AP News Digest 2:05 p.m.

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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TOP STORIES

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VIRUS OUTBREAK — President-elect Joe Biden implores Americans to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus, even as he cheers news about the promising development of a vaccine being developed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer U.S. confirmed coronavirus cases passed the 10 million mark. By Will Weissert, Philip Marcelo and Aamer Madhani. SENT: 1100 words. UPCOMING: Developing, 1090 words by 5 p.m., photos, video. With: VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS — Passage of a new COVID-19 relief bill remains an open question as Congress returns to Washington for the lame-duck session. By Andrew Taylor. UPCOMNG: 850 words by 5 p.m., photo. With: VIRUS OUTBREAK-BIDEN TASK FORCE — A look at the members of President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus team of public health and science experts. SENT: 435 words, photos.

TRUMP-PENTAGON — President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, a stunning move on the heels of Trump’s failed reelection bid that runs counter to the prevailing wisdom that Pentagon chiefs be kept in place until Inauguration Day to preserve stability in the name of national security .By Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns. SENT:209 words. UPCOMING: Developing, 790 words by 4 p.m., photos.

Find more coverage below and on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-PFIZER VACCINE — Pfizer says an early peek at its vaccine data suggests the shots may be 90% effective at preventing COVID-19, indicating the company is on track later this month to file an emergency use application with U.S. regulators. SENT: 610 words, photos. By Medical Writers Linda A. Johnson and Lauran Neergaard. SENT: 610 words, photos. With: VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINE EXPLAINER. Testing timeline: What’s ahead for COVID-19 vaccines SENT: 790 words, photos.

FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks are surging Monday, catapulting Wall Street back to record heights, on a burst of hope following encouraging data about a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The S&P 500 jumped 3.3% in morning trading and is is on track to close at a record for the first time in more than two months. SENT: 860 words, photos.

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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-NOTRE DAME — The University of Notre Dame has implemented mandatory coronavirus testing for students and strict penalties for those who don’t comply after students rushed the school’s football field to celebrate a double-overtime upset over Clemson and held numerous weekend parties. SENT: 490 words, photo.

TV-THE CROWN — For viewers, “The Crown” offers a peek into a modern royal family’s life and times, or at least an engaging dramatization. For the cast, it means temporary ownership of their roles as the Netflix series ticks through the decades. SENT: 900 words, photos, video.

ZOOM-SECURITY SETTLEMENT — FTC says Zoom misled users on its security for meetings. SENT: 200 words, photo.

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MORE ON ELECTION 2020

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TRUMP — As President Donald Trump weighs his options to fight the election, he’s essentially quit his day job. The White House has moved into a state of paralysis, with empty desks, staffers looking for new jobs and little actual governing happening. By Jonathan Lemire and Zeke Miller. UPCOMING: 800 words by 4 p.m., photos.

BIDEN — President Donald Trump faces pressure to cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s team to ensure a smooth transfer of power when the new administration takes office in January. By Will Weissert and Alexandra Jaffe. SENT: 1040 words. UPCOMING: Developing, 990 words by 5 p.m., photos. With BIDEN-THE LATEST, developing. With: BIDEN FEDERAL AGENCIES — The course of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition to power is dependent in part on an obscure declaration called “ascertainment.” An explainer on the process. By Zeke Miller. SENT: 300 words, photos.

ELECTION 2020-BLACK VOTERS — Even as votes are still tallied, there’s little dispute that Black voters were a driving force pushing the former vice president into the winner’s column. By overwhelmingly backing the former vice president and showing up in strong numbers, Black voters not only helped deliver the familiar battleground states to the Democrat, they created a new one in the longtime GOP bastion of Georgia — potentially remaking presidential politics for years to come. By Aaron Morrison and Kat Stafford. UPCOMING: 890 words by 5 p.m., photos

TRUMP-LEGAL CHALLENGES — Republican surrogates for the Trump campaign press legal efforts to try to stop the vote count or the certification of state results in key battleground states, including Pennsylvania and Michigan, but face overwhelming odds given the Electoral College tally in Democrat Joe Biden’s favor and the lack of widespread evidence of voter fraud. By Maryclaire Dale. UPCOMING: 400 words by 4 p.m., photos

SUPREME COURT-HEALTH CARE-WHAT’S AT STAKE — When the Supreme Court weighs the fate of “Obamacare” on Tuesday, the arguments will be about arcane points of law. But whether the Affordable Care Act stays or goes, there are consequences for just about every American. By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. UPCOMING: 750 words by 5 p.m., photos.

TRUMP-CORONAVIRUS — The Trump campaign’s election night watch party in the White House East Room was supposed to be a scene of celebration. Instead, the event — with few masks and no social distancing — is being eyed as a potential coronavirus super-spreading event. Ben Carson, the Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, is the latest attendee to test positive, a department spokesman confirmed. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.

