AP News Digest 2 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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TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT — President Donald Trump is on the verge of being impeached for a second time in an unprecedented House vote a week after he encouraged a mob of loyalists to “fight like hell” against election results before they stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly siege. Trump, who would become the only U.S. president twice impeached, faces a single charge: “incitement of insurrection.” By Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick, Jonathan Lemire and Alan Fram. SENT: 1275 words. UPCOMING: Mid-afternoon vote expected, 1200 words by 5 p.m., photos, video. WITH: CAPITOL BREACH-THE LATEST, developing. WITH: TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-THE SCENE — The U.S. Capitol was transformed into a impeachment fortress as hundreds of National Guard members camped out in the building. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m., photos. WITH: TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-FACT CHECK - President Donald Trump’s words and actions before his supporters’ attack on the Capitol a week ago are under the microscope in the House impeachment debate. A look at the facts. UPCOMING: 600 words by 3:30 p.m., photos.
TRUMP — His place in the history books about to be altered, President Donald Trump awaits his second impeachment -- something no other president has faced -- largely alone and silent. By Jonathan Lemire, Zeke Miller and Jill Colvin. UPCOMING: 890 words by 5 p.m., photos.
TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-SENATE — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is moving abruptly away from President Trump, telling people that he thinks Trump perpetrated impeachable offenses and that Democrats’ impeachment drive is an opportune moment to distance the GOP from the tumultuous, divisive outgoing president. By Alan Fram. SENT: 660 words. UPCOMING: Developing, 790 words by 5 p.m., photos.
TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT-GOP SUPPORT — This time, it’s bipartisan. A small but outspoken group of House Republicans is siding with Democrats to charge President Trump with incitement of insurrection over the Capitol siege. By Matthew Daly. UPCOMING: 700 words by 6 p.m., photos.
CAPITOL BREACH-INTELLIGENCE — Law enforcement officials across the country are wading through a trove of intelligence – from online message posts to wiretaps and other surveillance – as authorities prepare for armed protests in the nation’s capital and at statehouses nationwide following the siege of the U.S. Capitol last week. A primary concern is the safety of members of Congress, particularly when they are traveling between their home states and the U.S. Capitol and at airports. By Stefanie Dazio and Michael Balsamo. UPCOMING: 800 words by 5 p.m., photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SHUTDOWN DEFIANCE —A growing number of restaurants nationwide are opening for indoor dining in defiance of strict COVID-19 regulations in their states, saying they are targeted unfairly and are barely hanging on. By Gillian Flaccas. SENT: 1,095 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — Schools in the U.S. are forging ahead with in-person instruction despite being in the midst of a devastating period in the pandemic, heartened by the addition of teachers to the vaccination line, the development of on-site testing and impatience over being out of class for nearly a year in some places. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos by 4 p.m.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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POLAND BABY RHINOCEROUS — An endangered Indian rhinoceros was born last week in Wroclaw Zoo in Poland, a hopeful development in efforts to preserve the rare animals. SENT: 195 words, photos.
ITALY-EU WORMS — The vaunted Mediterranean diet and the French “bon gout” are getting some competition: The European food safety agency says worms are safe to eat. SENT: 150 words.
AMAZON-PARLER — Seattle-based Amazon.com, Inc. has asked a federal judge to deny a request to reinstate the cloud-service account for conservative social media network Parler. SENT: 270 words, photo.
LOTTERY JACKPOTS — Mega Millions jackpot rises to $750 million after no winner. SENT: 175 words, photo.
DAVID CASSIDY-HOME SALE — A Los Angeles-based real estate investor has purchased the six-bedroom South Florida home that belonged to the late teen idol David Cassidy, and hopes to give it a fresh look on television. SENT: 330 words, photos.
MUSIC-SHAKIRA CATALOG — The Board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, a U.K.-based investment company, has acquired 100% of Grammy-winning superstar Shakira’s music publishing rights. SENT: 265 words, photos.
BRITAIN-SARAH FERGUSON — Sarah, the Duchess of York, has landed a book deal for her debut novel for adults, a historical romance fictionalizing the life and loves of her great-great-great aunt. SENT: 180 words.
