AP News Digest 5:30 a.m.
re 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.
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TOP STORIES
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SEVERE-WEATHER — Storms that dropped possibly dozens of tornadoes killed at least 26 people in small towns and big cities across the South and Midwest, tearing a path through the Arkansas capital, collapsing the roof of a packed concert venue in Illinois and stunning people throughout the region Saturday with the damage’s scope. By Adrian Sainz and Andrew DeMillo. SENT: 1,170 words, photos, video, audio. With SEVERE WEATHER-SURVIVORS — Tornado survivors recount flying debris, destroyed buildings (sent).
EXTREME-WEATHER-EXPLAINER — The United States is Earth’s punching bag for nasty weather. Blame geography for the U.S. getting hit by stronger, costlier, more varied and frequent extreme weather than anywhere on the planet, several experts said. Two oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, jutting peninsulas like Florida, clashing storm fronts and the jet stream combine to naturally brew the nastiest of weather. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-PUTIN-COURT QUQNDRY — An international arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin raises the prospect of the man whose country invaded Ukraine facing justice, but it complicates efforts to end that war in peace talks. By Mike Corder. SENT: 700 words, photos.
TRUMP-INDICTMENT-INVINCIBILITY — When Donald Trump steps before a judge this coming week to be arraigned in a New York courtroom, it will not only mark the first time a former U.S. president has faced criminal charges. It will also be a reckoning for a man long nicknamed “Teflon Don,” who until now has managed to skirt serious legal jeopardy despite 40 years of legal scrutiny. By Jill Colvin. SENT: 1,11O words, photos.
All related coverage: https://newsroom.ap.org/page/TrumpInvestigations
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — A Kyiv court ordered a leading priest to be put under house arrest after Ukraine’s top security agency said he was suspected of justifying Russian aggression, a criminal offense. It was the latest move in a bitter dispute over a famed Orthodox monastery. By Karl Ritter and Elena Becatoros. SENT: 870 words, photos.
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MORE NEWS
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PEOPLE-KALEY-CUOCO — Actor Kaley Cuoco is flying high after giving birth to her first child. SENT: 160 words, photos.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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RUSSIA-JOURNALIST — American basketball star Brittney Griner and her wife are concerned about the detainment in Russia of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and said “we must do everything in our power to bring him and all Americans home.” SENT: 270 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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FATAL-SHOOTING-LA-SHOPPING-CENTER — One person is dead and three others were injured in a shooting during a drug deal outside a Los Angeles shopping center, police say. SENT: 270 words, photos.
ARIZONA-EXECUTION — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has been ordered to appear in court Thursday in her efforts to halt pending executions. SENT: 270 words, photo.
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INTERNATIONAL
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MOZAMBIQUE-CYCLONE-FREDDY-CHOLERA — Weeks after massive Cyclone Freddy hit Mozambique for a second time, the still-flooded country is facing a spiraling cholera outbreak that threatens to add to the devastation. There were over 19,000 confirmed cases of cholera across eight of Mozambique’s provinces as of March 27, according to U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, a figure which had almost doubled in a week. SENT: 810 words, photos.
FRANCE-PARIS-SCOOTER-VOTE — The wheels may be about to come off Paris’ experiment with for-hire electric scooters. Zipping around the City of Light on one of them, wind in the hair, or romantically but naughtily e-scooting à deux on one machine when the gendarmes aren’t looking could soon be over. That’s if Parisians vote to do away with the 15,000 opinion-dividing micro-vehicles. SENT: 720 words, photos, video.
FINLAND-ELECTION — Polling stations have opened in Finland, where three parties were expected to be in a tight race as Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Social Democrats fight to secure a second term running the government. SENT: 400 words, photos.
ISRAEL-POLITICS — Tens of thousands of Israelis are protesting a controversial plan to revamp the country’s legal system, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suspension of the changes earlier in the week. SENT: 300 words, photos. ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS — Israeli police fatally shoot man at Jerusalem’s holiest site (sent).
MONTENEGRO-PRESIDENT-ELECTION — Montenegrins are casting ballots on Sunday in a runoff presidential election that is a battle between a long-serving pro-Western incumbent and a newcomer promising changes in the small NATO member state in Europe that has been locked in political turmoil. SENT: 370 words, photos.
GUATEMALA-TAIWAN — Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and the Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei toured the archaeological site of Tikal on Saturday during a trip by Tsai that aims to shore up the self-governing island’s ties with its remaining allies in Central America. SENT: 360 words, photos.
BULGARIA-ELECTIONS — Bulgarians were casting their ballots in a general election — the fifth in two years — hoping to end political instability and help overcome the economic woes fueled by a raging war in Ukraine. SENT: 350 words, photos.
SYRIA-ISRAEL-STRIKES — Israeli airstrikes hit several sites in Syria’s Homs province, wounding five soldiers, Syrian state media reported. SENT: 270 words photo.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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CMT-MUSIC-AWARDS — This year’s CMT Music Awards will merge country, rock and blues straight from the heart of Texas, featuring performances including collaborations with Alanis Morissette, The Black Crowes, Gwen Stefani and Gary Clark Jr. and tributes to Lynyrd Skynyrd and Stevie Ray Vaughn. SENT: 240 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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BKC--NCAA-FAU-SAN DIEGO ST — San Diego State’s vaunted defense staggered well into the second half as free-flowing Florida Atlantic breezed to a 14-point lead. The Aztecs found their teeth again to get back into the game. Then Lamont Butler delivered at the very end. Butler hit a buzzer-beating jumper for the ages, sending San Diego State to its first national championship game with a 72-71 win over fellow mid-major Florida Atlantic in the Final Four. SENT: 750 words, photos.
BKC—NCAA-MIAMI-UCONN — UConn doled out another drama-free basketball beatdown, getting 21 points and 10 rebounds from Adama Sanogo to dispatch Miami 72-59 and move one win from the school’s fifth national title. Jordan Hawkins overcame his stomach bug and scored 13 for the Huskies, who came into this most unexpected Final Four as the only team with any experience on college basketball’s final weekend. SENT: 780 words, photos.
BKN-NBA-LABOR — The most financially successful era in NBA history will continue uninterrupted for at least six more years, after the league and its players came to a tentative agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that will kick in this summer. SENT: 920 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Vincent K. Willis 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 AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.
