AP News Digest 3 a.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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ELECTION 2020 — The U.S. presidential race is hovering in suspended animation as the long, exacting work of counting votes brings Democrat Joe Biden ever closer to victory over President Donald Trump Biden acknowledges the sluggish pace of the count “can be numbing,” but he adds, “Never forget the tallies aren’t just numbers: they represent votes and voters.” By Jonathan Lemire, Zeke Miller, Jill Colvin and Will Weissert. SENT: 1,070 words, photos video.

ELECTION 2020-LEGAL BALLOTS — Trump and many Republicans are testing out a rallying cry for his uphill fight to reverse the lead that Biden holds in key battleground states: Count all “legal” votes. The language is freighted with a clear implication — namely, that Democrats want illegal votes counted, a claim for which there is no evidence. By Colleen Long, Alanna Durkin Richer and Christina A. Cassidy. SENT: 910 words, photos.

ELECTION 2020-TRANSITION IN LIMBO — Biden’s transition team isn’t waiting for a verdict in the presidential race before getting to work. As election officials continue to count ballots in several undecided states, longtime Biden aide Ted Kaufman is leading efforts to ensure the former vice president can begin building out a government in anticipation of a victory. By Will Weissert. SENT: 820 words, photos.

ELECTION 2020-REPUBLICANS — Trump’s unsupported claims of voter fraud emerge as a high-stakes Republican loyalty test that threatens to shape the future of the GOP whether he wins or loses. By Steve Peoples and Jill Colvin. SENT: 980 words, photos, video.

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

VIRUS OUTBREAK-WHITE HOUSE — Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows has been diagnosed with the coronavirus as the nation sets daily records for confirmed cases for the pandemic. By Jonathan Lemire and Zeke Miller. SENT: 300 words, photos.

TROPICAL WEATHER — Guatemalan search brigades have pulled the first bodies from a massive rain-fueled landslide where at least 100 people are believed to be entombed, as the remains of Hurricane Eta moved across Caribbean waters, strengthening en route to Cuba. By Sonia Pérez D. SENT: 690 words, photos.

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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

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NOT-REAL-NEWS — A look at false and misleading claims and videos that followed voting in the Nov. 3 presidential election. SENT: 2,160 words, photo.

HISTORIC YOSEMITE CLIMB — Mountain climber Emily Harrington has become the first woman to free-climb Yosemite National Park’s 3,000-foot (914-meter) granite wall in a single day. SENT: 400 words.

ART-SALES-TAX-LAWSUIT — New York AG: Sotheby’s helped rich art lover skirt taxes. SENT: 480 words, photo.

RAPPER-KILLED-ATLANTA — Chicago rapper King Von was among three people killed in shootings outside an Atlanta nightclub. Georgia investigators say three people were also wounded in the violence. SENT: 340 words, photos.

INDIA-CLOSED-BUSINESSES-PHOTO-GALLERY — Pandemic empties India’s Silicon Valley suburbs.

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MORE ON ELECTION 2020

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EXPLAINING ELECTION 2020-STATES OF PLAY — A handful of states remain in play in the tightly contested U.S. presidential race. The outcome of contests in Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Nevada will determine whether Biden or Trump wins. SENT: 1,210 words, photos.

EXPLAINING ELECTION 2020-WHY SO LONG? — The slow pace of this year’s U.S. election count is fueling a lot of criticism, but it’s mostly a reflection of laudable things: greater voter enthusiasm and steps that states took to protect their residents from COVID-19. SENT: 500 words, photos.

ELECTION 2020-EVANGELICALS RESPOND — The conservative evangelical Christians who helped send Trump to the White House four years ago stuck by him again in 2020. But even if Trump doesn’t get a second term, some conservative Christians see reasons to celebrate in this year’s election results. SENT: 930 words, photos.

ELECTION 2020-LEGAL CHALLENGES — Facing the potential for narrow losses in multiple battlegrounds, Trump might have a tough time persuading the Supreme Court to take up his call to intervene and prevent Biden from becoming president. SENT: 820 words, photos, video.

ELECTION 2020-MILITARY BALLOTS — Trump has held himself up as a champion of U.S. troops. Now, with his presidency on the line, he’s casting suspicion on a tool of democracy — the mail-in ballot — that has allowed U.S. military personnel to participate in elections while serving far from home since the War of 1812. SENT: 890 words, photos.

ELECTION-2020-PROTESTS — The most turbulent and norm-breaking presidential election of a lifetime has led to an extraordinary spectacle over the past three days: armed protesters gathering nightly outside offices where local workers are counting the votes to decide who will be the next occupant of the White House. SENT: 860 words, photos.

ELECTION-2020-TRUMP-AIDE-TEXTS — A texting company run by one of Trump’s top campaign officials sent out thousands of targeted, anonymous text messages urging supporters to rally where votes were being counted in Philadelphia, falsely claiming Democrats were trying to steal the presidential election. SENT: 760 words, photos.

