AP News Digest 2 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 5 years, 8 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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ONLY ON AP
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HOLIDAYS-AT THE BORDER — To slow the spread of COVID-19, the United States, Canada and Mexico agreed in March to close their shared borders to nonessential travel. Nine months later, it’s Christmas. Yet, the holiday spirit survives. Along both borders, AP photographers found families connecting in smaller, more intimate ways, overcoming unusual obstacles for shared celebrations. SENT: 590 words, 25 photos.
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BREXIT — Just a week before the deadline, Britain and the European Union struck a tentative free-trade deal Thursday that should avert economic chaos on New Year’s and bring a measure of certainty for businesses after years of Brexit turmoil. SENT: 700 words, photos. WITH: Brexit-Timeline.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS— President Donald Trump’s last-minute demand for $2,000 checks for most Americans was swiftly rejected Thursday by House Republicans as his haphazard actions throw a massive COVID relief and government funding bill into chaos. The rare Christmas Eve session of the House lasted just minutes with help for millions of Americans on the line. Unemployment benefits, eviction protections and smaller $600 payments, along with other business and emergency aid, is at risk. Trump’s resistance to the $900 billion package, which is linked to a $1.4 trillion government funds bill, could spark a federal shutdown at midnight Monday. By AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 700 words. UPCOMING: 1,000 words by 3 p.m., photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHRISTMAS EVE — Bethlehem on Thursday ushered in Christmas Eve with a stream of joyous marching bands and the triumphant arrival of the top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, but few people were there to greet them as the coronavirus pandemic and a strict lockdown dampened celebrations in the traditional birthplace of Jesus. By Josef Federman and Jalal Hassan. SENT: 1,080 words, photos. WITH: VATICAN-CHRISTMAS EVE — Pope Francis celebrates Christmas Eve with midnight Mass at the Vatican.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BLEAK CHRISTMAS FOR JOBLESS — Millions of Americans have been jobless since the viral pandemic ripped through the U.S. economy in March, triggering a deep recession and causing widespread unemployment. Now, many months later, they face a holiday season they hardly could have foreseen a year ago: too little money to buy gifts, cook large festive meals or pay all their bills. By Joseph Pisani and Christopher Rugaber. SENT: 970 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-US SURGE — Hard-hit California eclipsed 2 million coronavirus cases on Christmas Eve as the U.S. headed into a holiday season of travel and family gatherings that threaten to fuel the deadly crisis across the nation. UPCOMING: 500 words by 2:30 p.m. . WITH: VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST, Virus Outbreak-Things to Know.
IRAQ-RESTORING AUTHORITY — A new agreement aims to bring order to Iraq’s northern region of Sinjar, home to the Yazidi religious minority brutalized by the Islamic State group. Since the fall of the Islamic State group, a tangled web of militia forces have run the area near the Syrian border. Now their flags are coming down, and the Iraqi military has deployed in Sinjar for the first time in nearly 20 years. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
HURRICANE RECOVERY — As southwest Louisiana recovers from the back-to-back hurricanes that hammered the region this year, signs of progress compete with lingering evidence of mass destruction. The fallen trees that carpeted neighborhoods have mostly been chopped up and hauled away, but the roofs they devoured are still covered in blue tarps. Piles of debris still line the roads. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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PAKISTAN-DANIEL PEARL — A provincial court in Pakistan on Thursday ordered the release of a British-born Pakistani man charged in the 2002 murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl. SENT: 430 words, photos.
FRANCE-NOTRE DAME — Wearing hard hats and protective suits, the choir of Notre Dame Cathedral sang inside the medieval Paris landmark for the first time since last year’s devastating fire for a special Christmas Eve concert. SENT: 230 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-D-DAY SOLDIER LETTERS — The coronavirus pandemic canceled the yearly tradition of U.S Army 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers to travel to France to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day. But the town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise got to work collecting postcards of gratitude from their residents. SENT: 640 words, photos.