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINE ROLLOUT — With vaccine distribution ramping up in the U.S., a look at where and when people can get shots. UPCOMING: 800 words, photo by 4 p.m.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-MENTAL HEALTH — An ongoing study suggests that older American adults are showing resilience and perseverance despite struggles with loneliness and isolation during the pandemic. SENT: 500 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPAIN — A judge in northwest Spain has overruled a family’s objections and decided to allow health authorities to administer a coronavirus vaccine to an incapacitated woman in a nursing home. SENT: 830 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-JAPAN — Japan is expanding a coronavirus state of emergency for seven more prefectures, affecting more than half the population as infections spread across the country. Prime Minister Yoshide Suga also said Japan will suspend fast-track business entry permits, fully banning foreign visitors while the state of emergency is in place. SENT: 710 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — Britain’s coronavirus vaccine program will operate around the clock seven days a week “as soon as we can,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged as the U.K. accelerates efforts to inoculate millions of its most vulnerable people against coronavirus. SENT: 630 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-COLLEGE APPLICATIONS — Aspiring college students who have seen every aspect of their lives disrupted by the coronavirus are grappling with how to show their potential in a season when so many admissions exams and activities have been canceled. Students are facing January and February college application deadlines without SAT and ACT entrance exam scores, community service records and resumes flush with extracurricular activities. SENT: 885 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TURKEY VACCINE — Turkish authorities gave the go-ahead for the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by China’s Sinovac Biotch Ltd., paving the way for the rollout for Turkey’s vaccination program starting with health care workers and other high-risk groups. SENT: 395 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — Millions of people are lining up in subzero temperatures to receive a second round of coronavirus tests in a city south of Beijing that is at the heart of China’s most serious latest outbreak of COVID-19. SENT: 420 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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CONGRESS-CHENEY — Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, has broken with President Trump before, but her staunch demand that he be impeached for betraying his oath of office is all the more dramatic since she’s the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, a ferocious conservative force in Washington for decades. Her stand is causing some conservative members of Congress to recoil and demand she be ousted from her leadership post. UPCOMING: 900 words by 4 p.m., photos.
CAPITOL BREACH-LAW ENFORCEMENT-LEADERSHIP — A law enforcement press conference nearly a week after the U.S. Capitol riot was notable not only for news that sedition charges were being contemplated but also because of who was not there: the highest-ranking leaders of the FBI and the Justice Department. In the seven days since loyalists of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol, neither FBI Director Chis Wray nor Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen has fielded questions. By Eric Tucker and Michael Balsamo. UPCOMING: 800 words by 4 p.m., photos.
2020-CENSUS — U.S. Census Bureau statisticians are under significant pressure from Trump political appointees to figure out who in the U.S. is in the country illegally, and they’re worried that any such report they produce in the waning days of the Trump administration will be inaccurate, according to the bureau’s watchdog agency. SENT: 600 words, photo.
TRUMP NEW YORK CITY-CONTRACTS — New York City will terminate business contracts with President Trump after last week’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced. De Blasio said the Trump Organization earns about $17 million a year in profits from its contracts to run two ice skating rinks and a carousel in Central Park as well as a golf course in the Bronx. SENT: 575 words, photos.
IVANKA TRUMP WOMEN — Ivanka Trump’s global women’s development program is about halfway toward its goal of helping 50 million women in developing countries get ahead economically by 2025. SENT: 220 words, photo.
AIRBNB-BAN — Airbnb says it will be blocking and cancelling all reservations in the Washington, D.C. area during the week of the presidential inauguration. The decision came two days after it said it was reviewing reservations in the area ahead of next week’s presidential inauguration and said it will bar any guests associated with hate groups or violent activity. SENT: 375 words, photo.
UNITED STATES-CHINA FORCED LABOR — The U.S. government says it will halt imports from the Uighur region of China in its most sweeping action yet to pressure the Communist Party to stop a campaign against ethnic minorities. SENT: 319 words, photos.
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TUNISIA-ARAB SPRING-NOSTALGIA — A lawmaker nostalgic for Tunisia’s past has become one of the country’s most popular and most controversial politicians. Abir Moussi is tapping memories of a more stable and prosperous time, just as Tunisians mark 10 years since they overthrew autocratic former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. SENT: 990 words, photos. WITH: TUNISIA-THE INJURED-PHOTO GALLERY — Tunisia revolution victims plea for recognition. SENT: 435 words.
ITALY POLITICS — Matteo Renzi, a former Italian premier, yanked his ministers on Wednesday from Premier Giuseppe Conte’s government, triggering a political crisis in the middle of a pandemic that could lead to a revamped Cabinet, a different coalition leader or even an early election that opposition right-wing parties hope will bring them to power. SENT: 640 words, photos.
ITALY MAFIA TRIAL — A trial with more than 320 defendants began in southern Italy against the ’ndrangheta crime syndicate, arguably the world’s richest criminal organization that quietly amassed power as the Sicilian Mafia lost influence. SENT: 815 words, photos.
