AP News Digest 3:25 a.m.
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TOP STORIES
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CAPITOL RIOT-INVESTIGATION — Despite desperate pleas from aides, allies, Republican congressional leaders and even his family, Donald Trump refused to call off the Jan. 6 mob attack on the Capitol, instead “pouring gasoline on the fire.” The House committee investigating the attack documented Thursday how for some 187 minutes, nothing could move the defeated president. By Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri and Eric Tucker. SENT: 1,350 words, photos, video. With CAPITOL RIOT INVESTIGATION-TAKEAWAYS — Frazzled aides, frantic texts and a video telling rioters they were “very special.”; CAPITOL RIOT INVESTIGATION-MEDIA — America’s top television networks — except for Fox News — turned prime time over to the Jan. 6 hearing (sent).
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BIDEN-COVID — President Joe Biden’s positive test for COVID-19 doesn’t constitute a health crisis and shouldn’t even come as a much of a surprise nearly two and a half years into a global pandemic, the White House insists, trying to hammer home the message that it’s been prepared for this all along. By Will Weissert and Chris Megerian. SENT: 940 words, photos, video.
MONKEYPOX-THE NEXT STD — The spread of monkeypox in the U.S. could represent the dawn of a new sexually transmitted disease, though some health officials say the virus that causes pimple-like bumps might yet be contained before it gets firmly established. So far, more than 2,300 U.S. cases have been reported. By Medical Writer Mike Stobbe. SENT: 1,090 words, photo.
TURKEY-UKRAINE-GRAIN — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were due to oversee the signing of a key agreement that would allow Ukraine to resume its shipment of grain from the Black Sea to world markets and Russia to export grain and fertilizers — ending a standoff that has threatened world food security. SENT: 500 words, photos.
SRI LANKA — An ally of the Rajapaksa political family was appointed as Sri Lanka’s prime minister, hours after security forces cleared the main protest site occupied for months by demonstrators angry at the Rajapaksas over the country’s economic collapse. By Krishan Francis, Rafiq Maqbool and Rishi Lekhi. SENT: 620 words, photos, video.
EUROPE-WILDFIRES-EXPLAINER — Major wildfires in Europe are starting earlier in the year, becoming more frequent, doing more damage and getting harder to stop. And, scientists say, they’re probably going to get worse as climate change intensifies unless countermeasures are taken. By Barry Hatton. SENT: 810 words, photos.
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
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RUSSIA UKRAINE WAR — The deliveries of Western arms have been crucial for Ukraine’s efforts to fend off Russian attacks in the nearly five-month-old war. Ukrainian officials praise the billions of dollars of Western weapons systems they have already received but say their numbers are too small to turn the tide of the war. SENT: 1,140 words, photos.
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TRENDING NEWS
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JIMMY HOFFA — The FBI found no evidence of missing Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa during a search of land under a New Jersey bridge, a spokeswoman says. SENT: 470 words, photos. With JIMMY HOFFA-TIMELINE — Events in disappearance of former Teamsters head Jimmy Hoffa (sent).
CHICAGO-CARJACKING-BOY-SHOT — Police bodycam video of an officer shooting a 13-year-old boy appears to show the boy raising his hands in the air a moment before shots were fired, according to an attorney for the boy’s family. SENT: 260 words.
OBIT-TAUREAN-BLACK — Taurean Blacque, an Emmy-nominated actor who was known for his role as a detective on the 1980s NBC drama series “Hill Street Blues,” has died. He was 82. SENT: 380 words, photos.
MARINES-SEAFARING-TANKS — The U.S. Marine Corps will keep its new amphibious combat vehicle — a kind of seafaring tank — out of the water while it investigates why two of the vehicles ran into trouble off Southern California’s coast this week amid high surf, military officials say. SENT: 340 words, photo.
HEMINGWAY-DAYS — The annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest began in Key West, marking the 123rd anniversary of Ernest Hemingway’s July 21 birth. SENT: 260 words, photos.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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ELECTION-2022-NEW-YORK-GOVERNOR-ZELDIN-ATTACK — U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for New York governor, was assaulted by a man who apparently tried to stab him at an upstate event but the congressman escaped serious injury. SENT: 460 words, photos.
BIDEN-CANCER COMMENT-FACT FOCUS — President Biden’s speech in Massachusetts on Wednesday raised questions about whether he had announced that he has cancer. A White House spokesperson says Biden was referring to previously disclosed skin cancer that was removed before he became president, not announcing a new diagnosis. SENT: 430 words, photo.
GEORGIA ELECTION INVESTIGATION — A judge says Georgia Republicans who signed a certificate falsely stating that Donald Trump had won the state and that they were the state’s “duly elected and qualified” electors will have to appear before a special grand jury. SENT: 800 words, photo.
