AP News Digest 3:25 a.m.
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TOP STORIES
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TRUMP-INDICTMENT — Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury. The charges center on payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter. Trump calls the indictment “political persecution.” By Michael R. Sisak, Eric Tucker and Colleen Long. SENT: 1,360 words, photos, video. With TRUMP INDICTMENT-LIVE UPDATES — Live updates of developments (sent). AP video will be live from New York and at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida residence. All related coverage: https://newsroom.ap.org/page/TrumpInvestigations
TRUMP INDICTMENT-WHAT TO KNOW — Donald Trump becomes the first former U.S. president to be charged with a crime, a culmination of a political rise that has been defined by unprecedented scandal and the busting of norms. By Michelle L. Price and Jonathan J. Cooper. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.
ELECTION 2024-TRUMP — The historic indictment of Donald Trump throws the 2024 election into uncharted territory as the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination faces criminal charges. It also marks a stunning turn of fate for a man long nicknamed “Teflon Don,” who until now has managed to skirt serious legal jeopardy despite 40 years of constant scrutiny. By Jill Colvin. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
INDIA-TEMPLE-COLLAPSE — Thirty-five bodies have been found inside a well at a Hindu temple in central India after dozens of people fell into the muddy water when the well’s cover collapsed, officials said Friday. By Ashok Sharma. SENT: 390 words, photos.
HARRIS-AFRICA — The global rivalry between the United States and China has been a recurring backdrop during Vice President Kamala Harris’ trip to Africa. Beijing’s influence is particularly apparent during the second and third stops in Tanzania and Zambia, where China is a far larger trading partner than the U.S. By Chris Megerian, Cara Anna and Andrew Meldrum. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
GWYNETH-PALTROW-SKING-LAWSUIT — Gwyneth Paltrow wasn’t to blame for a 2016 collision with a retired optometrist on a beginner run at a posh Utah ski resort during a family vacation, a jury decided Thursday following a live-streamed trial that became a pop culture fixation. A jury awarded Paltrow $1 — a symbolic amount she asked for in order to show it wasn’t about money — and delivered her the vindication she sought when she opted to take it to trial rather than settle out of court. By Sam Metz. SENT: 770 words, photos, video, audio.
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MORE ON TRUMP INDICTMENT
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TRUMP INDICTMENT-EXPLAINER — Donald Trump has become the first former president to be indicted in a criminal case after a grand jury investigation into hush money payments made on his behalf during the 2016 presidential campaign. SENT: 1,210 words, photos.
TRUMP INVESTIGATIONS GLANCE — The hush money case in New York that has led to criminal charges against Donald Trump is just one of a number of investigations that could pose legal problems for the former president. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.
TRUMP INDICTMENT-KEY PEOPLE — As Donald Trump fought his way to victory in the 2016 presidential campaign, key allies tried to smooth his bumpy path by paying off two women who had been thinking of going public with allegations of extramarital encounters with the Republican. SENT: 1,680 words, photos.
TRUMP-LEGAL-TROUBLES-ALVIN-BRAGG — A New York grand jury that voted to indict former President Donald Trump on charges involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter has refocused attention on the Manhattan district attorney steering the case. Alvin Bragg’s decision to convene the grand jury early this year led to the first criminal charge against a former U.S. president. SENT: 590 words, photos.
TRUMP-PAST-PRESIDENTIAL-SCANDALS — Though far from the only U.S. president dogged by legal and ethical scandals, Donald Trump now occupies a unique place in history as the first indicted on criminal charges. SENT: 940 words, photos.
TRUMP-INDICTMENT-ARREST PROCESS — Every day, hundreds of people are taken into law enforcement custody in New York City. Former President Donald Trump is expected to become one of them as early as next week. SENT: 910 words, photos.
TRUMP INDICTMENT-MEDIA — Conservative media figures leaped to Donald Trump’s defense with apocalyptic language, claiming the former president was being unfairly persecuted by a Manhattan grand jury’s indictment and predicting his 2024 bid for the White House would get a boost from his perceived martyrdom. SENT: 650 words, photos.
TRUMP-INDICMENT-COURTHOUSE-SCENE — If you didn’t know what you were looking for, you might’ve missed it. Even then, it was hard to know at the moment that history was unfolding before your eyes. Donald Trump’s indictment, the first of a former U.S. president, was quietly brought to the clerk’s office at the Manhattan criminal courthouse just before closing time SENT: 530 words, photos.
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
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RUSSIA-REPORTER ARRESTED — Russia’s security service arrested an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal on espionage charges, the first time a U.S. correspondent has been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War. The newspaper denied the allegations and demanded his release. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR-BUCHA ANNIVERSARY-PHOTO GALLERY — 1 year ago, scenes of horror emerged from Ukraine’s Bucha. SENT: 250 words, photos.
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MORE NEWS
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RAPPER CHARGED — A founding member of the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees was enmeshed in political conspiracies involving millions of dollars in foreign money under two different U.S. presidents, federal prosecutors say as Prakazrel “Pras” Michel’s trial gets underway with opening statements. SENT: 420 words, photos.
LA-POLITICIAN-BRIBERY — A longtime Los Angeles politician has been convicted on federal corruption charges in a scheme in which prosecutors said he promised to help steer a multimillion-dollar government contract to the University of Southern California if his son got a scholarship and a teaching job. SENT: 630 words, photo.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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BIDEN — President Joe Biden visits a Mississippi town ravaged by a deadly tornado even as a new series of severe storms threatens to rip across the Midwest and South. By Colleen Long and Michael Goldberg. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos by 5:30 a.m. Arrival expected before noon.
