AP News Digest 2 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 6 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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TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT — The U.S. House votes to send two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate and approve House prosecutors for only the third impeachment trial in American history. The party-line vote moves the president's impeachment from Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Democratic-run House to the Republican-majority Senate, where Trump expects acquittal even as new evidence raising fresh questions about his Ukraine effort. By Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 930 words. UPCOMING: Developing, including from 5 p.m. managers’ procession of articles to Senate, 1,000 words by 5:30 p.m., photos, video.
TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT MANAGERS — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has given seven House members the weighty responsibility of prosecuting President Donald Trump’s impeachment case. But the task ahead in the Senate trial goes beyond a mere recitation of facts. They need to persuade at least four Republican senators to demand new documents and testimony __ and in the process, prevent a rush to Trump's acquittal. By Mary Clare Jalonick and Laurie Kellman. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m., photos, graphic. WITH: TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT MANAGERS-GLANCE — Thumbnails on the seven House managers of the impeachment trial. UPCOMING: 300 words by 4 p.m. WITH: TRUMP IMPEACHMENT DOCUMENTS — A House committee chairman said his panel will investigate what he says are “profoundly alarming” text messages that have raised questions about the possible surveillance of former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch before she was ousted by the Trump administration last spring. SENT: 970 words, photo.
Full coverage of the impeachment inquiry in AP Newsroom.
UNITED STATES-CHINA TRADE — After 18 months of economic combat, the United States and China sign a modest "phase one" trade agreement to ease some U.S. economic sanctions on China and step up Beijing’s purchases of American farm products and other goods. The fight has slowed global growth, hurt American manufacturers and weighed on the Chinese economy. By Kevin Freking and Paul Wiseman. SENT: 950 words. UPCOMING: 920 words by 5 p.m., photos, video.
RUSSIA-PUTIN — President Vladimir Putin engineered a surprise shakeup of Russia's leadership, proposing changes to the constitution that could keep him in power well past the end of his term in 2024. By Vladimir Isachenkov. SENT: 1,080 words, photo.
SCI--HOTTEST DECADE — The decade that just ended was by far the hottest ever measured on Earth, capped off by the second-warmest year on record, two U.S. agencies reported. And scientists said they see no end to the way man-made climate change keeps shattering records. “This is real. This is happening,” Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said at the close of a decade plagued by raging wildfires, melting ice and extreme weather. By Seth Borenstein. SENT: 930 words, photos.
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MORE ON IMPEACHMENT
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TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-WHITE HOUSE STRATEGY — Millions watching on television. One hundred seated silently on the floor of the Senate. One man in the Oval Office with an itchy Twitter finger. President Trump’s impeachment team will be addressing multiple audiences as it mounts a defense during the president’s Senate trial. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m., photos, video
TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-MEDIA — President Trump’s upcoming impeachment trial in the Senate promises to be one of the most heavily scrutinized events in American political history. But the journalists tasked with covering the trial are warning that harsh new restrictions on media access will cripple their ability to do their jobs. UPCOMING: 600 words by 3:30 p.m., photo.
TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-CIPOLLONE — Pat Cipollone doesn’t seem like Donald Trump’s kind of fixer. His manner is unassuming. He hasn’t spent much time playing a lawyer in court or on TV. But the president has turned to Cipollone, his White House counsel, when it matters most — to lead his defense in his impeachment trial. SENT: 1,230 words, photos.
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WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
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RETIRING AT 102 — A 102-year-old man who is Indiana's oldest state employee is retiring after nearly six decades on the job, saying that “your body tells you when it's time to go.” SENT: 335 words, photos.
MOUNTAIN LION VIDEO-CALIFORNIA — Five California mountain lions were seen together on home surveillance video in a rare gathering of the notoriously solitary big cats. SENT: 210 words.
RESTAURANT MANAGER-FATAL SHOOTING — A former manager at an Oklahoma Arby's restaurant who was charged with fatally shooting a customer she said spit on her was sentenced to two decades in prison. SENT: 140 words.
NISSAN AIR BAG-RECALL — Nissan is recalling nearly 308,000 vehicles in the U.S. to replace dangerous Takata air bag inflators that can explode and hurl shrapnel. SENT: 325 words.
DAD-DAUGHTER WED — A Nebraska man already sentenced to prison for having sex with his adult daughter has been given two more years behind bars. SENT: 185 words, photo.
