AP News Digest 3:20 am
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TOP STORIES
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Ukrainian officials said that Russia has launched a wave of missile and self-exploding drone attacks on the country. Air raid sirens wailed nationwide, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or of the missiles and drones striking targets. The attacks came after Germany and the United States announced that they will send advanced tanks to Ukraine, offering what one expert called an “armored punching force” to help Kyiv break combat stalemates as the Russian invasion enters its 12th month. SENT: 80 words, photo. UPCOMING: Developing, will be updated.
CALIFORNIA SHOOTING-CULTURAL HUB — For decades, Monterey Park has been a haven for Asian immigrants seeking to maintain a strong cultural identity — and a culinary heaven worth visiting for anybody near Los Angeles craving authentic Asian cuisine. Signs across the vibrant suburb are written in English and Chinese. Families raise bilingual children. And residents in their golden years enjoy karaoke, the Chinese tile game mah jong and — as the outside world learned last week after a horrific mass shooting — ballroom dancing. By Terry Tang and Deepa Bharath. SENT: 980 words, photos, video. With CALIFORNIA-SHOOTING — Sheriff: Gunman who killed 11 didn’t know dance hall victims. Also see NORTHERN CALIFORNIA-FATAL SHOOTINGS below.
CLASSIFIED DOCU-DRAMA — Drama over the mishandling of classified documents at a high level of the U.S. government aren’t all new. Back in 1984, a schoolgirl in Pittsburgh showed up at her Grade 8 class with a collection of classified papers — as a show and tell project. By Calvin Woodward. SENT: 630 words, photos.
ECONOMY-GDP — The Commerce Department issues its first of three estimates of how the U.S. economy performed in the fourth quarter of 2022. After contracting the first half of the year, the U.S. economy grew at a 3.2% annual pace in the third quarter, despite aggressive policy actions by the Federal Reserve intended to slow economic activity and bring down inflation. By Economics Writer Paul Wiseman. SENT: 550 words, photos. UPCOMING: Report at 8:30 a.m. With UNITED NATIONS-WORLD ECONOMIC FORECAST — U.N. forecasts fall in global economic growth to 1.9% in 2023.
ISRAEL JITTERY TECH — Leaders of Israel’s influential high-tech industry are speaking out against the country’s new government, saying its far-right agenda and planned overhaul of the legal system could drive away international investors and deflate a sector that has long been the engine of Israel’s strong economy. By Tia Goldenberg. SENT: 1,160 words, photos.
SPAIN CHURCH ATTACK — A machete-wielding man killed a sexton and injured a priest at two Catholic churches in the city of Algeciras before being arrested, Spain’s interior ministry said. Authorities are investigating the attacks as a possible act of terrorism. By Joseph Wilson. SENT: 390 words, photo.
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TRENDING
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FACEBOOK-TRUMP — Donald Trump to be allowed back on Facebook after two-year ban. SENT: 1,120 words, photos.
PELOSI-HUSBAND-ATTACKED — California judge orders release of footage of Pelosi attack. SENT: 460 words, photos.
PEOPLE-PARIS-HILTON-BABY — Paris Hilton becomes a first-time mom to baby boy. SENT: 170 words, photos.
MUSIC-JUSTIN-BIEBER-CATALOG-SALE — Justin Bieber sells rights to “Baby," rest of music catalog. SENT: 330 words, photo.
ASTEROID-NEAR-MISS — Asteroid coming exceedingly close to Earth, but will miss. SENT: 310 words, photos.
CUBA-WORLD CLASSIC SQUAD — Cuba picks five MLB affiliated players for World Classic. SENT: 270 words, photos.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN-RUSSIAN FLAGS — Four with Russian flags kicked out of Australian Open by police. SENT: 390 words, photos.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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ELECTION 2024-SENATE-MICHIGAN — Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan is taking steps toward seeking the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Democrat Debbie Stabenow. SENT: 1,210 words, photos.
ELECTION 2024-DEMOCRATS — A Democratic National Committee panel voted to give New Hampshire and Georgia more time to make changes that would allow both to be part of a revamped group of five states leading off the party’s presidential primary starting next year. SENT: 790 words.
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NATIONAL
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA-FATAL SHOOTINGS — A farmworker accused of killing seven people in back-to-back shootings at two Northern California mushroom farms was charged with seven counts of murder and one of attempted murder. SENT: 1,110 words, photos.
EXECUTIONS-TENNESSEE — Two of the people most responsible for overseeing Tennessee’s lethal injection drugs “incorrectly testified” under oath that they were testing the chemicals for bacterial contamination, the state attorney general’s office conceded in a court filing. SENT: 780 words, photos.
WASHINGTON STATE-CAPITAL GAINS — An effort to balance what is considered the nation’s most regressive state tax code comes before the Washington Supreme Court, in a case that could overturn a prohibition on income taxes that dates to the 1930s. SENT: 810 words, photo.
HAWAII MURDER-INNOCENCE PROJECT — A Hawaii man who spent more than 20 years in prison for the killing and rape of a tourist has been released because of new evidence. SENT: 830 words, photos, video.
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INTERNATIONAL
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ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS — Israeli forces killed at least four Palestinians, including a 60-year-old woman, and wounded several others during a raid in a flashpoint area of the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said, the latest bloodshed in surging violence. SENT: 330 words, photos.
AUSTRALIA-NATIONAL DAY — Australians marked the 235th anniversary of British colonization with a public holiday that evokes anger at Indigenous injustice, focusing national attention on a new government push to acknowledge Australia’s first inhabitants in the constitution. SENT: 610 words, photos. With AUSTRALIA-NATIONAL DAY-VOICE-EXPLAINER — What is an Australian Black Voice to Parliament?
NEPAL-CRASH — The black boxes recovered from the Jan. 15 plane crash in Nepal are being sent to Singapore for analysis to identify the cause of the crash that killed all 72 people on board, officials said. SENT: 320 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN — The highest-ranking woman at the United Nations said she used everything in her “toolbox” during meetings with Taliban ministers to try to reverse their crackdown on Afghan women and girls, and she urged Muslim countries to help the Taliban move from the “13th century to the 21st.” SENT: 990 words, photos.
SOUTH KOREA-JAPAN-SNOW — Cars slowed and stopped on icy roads and bundled-up commuters gingerly navigated snow-covered sidewalks as a snowstorm swept through the South Korean capital of Seoul and nearby regions, extending a frigid cold spell that has the country in its grip. SENT: 450 words, photos.
MYANMAR-OPIUM — The production of opium in Myanmar has flourished since the military’s seizure of power, with the cultivation of poppies up by a third in the past year as eradication efforts have dropped off and the faltering economy has led more people toward the drug trade, according to a U.N. report. SENT: 670 words, photos.
ETHIOPIA-CLASHES — Witnesses allege that several dozen civilians and fighters have been killed in the latest clashes between Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups in central Ethiopia. SENT: 280 words.
CHINA-EARTHQUAKE — Rescuers were headed to the site of a magnitude 5.5 earthquake in a region of southwestern China at the base of the Tibetan plateau that is prone to deadly quakes. SENT: 260 words.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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BOEING-ARRAIGNMENT — Boeing representatives and relatives of some of the passengers killed in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jets will meet face-to-face in a Texas courtroom, where the aerospace giant will be arraigned on a criminal charge that it thought it had settled two years ago. By Airlines Writer David Koenig. SENT: 520 words, photo.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian stock markets were mixed amid hopes Western economies can avoid a recession despite higher interest rates to cool inflation. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. SENT: 440 words, photos.
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