Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EST. 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 2024-TRUMP — Donald Trump began 2022 on a high. But the former president is facing a very different reality one year later as he runs again for the White House. He’s mired in criminal investigations that could end with indictments. He’s been blamed for Republicans’ disappointing performance in the November elections. And the six weeks since his presidential announcement have been marked by self-inflicted crises. Trump hasn’t held a single campaign event. Even former Trump stalwarts are left wondering whether Trump is serious about another campaign. By Jill Colvin. SENT: 870 words, photos. This is the Monday Spotlight.
VATICAN-NEW YEAR — Pope Francis has marked the New Year by presiding over Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and praying for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a day after his retired predecessor’s death. The huge basilica will host Benedict’s coffin starting on Monday, when faithful can file past. By Frances D'Emilio. SENT: 520 words, photos.
VATICAN-OBIT-BENEDICT XVI-SEX ABUSE — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI rarely got credit for having turned the Vatican around on clergy sexual abuse, but he pushed through revolutionary changes to church law to make it easier to defrock predator priests. He was the first pontiff to meet with abuse survivors. And he reversed his revered predecessor on the most egregious case of the 20th century Catholic Church. Even so, much more needed to be done by the church hierarchy. By Nicole Winfield. SENT: 1,500 words, photos.
NEW YEAR — Revelers are celebrating the traditional ball drop in New York City’s Times Square, ushering in 2023 in the largest New Year’s celebration in the United States. Thousands gathered in and around the iconic landmark to ring in the new year as millions more celebrated throughout the globe. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.
KOREAS-TENSIONS — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to “exponentially” increase the production of his country’s nuclear warheads. State media reported Sunday that Kim called for drastically boosting the country’s military power as the U.S. and allies apply more military pressure on North Korea. By Hyung-jin Kim. SENT: 960 words, photos.
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MORE ON DEATH OF BENEDICT XVI
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VATICAN-BENEDICT XVI-THE RESIGNATION — The reporter who was covering a routine ceremony by Pope Benedict XVI on Feb. 11, 2013, never expected what unfolded, or that her high school Latin would give her the scoop of a lifetime. Giovanna Chirri of the authoritative ANSA news agency was in a Vatican press room watching the event on closed-circuit TV when Benedict said calmly and in Latin that he would be retiring because he believed he was too old for the job. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
GERMANY-BENEDICT XVI — Pope Benedict XVI leaves his homeland with a complicated legacy: pride in a German pontiff but a church deeply divided over the need for reforms in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal in which his own actions of decades ago were faulted. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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TRENDING
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UGANDA-NEW YEAR-STAMPEDE — Police say a stampede during New Year’s celebrations at a popular mall in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, has left at least nine people dead, including children. SENT: 150 words.
MACHETE ATTACK-POLICE — Authorities say a man wielding a machete attacked three police officers at the New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City, striking two of them in the head before an officer shot the man in the shoulder. The two officers were hospitalized and expected to recover. SENT: 340 words.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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SUPREME COURT-THREATS TO JUDGES — With security threats to Supreme Court justices still fresh memories, Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday praised programs that protect judges, saying that “we must support judges by ensuring their safety.” His comments came in an annual, year-end report about the federal judiciary. SENT: 620 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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CALIFORNIA STORMS — A powerful storm is bringing drenching rain or heavy snowfall to much of California as the state gets ready to usher in a new year. Flooding and rock slides have closed portions of roads in northern California. SENT: 840 words, photos.
AIRPORT DEATH-ALABAMA — A member of an airline ground crew working at an Alabama airport died Saturday afternoon in an accident at the facility. SENT: 100 words, photo.
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INTERNATIONAL
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BRAZIL-LULA-INAUGURATION — Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be sworn in Sunday in the capital of Brasilia and assume office for the third time, marking the culmination of a political comeback sure to thrill supporters and enrage opponents in a fiercely polarized nation. But Lula’s presidency is unlikely to be like his previous two mandates. SENT: 980 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA — Australia and Canada have joined a growing list of countries requiring travelers from China to take a COVID-19 test prior to boarding their flight, as China battles a nationwide outbreak of the coronavirus after abruptly easing restrictions that were in place for much of the pandemic. SENT: 410 words, photos.
CROATIA-EURO-SCHENGEN — At the stroke of midnight on Saturday, Croatia switched to the shared European currency, the euro, and removed dozens of border checkpoints to join the world’s largest passport-free travel area, completing a dream conceived 30 years ago when it fought a war for independence from Yugoslavia. SENT: 620 words, photos.
AFGHANISTAN — A spokesman for the Taliban-led government says a bombing at a military airport checkpoint in the Afghan capital, Kabul, has killed and wounded several people. SENT: 200 words, photos.
EGYPT-ISLAMIC STATE — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a militant attack on a police checkpoint in Egypt’s Suez Canal city of Ismailia that killed at least four people, including three police. SENT: 150 words, photo.
PAKISTAN — The army says a military operation in Pakistan’s northwest targeting militants triggered a firefight that left a soldier and four fighters dead. SENT: 240 words, photo.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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OBIT-ANITA POINTER — Anita Pointer, one of four sibling singers who earned pop success and critical acclaim as The Pointer Sisters, died Saturday at the age of 74. SENT: 360 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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FBC-CFP-CHAMPIONSHIP — After the best semifinal day in the nine-year history of the College Football Playoff, the title game will match the defending national champion against the closest thing the sport has had in years to a Cinderella team. It will be No. 1 Georgia, looking for its second straight championship, against upstart and No. 3 TCU on Jan. 9 at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, California. SENT: 720 words, photos.
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HOW TO REACH US
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