AP News Digest 3:30 a.m.
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ONLY ON AP
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SINEMA-CAMPAIGN DONATIONS — Sen. Kyrsten Sinema received a $1 million surge of campaign cash over the past year from private equity professionals, hedge funds and venture capitalists, according to an Associated Press review of campaign finance disclosures. The revelation comes after the Arizona Democrat single-handedly thwarted her party’s long-standing goal of raising taxes on such investors. By Brian Slodysko. SENT: 1,460 words, photos.
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TOP STORIES
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SALMAN-RUSHDIE-ASSAULT — Salman Rushdie, whose novel “The Satanic Verses” drew death threats from Iran’s leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen by a man who rushed the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York. By Joshua Goodman. SENT: 1,290 words, photos, video. With SALMAN-RUSHDIE-ASSAULT-REPORTER — By chance, AP reporter on scene to witness Rushdie attack (sent).
SALMAN-RUSHDIE-IRAN — Iranians reacted with praise and worry over the attack on novelist Salman Rushdie, the target of a decades-old fatwa by the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for his death. It remains unclear why Rushdie’s attacker, identified by police as Hadi Mattar of Fairview, New Jersey, stabbed the author. Iran’s theocratic government and its state-run media have assigned no motive to the assault. By Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell. SENT: 860 words, photos.
TRUMP-FBI — The FBI recovered “top secret” and even more sensitive documents from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to court papers released Friday after a federal judge unsealed the warrant that authorized the sudden, unprecedented search this week. By Michael Balsamo, Zeke Miller and Eric Tucker. SENT: 1,120 words, photos, video. With TRUMP-FBI-REPUBLICANS — Republicans in Congress react to the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home with grave and potentially dangerous rhetoric. SENT: 1,170 words, photos; TRUMP-FBI-TIMELINE — How the investigation unfolded. SENT: 860 words, photos.
IRS-FREE-FILE — The flagship climate change and health care bill passed by Democrats and soon to be signed by President Biden will have U.S. taxpayers one step closer to a government-operated electronic free-file tax return system. It’s something lawmakers and advocates have been seeking for years. By Fatima Hussein. SENT: 890 words, photo.
SOUTHERN BAPTISTS-INVESTIGATION — Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention say that several of the denomination’s major entities are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in the wake of its multiple problems related to clergy sex abuse. SENT: 520 words, photos.
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
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RUSSIA-ECONOMY — Russia’s gross domestic product contracted 4% in the second quarter of this year, the first full quarter since Russia. SENT: 120 words.
RUSSIA-OIL — Oil shipments from Russia through a critical pipeline to Czechia resumed Friday after more than a week, the Czech pipeline operator Mero said. SENT: 330 words, photo.
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TRENDING NEWS
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ANNE HECHE-CRASH — Anne Heche remains on life support and under evaluation for organ donation after a car crash that led to her brain death, a representative for the actor says. SENT: 360 words, photos.
BREONNA-TAYLOR-FEDERAL-CHARGE — Former Louisville police Detective Kelly Goodlett intends to plead guilty to a civil rights charge stemming from the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman whose death in a botched police drug raid helped spark racial justice protests in 2020. SENT: 320 words, photos.
PEOPLE-BRITNEY-SPEARS — A man once briefly married to Britney Spears has been convicted of aggravated trespassing and battery at the pop star’s June wedding. Jason Alexander, 40, pleaded no contest to the two misdemeanor counts in a California court, prosecutors in Ventura County announced Thursday. The Ventura County judge sentenced him to the 64 days he has already served in jail. SENT: 250 words, photo.
MEDIA-FOX-DOCTORED-PHOTO — Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade says that he had aired “in jest” a doctored photo that appeared to depict the judge who approved the FBI search warrant of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. SENT: 210 words.
MEDIA-CNN-TOOBIN — Jeffrey Toobin, who rejoined CNN as a legal analyst after stepping away in the wake of exposing himself to colleagues in a Zoom call, says that he was leaving the network after 20 years. SENT: 170 words, photo.
SNAKEBITE-DEATH — A respected snake researcher who had been making significant discoveries about the reptiles since childhood has died after being bitten by a timber rattler. SENT: 350 words, photo.
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WASHINGTON/ POLITICS
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ROY-MOORE-DEFAMATION-LAWSUIT — A federal jury awarded Republican Roy Moore $8.2 million in damages after finding a Democratic-aligned super PAC defamed him in a TV ad recounting sexual misconduct accusations during his failed 2017 U.S. Senate bid in Alabama. SENT: 670 words, photos.
ELECTION-2020-MISLEADING-ROBOCALLS — The U.S. Justice Department has weighed in on a civil lawsuit against two conservative political operatives accused of using robocalls to dissuade Black voters from taking part in the 2020 election. SENT: 580 words.
ELECTION-2022-KANSAS-RECOUNT — Kansas’ elections director says the state will go along with a request for a hand recount of votes from every county after last week’s decisive statewide vote affirming abortion rights, even though there was a 165,000-vote difference and a recount won’t change the result. SENT: 290 words, photos.