ELECTION-2022-FLORIDA-GOVERNOR'S-RACE — Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist held their only debate Thursday before next month’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, bashing Gov. Ron DeSantis and casting themselves as their party’s best chance at beating the surging Republican. SENT: 500 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-IMMIGRATION-DEPORTATION POLICY — The Supreme Court won’t allow the Biden administration to implement a policy that prioritizes deportation of people in the country illegally who pose the greatest public safety risk. SENT: 300 words.
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NATIONAL
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VEGAS-SWIMMING-POOLS — Limiting the size of new swimming pools in and around Las Vegas might save a drop in the proverbial bucket amid historic drought and climate change in the West. Officials are taking the plunge anyway, capping the size of new swimming pools at single-family residential homes to about the size of a three-car garage. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
HOUSTON-FATAL-DRUG-RAID — A man who has been serving a 25-year prison sentence based mostly on testimony from an ex-Houston police officer whose cases are being reviewed following a 2019 deadly drug raid should have his conviction overturned, a judge says. SENT: 680 words, photo.
PORTLAND-GUN VIOLENCE — Gripped by gun violence that’s affecting cities across the nation, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, has issued a new emergency declaration with the goal of reducing gun killings by at least 10% over the next two years. SENT: 680 words, photos.
IMMIGRATION JUDGES — The National Association of Immigration Judges have asked the federal government to restore its union recognition after the Trump administration stripped its official status and the system’s chief judge resigned after two years on the job. SENT: 520 words, photos.
ASYLUM-PAID-BUS-TRIPS — Two Republican border-state governors who are investing billions of dollars in immigration enforcement and spending hours at the podium blasting Biden administration policies have found indirect support for their arguments from two unlikely sources: Democratic Mayors Muriel Bowser, of Washington, and Eric Adams, of New York. SENT: 730 words, photos.
FLINT WATER — Jurors heard closing arguments Thursday in the only trial to arise thus far from the Flint water crisis, a dispute over whether two engineering firms should be held partially responsible for the city’s lead contamination in 2014-15. SENT: 470 words, photo.
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INTERNATIONAL
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LIBYA-MIGRANTS — The Moroccan man had been stopped before at sea in his multiple attempts to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to Europe. But his most recent time was different. The Libyan force that intercepted the boat full of some 50 migrants was more brutal. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.
KOREAS-TENSIONS — North Korea has warned that the United States and South Korea will face “unprecedented” security challenges if they don’t stop their hostile military pressure campaign against the North, including joint military drills. SENT: 660 words, photos.
JAPAN-ABE-SHOOTING — Japan’s Cabinet has formally decided to hold a state funeral on Sept. 27 for assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid national debate over the plan, which some criticize as an attempt to glorify a divisive political figure. SENT: 470 words, photos,
UNITED-NATIONS-RUSSIA-JUSTIFYING-VETO — Russia defended its veto of a U.N. resolution that would have extended humanitarian aid deliveries to 4.1 million Syrians in the rebel-held northwest from Turkey for a year, insisting that its demand for only a six-month extension was essential and accusing Western nations of using “sly” tactics and trying “to govern the world.” SENT: 590 words.
BRAZIL-VIOLENCE — A raid of Rio de Janeiro’s largest complex of favelas that left at least 18 people dead has sparked renewed complaints of excessive police violence and ignited debate over how to handle crime ahead of state and presidential elections. SENT: 790 words photos.
AUSTRALIA-CAROLINE-KENNEDY — New U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy says the United States needs to engage more with the Pacific region at a time when China is asserting its presence. SENT: 430 words, photo.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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SCI-MONARCH BUTTERFLIES-ENDANGERED -- The monarch butterfly fluttered a step closer to extinction, as scientists put the iconic orange-and-black insect on the endangered list because of its fast dwindling numbers. “It’s just a devastating decline,” said Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University who was not involved in the new listing. “This is one of the most recognizable butterflies in the world.” SENT: 520 words, photos.
SCI-SPACE-STATION — An Italian astronaut joined a Russian cosmonaut in a rare spacewalking show of unity, as tensions over Ukraine continued to ricochet back home. SENT: 300 words, photos.
AFRICA MALARIA VACCINE — As the World Health Organization and partners prepare to roll out the world’s first malaria vaccine in several African countries, concerns about its cost and low effectiveness have come from an unlikely source: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, arguably the vaccine’s biggest backer. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
WHO MONKEYPOX — As the World Health Organization’s emergency committee convenes to consider for the second time within weeks whether to declare monkeypox a global crisis, some scientists say the striking differences between the outbreaks in Africa and in developed countries will complicate any coordinated response. SENT: 940 words, photo.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian shares were mixed after another day of gains on Wall Street amid a deluge of news about the economy, interest rates and corporate profits. Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong gained while Sydney and Seoul declined. U.S. futures edged lower while oil prices rose. By Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach. SENT: 600 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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BBO--ATTENDANCE DROP — Blame it on lingering effects of the pandemic, resentment over the lockout or fears over the economy. Major League Baseball teams head into the final 2½ months of the regular season struggling to fill the stands now that they no longer have to worry about pandemic-related attendance restrictions. SENT: 870 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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