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Editors: Resends previous digest to add — TRUMP-INVESTIGATIONS.
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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NEW & DEVELOPING
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Adds: GUATEMALA-CHILD DEAD-BORDER PATROL, CHILD DEAD-BORDER PATROL, AIR MARSHALS, DOGS THROWN FROM VEHICLE, GUAM-COCKFIGHTING, LANDMARK HOUSE DESTROYED.
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TOP STORIES
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TRUMP-INTERIOR SECRETARY — In the latest Trump Cabinet turnover, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says he will leave by year's end as federal investigations into his travel, political activity and potential conflicts of interest move ahead. He cites "vicious and politically motivated attacks." His detractors point to the ethics cloud and say he's been a "shameless handmaiden" for special interests and treated government service "like it was his personal honey pot," while rolling back environmental protections. By Ellen Knickmeyer, Matthew Brown and Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.
HEALTH OVERHAUL-LAWSUIT — A judge's ruling that the Obama-era health law is unconstitutional has landed like a stink bomb among Republicans. They've seen the politics of health care flip against them as Americans have grown to value core provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including protections for medical conditions and Medicaid expansion for low-income people. The law remains in place for now, pending legal appeals expected to reach the Supreme Court. By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar. SENT: 880 words, photos.
CLIMATE — After two weeks of bruising negotiations, officials from almost 200 countries agree on universal, transparent rules that will govern efforts to cut emissions and curb global warming. But to the frustration of environmental activists and some countries who were urging more ambitious climate goals, negotiators delayed decisions on two key issues until next year in an effort to get a deal on them. By Frank Jordans. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
TRUMP-INVESTIGATIONS — Investigations now entangle Donald Trump's White House, campaign, transition, inauguration, charity and business. For Trump, the political, the personal and the deeply personal are all under examination. By Calvin Woodward and Julie Pace. SENT: 1,340 words, photos.
TRUMP-CHIEF OF STAFF — A pledge of loyalty. Political savvy. Personal rapport. President Donald Trump had long made clear the qualities he was looking for in his next chief of staff. And when his first pick turned him down, sparking a frantic search, Trump turned to the man he'd already tapped for two previous jobs in his administration: Mick Mulvaney, a blunt, fast-talking former South Carolina congressman who had told Trump months ago he wanted the job. By Jill Colvin and Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 1,100 words, photo.
GUATEMALA-CHILD DEAD-BORDER PATROL — Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin received her first pair of shoes several weeks ago, when her father said they would set out together for the United States. The 7-year-old was excited about the possibility of a new life in another country. Maybe she would get her first toy, or learn to read and write. Instead she died in a Texas hospital, two days after being taken into custody by Border Patrol agents in a remote stretch of New Mexico desert. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 6:30 p.m. WITH: CHILD DEAD-BORDER PATROL — Lawyers for the family of a 7-year-old girl who died while in U.S. Border Patrol custody say she did not suffer from a lack of food or water before being picked up by authorities. Their account disputes earlier information released by U.S. officials. UPCOMING: 350 words by 6:30 p.m.
ELECTION 2018-NORTH CAROLINA-CONGRESS — Warnings about the potential for voter fraud in a rural North Carolina county went unheeded for years before last month's disputed congressional race. The contest has yet to be officially decided, amid suspicions that ballots were tampered with or discarded. Republican Mark Harris leads Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes. Both parties concede a do-over election might be needed. At the center of it all is Bladen County. By Michael Biesecker and Emery P. Dalesio. SENT: 1,100 words, photos. This story is this week's Sunday Spotlight.
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WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT
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RUSSIA-PUTIN-RAP — Alarmed by the growing popularity of rap among Russian youth, President Vladimir Putin wants cultural leaders to devise a means of controlling, rather than banning, popular music. SENT: 140 words.
DOGS THROWN FROM VEHICLE — A pair of beagle mixes are on the mend after authorities say someone threw them from a moving vehicle on a snowy New York highway. A trucker rescued them. SENT: 350 words, photo.
EGYPT-ANTIQUITIES — Egypt has announced the discovery of a private tomb belonging to a senior official from the 5th dynasty of the pharaohs, which ruled roughly 4,400 years ago. SENT: 150 words, photos.
AIR MARSHALS — Federal Air Marshal Service says it's curtailing a domestic surveillance program that's been accused of spying on thousands of unwitting passengers who are neither suspected of a crime nor appear on a terror watch list. SENT: 130 words.
LANDMARK HOUSE DESTROYED — A man who illegally demolished a San Francisco house designed by the modernist architect Richard Neutra has been ordered to build an exact replica. SENT: 140 words.
