AP News Digest 3 a.m.

Thursday 30 December 2021 23:28 GMT

Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. 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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COLORADO WILDFIRES — Late season wildfires fueled by strong winds have burned hundreds of homes, a hotel and a shopping center outside Denver. The fires have forced thousands of people to flee their homes. At least one first responder and six others have been injured. Boulder County’s sheriff says there could be more injuries and deaths also could be possible due to the intensity of fires that quickly swept across the region. Evacuations have been ordered for the city of Louisville and Superior. The neighboring towns are roughly 20 miles northwest of Denver in an area filled with middle and upper-middle class subdivisions surrounded by shopping centers, parks and schools. By Patty Nieberg, Brady McCombs and Colleen Slevin. SENT: 1,090 words, photos, videos. DEVELOPING.

BIDEN-PUTIN — President Joe Biden has warned Russia’s Vladimir Putin that the U.S. could impose new sanctions against Russia if it takes further military action against Ukraine. Putin has responded that such a U.S. move could lead to a complete rupture of ties between the nations. The two leaders spoke frankly for nearly an hour amid growing alarm over Russia’s troop buildup near Ukraine. By Aamer Madhani and Vladimir Isachenkov. SENT: 1,245 words, photos.

AFGHANISTAN-DOWNWARD SPIRAL — In a sprawling settlement in western Afghanistan, a woman is fighting to save her daughter. Aziz Gul’s husband sold their 10-year-old into marriage without telling his wife so he could feed his family of six children. Afghanistan’s destitute are increasingly turning to such desperate decisions as the country spirals downwards into a vortex of poverty. By Elena Becatoros. SENT: 1,300 words, photos. Abridged version also available.

ELECTION 2022 — This time last year, the Republican Party was hitting bottom. Having already lost the presidency and the House, the GOP would soon squander its Senate majority and watch thousands of Donald Trump’s supporters storm the U.S. Capitol. But what a difference 12 months make. Today, a resurgent GOP is poised to reclaim one, if not both, chambers of Congress and retain its lock on dozens of state legislatures and governor’s offices. The turnaround — which is expected but far from assured — is fueled by an unpopular Joe Biden presidency, deep frustration with the lingering pandemic and fresh concerns about inflation, as well as the GOP having history on its side. By Steve Peoples and Will Weissert. UPCOMING : 2,100 words, photos by 10:00 a.m. An Abridged version is also available.

TUTU-UNSETTLED LEGACY — An anguished encounter between two titans of South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle during the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings still rankles some Black South Africans. Some think Desmond Tutu mistreated Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in begging her to apologize for her alleged role in the death of a 14-year-old Black activist. Madikizela-Mandela did offer a vague apology, but she later lashed out at the former Cape Town archbishop and Nobel laureate in a documentary. Tutu was eulogized globally this week, but the encounter is a reminder that even he struggled to navigate the anger and recrimination coursing through a wounded nation. By Christopher Torchia SENT: 890 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRAL QUESTIONS-HOME TEST — At-home COVID-19 tests are able to detect the omicron variant, but U.S. health officials say early data suggests they may be less sensitive at picking it up. SENT: 340 words, photos.

NEW YEAR’S EVE — The world welcomes 2022. UPCOMING: 1,000 words, photos by 1 p.m. WITH NEW YEAR'S EVE-TIMES SQUARE — New York City's big New Year's Eve celebration is being threatened this year by the Omicron COVID-19 variant, even as the city tries to bring back its once-thriving tourism industry. SENT: 680 words, photos.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW YEARS EVE — In many places around the world, plans for New Year’s Eve celebrations were muted or cancelled for the second straight year due to a surge of coronavirus infections, this time driven by the highly contagious omicron variant. SENT: 1,075 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-CRUISE SHIPS — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning people not to go on cruises, regardless of their vaccination status, because of onboard outbreaks fueled by the omicron variant. SENT: 745 words, photo.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-CANADA — Quebec is reimposing a nighttime curfew beginning New Year’s Eve, and Ontario has delayed the resumption of school by two days as several Canadian provinces report new highs for coronavirus infections. Quebec Premier Francois Legault says the curfew will be in effect 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. as of Friday night and will run for an indefinite period. SENT: 405 words, photos.