NOT REAL NEWS — False claims about Congress and the coronavirus spread online this week as a $900 billion COVID-19 relief and government funding bill passed both chambers but did not find favor with President Donald Trump. SENT: 1,400 words, photos.
PUERTO RICO-PIG INVASION — Thousands of Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs are snorting and squealing their way across Puerto Rico in what many fear has become an unstoppable quest to eat and reproduce on an island struggling to stop them. SENT: 900 words, photos.
FLORIDA-CHRISTMAS — With unexpectedly cold weather in the forecast and pandemic-related curfews in some places, Florida is about to have a Christmas unlike any other in recent memory, and it may involve falling iguanas. SENT: 400 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-SANTA’S GRANDCHILDREN — The holiday spirit has reached a nursing home in northern Italy that was one of the country’s first to shut its doors to visitors when the coronavirus emerged nearby in late February. SENT: 600 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-WINTER HOMELESS — The pandemic has caught homeless service providers in a crosscurrent: demand is high but their ability to provide services is constricted. Shelter operators who already cut capacity to meet social distance requirements face new stresses with winter looming. Coming in from the cold can now mean spending a night in a warehouse, an old Greyhound bus station, schools or an old jail. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA NURSES — The nurses of California are afraid. It’s Christmas Eve, and they aren’t home with their families. They are working, always working, completely gowned up — and worn down. SENT: 690 words, photo. (Eds: This story was previously slugged Virus Outbreak-US Surge.)
VIRUS OUTBREAK-OUTDOOR LEARNING — A small number of teachers who got students outdoors this fall to curb the spread of the coronavirus plan to keep it going all winter long. SENT: 780 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA — California became the first state to record 2 million confirmed coronavirus cases, reaching the milestone on Christmas Eve as close to the entire state was under a strict stay-at-home order and hospitals were flooded with the largest crush of cases since the pandemic began. SENT: 810 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — Truckers and travelers stuck in a days-long gridlock at the English port of Dover started heading to France on Thursday after the country partially reopened its borders with Britain following international concern over a rapidly spreading new coronavirus variant. SENT: 680 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ITALY RESTRICTIONS — Police in Italy enforced new COVID-19 travel restrictions aimed at limiting far-flung families from gathering over Christmas as public health officials appealed Thursday for people to use common sense to prevent new infections over the holidays. SENT: 730 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-LATIN AMERICA — An intensive care nurse in Mexico City on Thursday became the first person in Latin America to receive an approved coronavirus vaccine. Mexico began administering the first 3,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in a broadcast ceremony. SENT: 370 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AFRICA — Another new variant of the coronavirus appears to have emerged in Nigeria, Africa’s top public health official said Thursday, but he added that further investigation was needed. SENT: 670 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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TRUMP-PARDONS — President Donald Trump pardoned more than two dozen people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, in the latest wave of clemency to benefit longtime associates and supporters. By Eric Tucker. SENT: 940 words, photos. WITH: TRUMP-PARDONS-GLANCE. A look at the 29 people who received clemency. By Michael Balsamo. SENT: 2,280 words, photos.
TRUMP-PARDONS-KUSHNER — President Donald Trump pardons his son-in-law’s father in a case that former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said involved “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes” he ever prosecuted as U.S. attorney. By Jill Colvin and Colleen Long. SENT: 670 words, photos.
IRAQ-BLACKWATER — Faris Fadel had just one word to describe the recent pardoning by the Trump administration of four private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians — including his brother — in a public square 13 years ago: Unfair. SENT: 630 words, photo.
GEORGIA RUNOFF TURNOUT — Scores of volunteers, civil rights leaders, clergy and celebrities from around the country say they’re pitching in to help Georgians of color prove the voter turnout that narrowly flipped the Peach State from red to blue for President-elect Joe Biden wasn’t a one-time fluke. SENT: 1,190 words, photos.
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EUROPE MIGRANTS — About 20 African migrants were found dead Thursday after their smuggling boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe, Tunisian authorities said. Five survivors were rescued and the Tunisian navy is searching for up to 20 others still believed missing. SENT: 280 words, photos.