UGANDA-ELECTION — Ugandan authorities appeared to cut off internet access in the country on the eve of a tense presidential election, while a lawyer for leading opposition candidate Bobi Wine said all contact had been lost with him. SENT: 765 words, photo.
SYRIA-ISRAEL — Israeli warplanes have carried out intense airstrikes on eastern Syria targeting positions and arms depots of Iran-backed fighters. An opposition war monitor says dozens of fighters were killed or wounded in Wednesday’s strikes. Syria’s state news agency SANA says the strikes hit areas along the border with Iraq. A senior U.S. intelligence official confirms the attack. SENT: 530 words.
IRAN-MISSILE-DRILL — State TV reports that Iran’s navy has begun a short-range missile drill in the Gulf of Oman and inaugurated its largest military vessel amid heightened tensions over the country’s nuclear program and a U.S. pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic. SENT: 430 words, photos.
INDONESIA-PLANE CRASH — Divers looking for a crashed plane’s cockpit voice recorder were searching in mud and plane debris on the seabed between Indonesian islands. They’re looking to retrieve information key to learning why the Sriwijaya Air jet nosedived into the water over the weekend. The divers earlier recovered the flight data recorder from the jet with 62 people aboard. SENT: 630 words, photos.
SPAIN POWERLESS SHANTYTOWN — As record snowfall and sub-freezing temperatures enveloped much of normally temperate Spain, few residents suffered as severely as thousands of people who live in a mega-shantytown outside Madrid. Much of La Cañada Real Galiana had been without electricity for months before Storm Filomena arrived. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
COLOMBIA-PERSECUTED LEADERS —Colombia is widely seen as one of the world’s most dangerous places to be a community leader or an advocate for human rights or environmental issues. The U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights says 120 community leaders were murdered in Colombia last year, up from 107 a year earlier. SENT: 730 words, photos.
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FLINT WATER -- Flint mother Ariana Hawk struggled to find words. Bittersweet came to mind, as did frustrated. “I literally could have cried,” said Hawk after learning former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and others in his administration were expected to be charged in a water crisis blamed with causing learning disabilities in scores of children and other medical problems among adults in the majority Black city in Michigan. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos, video.
FEDERAL EXECUTIONS-JOHNSON — A Virginia man who murdered seven people in 1992 in furtherance of his drug-trafficking activities is scheduled for execution at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind. Cory Johnson shot and killed each of the seven victims for perceived slights or rivalry in the drug trade. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 5 p.m.
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks were drifting as Wall Street continues a pause from its big recent rally, and even Treasury yields are stalling following their rapid rise. SENT: 830 words, photos. WITH: CONSUMER PRICES — Consumer prices up 0.4% in December led by higher gas prices. SENT: 130 words.
ELECTRIC CARS-BATTERY FIRES — Electric vehicle fires pose safety risks to first responders and guidelines from manufacturers about how to deal with them have been inadequate, according to U.S. investigators. SENT: 430 words, photos.
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TV-FOOD-WOLFGANG PUCK — Usually TV cameras are trained on the celebrities at such shindigs as the Screen Actors Guild awards but with the new HBO Max series “The Event,” they capture the cooks and servers toiling behind the scenes. By Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy. UPCOMING: 780 words by 3 p.m., photos.
KENNEDY CENTER-HONORS — Five months behind schedule and still not totally sure how it’s all going to work, the Kennedy Center Honors are back. The newest batch of honorees are: country music legend Garth Brooks, dancer and actress Debbie Allen, violin virtuoso Midori, folk music icon Joan Baez and actor Dick Van Dyke. By Ashraf Khalil. UPCOMING: 600 words by 2:30 p.m.
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HKN--BLACKHAWKS-LIGHTNING — The Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning open the NHL season against the Chicago Blackhawks. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos. Game starts 8 p.m. WITH: HKN--MASKED COACHES — NHL coaches will need to wear a mask behind the bench during games this season. SENT: 550 words, photos.
BKN-VIRUS OUTBREAK — The Phoenix Suns are now the latest NBA team to deal with contact tracing issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, and their game Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks has been called off by the league after it was learned they wouldn’t have enough players cleared to participate. SENT: 470 words, photos.
FBN-QB-AGE GAP — The divisional playoffs will mark the largest QB age discrepancy between conferences since the 1970 merger. Forty-somethings Tom Brady and Drew Brees will meet in the NFC, while 25-year-old Baker Mayfield is the dean of the AFC group. By Pro Football Writer Schuyler Dixon. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos by 6 p.m.
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HOW TO REACH US
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