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AP News Digest 3:15 a.m.

Via AP news wire
Saturday 12 November 2022 08:20 GMT

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Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan at https://newsroom.ap.org.

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TOP STORIES

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ELECTION-2022-ARIZONA — Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly has won his bid for reelection in the crucial swing state of Arizona, defeating Republican venture capitalist Blake Masters to put his party one victory away from clinching control of the chamber for the next two years of Joe Biden’s presidency. By Jonathan J. Cooper. SENT: 650 words, photos. With ELECTION-2022-SENATE-AZ-EXPLAINER — Why the AP called the Arizona Senate race for Mark Kelly; ELECTION-2022-ARIZONA-HOUSE — Defeated Arizona Rep. Tom O’Halleran reflects on election (both sent).

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Ukraine’s president said special military units have entered the city of Kherson. In a video address hours after Russia said it had completed withdrawing troops from the strategically key city, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “As of now, our defenders are approaching the city. In quite a bit, we are going to enter. But special units are already in the city.” By Hanna Arhirova and John Leicester. SENT: 1,250 words, photos. WITH: RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-KHERSON-EXPLAINER -- How important is a Russian retreat from Kherson? SENT: 850 words, photos.

CONGRESS-UKRAINE — If Republicans win the House, where does that leave Ukraine? Some fear the end of Democratic control in Congress — and the empowerment of “America First” conservatives — could ultimately result in the curtailment of U.S. assistance as Ukraine battles Russia’s invasion. However, support for Ukraine runs deep in both parties. By Farnoush Amiri. SENT: 1,180 words, photos.

BIDEN-GLOBAL ECONOMY-COMPUTER CHIPS — The Biden administration’s recent move to block exports of advanced computer chips to China signals a new phase in relations between the globe’s two largest economies. The ban helps set the tone for President Joe Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday. By Josh Boak. SENT: 920 words, photos. With ASEAN-BIDEN — Biden is in Cambodia for a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders. UPCOMING: 500 words, photos after meetings begin around 5 a.m.

G20-XI — After a lengthy absence from major international gatherings, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is leaving his country’s COVID-19 bubble and venturing abroad next week into a dramatically changed world marked by rising confrontation. By Ken Moritsugu. SENT: 890 words, photos.

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MORE ON ELECTION 2022

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ELECTION-2022-ARIZONA-HAND-COUNT — The board of supervisors in a southern Arizona county will meet next week to consider counting nearly all the ballots cast in-person on Election Day, despite an earlier court order limiting the hand-count driven by unfounded distrust in machines that tabulate votes. SENT: 800 words, photos.

ELECTION-2022-NEVADA — With control of the U.S. Senate on the line, Nevada’s protracted ballot count ground through a fourth day as election officials tallied thousands of votes ahead of a deadline to accept finally arriving mail-ins. SENT: 670 words, photos, video.

ELECTION-2022-NEVADA-HOUSE —Incumbent Democrats completed a sweep of three key swing seats in the western battleground state of Nevada that Republicans had targeted in their bid to take control of the U.S. House. SENT: 810 words, photos.

ELECTION-2022-NEVADA-GOVERNOR — Republican Joe Lombardo, a career police officer and sheriff in Las Vegas who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has been elected governor in Nevada. Lombardo defeated Steve Sisolak, regaining the governorship of the Silver State for the GOP and making Sisolak a one-term Democrat amid two decades of Republicans. SENT: 630 words, photos. With ELECTION-2022-GOVERNOR-NV-EXPLAINER — Why AP called Nevada governor for Joe Lombardo (sent).

ELECTION-2022-MICHIGAN-VOTING-LINES-FACT-FOCUS — Michigan saw record turnout for a midterm election this week, with control of the governor’s office and referendums on abortion and voting rights in the balance. But with a heightened focus on voting problems and irregularities nationwide, Ann Arbor became a target for false information following reports of long lines of voters waiting to cast ballots late into the night Tuesday in the college community. SENT: 780 words, photos.

ELECTION 2022-SECRETARY-OF-STATE-ARIZONA — Democrat Adrian Fontes has won the top elections post in Arizona , defeating a Republican rival who attended the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol and who said he would not have certified Joe Biden’s win in the state. SENT: 640 words, photo.

ELECTION-2022-CALIFORNIA-HOUSE — The outcome in a string of closely matched California U.S. House races that could play into control of the chamber remained unsettled as millions of ballots remained uncounted in the nation’s most populous state. SENT: 530 words, photos.

ELECTION-2022-CALIFORNIA-LOS-ANGELES-MAYOR — U.S. Rep. Karen Bass established a fragile lead Friday over developer Rick Caruso in their back-and-forth contest to become the next mayor of Los Angeles, with many ballots uncounted and the outcome not expected until at least next week. SENT: 310 words, photos.

ELECTION-2022-GOVERNOR-OREGON — Republican candidate for Oregon governor Christine Drazan has conceded that she lost the race to Democrat Tina Kotek. SENT: 220 words, photos.

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MORE ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

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TRENDING

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OBIT-KEVIN-CONROY — Kevin Conroy, the prolific voice actor whose gravely delivery on “Batman: The Animated Series” was for many Batman fans the definitive sound of the Caped Crusader, has died at 66. SENT: 720 words, photo.

MEMORIAL-TAKEOFF — Fans of slain rapper Takeoff, a member of the hip-hop trio Migos, gathered in downtown Atlanta near where the 28-year-old grew up for a celebration of his life. SENT: 450 words, photos.

ALEC-BALDWIN-SET-SHOOTING — Saying he wants to clear his name, Alec Baldwin has sued people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun that he was using when it fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a 2021 filming accident in New Mexico. SENT: 540 words, photos.

