AP News Digest 2:15 p.m.
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ONLY ON AP
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MOROCCO-US-WESTERN-SAHARA — Plans by the United States to open a consulate in Western Sahara mark a turning point for the disputed and closely policed territory in North Africa. The U.S. move recognizes Morocco’s authority over the land in exchange for Morocco normalizing relations with Israel. By Mosa'ab Elshamy. SENT: 920 words, photos
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TOP STORIES
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TRUMP’S FUTURE — Two Republican senators now say President Donald Trump should resign in the wake of deadly riots at the Capitol as support for the House drive to impeach him a second time is gaining momentum. House leaders appear determined to act on impeachment despite the short timeline, with Trump’s turn ending when Joe Biden takes office Jan. 20. Another idea being considered is to have a separate vote that would prevent Trump from ever holding office again. By Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick and Darlene Superville. SENT: 970 words, photos. UPCOMING: 950 words, photos by 4 p.m. With TRUMP'S FUTURE-THE LATEST.
CAPITO -BREACH-WHO WAS THERE — The Associated Press has reviewed social media posts, voter registrations, court files and other public records for more than 120 people either facing criminal charges related to last week’s riot at the Capitol or who were later identified through photographs and videos taken during the siege. That evidence shows the mob was overwhelmingly made up of longtime supporters of President Donald Trump, including Republican Party officials, GOP political donors, far-right militants, white supremacists and adherents of QAnon conspiracy theories. The violent crowd storming the Capitol after being encouraged by the president also included convicted criminals – among them a Florida man who served time in prison for murder. By Michael Biesecker. UPCOMING: 1,800 words, photos by 4 p.m. A 1,000-word abridged version will also be available.
CAPITOL-BREACH — House lawmakers may have been exposed to someone testing positive for COVID-19 while they sheltered at an undisclosed location during the Capitol siege by a violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump. The Capitol’s attending physician notified all lawmakers of the virus exposure and urged them to be tested. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 350 words, photos.
TRUMP-DIPLOMATS-25TH AMENDMENT — In a highly unusual move, American diplomats have drafted two cables condemning President Donald Trump’s incitement of the deadly assault on the Capitol and calling for administration officials to support invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. By Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee. UPCOMING: 550 words, photos.
CAPITOL-BREACH-MAKING SENSE OF IT — This past week, Americans watched as the hallowed chambers of the Capitol were overrun and defiled, not by some foreign enemy of democracy but a mob of their fellow citizens. And then they tried to make sense of it. In letters to the editor and posts on social media, they raised their voices. By Adam Geller, Adrian Sainz and Tamara Lush. SENT: 1,690 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK — Public health officials have sounded the alarm for months, complaining that they do not have enough support or money to get COVID-19 vaccines quickly into arms. Now the slower-than-expected start to the largest vaccination effort in U.S. history is proving them right. By Michelle R. Smith and Candice Choi. SENT: 1,190 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST, VIRUS OUTBREAK-THINGS TO KNOW.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BATTERED-BRITAIN — The crisis facing Britain this winter is depressingly familiar: Stay-at-home orders and empty streets. Hospitals overflowing. A daily toll of many hundreds of coronavirus deaths. The U.K. is the epicenter of Europe’s COVID-19 outbreak once more, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government is facing questions, and anger, as people demand to know how the country has ended up here — again. By Jill Lawless. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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REL-VATICAN-POPE-CAPITOL-VIOLENCE — Pope prays for dead in Capitol rioting, appeals for calm. SENT: 360 words, photo.
CONGO-PARK RANGERS KILLED — 6 rangers killed in latest attack at Congo’s Virunga park. SENT: 190 words, photo.
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MORE ON CAPITOL BREACH
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CAPITOL BREACH-SERMONS IN THE AFTERMATH — Support for Donald Trump’s presidency was consistently strong among evangelicals. A look at what some said on Christians' first day of worship since the Capitol riot. UPCOMING: 1,000 words by 3:30 p.m.
CAPITOL BREACH-BACKLASH — Protesters, local-level Democrats and others are demanding that members of Congress who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory resign or be ousted, even without the public support of legislative leaders. UPCOMING: 640 words by 3 p.m., photos.