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NATIONAL
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LAS-VEGAS-SHOOTER-FBI-DOCUMENTS — The high-stakes gambler who carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern America, killing 60 and injuring hundreds more in Las Vegas, was apparently angry over how the casinos were treating him despite his high-roller status, according to a fellow gambler. SENT: 720 words, photos, audio.
ABORTION-IDAHO — A bill that would criminalize helping minors obtain an abortion without parental consent won final passage in Idaho’s legislature and is headed to the desk of Republican Gov. Brad Little. SENT: 800 words, photo, audio.
SEVERE-WEATHER — Meteorologists are urging people in parts of the Midwest and southern U.S. to be ready Friday for dangerous weather including tornadoes, saying the conditions are similar to those a week ago that unleashed a devastating twister that killed at least 21 people in Mississippi. SENT: 450 words, photos.
ALEC-BALDWIN-SET-SHOOTING — A judge is scheduled to resolve a weapons-related charge against a codefendant in the case against actor Alec Baldwin for the fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer on a movie set. SENT: 290 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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VENEZUELA-CORRUPTION — Dozens of obscure brokers are at the center of a new crackdown in Venezuela on corruption in the state-run oil industry that has government insiders scurrying for cover. Meanwhile, regular Venezuelans are asking how more than $20 billion in proceeds from oil shipments seemingly vanished. The purge began this month when Veneuelan authorities arrested 21 people, including businesspeople, senior officials and a lawmaker, as part of an investigation into missing payments for oil shipments. SENT: 1,450 words, photos.
TAIWAN-CENTRAL-AMERICA — As Taiwan’s diplomatic partners dwindle and turn instead to rival China, Taiwanese President President Tsai Ing-wen is aiming to shore up ties with the self-governing island’s remaining allies during a trip this week to Central America. SENT: 800 words, photos.
ALBANIA-TOURISM-TUNNELS — Under the Albanian town of Kukes lies a vast warren of underground tunnels and a military command center, relics of the former communist regime’s fear of a foreign invasion that never came. Now, local authorities hope to turn the network into a tourist attraction, with the help of European Union funding. By the end of the year, they say, the 37-room command center and a long tunnel leading to it from the town hall should be accessible. SENT: 770 words, photos.
MONTENEGRO-PRESIDENTIAL-ELECTION — Voters in small Montenegro go to the polls this weekend to choose their next president in a runoff between pro-Western incumbent Milo Djukanovic and Jakov Milatovic, a newcomer supported by the shaky governing coalition with links to neighboring Serbia. SENT: 690 words, photos.
THAILAND-CHRISTIAN-CHURCH — Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi says he will visit China this weekend for talks with his counterpart Qin Gang, becoming Japan’s first top diplomat to do so in more than three years amid growing frictions between the two countries, including a recent flap over the detention of a Japanese national in Beijing. SENT: 630 words.
JAPAN-CHINA — Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Friday he will visit China this weekend for talks with his counterpart Qin Gang, becoming Japan’s first top diplomat to do so in more than three years amid growing frictions between the two countries, including a recent flap over the detention of a Japanese national in Beijing. SENT: 460 words, photo.
MALAYSIA-CORRUPTION — Malaysia’s top court refused Friday to review its 2022 decision to uphold former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s conviction for graft and 12-year jail sentence, saying he was “the author of his own misfortune.” SENT: 390 words, photo.
UNITED-NATIONS-AFRICA-SILENCING-THE-GUNS — The goal of silencing the guns in Africa this decade is being challenged by climate change, terrorism, coups and the continent’s history, the head of the African Union initiative told the U.N. Security Council. SENT: 620 words, photo.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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SCI--DINOSAUR LIPS -- The classic image of T. rex with giant teeth hanging out of its mouth might be wrong. According to a new study, the dinosaur probably had scaly lips that covered up its chompers. Some had thought that T. rex and its cousins wouldn’t be able to fit their big teeth in their mouths. But scientists found that lizard-like lips could stretch over T. rex’s teeth. SENT: 380 words, photos.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian stocks has followed Wall Street higher ahead of a United States inflation update traders hope might prompt the Federal Reserve to ease plans for more interest rate hikes. SENT: 520 words, photos.
ASIA-ECONOMY — Developing economies in Asia have mostly regained ground lost during the pandemic but are seeing their recoveries stall as productivity lags, the World Bank has said in a report. SENT: 420 words, photos.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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FILM REVIEW-MURDER MYSTERY 2 — You would have a hard time defending the limp plotting, the bland action-adventure set pieces or the Agatha Christie-light whodunit twists of the first “Murder Mystery.” And, yet, it was kind of good. By Film Writer Jake Coyle. SENT: 620 words, photos
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SPORTS
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BBO--RULES CHANGES-OPENING DAY — Marcus Stroman is getting used to Major League Baseball’s new pitch clock. And it’s no small deal for the right-hander. By Baseball Writer Jay Cohen. SENT: 730 words, photos.
BKC--FINAL FOUR-MYSTERY TEAMS — All that parity and all those upsets are grand. But this is what you get when it comes full circle: three programs that all but the most devoted college basketball fans have ignored for decades and another with a pedigree but nobody, outside of the coach, that you know on a first- or last-name basis. By National Writer Eddie Pells. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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