BC-AP News Digest 6 pm

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

At the Nerve Center, Stephanie Siek and Mike Stewart can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Swayne Hall (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

— TEXAS EXECUTION — Execution of inmate who fatally stabbed three people scheduled for after 7 p.m.

— CANADA-MALAYSIA PLANE SIMULATOR — uFly fires flight simulator who appeared on CNN, citing tardiness and teenage dress style. SENT: 140 words.

— BLOOMBERG-GUN CONTROL NETWORK — Michael Bloomberg plans $50 million to build gun control network to fight NRA. SENT: 550 words.

— CHRISTIE-TRAFFIC JAMS — Panel investigating New Jersey traffic scandal hasn't ruled out asking Christie to testify. SENT: 520 words.

— PEOPLE-CHELSEA CLINTON — Chelsea Clinton: I might run for office someday. SENT: 160 words.

— BASEBALL STADIUM-LANDMARK — Volunteers hope to raise $1.2M to save New Jersey's historic Hinchliffe Stadium, home of black pro teams. SENT: 130 words, photos. UPCOMING: 400 words by 7 p.m., video.

— BUCKS SALE — Bucks owner Herb Kohl reaches deal to sell team to investment firm executives for $550 million. SENT: 650 words, photos.

— PEOPLE-JENNY MCCARTHY — Jenny McCarthy announces engagement to Donnie Wahlberg on 'The View.' SENT: 220 words, photos.

TOP STORIES

SKOREA-SHIP SINKING

MOKPO, South Korea — Koo Bon-hee could see the exit. For half an hour, as the ferry filled with water and listed severely on its side, the crew told passengers to wait for rescue. With their breathing room disappearing, the businessman and some of the other passengers floated to an exit and swam to a nearby boat. But 290 of the 475 people aboard — many of them high school students on a class trip — are still missing after the ferry sank off the southern coast of South Korea. Six are confirmed dead. By Hyung-Jin Kim and Youkyung Lee. SENT: 1,100 words, video, photos, audio.

— AP PHOTO NY201 — Rescue helicopters fly over the sinking ferry.

— AP VIDEO FERRY — Rescue teams worked frantically to save passengers trapped aboard ferry (ax_wrap).

UKRAINE

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — In a chaotic day, pro-Russian insurgents seize Ukrainian armored vehicles and roll into two eastern towns to heroes' welcomes. NATO strengthens its military footprint along its eastern border as Russia warns that Ukraine is on the verge of a civil war. By Yuras Karmanau. SENT: 800 words, photos. UPCOMING: 900 words by 7 p.m.

— UKRAINE-GENEVA TALKS-GLANCE — Top diplomats of Ukraine, Russia, the U.S. and the EU may find their positions on Ukraine so far apart at Thursday's talks in Geneva that compromise is impossible. SENT: 750 words, photo.

— UNITED STATES-UKRAINE — US readies sanctions on Russia, aid for Ukraine's military as it seeks to gain control in east. SENT: 780 words.

BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING

BOSTON — The arrest of a man with a rice cooker in his backpack near the Boston Marathon finish line leads police to step up patrols, while organizers seek to assure the city and runners of a safe race next week. The actions of the man, whose mother says he has a mental disorder, rattles nerves as Boston prepares for the annual race, but authorities say they do not consider it a security breach. Says the main race organizer: "I believe this will be the safest place on the planet on April 21." By Bob Salsberg. SENT: 700 words, photos, video.

— BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING-SUSPECT — Defense says Boston Marathon bombing suspect's family is key to understanding what happened. SENT: 510 words, photos.

NEW SAT

WASHINGTON — Calculate the foreign exchange rate a vacationing American would pay in India. Estimate from a random sample the number of 18- to 34-year olds who voted for a candidate. These are sample questions on the newly redesigned SAT, which aims for more real-world applications and analysis from college-bound students. By Education Writer Kimberly Hefling. SENT: 650 words, graphics.

PRISON-NO SHOW

ST. LOUIS — Convicted of armed robbery in 2000, Cornealious Anderson was sentenced to 13 years behind bars and told to await instructions on how to report to prison. But no one ever contacted him. So the Missouri man went about his life: getting married, having children, filing taxes and starting a business. Then the state prison system noticed its mistake and showed up at Anderson's door. Now he's fighting for release, saying authorities missed their chance to incarcerate him. By Jim Salter. SENT: 730 words, photo.

DIABETES COMPLICATIONS

NEW YORK — In the midst of the diabetes epidemic, a glimmer of good news: Heart attacks, strokes and other complications from the disease are plummeting. The decline is attributed mainly to improvements in screening and treatment. By Medical Writer Mike Stobbe. SENT: 600 words.