GUAM-COCKFIGHTING — Cockfighting is an important Guam tradition that must remain legal, the U.S. territory's governor-elect says in vowing to work to repeal a likely ban imposed by the U.S. government. SENT: 270 words.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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FACT CHECK-WEEK — President Donald Trump's relationship with the truth tends to be borderline, at best, when it comes to the border. And he tried to cast doubt on whether his former national security adviser had lied to the FBI even after the ex-aide pleaded guilty to doing just that. By Calvin Woodward and Hope Yen. SENT: 2,300 words, photos. Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd
IMMIGRATION-TEEN DETENTION CAMP-O'ROURKE — Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke leads a group of lawmakers on a tour of Tornillo, the tent city in remote West Texas where 2,300 immigrant teens are being held at what began as an emergency shelter but now is taking on a permanent feel, costing taxpayers up to $1,200 per child, per day. O'Rourke says he's still deciding on a possible 2020 presidential run, even as the hype around him intensifies. By Will Weissert. SENT: 660 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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FRANCE-PROTESTS — Tear gas billowed across the protest-scarred Champs-Elysees after a day of largely peaceful demonstrations in Paris and a water cannon shot a frigid stream at the crowd on the fifth straight weekend of protests by France's "yellow vest" movement. The demonstrations against France's high cost of living — sapped by cold weather, rain and recent concessions by French President Emmanuel Macron — were significantly smaller Saturday than at previous rallies. By Raphael Satter and Elena Becatoros. SENT: 710 words, photos.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-ORTHODOX CHURCH — Ukrainian Orthodox leaders approve the creation of a unified church independent of the Moscow Patriarchate and elected a leader to head that new church — a move that could greatly raise tensions with neighboring Russia. The vote, held at a closed-door synod in Kiev's St. Sophia Cathedral, is the latest in a series of confrontations between Ukraine and Russia. By Yuras Karmanau and Efrem Lukatsky. SENT: 800 words, photos.
SRI LANKA-POLITICS — Sri Lanka's disputed prime minister announced he would step aside, paving the way for his sacked predecessor to regain the position and apparently ending a political impasse that has paralyzed the government for nearly two months. SENT: 490 words, photos.
BRAZIL-GAY WEDDING — Dozens of Brazilian gay couples get married in a collective ceremony. Many fear that gay marriage, legal in Brazil, will be restricted under President-elect Jair Bolsonaro. SENT: 260 words, photos.
SPAIN-JAILED CATALANS — Jailed Catalan separatist politicians on hunger strike for the past two weeks say their upcoming trial will be a platform to foster their cause for independence. SENT: 130 words, photo.
KASHMIR-FIGHTING — At least seven civilians were killed and more than three dozen injured when government forces fired at anti-India protesters in disputed Kashmir following a gunbattle that left three rebels and a soldier dead, police and residents say. SENT: 430 words, photos.
SOUTH SUDAN-FACING THE FUTURE — Just months ago, planning ahead in civil war-torn South Sudan seemed impossible. Now, after warring sides signed a new peace deal in September that the government vows will hold, some are starting to rebuild their lives. Amid small signs of hope: a Christmas party in a United Nations camp for tens of thousands of displaced people will occur at midnight instead of during safer daylight hours. But fears, and fighting, remain. SENT: 760 words, photos.
AUSTRALIA-ISRAEL-JERUSALEM — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison says his government has decided to formally recognize west Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but won't move its embassy until there's a peace settlement. SENT: 530 words, photo.
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NATIONAL
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BAYLOR FRATERNITY-SEXUAL ASSAULT — Waco advocates have cast doubt on a plea deal allowing a former Baylor University student accused of rape to avoid jail time, saying the judge and prosecutor's ties to the Central Texas school raise questions over how the case was handled. They say the deal is a failure by the legal system, but also reflects a larger culture of sexism where preference is given to people of power in the Baylor community. SENT: 900 words, photos.
COSTLIEST WILDFIRE — A 2016 California wildfire has burned its way into the record books as the most expensive wildland firefight in U.S. history in what a new report calls an "extreme example of excessive, unaccountable, budget-busting suppression spending that is causing a fiscal crisis in the U.S. Forest Service." SENT: 1,100 words, photos.
INDIANA LEGISLATURE-HATE CRIMES — Leaders of Indiana's Republican-dominated Statehouse say they want to pass a hate crimes law this year, a move that would take the state off a list that includes just four others that have yet to pass such a law. Social conservatives - including many rank-and-file legislators - are vehemently opposed. SENT: 900 words, photos.
IDAHO TEST REACTOR — A nuclear test reactor that can melt uranium fuel rods in seconds is running again after a nearly quarter-century shutdown as U.S. officials try to revamp a fading nuclear power industry with safer fuel designs and a new generation of power plants. SENT: 900 words, photos.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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PEOPLE-TONI BRAXTON — Grammy-winner Toni Braxton is returning to acting this Christmas in "Every Day Is Christmas" on Lifetime and flexing her producing muscles. SENT: 340 words, photos and video.
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SPORTS
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BKC--T25-VILLANOVA-KANSAS — Lagerald Vick scores 29 points, Dedric Lawson adds 28, and the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks hold off the No. 17 Villanova Wildcats 74-71 in a game that was nip-and-tuck almost the entire way. SENT: 900 words, photos.
FBN--TEXANS-JETS — Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans (9-4) look to bounce back from a loss to Indianapolis that stopped a franchise-record nine-game winning streak. They face Sam Darnold and the New York Jets (4-9), whose six-game skid ended last week. By Pro Football Writer Dennis Waszak Jr. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos. Game underway.
BOX--ALVAREZ-FIELDING — Canelo Alvarez goes for a third weight division championship against unheralded titleholder Rocky Fielding. The super middleweight bout marks the Madison Square Garden debut for both the Mexican star and the champ from England. By Barry Wilner. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos. Fight starts about 10:45 p.m.
BBO--LUXURY TAX — The World Series champion Red Sox owe nearly $12 million in luxury tax for having baseball's top payroll, according to final calculations by the commissioner's office obtained by the AP. The only other team that owes is the Washington Nationals. By Baseball Writer Ronald Blum. SENT: 750 words, photos. With list.
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