AP News Digest 7 a.m.
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TOP STORIES
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WINTER WEATHER — A wild winter storm has continued to envelop much of the United States , bringing blinding blizzards, freezing rain, flooding and life-threatening cold that created mayhem for those traveling for the Christmas holiday. By Heather Hollingsworth and Jill Bleed. SENT: 680 words, photos, video, audio. UPCOMING: Developing.
CAPITOL RIOT-INVESTIGATION-FINDINGS — A massive final report released by the House Jan. 6 committee late Thursday places the blame for the 2021 Capitol insurrection on one person: former President Donald Trump. The dense, 814-page document details the findings of the panel’s 18-month investigation, drawing on more than 1,000 witness interviews and more than a million pages of source material. The committee found a “multi-part conspiracy” orchestrated by Trump and his closest allies, all with the aim of overturning his 2020 election defeat. By Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 1,470 words, photos, video. With CAPITOL RIOT-PAINTER'S SON — Renowned painter’s son convicted in Jan. 6 attack on Capitol; BOOKS-JAN. 6 REPORT — Editions of Jan. 6 report already on Amazon best seller list (both sent).
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHINA-SYSTEM-OVERLOAD — As China grapples with its first-ever national COVID-19 wave, emergency wards in small cities and towns southwest of Beijing are overwhelmed. Intensive care units are turning away ambulances, relatives of sick people are searching for open beds, and patients are slumped on benches in hospital corridors and lying on floors for a lack of beds. By Dake Kang. SENT: 1,460 words, photos.
CONGRESS-WRAP — The 117th Congress opened with the unfathomable Jan. 6, 2021, mob siege of the Capitol. But it’s closing as one of the most consequential legislative sessions in recent memory. Lawmakers are wrapping up the two-year session having found surprisingly common ground. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
GEORGIA ELECTION INVESTIGATION — A special grand jury investigating whether Donald Trump and his allies illegally tried to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election in Georgia appears to be wrapping up its work, but many questions remain. By Kate Brumback. SENT: 1,250 words, photos.
MALL-OF-AMERICA-LOCKDOWN — A teenager was killed during a shooting at the Mall of America that sent frightened customers at the nation’s largest shopping center racing into a lockdown just before the holiday weekend, police say. SENT: 800 words, photos.
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TRENDING
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TORY-LANEZ-MEGAN-THEE-STALLION — In a courtroom that turned chaotic after a trial that seethed with tension, a Los Angeles jury has found rapper Tory Lanez guilty of three felonies in the 2020 shooting of hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion. The attack left her wounded with bullet fragments in her feet and Lanez’ conviction could send him to prison for more than 20 years. SENT: 760 words, photos, audio.
RUSSIA-FIRE — A fire at a private shelter in the Siberian city of Kemerovo that was operating illegally killed 22 people, Russian officials say. SENT: 150 words.
WORLD-CHRISTMAS — The biblical town of Bethlehem is gearing up for what residents hope will be a merry Christmas, with thousands of visitors expected to descend upon the traditional birthplace of Jesus as it rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 630 words, photos.
COWBOYS-JERRY-JONES-LAWSUIT — A judge has ordered Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to take a paternity test as part of a legal dispute with a 26-year-old woman who claims the billionaire is her biological father. SENT: 330 words, photo.
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-LIGHTLESS-CHRISTMAS — Just a year ago, Sophia Square in Kyiv was all about the big Christmas tree and thousands of lights spreading over the plaza. These final days of 2022, in the middle of a war that has ravaged the country for 10 months, a more modest tree stands there, its blue and yellow lights barely breaking the gloom of the square that is otherwise dark apart from the headlights of cars. By Hanna Arhirova. SENT: 650 words, photos.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-DEVELOPMENTS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sounded another defiant note on his return to his nation’s capital Friday following his wartime visit to the United States, saying his forces are “working toward victory” even as Russia launched new strikes across the country. By E. Eduardo Castillo. SENT: 930 words, photos.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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CONGRESS-ELECTORAL VOTES — Congress passes changes to the arcane law that controls how it ratifies the winner of a presidential election. The legislation is an effort to close loopholes that Donald Trump and his allies tried to exploit so he could remain president after losing the 2020 election. SENT: 720 words, photos.
ILLEGAL-BORDER-CROSSINGS — Illegal border crossings by Cubans and Nicaraguans rose sharply in November while overall migration flows were little changed from October, U.S. authorities say. SENT: 370 words, photo.
BIDEN — President Joe Biden and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, visited Children’s National Hospital before Christmas to visit with patients and read a story. SENT: 310 words, photos.
CONGRESS-INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE — Access to health care for Native Americans across the U.S. will be bolstered with funding included in a government spending bill approved by Congress. SENT: 450 words, photo.
PLAN B — The Food and Drug Administration has it will overhaul packaging labels for the emergency contraceptive pill, Plan B, that women can take after having sex to prevent a pregnancy. SENT: 300 words, photo.