ELECTION-2020-OATHS — Before they take office, elected officials swear to uphold the U.S. Constitution. But what happens when they are accused of doing the opposite? As some Republicans continued to back President Donald Trump’s doomed effort to overturn the election, critics — including President-elect Joe Biden — accused them of violating their oaths and instead pledging allegiance to Trump. SENT: 890 words, photos. This is the Monday Spotlight
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VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BRITAIN-VACCINATIONS — Britain’s health secretary says every adult in the country will be offered a COVID-19 vaccine by the autumn as the U.K. ramps up its mass vaccination program amid a huge surge of infections and hospital admissions. SENT: 470 words, photos.
REL--VIRUS OUTBREAK-RELIGION AND VACCINES — In a growing consensus, religious leaders at the forefront of the anti-abortion movement in the United States are telling their followers that the leading vaccines available to combat COVID-19 are acceptable to take, given their remote and indirect connection to lines of cells derived from aborted fetuses. SENT: 1,080 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AFRICA — Africa has passed the milestone of 3 million confirmed cases COVID-19, including more than 72,000 deaths, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. SENT: 310 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA — More than 380 people have tested positive in a growing COVID-19 outbreak south of Beijing in China’s Hebei province. SENT: 410 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-UKRAINE HOSPITALS-PHOTO GALLERY — A medical college in western Ukraine has been transformed into a temporary hospital as the coronavirus inundates the Eastern European country. SENT: 470 words, photos.
Find more coverage on the Virus Outbreak on the featured topic page in AP Newsroom.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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ENERGY DRILLING-PUBLIC LANDS — In the closing months of the Trump administration, energy companies stockpiled enough drilling permits for western public lands to keep pumping oil for years. That stands to undercut President-elect Joe Biden’s plans to block new drilling on public lands to address climate change. SENT: 1,270 words, photos.
TRUMP — Donald Trump plans to go on the offensive as the president, isolated and shunned by former allies, enters the last days of his term facing a second impeachment and growing calls for him to quit now. UPCOMING: 850 words, photos by 4 p.m.
TRUMP-SOCIAL MEDIA-EXPLAINING SUSPENSIONS — Social media companies decided this week they had finally seen enough from President Donald Trump and suspended his accounts. Many are asking whether Twitter and Facebook can legally take such action. The short answer is yes. UPCOMING: 550 words, photos by 3:30 p.m.
BIDEN-CABINET — Joe Biden promised that his presidency would mean a return to normalcy. His Cabinet picks help demonstrate how he plans to deliver. SENT: 990 words, photos.
TRUMP-LEGACY-RACE — President Donald Trump repeatedly claimed in the final months of his presidency to have done more for Black Americans than anyone with the “possible exception” of Abraham Lincoln. But in the end, historians say Trump’s legacy and his electoral undoing will be largely shaped by rhetoric aimed at stirring his largely white base that tugged at the long-frayed strands of race relations in America. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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INDONESIA PLANE — Authorities said they determined the location of the crash site and black boxes of a Boeing 737-500 a day after the aircraft crashed into the Java Sea with 62 people on board shortly after taking off from Indonesia’s capital. SENT: 920 words, photos. With INDONESIA-PLANE CRASH-EXPLAINER — The crash has once again cast the limelight on the safety of Indonesia's aviation industry. SENT: 590 words, photos.
BRITAIN-WORLD ROLE-BREXIT — Britain’s new U.N. ambassador says the government is feeling “gung ho” about continuing its role as an important player on the world stage despite its exit from the European Union. SENT: 800 words, photo.
PAKISTAN-POWER-OUTAGE — A major technical fault in Pakistan’s power generation and distribution system caused a massive power outage that plunged the country into darkness overnight, the energy minister says. SENT: 230 words, photo.
AFGHANISTAN — A roadside bomb exploded in Afghanistan’s capital, killing at least three people in a vehicle. It was the latest attack to take place as government negotiators in Qatar resume peace talks with the Taliban. SENT: 500 words, photos.
SPAIN-STORM-FILOMENA — Emergency crews in central Spain cleared 500 roads and rescued over 1,500 people stranded in their vehicles, allowing Madrid and other areas on Sunday to slowly shovel out of the country’s worst snowstorm in recent memory. SENT: 460 words, photos.