ELECTION-2020-GLOBAL-DISMAY — Demands to stop the vote count. Baseless accusations of fraud. Claims that the opposition is trying to “steal” the election. Across the world, many are wondering if those assertions could truly be coming from the president of the United States. SENT: 950 words, photo.

ELECTION 2020-POLL WORKER-MISINFORMATION — With all eyes on Georgia’s razor-thin presidential vote margin, falsehoods are swirling on social media about supposed ballot counting irregularities there. SENT: 650 words, photo.

ELECTION-2020-SENATE-GEORGIA — Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff will face off in a Jan. 5 runoff in Georgia for Perdue’s Senate seat. SENT: 610 words, photos.

A separate wire advisory has moved outlining our complete Election 2020 coverage.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS OUTBREAK — In times when a pandemic unleashes death and poverty, the concept of what is essential to keep society functioning in a lockdown is gripping Europe. SENT: 910 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ASIA — The Australian state of Victoria has reported its eighth day in a row of no new virus cases or deaths, ahead of another move back to normal living including no limits on travel outside of Melbourne and the resumption of flights to New Zealand. SENT: 450 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-KANSAS — Kansas has added a record-setting 5,418 new coronavirus cases as hospitals warn that staffing is being seriously strained. SENT: 890 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-COLORADO — Denver officials are urging residents to stay home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in an effort to stem the tide of coronavirus cases, which could overwhelm area hospitals by the end of the year. SENT: 700 words.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-ILLINOIS — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has self-isolated while awaiting test results after learning that he may have been exposed to the coronavirus at a meeting earlier this week. SENT: 450 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-ALASKA — Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, plans to boost enforcement of an expanded mask mandate and restrict gathering sizes in a bid to curb coronavirus cases. SENT: 480 words.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW MEXICO LEGISLATURE — New Mexico legislators are grappling with the public health risks of convening their next session in January amid surging statewide rates of coronavirus infections and deaths. SENT: 430 words, photo.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEVADA — State prison officials have ordered a lockdown at a medium-security facility in northern Nevada after 93 inmates and seven staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. SENT: 180 words.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-UTAH — Utah’s largest teachers union has called for the governor to move all public secondary schools in high coronavirus transmission areas to remote learning as the state reported a single-day record of 17 COVID-19 deaths. SENT: 390 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-OREGON — Following a record-breaking day of COVID-19 cases in Oregon, officials have announced new restrictions that will be implemented in at least five of the state’s counties as part of a two-week pause on social activities. SENT: 790 words.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-WEST VIRGINIA — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice says he and his staff tested negative for the coronavirus after a staffer in the Capitol building tested positive. SENT: 430 words, photo.

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

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INTERNATIONAL

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MYANMAR-ELECTION-GLANCE — Myanmar holds national and state elections in which Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party will be looking to hold on to power. A closer look at the vote. SENT: 570 words, photos.

AFGHANISTAN — A bomb attached to the vehicle of a former presenter on Afghanistan’s TOLO TV exploded, killing the journalist and two other civilians, Kabul police said. SENT: 290 words, photos.

VENEZUELA-AIRLINE FIGHT — Two Venezuelan businessmen once convicted in the U.S. as unregistered agents of the late Hugo Chavez have scored a major victory in a Miami courtroom in a bitter fight for control of the South American country’s largest private airline. SENT: 880 words.

COLOMBIA-PEACE-PROCESS — Colombian President Iván Duque’s government and former guerrillas who signed an historic peace deal four years ago ending Latin America’s longest-running conflict are pledging to work together to stop violence against ex-combatants. SENT: 410 words, photo.

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NATIONAL

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OFFICER SHOOTING-NAKED MAN — A Virginia prosecutor has found that the fatal police shooting of an unarmed Black man who ran onto a highway during a mental health crisis was justified. SENT: 360 words, photos.

BANNON-LAWYER-QUITS — A lawyer for Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, has quit defending him in a federal fraud case a day after Bannon made inflammatory comments about Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray. SENT: 240 words, photos.

SOLDIER-FATAL TRAINING — A soldier at Fort Jackson in South Carolina has died from injuries sustained on the rifle training range, Army officials said. SENT: 130 words, photos.

OVERTURNED-CARGO-SHIP-GEORGIA — Using a heavy anchor chain like a saw, a towering crane has started cutting apart a cargo ship that’s been stranded on the Georgia coast since it overturned nearly 14 months ago. SENT: 500 words, photo.

DEATH PENALTY-TENNESSEE — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has granted a death row inmate a temporary reprieve from execution “due to the challenges and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.” SENT: 480 words, photo.

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BUSINESS

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TURKEY-CENTRAL-BANK — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed the head of the country’s central bank following a period of high inflation and record lows for the lira. SENT: 200 words, photo.

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ENTERTAINMENT

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TV-RACHEL MADDOW — MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow says she is quarantining after being in contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus. SENT: 100 words, photo.

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SPORTS

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-NFL — All NFL games are on for this weekend while teams deal with COVID-19 issues. SENT: 840 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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At the Nerve Center, Kim Tong-hyung 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.