AP News Digest 3 a.m.

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-LEGAL-CHALLENGES — Election Day is 12 days away. But in courtrooms across the country, efforts to sow doubt over the outcome have already begun. Since the start of this year, more than 100 lawsuits have been filed largely by Republicans around the upcoming midterm election. The call into question mail-in voting rules, voter access, voting machines, voting registration, the counting of mismarked absentee ballots and access for partisan poll watchers. SENT: 1190 words, photos.

EUROPE-ENERGY-CRISIS-FIREWOOD — Europe’s energy crisis is forcing some people to turn to cheaper sources to stay warm as the weather gets colder. After Russia slashed natural gas flows to Europe amid its war against Ukraine, demand for wood is surging in poorer nations like Moldova and Kosovo as well as in the richer nations of Western and central Europe. It’s led to higher prices, growing concerns about theft and even scams. SENT: 1010 words, photos.

NEW-ZEALAND-ANTARCTICA — Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are among those meeting in Australia this week to decide the future of Antarctica’s pristine waters. Conservationists say new marine protected areas and rules to prevent overfishing are desperately needed, but that Russia could use its veto-like powers to once again block progress. Achieving the required consensus for new action among this diverse group of 27, which also includes China, the United States and the European Union, has always been an immense challenge. SENT: 900 words, photos.

ISRAEL-ELECTION-SCENARIOS-EXPLAINER — Israel is holding its fifth national election in under four years, and once again the race is shaping up as a referendum on former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fitness to rule. Netanyahu has been campaigning while on trial for corruption charges. His Likud is expected to be the largest party, with caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid finishing second. Neither is expected to win an outright majority in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament. That means each will have to turn to smaller allies in hopes of securing the 61 seats needed to govern. SENT: 710 words, photos.

CLIMATE-ENERGY-OUTLOOK — The global energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is causing profound and long-lasting changes that have the potential to hasten the transition to a more sustainable and secure energy system, according to the latest report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency. For the first time ever, the IEA found that global demand for every fossil fuel will be exhibiting a peak or plateau in the next few decades. SENT: 620 words, photos.

MUSK-TWITTER — Elon Musk posted a video Wednesday showing him strolling into Twitter headquarters ahead of a Friday deadline to close his $44 billion deal to buy the company. Musk also changed his Twitter profile to refer to himself as “Chief Twit” and his location to Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, which he once suggested might be better suited as a homeless shelter. The video showed him carrying a sink through a lobby area. “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!” he tweeted. SENT: 850 words, photos.

ECONOMY-GDP — The problems have hardly gone away. Inflation, still near a 40-year high, is punishing households. Rising interest rates have derailed the housing market and threaten to inflict broader damage. And the outlook for the world economy grows bleaker the longer that Russia’s war against Ukraine drags on. But for now anyway, the U.S. economy has likely returned to growth after having shrunk in each of the first two quarters of 2022. SENT: 590 words, photos.

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TRENDING

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YE-SKECHERS — The rapper formerly known as Kanye West was escorted out of the California headquarters of athletic shoemaker Skechers Wednesday after he showed up unannounced. Skechers says the Grammy winner, who is now known as Ye, also engaged in unauthorized filming at its corporate headquarters in Manhattan Beach and was escorted out by two executives. Skechers says it condemns his recent remarks and has no intention of working with him. SENT: 360 words, photos.

MEXICO-DAYLIGHT-SAVING — Mexico’s Senate has approved a bill to eliminate daylight saving time, putting an end to the practice of changing clocks twice a year. Some cities and towns along the U.S. border can retain daylight saving time, presumably because they are so linked to U.S. cities. SENT: 220 words, photos.

IRAQ-ARCHAEOLOGY -- Archaeologists in northern Iraq unearth 2,700-year-old rock carvings featuring war scenes and trees, dating to the Assyrian Empire. SENT: 250 words.

