AP News Digest 2 p.m.
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 5 years, 9 months AGO
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-MINORITY BUSINESSES-LOANS — Thousands of minority-owned small businesses were at the end of the line in the government’s coronavirus relief program as many struggled to find banks that would accept their applications or were disadvantaged by the terms of the program. Data from the Paycheck Protection Program released Dec. 1 and analyzed by The Associated Press show that many minority owners desperate for a relief loan didn’t receive one until the PPP’s last few weeks while many more white business owners were able to get loans earlier in the program. By Joyce M. Rosenberg and Justin Myers. SENT: 1,260 words, photo. This is the Monday Spotlight.
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SENATE-GEORGIA — President Trump is heard on a taped phone call berating and pleading with Georgia’s top election official to change the outcome of the state’s certified vote that Trump lost to Joe Biden. The outgoing president’s request and persistent unfounded claims of fraud come two months after that election and two days before two runoffs in Georgia that will determine control of the Senate. ``What you’re saying is not true. The truth will come out,’’ Georgia’s secretary of state says. By Jeff Amy and Darlene Superville. SENT: 850 words. UPCOMING: 900 words by 3 p.m.
CONGRESS-ELECTORAL COLLEGE — The Republican lawmakers who have enlisted in President Donald Trump’s extraordinary effort to overturn the election are steadfast despite criticism from members of their own party who warn the effort is upending the nation’s civic norms and risking Americans’ faith in democracy. The challenges are expected to fail when Congress convenes in a joint session Wednesday to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. By Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick. UPCOMING: 750 words by 4 p.m. With CONGRESS-ELECTORAL COLLEGE — How Congress will count the votes on Wednesday. UPCOMNG: 850 words, photos by 4 p.m.
CONGRESS — Congress convened for the start of a new session, swearing in lawmakers during a tumultuous period as a growing number of Republicans work to overturn Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump and the coronavirus surges. Democrat Nancy Pelosi was set to be reelected as House speaker by her party, which retains the majority in the House but with the slimmest margin in 20 years after a November election wipeout. By Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 1,040 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing. With CONGRESS -THE LATEST (sent).
VIRUS OUTBREAK — The U.S. ramped up COVID-19 vaccinations in the past few days after a slower-than-expected start, bringing to 4 million the number of Americans who have received shots, Dr. Anthony Fauci says. The government’s top infectious-disease expert also said on ABC’s “This Week” that President-elect Joe Biden’s pledge to administer 100 million shots of the vaccine within his first 100 days in office is achievable. And he rejected President Trump’s false claim on Twitter that coronavirus deaths and cases in the U.S. have been greatly exaggerated. By Gary D. Robertson. SENT: 560 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK -THE LATEST (sent)
VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDIA VACCINE — India has authorized two COVID-19 vaccines, paving the way for a huge inoculation program to stem the coronavirus pandemic in the world’s second most populous country. By Aniruddha Ghosal and Sheikh Saaliq. SENT: 760 words, photos. With VIRUS-OUTBREAK-INDIA-VACCINE-MANUFACTURER — AP Interview: India bars company from exporting vaccines. SENT: 500 words, photos.
SENATE-GEORGIA-CHURCH — For decades, the red-bricked Gothic Revival church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached has been a monument to the history of Black Americans’ fight for civil rights and the legacy of an activist icon. It took a high-stakes Senate race and a Trump-era cultural debate to thrust Ebenezer Baptist Church into the center of the current political debate. Its senior pastor, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, is running for the Senate in one of two runoff elections that could decide which party ultimately controls Congress. But Warnock’s preaching has become a focal point in the debate about race and justice in the election. By Aaron Morrison. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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PRINCE ESTATE-IRS — IRS says executors undervalued Prince’s estate by 50%. SENT: 320 words, photo.
POLICE SHOOTING-WISCONSIN-KENOSHA — Kenosha city officials say they are preparing for possible protests when a charging decision comes in the police shooting of Jacob Blake. SENT: 210 words.
EAST-TEXAS-CHURCH-SHOOTING — Sheriff’s deputy: 1 dead, 1 hurt in shooting at Texas church. SENT: 200 words.
PLANE CRASH-HOUSE — A small plane crashed into a house in southeastern Michigan, killing the pilot and two family members. Five people inside the two-story house were able to avoid injury. SENT: 200 words.
