AP News Digest 2 p.m.

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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WINTER WEATHER — Officials in New York say state and military police were sent to keep people from driving in snow-choked Buffalo. County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Tuesday that police are being positioned at entrances to Buffalo and at major intersections to enforce a ban on driving. By Carolyn Thompson and Jennifer Peltz. SENT: 565 words, photos. Developing.

WINTER-WEATHER-TRAVEL — The U.S. Department of Transportation says it will look into flight cancellations by Southwest Airlines that have left travelers stranded at airports across the country amid an intense winter storm that has killed dozens of people. By David Koenig. SENT: 590 words, photos. Developing. With CANCELED-FLIGHTS-ADVICE (sent).

MICHIGAN GOVERNOR KIDNAPPING PLOT — The co-leader of a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. Adam Fox’s sentence is the longest of anyone convicted in the plot so far, though it’s significantly shorter than the life sentence prosecutors had sought. By Joey Cappelletti and Corey Williams. SENT: 990 words, photos.

MEXICO-FEMICIDES — For decades, officials have recognized Mexico’s high femicide rate and violence against women in general as a major problem. Yet little progress is evident in national data. Mexico saw more than 1,000 femicides last year. That’s second only to Brazil in Latin America. On average, 10 women or girls are killed daily in Mexico. Most cases get little attention. By Fabiola Sánchez and Fernanda Pesce. SENT: 2,200 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,050 words is also available.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA — Foreign companies have welcomed China’s decision to end quarantines for travelers from abroad as an important step to revive slumping business activity, while Japan announced restrictions on visitors from the country as infections surge. The ruling Communist Party’s abrupt decision to lift some of the world’s strictest anti-virus controls comes as it tries reverse an economic downturn. By Joe McDonald. SENT: 840 words, photos.

YE-RISE OF WOMEN’S SPORTS — Popularity across women’s sports has grown steadily over the past few years and there was pivotal movement in 2022. Several sports and leagues saw growth in viewership and ratings, sponsorship deals and prime-time coverage. The past WNBA regular season was the most watched since 2006. The league has a deal with ESPN/ABC where the company paid the WNBA $27 million in 2021. SENT: 845 words, photos.

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TRENDING

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FTX-BANKMAN FRIED — A Manhattan federal judge known for swift decisions and a no-nonsense demeanor has been assigned to preside over Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency case. SENT: 735 words.

MEGA MILLIONS-JACKPOT — Someone could win more than half a billion dollars in the Mega Millions lottery Tuesday, but that jackpot wouldn’t even rank in the top 10 as the prizes have grown bigger in recent years. SENT: 345 words, photos.

LUFTHANSA-FLIGHT-LAPTOP FIRE — Lufthansa says a flight from Los Angeles to Frankfurt, Germany, made an unscheduled landing at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport after a passenger’s laptop caught fire. SENT: 115 words.

PLANE CRASH-KAYAK RESCUE — Maryland State Police say rescuers used kayaks to reach the pilot of a small airplane that crashed into an icy creek and began to sink. SENT: 250 words.

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YEAR END

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YE-TOP PHOTOS — Taken together, they can convey the feeling of a world convulsing — 150 Associated Press images from across 2022, showing the fragments that make up our lives and freezing in time the moments that somehow, these days, seem to pass faster than ever. SENT: 530 words, 153 photos.

YE-POP CULTURE MOMENTS — Taylor Swift was up. Elon Musk was in, out, in and maybe out again. Tom Cruise was back. BTS stepped aside, and so did Serena Williams, and Tom Brady too — oops, scratch that. But the slap? The slap was everywhere — that moment Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the Oscars and a global audience said, “Wait, did that just happen?” That’s The Associated Press’ top pop culture moment of 2022, but there were so many more. SENT: 1,500 words, photos.

YE-DEATHS — Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2022. SENT: 7,500 words, photos.

You can find AP’s full 2022 Year in Review content on AP Newsroom.

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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BIDEN'S-AMBITION — When he ran for the White House, Joe Biden told voters his presidency would be a bridge to the next generation. His first two years on the job have revealed it to be a much more ambitious venture. As he nears the halfway mark on his first term, Biden is pointing to legacy-defining achievements on climate change, domestic manufacturing and progress on the pandemic — all accomplished with razor-thin majorities on Capitol Hill and rather dim views from the public. SENT: 1,290 words, photos.

ELECTION-2022-PENNSYLVANIA RESULTS — Pennsylvania’s top elections official is fully certifying results from the November vote after recount petitions in some counties delayed the process. SENT: 200 words.

