AP News Digest 3:40 am
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TOP STORIES
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TRUMP-CLASSIFIED-DOCUMENTS — Donald Trump became the first former president to face a judge on federal charges as he pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom to dozens of felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents and refusing government demands to give them back. By Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer and Adriana Gomez Licon. SENT: 1,140 words, photos, videos. With TRUMP-CLASSIFIED-DOCUMENTS-TAKEAWAYS — Trump turns his day in court into a campaign event despite serious political and legal threats; TRUMP-CLASSIFIED-DOCUMENTS-COURT-SCENE — In court, Trump faced charges with no cameras present. Outside, he campaigned for all to see; TRUMP-ALLIES — Walt Nauta, Trump’s valet turned co-defendant, does not enter a plea because he does not have an attorney.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa overnight and shelling destroyed homes in the eastern Donetsk region early Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring more than a dozen others, regional officials said. By Jamey Keaten. SENT: 350 words, photos.
EUROPE-AI-RULES — Authorities worldwide are racing to rein in artificial intelligence, including in the European Union, where groundbreaking legislation is set to pass a key hurdle. European Parliament lawmakers are due to vote on the proposal — including controversial amendments on facial recognition — as it heads toward passage. By Business Writer Kelvin Chan. SENT: 920 words, photo.
JAPAN-SHOOTING — An 18-year-old army trainee shot three fellow soldiers at a firing range on a Japanese army base, killing two of them, officials said. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder at the scene in central Japan, police said. By Mari Yamaguchi. SENT: 220 words, photos.
FEDERAL-RESERVE — The Federal Reserve, having raised interest rates at the fastest pace in four decades, is poised to leave rates alone for the first time in 15 months to allow time to gauge the impact of its aggressive drive to tame inflation. By Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber. SENT: 800 words, photo.
STANLEY-CUP — The Golden Knights delivered their city a true Vegas-style party, capturing the young organization’s first Stanley Cup with a 9-3 romp over the beaten-up and exhausted Florida Panthers. By Sports Writer Mark Anderson. SENT: 1,090 words, photos.
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SPOTLIGHTING VOICES
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BRAZIL-INDIGENOUS-COMING-OF-AGE-RITUAL — The Indigenous adolescents danced in a circle under the thatched-roof hut from nearly dawn to dusk, the seemingly endless loop of the procession took place over six long days. In the Alto Rio Guama territory, it is all part of this vital rite of passage, known as “Wyra’whaw.” SENT: 560 words, photos.
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MORE ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
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RUSSIA-BELARUS-NUCLEAR — Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko declared Tuesday that his country had already received some of Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons and warned that he wouldn’t hesitate to order their use if Belarus faced an act of aggression. SENT: 660 words, photos.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-NUCLEAR-PLANT — The largest nuclear power plant in Europe faces “a relatively dangerous situation” after a dam burst in Ukraine and Kyiv launches a counteroffensive to retake ground occupied by Russia, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said. SENT: 470 words, photos.
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MORE NEWS
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ALEC-BALDWIN-SET-SHOOTING — Prosecutors: Weapons expert in Alec Baldwin case was hungover on set; defense calls case mishandled. SENT: 490 words, photo.
MEXICO-SAVING-BENITO-THE-GIRAFFE — Activists work to get a giraffe removed from a small enclosure in a dusty Mexican border city. SENT: 680 words, photos, video.
AMAZON OUTAGE — Amazon says AWS is operating normally after an outage that left publishers unable to operate websites. SENT: 240 words, photo.
TUCKER-CARLSON-FOX-LETTER — Fox News reportedly sent Tucker Carlson a cease-and-desist letter over his new Twitter series. SENT: 340 words, photo.
OBIT-TORI BOWIE-AUTOPSY — The autopsy report of Olympic sprinter Tori Bowie concluded she died from complications of childbirth. SENT: 270 words, photo.
BIDEN-PRIDE MONTH-TOPLESS GUEST — Transgender advocate no longer welcome at White House events after posting topless video on social media. SENT: 280 words, photo.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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CONGRESS-GAS STOVES — The House is taking up legislation that Republican lawmakers say would protect gas stoves from overzealous government regulators, but Democrats call the concerns overheated. SENT: 790 words, photo. UPCOMING: 900 words after House vote, timing uncertain.
WHITE HOUSE-PRESS SECRETARY — A government watchdog agency says White House press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre violated a law that bars federal employees from engaging in political activity on the job. SENT: 330 words, photo.
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NATIONAL
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DENVER SHOOTING — Police say a shooting in downtown Denver amid fans celebrating the Nuggets’ first NBA championship win was likely sparked by a drug deal gone wrong. It left 10 people wounded, including one of two suspected shooters. SENT: 650 words, photos, videos.
SCHOOL-SHOOTING-NEWPORT-NEWS — Teacher who was shot by 6-year-old student in Virginia has resigned, school officials say. SENT: 550 words, photo.
TRANSGENDER-HEALTH-CARE — Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo has signed two bills related to transgender rights and vetoed another, bucking trends from other Republican governors across the country who have pushed anti-transgender policies. SENT: 620 words.
TRUMP-COLUMNIST-LAWSUIT — A columnist who recently won a $5 million sexual abuse and defamation jury award against Donald Trump can update a similar lawsuit with his more recent public comments in a bid for over $10 million more in damages from the ex-president, a federal judge ruled in another legal loss for Trump. SENT: 520 words, photos.
CAVE TOUR BOAT CAPSIZES — Soon after a tour boat flipped over during a tour of a dimly lit cavern system in upstate New York, leaving one passenger dead, members of another group recalled a similar experience while taking the same tour eight years ago and questioned whether anything had been done since then to make the attraction safer. SENT: 690 words, photos.
SOUTHERN BAPTISTS — Longtime pastors of two churches — one massive and one modest-sized — made their final appeals to Southern Baptists, asking to have their churches returned to the denomination’s fold after being ousted for having women pastors. SENT: 970 words, photos.
I-95-COLLAPSE — U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg promised to help repair the East Coast’s main north-south highway as quickly as possible and said that the destruction of a section of I-95 will likely raise the cost of consumer goods because truckers must now travel longer routes. SENT: 640 words, photos, video.
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INTERNATIONAL
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MIGRATION-GLOBAL-REFUGEES — Some 110 million people have had to flee their homes because of conflict, persecution, or human rights violations, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says. SENT: 560 words, photos.
SYRIA-DONORS — Aid agencies will struggle to draw the world’s attention back to Syria at an annual donor conference hosted by the European Union in Brussels for humanitarian aid to Syrians. SENT: 990 words, photos.
INDIA-ETHNIC-CLASHES — Rival ethnic groups fired at each other in fresh violence in India’s remote northeast that left at least nine people dead and some injured, officials said Wednesday. SENT: 290 words, photo.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian stock markets were mixed after a cooler reading on U.S. inflation buoyed hopes the Federal Reserve will postpone a possible interest rate hike. SENT: 520 words, photos.
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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
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OBIT-CORMAC MCCARTHY — Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who in prose both dense and brittle took readers from the southern Appalachians to the desert Southwest in such novels as “The Road,” “Blood Meridian” and “All the Pretty Horses,” died Tuesday. He was 89. SENT: 1,140 words, photos.
THEATER-TINA TURNER — The first national tour of Broadway’s “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical” makes its California debut this week for the first time, arriving as a poignant, posthumous celebration following the rock music icon’s death last month. By Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy. SENT: 530 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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