BC-AP News Digest 6 pm

The world at 6 p.m. Times are EDT.

At the Nerve Center, Stephanie Siek and Rob Jagodzinski can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Shoun Hill (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, (ext. 7636). Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 877-836-9477.

NEW & DEVELOPING

— SOLOMON ISLANDS-EARTHQUAKE — Will be updated if tsunami threat rises.

— PACQUIAO-BRADLEY — Main event starts around 11:30 p.m.

Has moved:

— SOLOMON ISLANDS-EARTHQUAKE — Magnitude 7.8 quake near Solomons triggers tsunami warning for some Pacific islands. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING: Developing.

— RANGE SHOWDOWN — Feds abruptly end cattle roundup in Nevada, cite 'serious concern' for safety of employees. SENT: 140 words. UPCOMING: 400 words by 6:30 p.m.

— IRAN-AMERICAN DETAINED — Lawyer says former US Marine's death sentence in Iran overturned, gets 10 years in prison. SENT: 520 words, photos.

— HIGHWAY SHOOTINGS — Kansas City-area drivers shrug off spate of highway shootings, say they won't change routes. SENT: 500 words, photo.

— JACKSON-GROUND SLIPPING — Slow-motion landslide keeps Jackson, Wyoming, evacuees wary; Red Cross opening shelter. SENT: 370 words, photos.

TOP STORIES

UKRAINE

DONETSK, Ukraine — Men in the uniforms of Ukraine's now-defunct riot police have occupied police headquarters in Donetsk, the eastern city that is one of the flashpoints of a wave of pro-Russia protests, after armed men seized local police headquarters and local branch of the Security Service in a nearby city. The unrest in Donetsk and Slovyansk, about 55 miles to the north, were the latest shows of spiraling anger in eastern Ukraine. SENT: 880 words, photos, video. UPCOMING: Developing.

— RUSSIA SANCTIONS — The United States is working to convince a reluctant Europe of the need to punish Russia more severely for its meddling in Ukraine while at the same time warning Moscow to step back or take more financial hits. SENT: 910 words, photos.

— AP PHOTO MOSB109 — A man stands on a barricade at the Ukrainian regional office of the Security Service in Luhansk.

CALIFORNIA BUS CRASH

ORLAND, Calif. — Witnesses say a FedEx tractor-trailer was on fire when it collided with a charter bus carrying high school students to a college campus tour in Northern California, sparking a blaze with towering flames that left 10 dead and dozens injured. Bodies recovered from the bus were charred beyond recognition. Now federal transportation investigators are examining whether fire suppression systems they previously recommended to improve motor coach safety could have allowed more of the 49 bus occupants to escape. By Fenit Nirappil. SENT: 800 words, photos.

— CALIFORNIA BUS CRASH-VICTIMS — Engaged pair, identical twin and teen football player are among the victims in the bus crash. SENT: 750 words, photos.

SYRIA-HEZBOLLAH'S STRATEGY

BEIRUT — With its own casualties mounting in a civil war that activists say has killed more than 150,000 people in three years, officials say Hezbollah has turned to commando tactics in Syria that it used in its long conflict against Israel. Now, its fighters conduct hit-and-run operations targeting rebel forces with three goals: helping Syrian President Bashar Assad hold onto power, limiting its own casualties and attacking groups that want to launch attacks inside Lebanon itself. By Bassem Mroue. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.

— SYRIA — Syrian government media and rebel forces say that poison gas had been used in a central village, injuring scores of people, while blaming each other for the attack. SENT: 800 words.

GLOBAL FINANCE

WASHINGTON — The world's top finance officials express confidence that the global economy finally has turned the corner to stronger growth. This time, they may be right. Despite challenges that include market jitters about the Federal Reserve's bond-buying slowdown and global tensions over Ukraine, policymakers believe there is a foundation for sustained growth that can provide jobs for the millions of people looking for work. By Martin Crutsinger and Harry Dunphy. SENT: 750 words, photos.

BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING-HEALING THE WOUNDS

BOSTON — In the course of a year, limbs have been replaced, psyches soothed, the wounds sustained in a moment at the Boston marathon's finish line have at least begun to heal. At the same time, a city shaken by an unthinkable act of terrorism has returned to its usual rhythms — sadder, but some say stronger, as well. By Denise Lavoie and Paige Sutherland. SENT: 1,900 words, abridged version of 1,000 words, photos. Also moved in advance.

— BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING-PHOTO SHOOT — Magazine's Boston Marathon photo shoot draws thousands, including bombing survivors and rescuers. SENT: 130 words, photos.

GERMANY-NIEDRINGHAUS FUNERAL

HOEXTER, Germany — Hundreds of mourners packed a church in central Germany on Saturday to remember Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed on assignment in Afghanistan last week after a life spent between the chaos of war and the serenity of her rural birthplace. SENT: 620 words, photos, videos.

SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT

RAPE AND ABORTION

NEW YORK — Poll after poll has shown that Americans overwhelmingly support legal access to abortion for women impregnated by rape. Yet the issue remains divisive, as evidenced by two current rifts. On the domestic front, the National Right to Life Committee recently cut ties with its state affiliate in Georgia because it had defied instructions to support an anti-abortion bill in Congress that would have banned most late-term abortions — but included exceptions for rape and incest. Meanwhile, abortion-rights and women's-rights activists are growing increasingly frustrated with President Barack Obama. Despite years of lobbying, the activists have failed to persuade Obama to issue an executive order stipulating that U.S. foreign aid — though prohibited by Congress from subsidizing abortions as a method of family planning — could be used to provide abortions for women raped in wars. By National Writer David Crary. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.

WASHINGTON & POLITICS

CONSERVATIVES-NH

MANCHESTER, N.H. — The 2014 midterm congressional elections are still months away, but some Republican operatives say the 2016 presidential election is getting an unofficial kickoff with a gathering of leading conservatives in early-voting New Hampshire. Speakers include U.S. Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. A top target is President Barack Obama's health care law. "We are going to repeal every single word of Obamacare," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz declared at the summit. By Steve Peoples. SENT: 650 words.

KISSING CONGRESSMAN

MONROE, La. — To Louisiana voters accustomed to tawdry scandals involving elected officials, disappointment with an eye toward forgiveness is the prevailing sentiment about their new congressman, caught on video embracing an aide married to one of his friends. Republican Vince McAllister was a wealthy businessman without prior political experience when he won a special election last fall, trouncing his party's establishment candidate in a conservative district that comprises northeast Louisiana. While some Republicans have urged the faith-and-family politician to resign, McAllister has said he will respect the verdict of his constituents this fall, when he seeks a full two-year term. By Bill Barrow. Photos. SENT: 780 words, photo, video, audio.

INTERNATIONAL

IRAN-US-AMBASSADOR

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran declines to name a new diplomat to represent it at the United Nations, with one lawmaker urging the Islamic Republic to stand up to "bullying" from the U.S., which has refused to grant its pick a visa. The standoff over Hamid Aboutalebi, a member of the group responsible for the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, comes as world powers negotiate with Iran over its contested nuclear program. It also threatens to stir fresh animosity between countries that recently have seen their relations thaw. By Ali Akbar Dareini. SENT: 600 words.

— IRAN-AMERICAN DETAINED — An Iranian appeals court has overturned a death sentence of a former U.S. Marine convicted of working for the CIA, instead sentencing him to 10 years in prison. SENT: 130 words, photos. SENT: 500 words.

MALAYSIA-PLANE-FLIERS' MOODS

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Indonesian mother of three had flown without her kids before, but this was the first time she gave her eldest a to-do list in case something happened on the flight she and her husband were taking. "I never worried like this before what happened with the missing Malaysia Airlines plane," she says. Here's what air travelers across Asia said when they were asked, "One month later, how does the Flight 370 mystery affect your attitude toward flying?" By Niniek Karmini. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.

— MALAYSIA PLANE — A day after expressing optimism about the hunt for the missing Malaysian jet, Australia's leader warned that the massive search would likely continue "for a long time." SENT: 830 words, photos.

IVORY COAST-MODEL'S DEATH

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Awa Fadiga was attacked at night in a taxi that was taking her home to an upscale neighborhood in Ivory Coast's capital. Two witnesses say they saw the locally famous fashion model being thrown out of the cab under a bridge, apparently unconscious. Firefighters rushed the 23-year-old to the Central University Hospital where she was left untreated for more than 12 hours and slipped into a coma — all because there was no one immediately available to pay her medical fees, her family said. The model died two days later. Fadiga's case has fascinated and angered many here who complain of the decline of Ivory Coast's health care system that once was the envy of West Africa. By Marc-Andre Boisvert. SENT: 790 words, photos.

NATIONAL

HEALTH OVERHAUL-CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATS

WASHINGTON — A physician who favors expanding access to health care, Democratic Rep. Ami Bera has been voting with the Republican majority in the House to buck his own president and amend or overturn parts of the national health care law. He says that's consistent with his position that Congress should improve what works in the Affordable Care Act and fix what doesn't. Yet it's also a commonsense political strategy for a freshman lawmaker running for re-election in a swing district, even in a state as left-leaning as California. Bera is one of a handful of Democrats in California who represent congressional districts that are closely divided between the two major political parties after voters approved an independent redistricting process. By Kevin Freking, SENT: 920 words, photos.

OIL PATCH-DRUGS

WILLISTON, N.D. — The oil boom in the Bakken shale fields has touched off an explosion of growth and wealth on this remote wind-swept prairie, but the bonanza has also brought with it a dark side: a growing trade in meth, heroin, cocaine and marijuana, the shadow of sinister cartels and newfound violence. Drugs and dealers are popping up in all kinds of places: Heroin is being trafficked on isolated Indian reservations. Mexican cartels are slowly making inroads in small-town America. And hard-core criminals are bringing drugs in from other states, sometimes concealing them in ingenious ways, such as liquid meth in windshield wiper reservoirs. By National Writer Sharon Cohen. SENT: 2,600 words, abridged version of 1,000 words, photos.