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NATIONAL

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ABORTION-RELIGIOUS FREEDOM — Critics of religious freedom laws often argue they are used to discriminate against LGBTQ people and only protect a conservative Christian worldview. But following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in June, religious abortion-rights supporters are using these laws to protect access to abortion and defend their beliefs. SENT: 1,125 words, photos.

DAKOTA RIDE — Dakota tribal members have completed an annual 330-mile ride on horseback to honor 40 of their ancestors killed in 1862. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports the riders set out from Lower Brule, South Dakota, and arrived in Mankato, Minnesota, on Monday morning. SENT: 245 words, photo.

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INTERNATIONAL

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BRAZIl-BOLSONARO-POST PRESIDENCY — Jair Bolsonaro said he would only leave the Brazilian presidency when he was dead, jailed or ready for his second term. But Bolsonaro’s Oct. 30 loss to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva set off two months of relative silence for the self-styled standard-bearer of the Brazilian conservative movement. SENT: 830 words, photos.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Russia’s foreign minister on Tuesday warned anew Ukraine that it must demilitarize, threatening further military action and falsely accusing Kyiv and the West of fueling the war that started with Moscow’s invasion. SENT: 855 words, photos.

CONGO-WORSENING-CRISIS IN EAST — The accounts are haunting. Abductions, torture, rapes. According to a U.N. report by a panel of experts, scores of civilians including women and children have been killed by the M23 rebels in eastern Congo. It says the M23 rebels have forced children to be soldiers. The 21-page report based on interviews with more than 230 sources and visits to Rutshuru area of Congo’s North Kivu province where the M23 have seized territory, is expected to be published this week and has been seen by The Associated Press. By Sam Mednick. SENT: 785 words, photos.

KOREAS-TENSIONS — South Korea’s president on Tuesday called for stronger air defenses and high-tech stealth drones while the military apologized for failing to shoot down North Korean drones that crossed the border for the first time in five years. SENT: 800 words, photos.

AFGHANISTAN-WOMEN — The United Nations’ human rights chief has decried increasing restrictions on women’s rights in Afghanistan, urging the country’s Taliban rulers to reverse them immediately. He pointed Tuesday to “terrible consequences” of a decision to bar women from working for non-governmental organizations. SENT: 320 words, photos.

ISRAEL-POLITICS — Israel’s largest medical center and health care workers from hospitals around the country have spoken out against remarks by allies of Benjamin Netanyahu calling for a law to allow discrimination against LGBTQ people in hospitals and businesses. SENT: 560 words, photo.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-JAPAN-CHINA — Japan will require COVID-19 tests for all visitors from China as a temporary emergency measure against the surging infections there after Beijing largely abandoned its “zero-COVID” policy. SENT: 485 words, photos.

KOSOVO-SERBIA — Serbs have erected more roadblocks in northern Kosovo and defied international demands to remove those placed earlier. The move on Tuesday came a day after Serbia put its troops near the border on a high level of combat readiness. SENT: 615 words, photos.

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HEALTH/SCIENCE

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MED-BIOENGINEERED-ORGANS — Scientists are transforming pig livers to look and act like human ones, part of a quest to ease the nation’s organ shortage. First workers in a suburban Minneapolis lab dissolve pig cells that made the organ function, leaving ghostly semitranslucent scaffolds floating in large jars. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.

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ECONOMY/BUSINESS

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STATE BUDGETS — States across the U.S. built big budget surpluses as inflation helped drive up their revenues from income and sales taxes. Now the Federal Reserve’s efforts to fight inflation are helping states earn even more. SENT: 1,210 words, photos.

FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday after the long holiday weekend, dragged lower by airline stocks which were battered by the bad weather. Investors had earlier in the day been positive on the market after China lifted some of its COVID-19 restrictions. SENT: 420 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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GLF—ON THE FRINGE-TOUR TALES — The annual “Tales from the Tour” features anecdotes from Steve Stricker to Tom Kim, along with what appears to be a trend in Japan involving the first name of players born about the time Tiger Woods was emerging on the world stage. By Golf Writer Doug Ferguson. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.

FBN-EAGLES-DAVIS — Jordan Davis was such a difference-maker in the middle of the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive line the first two months of the season that the team needed to sign two former Pro Bowl players to replace him after the rookie sustained an ankle injury. By Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi. UPCOMING: 500 words by 4 p.m. ET.

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ENTERTAINMENT

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TV-JOSÉ-ANDRÉS AND FAMILY IN SPAIN — The new TV series “José Andrés and Family in Spain” follows the groundbreaking chef and humanitarian on a food tour through his homeland. He travels with his three American-raised daughters, Carlota, Inés and Lucia Andrés. SENT: 840 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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At the Nerve Center, Elise Ryan can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://newsroom.ap.org. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.