MILITARY BASES-AFGHAN REFUGEES — Eight U.S. military bases that housed tens of thousands of Afghan refugees after they were airlifted out of Kabul last year incurred almost $260 million in damages. SENT: 350 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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DRUGGING-DEATHS — Multiple people have been fatally poisoned with narcotics in what investigators say were schemes by criminal crews to incapacitate and rob people at New York City bars and nightclubs. SENT: 600 words, photos.
WATER-WOES-MISSISSIPPI — The federal government will put $600 million toward repairing the troubled water system in Mississippi’s capital city — a project that the mayor has said could cost billions of dollars. SENT: 610 words, photos.
CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR-PARDONS — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has granted 10 pardons, including for several people convicted of drug crimes more than 20 years ago and someone facing the possibility of deportation. SENT: 420 words, photos.
UNIVERSITY-OF-CALIFORNIA-STRIKE — Striking graduate students at the University of California has approved a bargaining agreement, ending an unprecedented 40-day strike that snarled classes at the prestigious university system. SENT: 430 words.
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INTERNATIONAL
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VENEZUELA-MADURO-ALLY — A federal judge in Miami has rejected attempts by a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to shield himself from criminal charges, ruling Alex Saab isn’t entitled to diplomatic immunity in the U.S. and must stand trial on accusations of money laundering. SENT: 970 words, photos.
TUNISIA-COLLAPSING-ECONOMY — Tunisia’s increasingly authoritarian president appears determined to upend the country’s political system. The strategy is not only threatening a democracy once seen as a model for the Arab world, experts say it is also sending the economy toward a tailspin. SENT: 900 words, photos.
INDIA-OPPOSITION-LONG-MARCH — Members of India’s main opposition Congress party and thousands of supporters walked into the capital on Saturday as part of a 5-month-long cross-country “unity march” seeking to challenge what they say is a “hate-filled” version of the country under the Hindu nationalist government. SENT: 710 words, photos.
FRANCE-NEPAL-SERIAL-KILLER — Convicted killer Charles Sobhraj, suspected in the deaths of at least 20 tourists around Asia in the 1970s, has arrived in Paris as a free man after being released from a life sentence in a Nepal prison. SENT: 640 words, photos.
SOUTH AFRICA-POWER CUTS — South Africa’s Christmas 2022 is a start/stop affair because the country’s daily power cuts are hitting just about every aspect of the holiday. Businesses and families are coping with rolling outages of electricity lasting from seven to 10 hours per day. The chugging of diesel generators can be heard near stores and restaurants from posh areas to townships. SENT: 560 words, photos.
FIJI-ELECTION — Sitiveni Rabuka was sworn in as Fiji’s prime minister, capping a tense week in a fragile Pacific democracy where the former military commander first held office more than two decades ago. SENT: 520 words, photos.
CYPRUS-CHURCH-NEW-ARCHBISHOP — Cyprus’ Orthodox Church has elected Paphos Bishop Georgios as its new leader following the death last month of Archbishop Chrysostomos II. SENT: 390 words.
FRANCE-SHOOTING-PROTEST — Kurdish activists, left-wing politicians and anti-racism groups are holding a protest in Paris after three people were killed at a Kurdish cultural center in an attack that authorities said was aimed at foreigners. SENT: 290 words, photos.
CHINA-US-TAIWAN — China blasted an annual U.S. defense spending bill for hyping up the “China threat” while Taiwan welcomed the legislation, saying it demonstrated U.S. support for the self-governing island that China says must come under its rule. SENT: 250 words, photo.
PAKISTAN-LAW-REPEALED — Pakistan has amended a section of the country’s criminal law to repeal a colonial-era legislation against suicide, the president’s office announced. SENT: 240 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s leader says that China has agreed to a reopening of the city’s border with the mainland, which has been largely closed by pandemic restrictions, and that he is aiming for a mid-January start. 220 words, photo.
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BUSINESS/ TECH
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META-CAMBRIDGE-ANALYTICA — Facebook’s corporate parent has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the world’s largest social media platform allowed millions of its users’ personal information to be fed to Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump’s victorious presidential campaign in 2016. SENT: 350 words, photo.
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SPORTS
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HKN--CAPITALS-OVECHKIN — Alex Ovechkin scored his 801st and 802nd goals to pass Gordie Howe for second on the NHL career list and the Washington Capitals beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-1. AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno. SENT: 705 words, photos.
BKN—MAVERICKS-ROCKETS — Luka Doncic scored a season-high 50 points and the Dallas Mavericks held on to beat the Houston Rockets 112-106. SENT: 630 words, photos.
WCUP-WORLD-CUP-PHOTO-GALLERY — A World Cup that ended with Lionel Messi finally holding the golden trophy in his hands produced some unforgettable images from the staff of Associated Press photographers at the tournament in Qatar. SENT: 330 words,photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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