HEAD-ON-CRASH-9-DEAD — Head-on crash kills 7 kids, 2 adults in central California. SENT: 350 words, photo.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that more onerous lockdown restrictions in England are likely in the coming weeks as the country reels from a new coronavirus variant that has pushed infection rates to their highest recorded levels. Johnson, though, insisted he has “no doubt” that schools are safe and urged parents to send their children back into the classroom in areas of England where they can. SENT: 780 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-SOMALIA-HIDDEN-PANDEMIC — As richer countries race to distribute COVID-19 vaccines, Somalia remains the rare place where much of the population hasn’t taken the coronavirus seriously. Some fear that’s proven to be deadlier than anyone knows. SENT: 740 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-EGYPT — Egyptian prosecutors opened an investigation into the deaths of at least four coronavirus patients at a public Egyptian hospital, after a video of nurses struggling to keep the patients alive was shared widely on social media. The governor of Sharqia province denied allegations by a relative of one of the patients that the deaths were caused by a lack of oxygen. SENT: 450 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ZIMBABWE-NEW RESTRICTIONS — In response to rising COVID-19 numbers, Zimbabwe has reintroduced a night curfew, banned public gatherings, and indefinitely suspended the opening of schools. SENT: 320 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — More Australian states and territories are imposing travel restrictions to prevent the coronavirus spreading from new outbreaks in New South Wales and Victoria states. SENT: 580 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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CONGRESS-PELOSI — Speaker Nancy Pelosi seems on track to renew her hold on the House’s top job in a vote later Sunday, but she is facing the challenge of producing legislation to tackle the pandemic and revive the economy while leading the chamber’s narrowest majority in decades. UPCOMING: 900 words by 6 p.m. Vote expected after 5:30 p.m. EST.
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PERSIAN GULF-TENSIONS — Chanting anti-American slogans, thousands of Iraqis converged on a landmark square in central Baghdad to commemorate the anniversary of the killing of a powerful Iranian general and a top Iraqi militia leader in a U.S. drone strike. SENT: 750 words, photos.
PAKISTAN-MINERS KILLED — A Pakistani official says gunmen opened fire on a group of minority Shiite Hazara coal miners in a southwestern province after abducting them, killing 11. SENT: 390 words, photos.
SPAIN-UK-TRAVELERS — Blame COVID-19 travel restrictions or Brexit but whatever the cause, some British citizens trying to return to their homes in several European countries this weekend have been barred from boarding flights. SENT: 720 words, photos.
YEMEN — A plane landed at the airport in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden, officials said, the first commercial flight to arrive since the deadly missile attack last week on the facility that killed at least 25 people and wounded 110 others. SENT: 490 words, photo.
INDIA-TIBET-ELECTION — Hundreds of Tibetans in exile braved the rain and cold Sunday in India’s northern city of Dharmsala, where the exiled government is based, and voted for their new political leader as the current officeholder’s five-year term nears its end. SENT: 450 words, photos.
NILE-DAM-DISPUTE — Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have resumed their years-long negotiations over the controversial dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile. The resumption came after Khartoum boycotted talks in November. SENT: 350 words, photo.
ISRAEL-NETANYAHU — Israeli prosecutors have released an amended indictment spelling out detailed charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a corruption case in which he is accused of trading favors with a powerful media mogul. SENT: 200 words, photo.
EUROPE-MIGRANTS — A Spanish-flagged humanitarian ship is seeking a port of safety for 265 migrants its crew rescued from the Mediterranean Sea in the last few days. SENT: 200 words, photos.
VATICAN-BELARUS — The Vatican says Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the Minsk’ archbishop who had been blocked for months by Belarusian authorities from returning to his homeland after criticizing a crackdown on anti-government protesters there. SENT: 250 words, photo.
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RACIAL INJUSTICE-UNIQUE PROTESTS — A Black woman who says she gained new racial awareness after leaving her majority-white hometown in Alabama is now leading protests against a Confederate monument in the city. Unique Morgan Dunston says she didn’t often think about the rebel monument when she was growing up as one of only a few Black people in the city. That changed after she went away to college. SENT: 850 words, photos.
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BUSINESS
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FIAT CHRYSLER-PEUGEOT MERGER — Shareholders of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Group are meeting Monday to vote on a merger that will create the world’s fourth-largest automaker. Early cost-cutting moves are more likely in Europe than in the U.S. SENT: 920 words, photos.
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FILM-BOX OFFICE — In its second weekend in U.S. theaters, “Wonder Woman 1984” earned an estimated $5.5 million in ticket sales according to studio estimates. It’s a 67% drop for the superhero sequel, which is simultaneously playing on 2,151 screens and streaming free for HBO Max subscribers. SENT: 270 words, photo.
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FBN-PLAYOFF LOOKAHEAD — All three AFC wild cards and two in the NFC, as well as NFC East and AFC South division titles are on the line as the NFL completes its regular season. On time, too. By Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner. UPCOMING: 850 words, photos by 5 p.m. Will be updated after late afternoon games and night game.
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