BKN-HEAT-ARENA-FTX — The arena where the Miami Heat play will soon have a new name, after the team and Miami-Dade County decided to terminate their relationship with FTX on the same day the cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy. SENT: 330 words, photo.

DISNEYLAND-WHEELCHAIR CHARACTERS — Disneyland has added two new characters in wheelchairs to its iconic “It’s a Small World” attraction, saying it wanted a “more accurate representation of diversity around the world.” SENT: 350 words, photos.

BOOKS-Q&A-DEUXMOI — With 1.7 million followers, the Instagram account Deuxmoi has become a go to for pop culture musings and the occasional snarky comment with its belated celebrity sightings, blind gossip items and even restaurant recommendations. SENT: 1,170 words, photo.

NASA-MOON ROCKET — NASA’s moon rocket needs minor repairs after enduring a hurricane at the pad and is on track for its first test flight next week, a top official said. SENT: 300 words, photos.

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WASHINGTON

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CAPITOL-RIOT-INVESTIGATION — Former President Donald Trump is suing the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to block a subpoena requiring him to testify. The suit contends that, while former presidents have voluntarily agreed to provide testimony or documents in response to congressional subpoenas in the past, “no president or former president has ever been compelled to do so.” SENT: 600 words, photo.

TRUMP-STEFANIK — No. 3 House Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik endorses Donald Trump for president in 2024, even as he’s being widely blamed by other Republicans for failures in the midterm elections. SENT: 420 words, photo.

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NATIONAL

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TROPICAL WEATHER — Heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Nicole covered the eastern United States from Georgia to the Canadian border while hundreds of people on a hard-hit stretch of Florida’s coast wondered when, or if, they could return to their homes. SENT: 990 words, photos.

SEX-TRAFFICKING-ESCAPE — A young woman made two harrowing attempts to escape her vicious pimp — including jumping out a third-story window — before being rescued by a ride-share driver who engaged in a gunfight with the man, prosecutors in Seattle say. SENT: 950 words, photos.

CHACO-OIL-DRILLING — The U.S. Interior Department’s plan to withdraw hundreds of square miles in New Mexico from oil and gas production for the next 20 years is expected to result in only a few dozen wells not being drilled on federal land surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park, according to an environmental assessment. SENT: 650 words, photos.

NEW YORK-MARIJUANA LICENSES — A federal judge has temporarily blocked New York from issuing recreational marijuana dispensary licenses in Brooklyn and parts of upstate New York while a legal challenge to the state’s selection process is being considered. 340 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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ASEAN — Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has pressed Southeast Asian countries for political and material support in his county’s fight against Russia, while accusing Moscow of playing “hunger games” with the world by holding up shipments of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products. SENT: 800 words, photos.

UN-INTERNET-ETHIOPIA — A U.N. body devoted to promoting broader and better access to the internet is about to hold its annual meeting in Ethiopia, whose government has cut off internet access in its northern Tigray region during a two-year war there. SENT: 720 words, photos.

SLOVENIA-PRESIDENTIAL-ELECTION — Liberal candidate Natasa Pirc Musar appears poised to win a presidential election runoff in Slovenia on Sunday, which would make her the small, central European country’s first female head of state. SENT: 590 words, photos.

BAHRAIN — Bahrain voted Saturday in a parliamentary and local election just hours after hackers targeted government websites in the island kingdom. The Interior Ministry did not identify the websites targeted, but the country’s state-run Bahrain News Agency could not be reached online nor could the website for Bahrain’s parliament. Later, Bahrain’s election website could not be accessed from abroad. SENT: 320 words, photos.

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HEALTH & SCIENCE

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COP27-INDIA-CLIMATE-DESERTIFICATION — In the Anantapur region of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, droughts, low-rainfall and extreme heat are a way of life. An arid region that is home to about 400,000 people, Anantapur and its people are greatly impacted by desertification — the process by which fertile land becomes a desert. Climate change only hastens this transformation. To counter the process, farmers in the region are restoring land using natural farming methods and encouraging the planting of indigenous trees across the region. SENT: 1,110 words, photos.

COP27-LOSS-DAMAGES-CUBA-CLIMATE-CHANGE — Like the rest of the Caribbean, Cuba is suffering from longer droughts, warmer waters, more intense storms, and higher sea levels because of climate change. The rainy season, already an obstacle to Cuban agricultural production, has gotten longer and wetter. Agriculture had been a bright spot in Cuba’s struggling economy. The socialist government has had a liberal hand with food producers, allowing them to pursue their interests more openly than others do. SENT: 750 words, photos.

COP27-REPUBLICANS — Members of a Republican Congressional delegation took the stage at this year’s U.N. climate talks to tout the benefits of fossil fuels — a bold move at a meeting that’s all about curbing carbon emissions for the good of humanity. SENT: 880 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHINA — Everyone in a district of 1.8 million people in China’s southern metropolis of Guangzhou was ordered to stay home to undergo virus testing and a major city in the southwest closed schools as another rise in infections was reported. SENT: 610 words, photos.

THAILAND-CROCODILES — Crocodile farmers in Thailand are suggesting a novel approach to saving the country’s dwindling number of endangered wild crocodiles. They want to relax regulations on cross-border trade of the reptiles and their parts to boost demand for products made from ones raised in captivity. SENT: 780 words, photos.

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BUSINESS/ECONOMY

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ENTERTAINMENT

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TV-Q&A-KEVIN COSTNER — Kevin Costner mulls the popularity of “Yellowstone” and why it doesn’t get Emmy love as the hit Western returns for its fifth season. SENT: 930 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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HOW TO REACH US

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At the Nerve Center, Vincent K. Willis can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://newsroom.ap.org. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.

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