KYRGYZSTAN-ELECTION — A nationalist politician who was released from prison amid protests that overthrew Kyrgyzstan’s president last year has been elected as his replacement. Voters in Sunday’s election that gave Sadyr Zhaparov a landslide 79% victory also approved a referendum to change the constitution to give the presidency more power. SENT: 240 words, photos.
CHINA-US-TAIWAN — China’s state media lashed out at the latest move on Taiwan by the departing Trump administration, accusing U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of “seeking to maliciously inflict a long-lasting scar on China-U.S. ties.” SENT: 560 words, photos.
SYRIA — Syria’s petroleum ministry on Sunday blamed U.S. sanctions for forcing it to cut by up to 24% its distribution of fuel and diesel because of delays in arrival of needed supplies. SENT: 560 words, photo.
AUSTRALIA-HONG-KONG —The foreign ministers of Australia, the United States, Great Britain and Canada issued a joint statement expressing “serious concern” about the arrest of 55 democracy activists and supporters in Hong Kong last week. SENT: 400 words, photo.
LEBANON-ISRAEL — Israeli military jets carried out several low flying flights over Beirut as reconnaissance drones also buzzed overhead in what has become a daily occurrence. SENT: 460 words.
CONGO-PARK RANGERS KILLED — Officials say gunmen have killed at least six rangers in Virunga National Park, the latest attack on the area home to some of the world’s last mountain gorillas. SENT: 190 words, photo.
NEW ZEALAND-CENTRAL BANK HACKED — New Zealand’s central bank said that one of its data systems has been breached by an unidentified hacker who potentially accessed commercially and personally sensitive information. SENT: 300 words, photo.
FRANCE-MALI — France’s defense minister has denied reports that its fighter jets struck civilians at a wedding party in central Mali a week ago, saying that only jihadis were targeted and hit and that she verified the information herself after claims that at least 20 civilians were killed. SENT: 390 words, photo.
IRAN-SOUTH KOREA — A South Korean diplomatic delegation arrived in Iran to negotiate the release of a vessel and its crew seized by Iranian forces amid an escalating financial dispute between the countries, Iranian state-run media reported. SENT: 470 words, photo.
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NATIONAL
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MONEY-LAUNDERING-OVERHAUL — A watershed reform of U.S. money laundering laws could allow investigators to uncover the proceeds of foreign bribery, drug trafficking and terrorism in just a few keystrokes. The new law quietly passed by Congress last month after a decade-long fight for the first time requires shell companies to provide the names of their owners at risk of stiff penalties and jail time. SENT: 890 words, photos.
CHICAGO SHOOTINGS — A man killed three people and wounded four others in a series of shootings over roughly four hours that started on Chicago’s South Side and ended with his death in a shootout with police in a parking lot just north of the city. SENT: 500 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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FBN-RAVENS-TITANS — The Baltimore Ravens look for their first playoff victory with Lamar Jackson at quarterback when they visit the Tennessee Titans and Derrick Henry, who are hosting the franchise’s first home playoff game since 2008 in an AFC wild-card game. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos. Game in progress.
FBN-BEARS-SAINTS — The four-time NFC South champion New Orleans Saints and the Chicago Bears meet on the opening Sunday of the NFL playoffs. The host Saints are the No. 2 seed in the NFC while the Bears narrowly advanced to the postseason with three victories in their final four regular-season games. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. Games starts at 4:40 p.m.
FBN-BROWNS-STEELERS — The Cleveland Browns return to the playoffs after an 18-year absence, visiting the rival Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round. The Browns will play without first-year head coach Kevin Stefanski, who will watch from afar after testing positive for COVID-19. The Steelers are 20-1 against the Browns at Heinz Field. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos. Game starts at 8:15 p.m.
FBC-NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW — Trying to figure out which of Nick Saban’s Alabama teams is best is a little like picking Michelangelo’s greatest work of art or Ernest Hemingway’s best novel. There are so many good choices. The top-ranked Crimson Tide head into the College Football Playoff game against No. 3 Ohio State looking for their sixth national title under Saban. UPCOMING: 850 words, photos by 4 p.m. With preview capsule.
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HOW TO REACH US
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