AP News Digest 3 am

Tuesday 14 December 2021 06:00 GMT

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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MIDWEST-TORNADOES — Workers, volunteers and members of the National Guard were spreading across tornado-damaged areas of Kentucky to assist with recovery tasks large and small, ranging from replacing thousands of damaged utility poles to delivering bottles of drinking water. The tornado outbreak on Friday that killed at least 88 people in five states — 74 of them in Kentucky — cut a path of damage that stretched from Arkansas where a nursing home was destroyed to Illinois where an Amazon distribution center was heavily damaged. By Bruce Schreiner and Claire Galofaro. SENT: 640 words, photos, videos. Also see TORNADO-MLB UMPIRE below.

MIDWEST TORNADOES-ONE FAMILY — Victoria Byerly-Zuck is one of thousands made homeless by the tornado that tore through her Kentucky town of Mayfield. She arrived sobbing at a shelter for the displaced. Her house and everything in it was gone, including a box that contained the ashes of her infant who died years ago. She and her surviving 3-year-old son have nowhere to go and nothing left. But days after the storm, a neighbor found her baby’s ashes amid the rubble. By National Writer Claire Galofaro. SENT: 970 words, photo. With MIDWEST TORNADOES-YOUNG MISSOURI VICTIM — Storm victims include Missouri girl, aunt’s “special angel.”

VIRUS-OUTBREAK — The first full year of the biggest vaccination drive in American history has saved many lives but has left many behind. The COVID-19 vaccines have proven incredibly safe and wildly effective, and many hoped they would bring an end to the crisis. But a year later, too many Americans remain unvaccinated and too many are dying. The vaccines’ first year has been rocky with the disappointment of breakthrough infections, the political strife over mandates and, now, worries about whether the mutant omicron will evade protection. Yet many experts say history will record COVID-19 vaccines as an extraordinary achievement that prevented tens of thousands of deaths. By Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson. SENT: 1,290 words, photos.

CAPITOL BREACH-MEADOWS — The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection voted to recommend contempt charges against former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows as lawmakers reveal a series of frantic texts he received as the attack was underway. By Mary Clare Jalonick and Farnoush Amiri. SENT: 980 words, photos.

NORTH-KOREA-KIM-JONG-UN-KEY-MOMENTS — It’s been 10 years since Kim Jong Un took power in North Korea after his father suddenly died of a heart attack. Initially considered a political novice, Kim stunned the region by having his powerful uncle and other potential rivals executed or purged. His torrid run of nuclear and missile tests later triggered fears of a second Korean War. He then had landmark nuclear summits with then-President Donald Trump, but their diplomacy eventually collapsed. Now, in the face of the pandemic, Kim has sealed off his borders as he grapples with deepening economic woes. By Hyung-Jin Kim. SENT: 890 words, photos.

DAUNTE WRIGHT-OFFICER TRIAL — Prosecutors in the manslaughter trial of a Minnesota police officer put the differences between her handgun and her Taser on display for jurors, seeking to raise questions about how an experienced officer could confuse the two weapons in the shooting death of Daunte Wright. By Amy Forliti and Steve Karnowski. SENT: 790 words, photos, videos. UPCOMING: Trial resumes at 10 a.m.

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