumbent Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler ahead of runoff elections on Jan. 5 that will determine control of the U.S. Senate. By Ben Nadler and Bill Barrow. SENT: 711 words. UPCOMING: Developing from events starting at noon, 850 words by 5 p.m., photos.
PAN AM 103-AIRLINE BOMBING — The Justice Department expects to unseal charges in the coming days in connection with the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people. SENT: 460 words, photos.
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NIGERIA-BOKO HARAM ATTACK — Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadist rebels have released a video purportedly showing some of the more than 300 schoolboys abducted last week from a government boarding school in the northwestern town of Kankara. SENT: 935 words, photo.
RUSSIA-PUTIN — Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected allegations that the Kremlin was behind the poisoning of his top political foe, opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and accused U.S. intelligence agencies of fomenting the claims. SENT: 560 words, photos.
TUNISIA-ARAB SPRING-SELF-IMMOLATION — Hundreds of desperate Tunisians have set themselves on fire over the past 10 years in an act of protest, following the example of 26-year-old fruit seller Mohammed Bouazizi, whose self-immolation in 2010 led to the downfall of Tunisia’s dictator of 23 years. Bouazizi’s public suicide unleashed the Arab Spring uprisings and a decade of crackdowns and civil wars across the region. While Tunisia now has more civil liberties and freedom of expression, it is plagued by an ever-worsening economic crisis. SENT: 1,110 words, photos. With TUNISIA-REVOLUTION TRIGGER — The economically troubled region where Bouazizi's self-immolation took place is still waiting a decade later to reap rewards from the uprising. SENT: 370 words, photos.
FRANCE-TRAIN ATTACK-TRIAL — A French court has convicted an Islamic State operative in a train attack five years ago that was foiled with a dramatic tackle by three American passengers. SENT: 530 words, photos.
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WINTRY WEATHER — The first major snowstorm of the season left the Northeast blanketed in snow, setting records in some areas. “Williamsport Regional Airport made history,” the National Weather Service in State College said, reporting 24.7 inches of snow. SENT: 525 words, photos. WITH: WINTRY-WEATHER-SNOW DAYS — Add snow days to the list of things that coronavirus has stolen from some children. Many school systems have said that they intend to have kids continue to learn remotely during big snowstorms this year, robbing kids of those magical days when bad weather granted them an unexpected holiday. SENT: 845 words, photos.
MAN RUN OVER-DEPUTY — A Kansas sheriff’s deputy is the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging excessive force. Dashcam video shows Kiowa County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Rodriguez mowing down Lionel Womack as he runs, shirtless, across a dark field in August. SENT: 880 words, photo.
OPIOID CRISIS-PURDUE — Two of the owners of the company that makes OxyContin acknowledged to a congressional committee that the powerful prescription painkiller has played a role in the national opioid crisis but stopped short of apologizing or admitting wrongdoing. SENT: 745 words, photos.
RACIAL INJUSTICE-NO-KNOCK RAIDS — A group of activists are taking aim at police tactics that can lead to deadly middle-of-the-night raids they say are carried out overwhelmingly in communities of color. Rather than waiting for direction from lawmakers, the group called “Campaign Zero” has created model legislation they hope will be attractive to President-elect Joe Biden. SENT: 990 words, photos.
BORDER WALL ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE — Government contractors are igniting dynamite blasts in the remote and rugged southeast corner of Arizona, forever reshaping the landscape as they pulverize mountaintops. The pace to build President Trump’s border wall has picked up in his last weeks in office. It’s created environmental damage, the worst of it along Arizona’s border. Century-old saguaro cactuses have been toppled, and ponds with endangered fish are shrinking. SENT: 990 words, photos.
MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING PLOT — A federal grand jury has indicted six men on charges of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The men were arrested in October in what authorities describe as a plot by anti-government extremists angry over the Democratic governor’s policies to prevent spread of the coronavirus. SENT: 425 words, photos.
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-OFFICE-PARTIES — With dancing, drinking and fancy dinners a no-go because of virus concerns, companies are getting creative about their holiday office parties this year. SENT: 880 words, photo.
FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Stocks were modestly higher as investors remain optimistic that Washington will deliver another round of financial support for the economy as vaccines begin slowly rolling out to the public. SENT: 375 words, photo.
GOOGLE-LAWSUIT — Dozens of states file an antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleging that the search giant has an illegal monopoly over the online search market that hurts consumers and advertisers.
AFRICA-FACEBOOK-DISINFORMATION — Facebook says individuals linked to Russia and the French military used fake accounts to wage a covert disinformation campaign in the Central African Republic ahead of elections there this month. SENT: 770 words, photo.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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CHINA-MOON-PROBE — Following the successful return of moon rocks by its Chang’e 5 robotic probe, China is preparing for future missions that could set the stage for an eventual lunar base to host human explorers, a top space program official says. SENT: 850 words, photos.
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YE-AP BREAKTHROUGH ENTERTAINERS-FINNEAS — In 2020, Finneas has emerged as a vibrant addition to the world of music, writing songs, recording his own music and serving as producer and engineer to his younger sister, Billie Eilish. He’s among the AP’s Breakthrough Entertainers this year. SENT: 820 words, photos, video.
YE-AP BREAKTHROUGH ENTERTAINERS-SARAH COOPER — Months after Sarah Cooper’s videos lip-syncing President Donald Trump’s words made her social media sensation, the comedian was filming her own hour-long Netflix special alongside anyone’s dream guest stars: Helen Mirren, Marisa Tomei, Ben Stiller, Jon Hamm and Winona Ryder. SENT: 830 words, photos and video.
Find more year-end coverage on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
SMITHSONIAN-EMOJI ACQUISITION — The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum has acquired two emoji that have helped broaden diversity for users of the tiny pictures. It becomes the third museum to add emoji to their digital collections. The New York museum acquired the “person with headscarf” and “inter-skintone couple” emoji for its burgeoning collection of digital assets. SENT: 850 words, photos.
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OLY-RUSSIAN DOPING — Russia will not be able to use its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympics or at any world championships for the next two years after a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. SENT: 800 words, photos.
FBN-CHARGERS-RAIDERS — The Las Vegas Raiders look to bounce back from a lopsided loss that cost defensive coordinator Paul Guenther his job and keep their playoff hopes alive when they host the Los Angeles Chargers. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos. Game starts at 8:20 p.m.
HKN-CAPITALS-LUNDQVIST-HEART-CONDITION —Star goalie Henrik Lundqvist says he will sit out the upcoming NHL season because of a heart condition. He announcing the news about two months after joining the Washington Capitals. SENT: 400 words, developing.
NCAA COMPENSATING ATHLETES — A bill being introduced by four Democratic lawmakers would grant college athletes sweeping rights to compensation, including a share of the revenue generated by their sports, and create a federal commission on college athletics. SENT: 705 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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