AP News Digest 7 a.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 4 years, 1 month 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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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — Congress continues frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package. Weekend sessions are on tap and House leaders hope for a vote Sunday on the massive package, which wraps much of Capitol Hill’s unfinished business into a take-it-or-leave-it behemoth. By Andrew Taylor. SENT: 900 words, photos.
BIDEN-ANALYSIS — Jen O’Malley Dillon, President-elect Joe Biden’s campaign manager and incoming deputy chief of staff, sent Washington into a tizzy when she used a vulgar word to describe congressional Republicans. After four years of President Donald Trump’s profane and divisive behavior, Republicans are suddenly aghast over a lack of decorum. An AP News Analysis by Political Editor Steven Sloan. SENT: 990 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ITALY — An author of a withdrawn World Health Organization report into Italy’s coronavirus response warned his bosses in May that people could die and the U.N. agency could suffer “catastrophic” reputational damage if it allowed political concerns to suppress the document, according to emails seen by The Associated Press. By Nicole Winfield. SENT: 1,190 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-IRAN-VACCINES-EXPLAINER — Although Iran faces crushing U.S. sanctions, there are still ways for Tehran to obtain coronavirus vaccines as the country suffers the Mideast’s worst outbreak of the pandemic. After earlier downplaying the virus, Iran has since acknowledged the scope of the disaster it faces after 1.1 million reported cases and over 52,000 deaths. By Jon Gambrell. SENT: 860 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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FRANCE-EPSTEIN INVESTIGATION — Epstein-linked modeling agent charged with rape of minors. SENT: 220 words, photos.
SOLARWINDS-FLORIDA — Florida launches investigation into hacking of its servers. SENT: 320 words.
POLICE SEARCH-WRONG HOME — Pastors, Chicago mayor talk about Black woman’s botched raid. SENT: 360 words, photo.
RAY DALIO-SON-FATAL CRASH — Devon Dalio, son of billionaire Ray Dalio, dies in car crash. SENT: 270 words, photo.
TURKEY-HOSPITAL FIRE — 8 COVID-19 patients killed in hospital fire in south Turkey. SENT: 170 words.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — Sydney’s northern beaches will enter a lockdown similar to the one imposed during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March as a cluster of cases in the area increased to 41. SENT: 760 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-PORTUGAL — As a resurgence of the pandemic in the fall looked set to overwhelm nursing homes in Portugal, and public health services struggled to cope, the government mobilized all the resources it could. That included deploying military units. SENT: 760 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-INDIA — India’s confirmed coronavirus cases have crossed 10 million with new infections dipping to their lowest levels in three months, as the country prepares for a massive COVID-19 vaccination in the new year. SENT: 400 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA — California hospitals are battling to find beds to house patients amid fears that the exploding coronavirus infection rate will exhaust resources and health care workers. SENT: 910 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA TOURIST TOWN — California town says no to tough virus rules, then yes (sent).
VIRUS OUTBREAK-DC VACCINES — In a heartening demonstration of interstate collectivism, Maryland and Virginia are each donating 8,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to the District of Columbia. That contribution will more than triple the amount available for health care workers in the nation’s capital. SENT: 400 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA — China will soon begin coronavirus inoculations for workers in health care, transport and border control, a senior official says. SENT: 390 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ITALY — Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte on Friday announced there will be a partial lockdown nationwide for most of the Christmas holiday season, citing concerns that gatherings of families and friends could re-ignite the virus’s spread. SENT: 380 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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UNITED STATES-VOICE OF AMERICA — The head of U.S.-funded international broadcasting presses ahead with his shakeup of the Voice of America and sister outlets by naming new leaders for two of its main networks and moving to defund one of the federal government’s top democracy promotion initiatives. SENT: 650 words, photo.
BIDEN-PENTAGON — President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team expresses frustration with the level of cooperation they’re getting from political appointees at the Department of Defense, saying there has been “an abrupt halt in the already limited cooperation there.” SENT: 420 words, photo.
UNITED STATES-RUSSIA — The Trump administration has notified Congress that it intends to shutter the last two remaining U.S. consulates in Russia. SENT: 380 words, photo.
BIDEN-HOUSE DEMOCRATS — President-elect Joe Biden’s decision to tap several House Democrats for administration positions puts Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a politically tough spot. But Pelosi’s leadership team has a plan: staggering the confirmations so the nominees don’t all leave the House at once. By Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 910 words, photos.
HEALTH CARE-SIGN-UPS — Enrollment in “Obamacare” health insurance plans is up more than 6% amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to preliminary government figures. UPCOMING: 300 words, photo by 7 p.m.
SPACE FORCE — The Trump administration celebrates the first birthday of the U.S. Space Force by announcing that its members will be known as “guardians.” SENT: 110 words, photo.
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BOSNIA-MOSTAR-ELECTION — Bosnia’s ethnically divided southern city of Mostar is holding its first local election in 12 years. The vote on Sunday ends a political stalemate between two nationalist parties representing ethnic groups that has prevented Mostar’s citizens from democratically electing their local legislators. SENT: 880 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN — Five rockets were fired at a major U.S. base in Afghanistan, but there were no casualties, NATO and provincial officials say. The rockets hit Bagram Airfield, said Wahida Shahkar, spokeswoman for the governor in northern Parwan province. SENT: 310 words, photo.
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MORMONS-RACIAL-INJUSTICE — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints added new language to the faith’s handbook imploring members to root out prejudice and racism, adding significance and permanence to recent comments by top leaders on one of the most sensitive topics in the church’s history. SENT: 810 words, photos.
MAN RUN OVER-DEPUTY — An attorney representing a Black man who was injured after being run over by a sheriff’s patrol truck while running across a Kansas field says law enforcement authorities engaged in a cover-up that began as soon as emergency medical personnel arrived. SENT: 610 words, photos.
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CONGRESS-FAA-BOEING — Boeing improperly influenced a test designed to see how quickly pilots could respond to malfunctions on the Boeing 737 Max, and Federal Aviation Administration officials may have obstructed a review of two deadly crashes involving the plane, Senate investigators say. By Airlines Writer David Koenig. SENT: 530 words, photo.
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MEDIA-LESTER HOLT — In this troubled news year, NBC’s Lester Holt has decided that telling stories isn’t enough. He’s introduced commentaries to his normally straight newscast. SENT: 700 words, photos.
MEDIA-TIMES-CALIPHATE — After an internal investigation, The New York Times said it was wrong to trust a Canadian man whose account of Islamic State atrocities was a central part of its 2018 podcast “Caliphate” but could not be verified. SENT: 940 words, photos.
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FBC--T25-PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP — Oregon didn’t win its Pac-12 division, and it only got into the championship game because Washington had to drop out. The Ducks hadn’t won a game in nearly a month before they took the Coliseum field. They still ended up celebrating amid confetti and streamers in their rivals’ empty stadium. By Greg Beacham. SENT: 910 words, photos. With FBC--T25-Pac-12-USC Mistakes (sent).
HKN--2021 SEASON DEAL — The National Hockey League and players reached a tentative deal Friday to hold a 56-game season in 2021 beginning Jan. 13, pending the approval of each side’s executive board and Canadian health officials. By Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno. SENT: 500 words, photos.
FBC--VIRUS OUTBREAK-COLLEGE SPORTS — The regular season is coming to an end this weekend in college football. Conferences that completed the largest portions of their schedules started early and benefited from having lots of time to make up games during the pandemic. No league got in more of its regular season than the Sun Belt. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. SENT: 820 words, photos. With FBC--CFP-Coaches’-Concerns (sent).
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HOW TO REACH US
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