AP News Digest 6 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 4 years 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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NEW & DEVELOPING
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Adds: FIVE DEATHS-ARKANSAS, ISRAEL-PROTESTS, GINGERBREAD-MONOLITH, OBIT-BARRY LOPEZ, OBIT-MICHAEL ALIG.
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ONLY ON AP
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-BELARUS PRISONS — A wave of COVID-19 has engulfed prisons in Belarus that are packed with people in custody for demonstrating against the nation’s authoritarian president. Some of the protesters who contracted the coronavirus while incarcerated accuse authorities of neglecting or even encouraging infections. Activists who spoke to The Associated Press after their release described massively overcrowded cells without proper ventilation and a lack of basic health care. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
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NASHVILLE EXPLOSION — Federal agents have converged at the home of a possible person of interest in the explosion that rocked downtown Nashville on Christmas morning. Investigators are scouring hundreds of tips and leads in the blast that pulverized city streets and damaged dozens of buildings. More than 24 hours after the explosion, a motive remained elusive as investigators worked round-the-clock to resolve unanswered questions. By Kimberlee Kruesi, Michael Balsamo and Eric Tucker. SENT: 770 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP-CONGRESS -- Unemployment insurance aid is expiring for millions on the weekend as President Donald Trump holds a pandemic relief package in limbo and gripes about “pork” in the bipartisan legislation passed by Congress. “It’s a chess game and we are pawns,” said Lanetris Haines, a self-employed single mother of three in South Bend, Indiana, who stands to lose her $129 weekly jobless benefit as Trump weighs whether to sign the package into law or press for improbable changes. By Jill Colvin and Alexandra Olson. SENT: 1,210 words, photos.
YE-TRUMP LEGACY-JUDICIARY – On this, even President Donald Trump’s most fevered critics agree: He has left a deep imprint on the federal courts that will outlast his one term in office for decades to come. By Mark Sherman, Kevin Freking and Matthew Daly. SENT: 1,740 words. Photos. With YE--TRUMP LEGACY-JUDICIARY-ABRIDGED.
YE-ELECTION 2020-VOTING CHANGES — Changes to the way millions of Americans voted this year contributed to record turnout, but that’s no guarantee the measures making it easier to cast ballots will stick around for future elections. Republicans in some states that voted for President-elect Joe Biden already are pushing for new restrictions on absentee voting. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.
2020 CENSUS-HOMELESS — When census takers tried to count the nation’s homeless population, they ran into many problems that could threaten the accuracy of the effort. That’s what a half dozen census takers around the U.S. tell The Associated Press. By Michelle L. Price and Mike Schneider. SENT: 1,040 words, photos. This story is the Sunday Spotlight.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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GINGERBREAD-MONOLITH — In true pop-up art fashion, a nearly 7-foot-tall monolith made of gingerbread mysteriously appeared on a San Francisco hilltop on Christmas Day and collapsed the next day. SENT: 310 words, photos, video.
UTAH FOOTBALLER-DEATH — University of Utah officials say star freshman running back Ty Jordan has died. Authorities have not released details about the circumstances of the Mesquite, Texas, native’s death. SENT: 210 words, photos.
SUDAN-FILM — Nearly two years after the overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir, Sudan is taking steps to rejoin the international community from which it was long shunned. That includes its film industry. SENT: 860 words, photo.
VOLCANO ERUPTION — Park rangers have cited dozens of people who have gathered at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to witness an ongoing eruption of the Kilauea volcano. SENT: 360 words, photo.
ITALY-POMPEII-FAST FOOD — A fast-food eatery discovered at Pompeii is now completely excavated, helping to reveal the favorite dishes of citizens of the ancient Roman city destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. SENT: 620 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-EUROPE — Hungarian doctors and health care workers began getting vaccinated Saturday with one of the continent’s first shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, upsetting the European Union’s plans for a coordinated rollout of the first shots across the 27-nation bloc on Sunday. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SOUTH KOREA — South Korea had seemed to be winning the fight against the coronavirus: Quickly ramping up its testing, contact-tracing and quarantine efforts paid off when it weathered an early outbreak without the economic pain of a lockdown. But a deadly resurgence has reached new heights during Christmas week, prompting soul-searching on how the nation sleepwalked into a crisis. SENT: 1,005 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — Millions of people in the U.K. faced tough new coronavirus restrictions Saturday, with Scotland and Northern Ireland demanding tighter measures to try to halt a new variant of the virus that is believed to spread more quickly. SENT: 510 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — Beijing has urged residents not to leave the city during the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays, implementing fresh restrictions after several coronavirus infections last week. SENT: 700 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-THAILAND — Health officials in Thailand say two new clusters of coronavirus cases have been found that appear to be linked to a major outbreak discovered a week earlier among migrant workers in an industrial province near Bangkok. SENT: 350 words, photo.