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WASHINGTON

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SUPREME COURT-TRUMP PRIVILEGE CLAIM — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol says the Supreme Court should let stand an appeals court ruling that the National Archives turn over documents from former President Donald Trump that might shed light on the events leading up to and including that day. SENT: 925 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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ASIA-TRADE BLOC — Asian countries are looking to a China-centered trade bloc encompassing about a third of world trade and business activity to help power recoveries from the pandemic. SENT: 660 words, photos.

EPSTEIN-PRINCE ANDREW — Lawyers for the woman who says Prince Andrew sexually abused her when she was 17 insist that she’s a U.S. resident even though the prince’s lawyers say otherwise. SENT: 340 words, photos.

JAPAN-FATAL FIRE — Police say the suspect in a fire in Japan that killed 25 people has died at a hospital where he was being treated for burns and smoke inhalation. SENT: 275 words, photos.

GERMANY-SCHOLZ-NEW YEAR — Chancellor Olaf Scholz is urging Germans to pull together to defeat the coronavirus in 2022 and promising to react “quickly and decisively” to the advance of the omicron variant. SENT: 430 words, photo.

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NATIONAL

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JEFFREY EPSTEIN-MAXWELL TRIAL — The Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking trial was a four-week winding road with sordid testimony by four women accusing the British socialite of grooming their teenage selves for abuse at the hands of financier Jeffrey Epstein The defense maintained the abuse could have been real, but Maxwell wasn’t part of it. It all came to a climax earlier this week with a guilty verdict in federal court in Manhattan, delivered after five days of jury deliberations. The scenes from the courtroom as the trial wound down were sometimes tedious, sometimes tense. SENT: 780 words, photos. With JEFFREY EPSTEIN-MAXWELL TRIAL-EXPLAINER — With a guilty verdict in the sex-trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, here’s a look at what the once high-flying Jeffrey Epstein confidante was accused of and what’s next for her. SENT: 1,200 words, photos. And JEFFREY EPSTEIN-MAXWELL TRIAL-FACT FOCUS — The sex-trafficking trial of Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, ended with guilty verdicts, but that didn’t stop the flow of false news that has swirled around the case. SENT: 880 words, photos.

DAVID GILBERT-PAROLE — Former Weather Underground radical David Gilbert described his path from nonviolent 1960s activist to would-be revolutionary during a 4 1/2-hour hearing before the New York state parole board panel that approved his parole in October, 40 years after he served as a getaway driver in the botched Brink’s robbery that left three men dead and several others wounded. SENT: 760 words, photo.

NEW LAWS — Minimum wage increases, animal protections, police accountability, cutting and increasing taxes are all among the laws taking effect across the country on Saturday, the first day of the new year. Some of them, such as abortion restrictions in New Hampshire or policing reforms in Oregon, address some of the most contentious issues playing out across the U.S. Here is a rundown of some of the new state laws for 2022. By Wilson Ring. UPCOMING: 1,000 words, photos By 10:00 a.m.

OBIT-SARAH WEDDINGTON-IMPACT — Activists, politicians and women across the nation are remembering Sarah Weddington — who as a young lawyer won the landmark Roe v. Wade case at the U.S. Supreme Court — as a champion of feminism who brought the nation to a turning point as views shifted on abortion and the larger women’s rights movement. She died Sunday at 76. UPCOMING , By 9:00 a.m., photo.

REID-MEMORIAL SERVICE — A memorial service honoring former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been scheduled for Jan. 8 at a performing arts center in Las Vegas. SENT: 180 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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BKW-T25-SOUTH CAROLINA-MISSOURI — Lauren Hansen made a driving layup with 0.1 seconds left and Missouri stunned No. 1 South Carolina 70-69 in overtime Thursday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. The Tigers (12-2) overcame the absence of scoring leader Aijha Blackwell and four other players to beat a No. 1 team for the first time in program history. SENT: 500 words.

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