ELECTION 2022-SENATE-PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman acknowledged he was lucky to be alive as he officially returned to the campaign trail more than 90 days after the Democrat suffered a stroke that threatened his life and political prospects in one of the nation’s premier Senate contests. SENT: 710 words, photos.
COAL-MORATORIUM — A federal judge on Friday reinstated a moratorium on coal leasing from federal lands that was imposed under former President Barack Obama and then scuttled under former President Donald Trump. SENT: 540 words, photo.
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NATIONAL
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ABORTION-IDAHO — Idaho’s strict abortion bans will be allowed to take effect while legal challenges over the laws play out in court, the Idaho Supreme Court has ruled. The ruling means potential relatives of an embryo or fetus can now sue abortion providers over procedures done after six weeks of gestation — before many people know they are pregnant. Another stricter ban criminalizing all abortions takes effect later this month. SENT: 1,040 words, photos.
BORDER-WALL — Arizona began moving in shipping containers to close a 1,000-foot gap in the border wall near the southern Arizona farming community of Yuma on Friday, with officials saying they were acting to stop migrants after repeated, unfulfilled promises from the Biden administration to block off the area. SENT: 820 words, photos.
POLICE ARREST-CHOKEHOLD VIDEO — The Mississippi Department of Public Safety says Friday that its internal investigation found no criminal conduct by a white Highway Patrol trooper who used physical force against a handcuffed Black man during an arrest — a confrontation caught on video by relatives of the man being arrested. SENT: 750 words, photo.
VEGAS-THUNDERSTORMS-FLOODING — The most “restless” summer monsoon season in a decade became deadly as intense lightning and thunderstorms flooded parts of southern Nevada and a leaky ceiling forced table games to stop at one Las Vegas Strip casino. SENT: 490 words, photo.
MIGRANT SMUGGLINE BOAT — A federal judge sentenced a San Diego man to 18 years in prison for piloting a small vessel overloaded with 32 migrants that smashed apart in powerful surf off San Diego’s coast last year, killing three people. SENT: 450 words, photo.
SLAIN-SOLDIER-TEXAS-LAWSUIT — The family of a Texas soldier who was was sexually harassed and killed at a military base near Killeen in 2020 filed a lawsuit seeking $35 million in damages from the U.S. government. SENT: 330 words.
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INTERNATIONAL
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THAILAND-CHINA-MLITARY EXERCISES — The Chinese air force is sending fighter jets and bombers to Thailand for a joint exercise with the Thai military on Sunday. The training will include air support, strikes on ground targets and small- and large-scale troop deployment, the Chinese Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its website. SENT: 300 words, photo.
JAPAN-STORM — Tropical Storm Meari unleashed heavy rains on Japan’s main Honshu island as it headed northward toward the capital, Tokyo, according to Japanese weather officials. SENT: 340 words, photo.
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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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RENAMING MONKEYPOX — The World Health Organization says it’s holding an open forum to rename the disease monkeypox, after some critics raised concerns the name could be derogatory or have racist connotations. SENT: 340 words, photo.
HOT NIGHTS RECORD — America sizzled through some hot nights last month, enough to make history. Federal meteorologists say the Lower 48 states in July set a record for overnight warmth. SENT: 470 words, photos.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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THE STREAM — Here’s a collection curated by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists of what’s arriving on TV, streaming services and music platforms. This week’s new entertainment releases include fresh music from Demi Lovato, a documentary about Princess Diana that uses only archival footage and the “Game of Thrones” prequel finally arrives on HBO. SENT: 980 words, photos.
NAOMI-JUDD — The family of country singer Naomi Judd filed an amended court petition to seal police reports and recordings made during the investigation into her death. The family filed the petition in Williamson County Chancery Court, saying the records contain video and audio interviews with relatives in the immediate aftermath of Judd’s death and releasing such details would inflict “significant trauma and irreparable harm.” SENT: 630 words, photos.
MUSIC-REVIEW-BELLA-POARCH — Bella Poarch, “Dolls” (Warner Records) In theory this should work. With her massive TikTok following, Bella Poarch clearly needed to strike while the iron is hot and release a studio EP. “Dolls” is that album. Now comes the tricky part. Will enough of Poarch’s 91 million TikTok followers and pop music fans appreciate her six-track effort, or merely see it as a fame grab piggybacking on her curious ascent to the top of the social media heap? SENT: 200 words, photo.
TV-SOUTH PARK-ANNIVERSARY — For 25 years, “South Park” has viewed the world through the eyes of Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman, four bratty, perpetually bundled-up youngsters in an unhinged Colorado cartoon town. To celebrate their silver anniversary this year, a concert in Colorado sings the show’s songs. By Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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BBN—PADRES-TATIS SUSPENDED — San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. has been suspended 80 games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. The penalty was effective immediately, meaning the All-Star shortstop cannot play in the majors this year. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.
FBN--BROWNS-JAGUARS — Deshaun Watson apologized “to all the women I have impacted” after being accused by two dozen women of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. He was then roundly booed during three series of work during Cleveland’s exhibition opener, a 24-13 victory against the Jaguars. By Mark Long. SENT: xxx words, photos. With: FBN—Browns-Watson (sent).
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