SOUTH SUDAN-HUNGER — After nearly a week of hiding from conflict, Kallayn Keneng watched two of her young children die. “They cried and cried and said, ‘Mom, we need food,’” she said. But she had nothing to give. SENT: 930 words, photos.
KENYA-HEALTH WORKERS STRIKE — Doctors, pharmacists and dentists in Kenya called off a three-day strike over inadequate personal protective equipment and insurance Thursday after the government acquiesced to their most immediate demands. SENT: 430 words.
ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN — Police in the Armenian capital detained dozens of people on Thursday during protests against the country’s prime minister, who is being pressured to resign over his handling of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan. SENT: 300 words, photos.
JAPAN-ASTEROID PROBE — They resemble small fragments of charcoal, but the soil samples collected from an asteroid and returned to Earth by a Japanese spacecraft were hardly disappointing. SENT: 300 words, photos.
INDIA-A FARMER’S DAY-PHOTO GALLERY — Ram Singh Patel’s day starts at 6 in the morning, when he walks into his farmland tucked next to a railway line. SENT: 490 words, photos.
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HOLIDAY STORM — A storm that began with snow, strong winds and bitter cold into the eastern Dakotas and western Minnesota early Wednesday and began moving east was making travel treacherous and grounded flights on one of the most anticipated air travel days since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 590 words, photos.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-AUTOPSIES — The COVID-19 pandemic has helped revive the autopsy. When the virus first arrived in U.S. hospitals, doctors could only guess what was causing its strange constellation of symptoms: What could explain why patients were losing their sense of smell and taste, developing skin rashes, struggling to breathe and reporting memory loss on top of flu-like coughs and aches? SENT: 980 words, photos.
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CHINA-ALIBABA INVESTIGATION — Chinese regulators on Thursday announced an anti-monopoly investigation of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, stepping up the ruling Communist Party’s efforts to control fast-growing tech industries. SENT: 730 words, photos.
HOLIDAY SHOPPING-SURGING RETURNS — The surge of online shopping has been a savior for retailers this holiday season — but also a curse. Shoppers trying to avoid stores are expected to return twice as many items as last year at a time when shipping companies are already experiencing delays. SENT: 900 words.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks closed slightly higher on Christmas Eve, as investors went into the holiday weekend not bothered by President Donald Trump’s threat not to sign a major economic stimulus package approved by Congress this week. SENT: 350 words, photos.
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RACIAL INJUSTICE-FOOD RECIPE REPAIR — With a new Black editor in chief and ambitious promises to do better, a little corner of the Conde Nast universe is taking on racial and cultural injustice one recipe at a time. SENT: 960 words, photos.
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HEISMAN FINALISTS — The finalists for the Heisman Trophy are revealed. Alabama’s DeVonta Smith and Mac Jones could become eighth set of teammates to become finalists together, though there will be no trip to New York for the presentation this year because of the pandemic. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. UPCOMING: 650 words, photos. Announcement about 7:45 p.m. EST.
FBN-PLAYERS ACTIVISM — For several NFL stars, speaking out against social injustice meant speaking to youngsters who have experienced racism. Travis Kelce, Derrick Henry, Tyler Lockett and Calais Campbell each spent time this season chatting with students about a film that focuses on social and emotional effects of racism against Black men and boys. The documentary titled “Black Boys” was executive produced by Malcolm Jenkins. The players joined students in virtual class discussions about the film’s exploration identity, opportunity and equity in America. By Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m., photos.
YE—LAMENTATION FOR SPORTS — The AP makes its annual foray into verse, this time capturing the rhythms of a sports year in unprecedented upheaval. It began with the New Year’s Day death of David Stern and followed with the fatal helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant, the lockdown of sports, the struggles for social justice and the restart of games during a pandemic. As the year-end verse asks at the outset: “Well, had enough yet?/Don’t look at the score./How bad did it get?/Like nothing before.” By Fred Lief. SENT: 1,380 words, photos.
Find more year-end coverage on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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