AIRLINES-HELPFUL FUEL PRICES

NEW YORK — You might think that paying 50 percent more for fuel than they did a decade ago might be the bane of the airlines' existence. But the spike in jet fuel to above $3 a gallon was the best thing to happen to the industry. It helped instill an attention to costs and the bottom line that had long been missing at the big airlines. And rising fuel prices make it far less hospitable for new airlines to enter the market and try and undercut the established carriers. By Scott Mayerowitz. SENT: 730 words, photos.

WASHINGTON

MINIMUM WAGE-THE UNCOVERED

WASHINGTON — Some workers won't benefit even if a long-shot Democratic proposal to raise the federal minimum wage becomes law. More than a dozen categories of workers are exempt from the current $7.25-an-hour minimum, including casual baby-sitters, live-in companions for the elderly, staffs of state and local elected officials, workers at summer camps and seasonal amusement parks. They account for about 2 percent of the 76 million Americans earning hourly wages. By Alan Fram. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.

— OBAMA — Obama touts $600 million in grants to spur job training; says US must keep up in skills race. SENT: 790 words, photos.

HEALTH CARE POLITICS

WASHINGTON — The political climate for "Obamacare" suddenly looks brighter, possibly giving Democrats a chance to fight back on the GOP's top issue this fall. Democrats in at least one tight Senate race are openly embracing the new health law's popular features, but several others are holding back. Republicans say the somewhat upbeat news — higher enrollments, and lower cost projections — won't do much to change Americans' negative view of the health care law. By Charles Babington and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.

SENATE-WEST VIRGINIA

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Secretary of State Natalie Tennant hopes her allegiance to West Virginia's coal industry will separate her from an unpopular President Barack Obama and help her retain a U.S. Senate seat for Democrats. It's a common — and proven — strategy for Democrats in Republican-leaning energy-producing states as they try to hold on to a tenuous Senate majority this fall. By Jonathan Mattise and Bill Barrow. SENT: 1,000 words, photo.

NATIONAL

NYPD INTELLIGENCE

NEW YORK — The move by New York City's new police commissioner to disband a unit that spied on the everyday activities of Muslims could be just the first step in a dismantling of some of the huge post-9/11 intelligence-gathering machinery built by his predecessor. Among other anti-terror programs that are getting a hard look is a controversial unit that puts NYPD officers in foreign posts such as London, Paris, Tel Aviv and Jordan. New Yorkers are split over whether a rollback is a good idea. By Tom Hays. SENT: 700 words, photos.

DETROIT BANKRUPTCY

DETROIT — Now that Detroit has reached tentative agreements on pension benefits cuts for retired workers, the pressure is on Republican Gov. Rick Snyder to push past anti-Detroit sentiment in the Michigan Legislature and persuade lawmakers to deliver the $350 million he's promised to help the city move out of bankruptcy. The money, combined with millions more from foundations and philanthropists, would prevent the sale of the city's world-renown art collection and be earmarked solely for retirees who draw benefits from two pension funds. By David Eggert and Ed White. SENT: 640 words, photos.

GAY MARRIAGE-OKLAHOMA

OKLAHOMA CITY — Lawyers for a couple challenging Oklahoma's gay marriage ban, and the clerk who refused to grant them a license, are headed to a federal appeals court with the rare chance to build on arguments made in a nearly identical case out of Utah just last week. Attorneys defending the ban say they were encouraged by the judges' tough questions. The couple's lawyers will look to U.S. Circuit Judge Jerome A. Holmes, who asked whether Utah's same-sex marriage man was akin to a Virginia ban on interracial marriage struck down in 1967. By Kristi Eaton. SENT: 690 words.

— GAY MARRIAGE-OHIO — Judge puts on hold for all but four couples a ruling that ordered Ohio to recognize out-of-state gay marriages. SENT: 590 words, photos.

PLANT EXPLOSION-ANSWERS

WEST, Texas — Families of the 15 people killed in a massive explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant have spent the year since the blast navigating the difficult balance between moving forward and digging for answers. Many filed lawsuits seeking answers after a fire at the West Fertilizer Co. caused a blast so powerful it leveled schools and homes, left a wide crater at the plant site, and scattered debris miles away. But it's still not known what sparked the April 2013 fire and what firefighters knew about the chemicals inside the plant. By Nomaan Merchant. SENT: 820 words, photos, video.

INTERNATIONAL

MALAYSIA-PLANE-COMPENSATION

BEIJING — Since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, some lawyers have claimed they can get several millions of dollars in damages for each lost passenger by taking the cases to the United States. But past lawsuits show U.S. federal courts are more likely to throw such cases out if the crashes happened overseas. By Gillian Wong. SENT: 1,160 words, photos.