EGYPT — An intensive care unit at an Egyptian hospital caught fire on Saturday, killing seven coronavirus patients, officials said. SENT: 250 words.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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ELECTION 2020-SENATE-GEORGIA — Strong turnout among voters under 30 nationwide helped propel Democrat Joe Biden to victory over Trump in the November presidential election. Now, with the national spotlight on Georgia’s Senate races, campaigns and voter mobilization groups are working furiously to make sure young voters turn out for the runoffs. SENT: 840 words, photos.
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BREXIT — The European Union and the United Kingdom have made public the vast agreement set to govern future trade and cooperation between them from Jan. 1. The deal, if endorsed by EU countries and lawmakers on both sides of the English Channel, will set the 27-nation bloc’s ties with its former member country on a new but far more distant footing. SENT: 380 words, photos.
BOSNIA-MIGRANTS — Hundreds of migrants are stranded in a burnt-out squalid camp in Bosnia as heavy snow fell in the country and winter temperatures dropped. Migrants at the Lipa camp on Saturday wrapped themselves in blankets to protect against biting winds in northwest Bosnia bordering European Union member Croatia. SENT: 410 words, photos.
RUSSIA-OBIT-BLAKE — George Blake, a former British intelligence officer who worked as a double agent for the Soviet Union, passed some of the most coveted Western secrets to Moscow, and escaped from a British prison, has died in Russia. He was 98. SENT: 660 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN — A series of explosions has hit the Afghan capital, killing at least four people including two police officers and wounding another four. SENT: 330 words, photos.
LIBYA — The U.N. says Libya’s warring sides have kicked off a U.N.-brokered prisoner exchange. SENT: 540 words.
MONTENEGRO-AIRLINE — Montenegro Airlines has ceased operations after the small country’s new government refused to continue financing the indebted national carrier. SENT: 300 words, photos.
ISRAEL-PROTESTS — Hundreds of Israelis have protested against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling on the long-serving leader to resign just days after the country was plunged into a new national election. SENT: 300 words, photos.
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GIRL SCOUTS VS BOY SCOUTS — Lawyers for the Girl Scouts say that the century-old organization is now directly competing with the Boy Scouts for female recruits and that it’s not a fair fight. SENT: 810 words, photos.
BABY STROLLER-HIT-AND-RUN — A hit-and-run driver struck a woman pushing her 1-year-old grandchild in a stroller, putting the grandmother in critical condition and causing the baby to die Christmas morning, authorities said. SENT: 140 words.
FIVE DEATHS-ARKANSAS — Two women and three girls have been found dead in a home in northwest Arkansas in what authorities said are being investigated as suspected homicides. SENT: 160 words.
OBIT-BARRY LOPEZ — Barry Lopez, an award-winning writer who tried to tighten the bonds between people and place by describing the landscapes he saw in 50 years of travel, has died. SENT: 290 words.
OBIT-MICHAEL ALIG — Notorious “club kid” killer Michael Alig, who served 17 years in prison for killing his roommate over a drug debt in a case that became a book and film, has died of a suspected drug overdose six years after his release, police said. He was 54. SENT: 190 words.
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LEBANON-FRANCE-GHOSN — A team of French investigators will come to Beirut next month to participate in interrogating former Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, a Lebanese justice ministry official says. SENT: 430 words, photo.
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OBIT-BERLIND — Roger Berlind, a prolific producer of more than 100 Broadway plays and musicals, has died. He was 90. Berlind won 25 Tony awards during a four-decade career that boosted the success of actors including Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons.
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YE—MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR — LeBron James is voted Male Athlete of the Year by the AP after winning his fourth NBA title, putting the Lakers on top of the basketball world again and taking a stand for social justice and voting rights. This a record-tying fourth time he has won the AP honor. SENT: 950 words, photos.
Find more year-end coverage on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
FBN--BUCCANEERS-LIONS — Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes in the only half he needed to play and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went on to rout the Detroit Lions 47-7, sealing a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2007. SENT: 600 words, photos.
BKN--ROCKETS-TRAIL BLAZERS -- Disgruntled scoring champion James Harden comes out of quarantine for his season debut when the Rockets play their delayed season against the Portland Trail Blazers. Houston is without four players who are completing quarantines for at least two games. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos. Game starts 10 p.m. EST.
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