WORLD'S FAIR-TECHNOLOGY

NEW YORK — Video phone calls? Yeah, we do that. Asking computers for information? Sure, several times a day at the very least. Moon colonies and jet packs? Ok, maybe not so much. The New York World's Fair that opened in April 1964 introduced the 51 million visitors at its Queens location to a range of technological innovations and predictions for how the future would look. As its 50th anniversary approaches this month, a look back at the technology on display shows some ideas that turned out to be right on the money and others that, perhaps thankfully, were way off the mark. By Deepti Hajela. SENT: 570 words, photos.

— WORLD'S FAIR-TECHNOLOGY-GLANCE — A look at predictions of the 1964 New York World's Fair: Some were hits, others misses. SENT: 300 words.

COLLEGE ATHLETES-UNIONS

COLUMBUS, Ohio — State pushback against a movement to unionize college athletes has begun in Ohio, the heart of a heated anti-labor campaign in 2011 and home to one of America's highest grossing collegiate franchises, the Ohio State Buckeyes. An Ohio House measure clarifying that college athletes aren't public employees appears to be the first of its kind to clear a state legislative chamber — though observers believe similar efforts in other states aren't far behind. By Julie Carr Smyth. SENT: 770 words, photos.

FOOD AND FARM-BEEF PRICES

LUBBOCK, Texas — The highest beef prices since 1987 are hitting the pocketbooks of home cooks and restaurant owners. A dwindling number of cattle and growing export demand have tightened the supply and caused the average retail cost of fresh beef to climb to $5.28 a pound in February. Shoppers are turning to chicken and pork, while restaurants are raising prices or switching to smaller cuts. By Betsy Blaney. SENT: 750 words, photos.

ENTERTAINMENT

MTV MUSIC AWARDS-REHEARSAL

LOS ANGELES — Conan O'Brien won't be too shy to strip down as host of the MTV Movie Awards. "I've been preparing for this job for several years," joked the talk show host backstage Friday during a break from rehearsing for Sunday's fan-favorite ceremony. "I knew I'd be doing the 2014 MTV Movie Awards, so I've been doing a series of isometrics, underwater exercises, Pilates and Greco-Roman wrestling, which had no benefit to my body, but I strangely enjoyed it. My body is in incredible shape, and you might be seeing some of that on the show." By Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang. SENT: 500 words, photos, video.

MOM-ADOPTION

LOS ANGELES — A pregnant teenager, the daughter of an unmarried mother and granddaughter of another, is repeating family history. Does she decide to keep her baby and do her immature best to raise it, or choose adoption for her offspring? That quandary anchors the season finale of CBS' "Mom" on Monday night. By Television Writer Lynn Elber. SENT: 800 words, photos.

RICHARD DREYFUSS

LOS ANGELES — Politically, Richard Dreyfuss describes himself as "intensely pre-partisan, and even more intensely anti-shmuck." The 66-year-old Oscar winner almost immediately injected politics into an hour-long conversation with actress Ileana Douglas about his life and career as part of The TCM Classic Film Festival. By Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen. SENT: 700 words, photos.

SPORTS

GLF--MASTERS

AUGUSTA, Ga. -Bubba Watson seized control of the Masters with a dazzling second round to lead by three strokes at the halfway point. Defending champion Adam Scott, the ageless Fred Couples and others lurk going into the third round. By Golf Writer Doug Ferguson. SENT: 750 words, photos. UPCOMING: 800 words by 7 p.m.

PACQUIAO-BRADLEY

LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao has a second chance to prove his superiority over Timothy Bradley. Nearly two years after the unbeaten Bradley edged the Filipino congressman in a much-criticized split decision, the welterweights meet again at the MGM Grand Garden. By Greg Beacham. UPCOMING: Main event starts around 11:30 p.m.; 750 words, photos.

ALSO GETTING ATTENTION

— HIGH SCHOOL STABBINGS-JUVENILE — The mental state of the Pennsylvania school stabbing suspect will be key to his legal case, attorneys say. SENT: 530 words, photos.

— PIONEERING PILOT-50 YEARS — An Ohio mother of three recounts her historic flight around the world ahead of the 50th anniversary celebration of the feat. SENT: 730 words, photos.

— ZUMWALT CHRISTENING — The U.S. Navy's stealthy new destroyer Zumwalt is christened in Maine. SENT: 130 words, 500 words by 3 p.m., photos.

— PAKISTAN-BABY CONTROVERSY — A Pakistani judge dismisses an attempted murder case that police lodged against a 9-month-old boy, ending a bizarre case that drew new criticism to the country's troubled criminal justice system. SENT: 450 words, photos.

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