AP News Digest 3 a.m.

China Hunt For Virus Origins (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

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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ONLY ON AP

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CHINA-HUNT FOR VIRUS ORIGINS — Top Chinese officials quietly ordered strict controls on all COVID-19 research in the country, internal documents obtained by The AP show, cloaking the search for the origins of the virus in secrecy. Even as a World Health Organization team prepares to visit China next month, scientists searching for the virus in bat habitats have had their samples confiscated by police. Beijing has handed out hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to state-backed scientists to look for the origins, but little has been reported about their findings so far. Meanwhile, state media outlets are actively promoting fringe theories that the virus could have come from outside China, leaving outside experts befuddled. By Dake Kang, Maria Cheng and Sam McNeil. SENT: words, photos. This story has an abridged version.

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TOP STORIES

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRUMP-CONGRESS — President Trump’s push for bigger $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks stalls out as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocks a swift vote proposed by Democrats. Republican senators are deeply split over new spending, and McConnell says the Senate will “begin a process” to address the issues. By Lisa Mascaro and Jill Colvin. SENT: 1,090 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-US — Health officials say a Colorado man who became the first reported person in the U.S. to have a COVID-19 variant that is spreading in the United Kingdom hadn’t been traveling. The statement Monday triggers a host of questions about how the new strain showed up in the Rockies. By Patty Nieberg. SENT: 970 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA — California’s most densely populated area continues to set new death and hospitalization records and public health officials say it will remain under strict stay-home orders for the foreseeable future as another hospital-filling coronavirus surge looms. SENT: 450 words, photos.

BIDEN — President-elect Joe Biden criticizes the Trump administration for the pace of distributing COVID-19 vaccines. Once he takes office, he vows to ramp up vaccinations to 1 million shots a day, but acknowledges it “will still take months to have the majority of Americans vaccinated.” By Alexandra Jaffe. SENT: 550 words, photos.

TRUMP LEGACY-IMMIGRATION — The Trump administration was more hostile to immigration than any in decades, making it harder for people to visit, live or work in the United States while also trying to reduce the number of those who illegally enter the country. Much of the administration’s immigration activity can be quickly undone by Joe Biden when he becomes president, but President Donald Trump’s legacy won’t be easily erased. By Ben Fox. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT-TAMIR RICE — The Justice Department says it cannot bring federal criminal charges against two Cleveland police officers for the 2014 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, whose death became a national symbol in the Black Lives Matter movement. By Michael Balsamo and Eric Tucker. SENT: 730 words, photos.

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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

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RESCUED SEA LION — A feisty young sea lion is back in the Northern California wild after five weeks of rehabilitation to treat a severe shark bite, domoic acid poisoning and malnutrition. SENT: 160 words, photos.

INDONESIA-MUSLIM GROUP BANNED — Indonesia has banned a militant Muslim group with a long record of vandalizing nightspots, hurling stones at Western embassies and attacking religious rivals. SENT: 150 words, photo.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-FLORIDA-DIDDY — Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs is providing some coronavirus relief in a Miami neighborhood. SENT: 120 words, photo.

ELECTION 2020-WISCONSIN — President Donald Trump’s campaign has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take a lawsuit challenging election results in swing state Wisconsin. SENT: 250 words.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA-VACCINE DEVELOPMENT — A Chinese drugmaker says its coronavirus vaccine was 79.3% effective at preventing infection in the final round of testing. That result moves Beijing closer to possibly being able to fulfill its pledge to supply other developing countries. SENT: 580 words, photos

VIRUS OUTBREAK-BACKYARD CHICKENS — The coronavirus pandemic is coming home to roost in America’s backyards. Forced to hunker down at home, more people are setting up coops and raising their own chickens, which provide an earthy hobby, animal companionship and a steady supply of fresh eggs. SENT: 550 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESSMAN ELECT-DIES — Louisiana’s newest Republican member of the U.S. House, Luke Letlow, has died from complications related to COVID-19 only days before being he would have been sworn into office. He was 41. SENT: 660 words, photo.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-COLORADO — The first reported U.S. case of the COVID-19 variant that’s been seen in the United Kingdom has been discovered in Colorado. Gov. Jared Polis and state health officials announced Tuesday that the case was found in a man in his 20s who’s in isolation and has no travel history. SENT: 780 words.

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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ELECTION 2020-GEORGIA-FINAL STRETCH — Campaigns and outside groups are making a final push to turn out election-weary Georgians whose votes will determine control of the U.S. Senate. Margins in the Jan. 5 runoffs are expected to be tight and the campaigns for Republican U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler and Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are all focused on mobilizing voters. SENT: 940 words, photos.

