AP News Digest 3:35 a.m.
Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. 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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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Indignant over what it called Ukrainian strikes in Russian territory and following the stunning loss of its Black Sea flagship, Moscow threatened renewed missile attacks on Kyiv, where authorities said the bodies of more than 900 civilians were found outside the capital. Most had been shot dead, police said, and likely “simply executed.” By Adam Schreck, Robert Burns and Yesica Fisch. SENT: 1,120 words, photos, videos. With RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-THE LATEST.
ELECTION 2022-OHIO-SENATE-MANDEL — Ohio Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel makes no secret of his Jewish religion. He is the grandson of Holocaust survivors, attended Jewish summer camp and sends his kids to Jewish day school. Nonetheless, Mandel has run a campaign steeped in Christianity. By Jill Colvin and Julie Carr Smyth. SENT: 1,140 words, photos.
ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-MILITANT-STRONGHOLD — The journey of the Palestinian who opened fire at a street-side bar in Tel Aviv last week, killing three young Israeli men and sending the city into lockdown, began a two-hour drive away in an impoverished refugee camp deep inside the occupied West Bank. SENT: 1,120 words, photos.
SUBWAY-SHOOTING — When smoke bombs and bullets were unleashed on a subway full of morning commuters as it crawled toward a stop in Brooklyn, the train’s driver, David Artis, couldn’t hear the shots. His first indication something was wrong was when passengers crowded near the door to his operator’s compartment to report chaos, one car back. Artis said after a moment of shock, his thoughts quickly shifted from, “Oh my God!” to concern for his passengers. He leaned on his emergency training. SENT: 1,090 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-OHIO-GOVERNOR — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has tested positive for COVID-19. The 75-year-old Republican said in an announcement late Friday he was diagnosed by his personal physician after experiencing mild symptoms such as a runny nose, head ache, body aches and a sore throat. SENT: 210 words.
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TRENDING NEWS
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TEENS KILLED-MINE SHAFT — The case of a teenage couple killed and tossed down an abandoned mine shaft culminated in murder convictions Friday for a Utah man who prosecutors said killed the pair because he found them hanging out with his girlfriend. SENT: 350 words, photos.
OBIT-LIZ SHERIDAN — Liz Sheridan, who played doting mom to Jerry Seinfeld on his hit sitcom, died early Friday. She was 93. SENT: 320 words, photo.
MISSING-TEEN-FOUND — A 19-year-old who disappeared from his family’s home in California nearly three years ago has been found in Utah, bringing astonishment and relief to his parents who feared they would never see him again. SENT: 480 words.
EX-WNBA-PLAYER-CHARGES — Former WNBA player Shoni Schimmel was arrested and pleaded not guilty to assaulting a former partner on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in northeastern Oregon. SENT: 230 words, photo.
GUN-RANGE-SHOOTING — A 21-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a fatal armed robbery at a Georgia gun range that left three members of a family dead last week. SENT: 200 words, photos.
ARKANSAS RAPPER ARRESTED — Rapper Bankroll Freddie was in an Arkansas jail after being arrested on federal drug and weapons charges, officials say. SENT: 120 words, photo.
MISSISSIPPI-HUGE-CATFISH — Talk about a fish tale: A Mississippi man reeled in a massive blue catfish that set a state record. SENT: 170 words, photos.
MISSISSIPPI-STATE-SONG — Mississippi is ditching a state song that’s based on the campaign tune of a former governor who pledged to preserve segregation. SENT: 210 words, photos.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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CAPITOL RIOT-MIKE LEE — Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee worked on early efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election before shifting course, according to new text messages that drew condemnation from his reelection challengers after coming to light Friday. SENT: 470 words, photo.
BIDEN-TAXES — President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, earned $610,702 during their first year in the White House and paid $150,439 in federal income taxes. That’s a tax rate of 24.6% for 2021, well over the federal income average rate of around 14%. SENT: 510 words, photos.
REDISTRICTING-WISCONSIN — The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday adopted Republican-drawn maps for the state Legislature, handing the GOP a victory just weeks after initially approving maps drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. SENT: 740 words, photos.
ELECTION-2022-OKLAHOMA-SENATE-PRUITT — Republican Scott Pruitt, the scandal-ridden former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, filed Friday to run for Oklahoma’s open U.S. Senate seat, making a return to politics in a state with deep ties to the oil and gas industry. SENT: 540 words, photos.
ELECTION-2022-SENATE-ALASKA — Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski continues to have a substantial cash advantage over her opponent backed by former President Donald Trump. SENT: 390 words, photos.
BIDEN-DRILLING — The Biden administration is sharply raising rates for royalties companies pay on oil and natural gas extracted from federal lands as it moves forward under court order with sales of public fossil fuel reserves in nine states, Interior Department officials said Friday. SENT: 380 words, photo.
ELECTION 2022-SENATE-OHIO-TRUMP — Former President Donald Trump has endorsed “Hillbilly Elegy” author JD Vance in Ohio’s bitterly competitive Republican Senate primary, ending months of jockeying in a race where his backing could be pivotal. SENT: 940 words, photo.