— MALAYSIA-PLANE — A submersible sent to search for Flight 370 sets out again after its second mission finds no sign of the missing jetliner. SENT: 590 words, photos.

BOSNIA-MASS GRAVE

SEJKOVACA, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Denisa Hegic pulled her scarf around her nose to guard against the stench, and drew back the plastic shroud. Shaking, she reached down to touch her mother's skull, and caressed it. Hegic's experience is being repeated this week by many survivors of Bosnia's 1992-1995 war, as experts begin allowing families to view the remains of corpses meticulously pulled from mass graves and identified through DNA analysis. By Aida Cerkez. SENT: 640 words, photos.

CHINA-ECONOMY

BEIJING — China's economic growth slows further in the latest quarter, growing 7.4 percent, but appears strong enough to satisfy Chinese leaders who are trying to put the country on a more sustainable path without politically dangerous job losses. By Joe McDonald. SENT: 770 words, photos.

PISTORIUS-TRIAL

PRETORIA, South Africa — Oscar Pistorius' lawyers tried to roll back the prosecution's momentum at his murder trial following the star athlete's shaky testimony, presenting a forensic expert who quickly found his own credentials and findings sharply questioned. The judge later adjourned the trial for more than two weeks. By Gerald Imray. SENT: 820 words, photos.

ALGERIA-DYSFUNCTIONAL ELECTIONS

ALGIERS, Algeria — The college students playing pick-up soccer say they won't be voting in Thursday's presidential elections. They want jobs and housing when they graduate and lack loyalty to a political system run by a 77-year-old man too frail to show up for a single campaign event. Boycotting is the main form of protest against an election the incumbent is expected to win because powerful state institutions are wedded to Algeria's status quo. By Paul Schemm. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.

BUSINESS

AUTO SHOW-TOYOTA CAMRY

NEW YORK — Shaken by the advances of sportier rivals such as the Honda Accord and Ford Fusion, the Toyota Camry is trying to shed its vanilla reputation. The redesigned 2015 Camry, unveiled at the New York Auto Show, is longer and wider, with a more aggressive design. Toyota says it changed every exterior piece but the roof. By Dee-Ann Durbin. SENT: 820 words, photos.

— AUTO SHOW-MUSTANG 50th — Ford is building a limited-edition Mustang GT to honor the pony car's 50th anniversary. The company will only build 1,964 special cars, honoring the year the Mustang first went on sale. SENT: 300 words, photo.

ENTERTAINMENT

THEATER-DANIEL RADCLIFFE

NEW YORK — The one thing that Daniel Radcliffe always has to adjust to whenever he's onstage in America is how happy Americans are to see Daniel Radcliffe onstage. The former "Harry Potter" star is greeted by a burst of applause whenever he appears on Broadway. He's bracing for more this fall. By Drama Writer Mark Kennedy. SENT: 830 words, photos.

PHOTOGRAPHY

— STRETCHING WINTER-PHOTO ESSAY — Adventurous climbers take to New Hampshire's White Mountains to keep winter going. SENT: 520 words, photos.

ALSO GETTING ATTENTION

— ABORTION-NORTH DAKOTA — US judge overturns North Dakota law banning abortion as early as 6 weeks into pregnancy. SENT: 570 words, photo.

— SUPREME COURT-POLITICAL SPEECH — Supreme Court to consider challenge to Ohio law that bars lying about political candidates. SENT: 900 words, photos.

— CITY CORRUPTION — Ex-California city official sentenced to 12 years, ordered to pay millions in corruption case. SENT: 700 words, photo.

— WIFE KILLED 911 — A Colorado man shoots and kills his wife while she is on the phone with a 911 operator for nearly 15 minutes. SENT: 430 words, photos.

— YELLEN — Fed chair says key task of central bank is to respond to economy's fluctuations. SENT: 600 words, photo.

— DYING PALMS — From airports to hotels to schools and churches, non-native palm and fruit trees are a popular and costly part of landscaping throughout Florida's Panhandle. Nowadays those trees are mostly brown and withering because of the region's unusually cold winter. SENT: 600 words, photos, video.

— EVOLUTION DEBATE-NYE — TV's 'Science Guy' Bill Nye says he underestimated the impact of a February debate in Kentucky on evolution and creationism that drew a massive online audience. SENT: 450 words.

— ARGENTINA-TIGER TRIPLETS — White tiger triplets recently born at the Buenos Aires Zoo have their coming-out party. SENT: 130 words, photos.

— CLAW MACHINE-TODDLER — Toddler unharmed after getting stuck inside claw crane machine at Nebraska bowling alley. SENT: 130 words, photo.

— PEOPLE-MILEY CYRUS — Miley Cyrus still hospitalized due to allergic reaction to antibiotics, cancels 2nd concert. SENT: 110 words, photos.

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