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ELECTION 2020-SANDERS-WARREN — For nearly a year, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders pushed strongly progressive ideas into the Democratic primary spotlight: “Medicare for All,” tuition-free college, a $15 minimum wage and a “Green New Deal” to combat climate change. Now the progressive superstars are fighting, and regardless of who ultimately prevails, the party’s most liberal wing is nervous the fallout could torpedo once ascendant progressive ideals. UPCOMING: 900 words by 5 p.m., photos, video.
ELECTION 2020-OVERSEAS TROOPS — The Democratic presidential field is united in criticizing President Donald Trump’s handling of America’s military presence in the Middle East, but the candidates differ on how to do it better. By National Security Writer Robert Burns. UPCOMING: 800 words by 4 p.m., photos.
Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page on APNewsroom.
SUPREME COURT-AGE DISCRIMINATION — “OK, Boomer" makes its first appearance in the Supreme Court, invoked by baby boomer Chief Justice John Roberts 12 days before he turns 65. In a case about age discrimination in the workplace, Roberts imagines dialogue between a younger supervisor interviewing an older “boomer” applicant. The arguments draw laughter in a courtroom where the justices range in age from 52 to 86. SENT: 370 words, photo.
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FRANCE BEAR BAN — The bears have cute names — Bubble, Feather, Snowflake and the like — and look so soft and huggable when caught on video by remote cameras that study their habits. But to herders high in the Pyrenees mountains of southwest France, the animals are stone-cold killers, ravaging flocks and undermining farming livelihoods. Livestock farmers are rejoicing after getting an assurance from President Emmanuel Macron that he won't authorize the release into the wild of any more of the bears blamed for a surge in deadly attacks. SENT: 900 words, photos.
IRAN-PLANE CRASH — Iran's top diplomat acknowledged that Iranians “were lied to" for days after the Islamic Republic accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner. The admission came as new surveillance footage purported to show two surface-to-air missiles 20 seconds apart shred the airplane and kill all 176 people aboard. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.
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EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT-VIRGINIA — Virginia moved to the brink of becoming the crucial 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, a momentous victory for many women's rights advocates even though it is far from certain the measure will ever be added to the U.S. Constitution. SENT: 380 words, photos, developing.
MICHAEL-AVENATTI-CHARGES — Michael Avenatti, the brash former attorney for the porn actress Stormy Daniels, was arrested for allegedly violating bail by committing numerous financial crimes to conceal assets from creditors while living a lavish lifestyle, U.S. prosecutors alleged in a court document. SENT: 675 words, photo.
LIMITING-REFUGEES — A federal judge agreed to block the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order allowing state and local government officials to reject refugees from resettling in their jurisdictions. SENT: 725 words, photos.
AIRCRAFT FUEL DUMP — Federal authorities investigate why an airliner with engine trouble dumped jet fuel over a densely populated area of Southern California while making an emergency return, dousing dozens of schoolchildren in a smelly vapor. SENT: 825 words, photos.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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SCI-SPACE STATION — Two NASA astronauts ventured on a second all-female spacewalk to finish upgrades to the International Space Station's power grid, but quickly ran into a helmet problem. SENT: 450 words, photo.
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FACEBOOK-NUDITY NUANCES — The unclothed human body accounts for the bulk of the material Facebook removes from its service and some people are not happy. They are activists, sex therapists, artists and sex educators who say the company is unfairly censoring their work, suspending them in “Facebook jail” with no warning and little, if any recourse. By Barbara Ortutay. SENT: 1,200 words, photo.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks rose in afternoon trading on Wall Street after the signing of an initial trade deal between the U.S. and China. SENT: 450 words, photos.
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TV-SEVEN WORLDS: ONE PLANET — A new seven-part nature documentary series is bursting with fascinating animal behavior, from male river chubs in Tennessee who carefully build nests of rocks for their mates to the jumping spiders of Australia whose mating ritual is as theatrical as a Broadway show. By AP Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy. SENT: 900 words, photo.
BRITAIN-ROYAL-RIFT — The estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex could be called to testify against the royals in her lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday newspaper, court papers reveal. Meghan is suing the newspaper and its parent company, Associated Newspapers, for publishing a letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle. SENT: 700 words, photos.
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BBO-SIGN-STEALING SOLUTIONS — If Major League Baseball really wants to stop its teams from electronically stealing signs, it might consider fighting technology with more technology. One model is the NCAA's Southeastern Conference, which uses an earpiece for coaches and catchers to communicate. SENT: 975 words, photos.
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