ELECTION-2020-BIDEN-PHOTO GALLERY — AP PHOTOS: Joe Biden and his decades of public life. SENT: 285 words, photos.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-EUROPE — Portugal and Hungary have become the latest European countries to impose curfews against the renewed tide of coronavirus infections and deaths sweeping the continent and filing its hospital emergency wards. But glimmers of hope emerged from France, the Czech Republic and Belgium that tough restrictions might be starting to work. SENT: 750 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-LATIN AMERICA-EDUCATION — The U.N. children’s agency UNICEF says an estimated 97% of children in Latin America and the Caribbean aren’t in school seven months after the continent’s first cases of coronavirus were discovered. The organization released its findings on Monday. It warns of a “generational catastrophe” if steps aren’t taken. SENT: 800 words, photos.

Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.

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INTERNATIONAL

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BIDEN- RUSSIA-HOLDOUT — The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t congratulate President-elect Joe Biden until legal challenges to the U.S. election are resolved and the result is official. Putin is one of a handful of world leaders who have not commented on Biden’s victory, which was called by major news organizations on Saturday. SENT: 700 words, photos.

ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN — Azerbaijan said it shot down a Russian military helicopter that was flying over Armenia. Two Russian servicemen were killed. The helicopter was shot down as it flew near the border with the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, which is surrounded by Armenia, Iran and Turkey. The area is distant from Nagorno-Karabakh, the region where Armenian and Azerbaijani forces have been fighting heavily since late September. SENT: 680 words, photos.

ETHIOPIA-MILITARY CONFRONTATION — An Ethiopian military official says the air force is “pounding targets with precision” as the federal government continues its offensive against the defiant northern region of Tigray and no clear route to peace is yet seen. SENT: 375 words, photos.

PERU-POLITCAL-CRISIS — Peru’s president is facing a second impeachment vote in less than two months over new accusations of corruption in the latest jolt to one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 300 words, photos.

BOLIVIA — Former President Evo Morales has returned to Bolivia following an election that returned his socialist party to power a year after he fled the nation amid a wave of protests. Hundreds of supporters accompanied the nation’s first Indigenous president as he crossed the border from Argentina, whose leftist leader came to bid him farewell. SENT: 300 words, photos.

VATICAN-MCCARRICK-EXPLAINER — The Vatican will release its report into the rise and fall of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the once-influential American cardinal who was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation confirmed decades of rumors that he was a sexual predator. A look at the case ahead of the report’s Tuesday release. SENT: 970 words, photos.

ONE GOOD THING-BAHAMAS-REBUILD — Nathan Bain provided one of college basketball’s signature moments last season, a buzzer-beating layup in overtime to give unheralded Stephen F. Austin a stunning upset over Duke on Nov. 26, 2019. The layup helped spur on a fundraiser that helped rebuild a home, rebuild a school and rebuild a church, all destroyed by Hurricane Dorian. SENT: 675 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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TROPICAL-WEATHER — Torrential rain from Tropical Storm Eta caused dangerous flooding across Florida’s most densely populated urban areas on Monday after it made landfall in the Florida Keys. Cars were stranded and entire neighborhoods were swamped as flash floods rose in areas where the water had no place to drain. SENT: 640 words, photos, videos.

CALIFORNIA-WILDFIRES-WINE-COUNTRY-IN-PERIL — Harvest season in Northern California’s wine country draws millions of visitors each year. But harvest season now overlaps with fire season as wildfires, too, have become a yearly reality in the region. In three of the past four years, major wildfires driven by changing climate have devastated parts of the world-class region, leaving little doubt that it’s vulnerable to smoke, flames and blackouts during the fall. SENT: 960 words, photos.

US-HUMAN RIGHTS — The United States is facing its first review in five years at the U.N.’s main human rights body, with the detentions of migrant children and the killings of unarmed Black people during the Trump administration’s tenure among issues high on minds. SENT: 400 words.

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BUSINESS

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EUROPE-US-BOEING — The European Union agreed to impose tariffs and other penalties on up to $4 billion worth of U.S. goods and services over illegal American support for plane maker Boeing, but expressed hope that trade ties would improve once President Donald Trump leaves office. SENT: 665 words, photos.

GENERAL-MOTORS-RECALL -- General Motors is recalling more than 217,000 vehicles in the U.S. and Canada because transmission oil can leak, causing them to stop or catch fire. SENT: 140 words.

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ENTERTAINMENT

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BOOKS-TRUMP — The end of Donald Trump presidency will not mean the end of one of publishing’s most thriving genres: Books about Trump. Expect a wave of them in the coming years. By National Writer Hillel Italie. UPCOMING: 800 words by 3 p.m., photos.

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SCIENCE/HEALTH

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MED-AIDS-STUDY — Researchers are stopping a study early after finding that a shot of an experimental medicine every two months worked better than daily pills to help keep women from catching HIV from an infected sex partner. The news is a boon for AIDS prevention efforts especially in Africa, where the study took place, and where women have few discreet ways of protecting themselves from infection. SENT: 440 words.

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HOW TO REACH US

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At the Nerve Center Mike Stewart can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://newsroom.ap.org. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport(at)ap.org or call 877-836-9477.