SENATE-GEORGIA-COVID RELIEF — President Trump’s call to more than triple pandemic relief for individual Americans has scrambled the political calculations for Georgia’s two Republican senators in the closing days of their high-stakes runoff campaigns. SENT: 870 words, photos.

TRUMP-CONGRESS-DEFENSE — President Trump lashes out at congressional Republicans after the House voted to override his veto of a defense policy bill. More than 100 Republicans joined with Democrats to approve the override, which would be the first of Trump’s presidency. The Senate is expected to consider the measure later this week. By Matthew Daly. SENT: 870 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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INDIA FARMER-PROTESTS WOMEN — From students, teachers and nurses to housewives and grandmothers, women are now holding the front lines at the massive protests that have blockaded key highways leading to India’s capital for more than a month, demanding the repeal of new farm laws. The highway is their new home, and they are forming the backbone of the protests and making their voices heard. The involvement of social-media-savvy young women has also shifted the tenor of the protests. SENT: 1,110 words, photos.

ISRAEL-POLLARD — Jonathan Pollard, who spent 30 years in U.S. prison for spying for Israel, has landed in Israel with his wife. Pollard’s arrival caps a decades-long affair that long strained relations between the two close allies. SENT: 710 words, photos.

HONG KONG-CHINA — A Chinese court has sentenced 10 activists and protesters who sought to flee Hong Kong by speedboat to between seven months and three years in jail. The court in the southern city of Shenzhen gave the harshest sentences Wednesday to the two accused organizers of the ill-fated Aug. 23 attempt to reach self-ruled Taiwan. SENT: 620 words, photos.

NKOREA-PARTY CONGRESS — North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un has reviewed the agenda for a ruling party congress set for early next month. The Workers’ Party Congress is the first in five years and is mainly intended to set new political and economic priorities, reshuffle top officials and review past projects. SENT: 520 words, photos.

ARGENTINA-ABORTION — The decades-long fight by Argentine women’s groups for legal abortion is being decided by the country’s Senate. SENT: 680 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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RACIAL INJUSTICE-BREONNA TAYLOR — Louisville police have taken steps that could result in the firing of two officers connected to Breonna Taylor’s death. One officer sought the no-knock search warrant that led detectives to the apartment where Taylor was fatally shot. The other officer was found to have opened fire. SENT: 380 words, photos.

OBIT-JOE CLARK — Joe Louis Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding principal whose unwavering commitment to his students and uncompromising disciplinary methods inspired the 1989 film “Lean on Me,” died at his Florida home on Tuesday after a long battle with an unspecified illness, his family said in statement. He was 82. SENT: 330 words, photos.

POLICE OFFICER-SHOT — Authorities say a man who police say was handcuffed when he allegedly shot a Pennsylvania police officer three times with a gun police didn’t know he had was captured in West Virginia after more than a week on the run. SENT: 370 words.

BOWLING ALLEY SHOOTING — Family of a U.S. Army special forces sergeant charged in a deadly shooting at an Illinois bowling alley has released a statement extending their thoughts and prayers to victims and the wider community. SENT: 370 words, photos.

GEORGE FLOYD-MINEAPOLIS POLICE — The Minneapolis mayor and police chief announced changes in the city’s disciplinary processes for police officers in an effort to make it easier to hold them accountable for bad behavior. SENT: 660 words.

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HEALTH/SCIENCE

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LONGLEAF PINE RESTORATION — Three centuries ago, much of what is now the southern United States was covered with fire-dependent savannas anchored by lofty pines. By the 1900s, less than 3% of America’s longleaf pine forests remained. By Janet McConnaughey. SENT: 880 words, photos.

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BUSINESS/ECONOMY

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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian shares are mixed after a lackluster day on Wall Street, as the boost from President Donald Trump’s signing of the coronavirus relief package faded. Shares fell in Tokyo and Sydney on Wednesday but rallied in Hong Kong and Shanghai. The S&P 500 lost 0.2% on Tuesday, a day after major indexes notched their latest all-time highs. SENT: 590 words, photos.

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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

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OBIT-WILLIAM LINK — The co-creator of the hit TV series “Columbo” and “Murder, She Wrote” has died. He was 87. The wife of William Link says he died Sunday in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure. By AP Television Writer Lynn Elber. SENT: 490 words.

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HOW TO REACH US

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