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NATIONAL
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WESTERN-WILDFIRE — Evacuation orders for close to 5,000 people are still in place as firefighters battle a deadly blaze in New Mexico. The wind-fueled wildfire has ripped through the mountain community of Ruidoso. The flames have destroyed more than 200 homes and killed two people since the wildfire broke out Tuesday. Authorities said they suspect the fire was sparked by a downed power line. SENT: 790 words, photos.
DEATH-PENALTY-ARIZONA — Prosecutors have asked the Arizona Supreme Court to call off an upcoming hearing scheduled by a lower-court judge to determine the mental fitness of a prisoner to be executed in what would be the state’s first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years. SENT: 800 words, photo.
MAYORAL-CANDIDATE-SHOOTING — The man accused of shooting at a Louisville mayoral candidate had visited the politician’s home the day before the attack, but left after the gun he brought with him jammed, according to new details alleged by federal prosecutors during a hearing. SENT: 750 words, photos.
SUPERMARKET-SHOOTING — A judge has ruled that a man charged with killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket last year is still mentally incompetent to stand trial, further delaying court proceedings in the case. SENT: 550 words, photos.
POLICE SHOOTING-MICHIGAN-VIDEO — Body camera footage of Patrick Lyoya’s encounter with a Michigan police officer shows an intense struggle, but the video goes dark before the Black man is shot dead. It’s the latest in a handful of high-profile cases in which body cameras – touted as tools to hold police accountable – have failed, leaving prosecutors and the public to rely on bystander video for a clearer picture of what happened. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
CHILD-SEX-ABUSE-LAW — Arizona victims of long-ago child sex abuse can proceed with lawsuits against groups like the Boy Scouts of America following a decision by the state Supreme Court that rejected claims that a 2019 state law extending victims’ right to sue was unconstitutional. SENT: 690 words, photos.
OBIT-HOLOCAUST AUTHOR — Gerda Weissmann Klein, a Holocaust survivor who wrote about her ordeal and went on to receive a presidential medal of freedom, will be remembered at a memorial May 1 after her death this month. SENT: 310 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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NORTH-KOREA-BIRTH-ANNIVERSARY — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a massive civilian parade in the capital, Pyongyang, celebrating a milestone birth anniversary of his state-founding grandfather in which thousands marched in a choreographed display of loyalty to the Kim family, state media says. SENT: 660 words, photos.
JAPAN-US — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting U.S. lawmakers reaffirmed their commitment to working together under a longstanding bilateral alliance amid heightened global tensions spanning the war in Ukraine to threats from neighboring China and North Korea. SENT: 420 words, photos.
FRANCE-TERRORISM TRIAL — The only surviving member of the Islamic State attack team that terrorized Paris in 2015 asked Friday for forgiveness and expressed condolences for the victims, wiping away tears during court testimony as he pleaded with survivors to “detest me with moderation.” SENT: 550 words, photos.
MEXICO-PASSION OF CHRIST — A Mexico City borough held Latin America’s most famous re-enactment of the crucifixion of Christ with spectators Friday for the first time in two years, after the coronavirus pandemic forced televised-only performances in 2020 and 2021. SENT: 200 words, photos.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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CHINA-SPACE — Three Chinese astronauts has returned to Earth after six months aboard their country’s newest orbital station in the longest crewed mission to date for China’s ambitious space program. SENT: 320 words, photo.
CLIMATE CHANGE-UNPREPARED BASES — Top officers at six U.S. bases in the Arctic or just below it are failing to start hardening their installations against worsening climate change as the military requires, even as melting glaciers and thawing permafrost are already cracking their roads and runways and threaten the bases with flooding. SENT: 780 words, photos.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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TWITTER-MUSK-POISON-PILL-EXPLAINER — Twitter is trying to thwart billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover attempt with a “poison pill” — a financial device that companies have been wielding against unwelcome suitors for decades. By Technology Writer Michael Liedtke. SENT: 650 words, photos.
DAVITA-LABOR-COLLUSION — A jury on Friday acquitted Denver-based dialysis giant DaVita Inc. and former chairman and CEO Kent Thiry of charges that they conspired with three competing firms not to hire certain employees from each other, in violation of federal labor law. SENT: 490 words.
VERIZON-STORES-UNIONIZATION — Employees at Verizon stores north of Seattle in Everett and Lynnwood won their union election on Friday, making them the first unionized Verizon stores in the country outside of New York. SENT: 290 words.
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SPORTS
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BKN--NBA PLAYOFF OVERVIEW — Phoenix watched Milwaukee celebrate an NBA title last year, and the Suns were spurred on all season by that memory. And now the runaway No. 1 overall seed gets to chase a title again, with the playoffs starting on Saturday. By Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds. SENT: 870 words, photos. With BKN--NBA Playoff Preview Capsules (sent), BKN--Timberwolves-Grizzlies Preview (sent), BKN--Nuggets-Warriors Preview (sent), BKN--Jazz-Mavericks Preview (sent), BKN--Raptors-76ers Preview (sent).
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HOW TO REACH US
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