UGANDA-EBOLA — Six schoolchildren in Uganda’s capital test positive for Ebola. SENT: 440 words, photos.

THAILAND-MISS UNIVERSE — A Thai business tycoon and transgender activist buys the Miss Universe Organization for $20 million. SENT: 290 words.

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ELECTIONS

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ELECTION-2022-PENNSYLVANIA-SENATE — A new sense of uncertainty has risen over Pennsylvania’s pivotal Senate contest. Democrats are struggling to remain optimistic about John Fetterman’s candidacy after a rocky debate performance. Fetterman took the debate stage Tuesday five months after suffering a stroke. He struggled to complete sentences, and he jumbled words throughout the hourlong event. SENT: 1380 words, photos.

FACEBOOK-CAMPAIGN-ADS — A Washington state judge has fined Facebook parent company Meta nearly $25 million for repeated, willful violations of campaign finance disclosure laws. The penalty issued by King County Superior Court Judge Douglass North on Wednesday was the maximum allowed. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson argued that the maximum was appropriate considering that he had previously sued Facebook in 2018 for violating the same law. SENT: 450 words, photo.

ELECTION 2022-TRUMP-IOWA — Donald Trump is scheduled to return to Iowa to headline a rally for Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Sen. Chuck Grassley. SENT: 280 words, photos.

ELECTION 2022-NEVADA-HAND COUNT — A county in Nevada starts an unprecedented hand count of its midterm ballots, a process fueled by voting machine conspiracy theories. SENT: 720 words, photos. With ELECTION 2022-WISCONSIN-ABSENTEE BALLOTS — Wisconsin judge won’t allow partial addresses on ballots. SENT: 550 words, photos.

ELECTION 2022-VOTE COUNT FLUCTUATIONS -- Explainer: Why might live election results fluctuate? SENT: 500 words, photo.

ELECTION 2022-LGBTQ CANDIDATES — The home stretch of the midterm election campaign is a good news, bad news phenomenon for LGBTQ activists. By National Writer David Crary. SENT: 960 words, photos.

Follow this link for our complete Election 2022 coverage.

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WASHINGTON

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MENENDEZ-INVESTIGATION — Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey is reportedly the subject of a new federal investigation. SENT: 300 words.

GEORGIA ELECTION INVESTIGATION — A judge orders former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to testify before a grand jury that’s investigating Donald Trump and his allies illegally tried to influence Georgia’s 2020 election. SENT: 890 words, photos.

UNITED STATES-ISRAEL — Israeli President Isaac Herzog warns President Biden of a mounting Iranian “challenge” as Tehran continues its crackdown on protests led by young Iranians. SENT: 700 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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AUSTRALIA-PARLIAMENT-ALLEGATION — A judge has discharged a jury in the high-profile trial of a former government advisor charged with raping a colleague in the Australian Parliament House because a juror had brought a research paper on sexual assaults into the jury room. Australian Capital Territory Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said on Thursday a juror had undertaken research in relation to the case and brought it into the room where a panel of 12 had been deciding their verdict. SENT: 650 words, photos.

IRAN-PROTESTS — Gunmen open fire at a Shiite holy site in the southern city of Shiraz, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, according to state-run media. SENT: 940 words, photos. With IRAN-SANCTIONS — U.S. imposes more Iranian sanctions over Mahsa Amini’s death. SENT: 360 words, photos.

PANAMA-VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS — Hundreds of Venezuelan migrants are stranded in Panama looking for a way home after surviving the crossing of the Darien Gap only to find that a U.S. policy change closed the border to them. SENT: 670 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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CHRISTMAS PARADE-SUV — A Wisconsin man is convicted of killing six people and injuring dozens of others when he drove his SUV through a Christmas parade last year. SENT: 670 words, photos.

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR-KIDNAPPING PLOT — Three men accused of supporting a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor are convicted of all charges, a triumph for state prosecutors after months of mixed results in the main case in federal court. SENT: 600 words, photos.

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