AP News Digest 7 a.m.

Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EST. Find the AP’s top photos of the day in Today’s Photo Collection. For up-to-the-minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan in AP Newsroom.

—————————————————

WEEKEND COVERAGE

————————————————-

For weekend stories, please click here for the Weekend Lookahead digest.

——————————

TOP STORIES

——————————

TRUMP-TRANSITION — President-elect Donald Trump chose hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction, to serve as his next treasury secretary. Bessent is the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management and previously worked for Soros Fund Management. Trump also said he would nominate Russell Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget, a position he held during Trump’s first term. Trump chose Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, an Oregon Republican, as his labor secretary, and Scott Turner, a former football player who worked in Trump’s first administration, as his housing secretary. By Fatima Hussein, Chris Rugaber, Josh Boak and Chris Megerian. SENT: 1,250 words, photos, audio. WITH: TRUMP-TREASURY — Trump took his time settling on billionaire investor Scott Bessent as his choice for treasury secretary. SENT: 970 words, photos; TRUMP-DEREMER-THINGS-TO-KNOW — What to know about Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Trump’s pick for labor secretary. SENT: 740 words, photo; TRUMP-FDA-MAKARY — Trump nominated COVID-19 health measures critic Dr. Marty Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration. SENT: 870 words, photos.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-CRUCIAL-WEEK — This past week has seen the most significant escalation in hostilities Ukraine has witnessed since Russia’s full-scale invasion and marks a new chapter in the nearly three-year war. It began with U.S. President Joe Biden reversing a longstanding policy by granting Kyiv permission to deploy American longer-range missiles inside Russian territory and ended with Moscow striking Ukraine with a new experimental ballistic weapon that has alarmed the international community and heightened fears of further escalation. By Samya Kullab. SENT: 700 words, photos. WITH: NATO-TRUMP — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Donald Trump met on Friday in Florida for talks on global security, NATO said. SENT: 120 words.

MIDEAST-WARS — Lebanese officials said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 11 people and injured dozens in central Beirut as diplomats scramble to broker a cease-fire. The Lebanese Health Ministry said Saturday’s death toll could rise as emergency responders dig through the rubble looking for survivors. The ministry said 63 people were wounded in the fourth wave of strikes in the Lebanese capital in less than a week. Strikes also continued in Gaza on Saturday. AP reporters and Nasser Hospital officials said at least six people were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis. By Abby Sewell and Bassem Mroue. SENT: 1,100 words, photos, video. WITH: LEBANON-ISRAEL-ORCHESTRA-CONDUCTOR — Lubnan Baalbaki, conductor of the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra, watched on his phone as the Israeli army destroyed his family home. SENT: 510 words, photos.

CLIMATE-COP29 — The United Nations’ annual climate talks pushed into overtime under a cloud of anger and disappointment as negotiators were well short of a deal on money for developing nations to curb and adapt to climate change. A draft agreement Friday at the talks in Azerbaijan pledged $250 billion annually by 2035, more than double the previous goal of $100 billion set 15 years ago but far short of the annual $1 trillion-plus experts say is needed. Developing nations were angered by the pledge. Another draft is expected Saturday and experts say it might not be the last. By Melina Walling, Seth Borenstein, Michael Phillis and Sibi Arasu. SENT: 1,000 words, photos, video, audio. WITH: GHANA-WASTE-FAST-FASHION — Ghana is one of Africa’s leading importers of used clothing, but is not equipped to absorb that much cast-off attire. A nonprofit foundation is trying to disrupt a cycle that has made Western overconsumption into an African environmental problem. SENT: 790 words, photos, video.

SEVERE-WEATHER — A major storm continues to drop heavy snow and record rain in California, causing small landslides and flooding some streets. Meanwhile on the opposite coast, blizzard or winter storm warnings were in effect Saturday for areas spanning from the Northeast to central Appalachia. The West Coast storm arrived in the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, killing two people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, before moving through Northern California. Forecasters predicted both coasts would begin to see a reprieve. By Noah Berger and Olga R. Rodriguez. SENT: 680 words, photos, video. WITH: POWER OUTAGES-MEDICALLY VULNERABLE — People who depend on medical devices powered by electricity are particularly vulnerable to outages from severe weather. SENT: 820 words, photos.

JAPAN-SADO-EXPLAINER — Japan will hold a memorial ceremony Sunday near the Sado Island Gold Mines, which were listed this summer as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country resolved years of disputes with South Korea. Hundreds of Korean laborers were mobilized at the mines during World War II. Japan says the ceremony will pay tribute to “all workers” at the mine, without spelling out who they are, part of what critics call a persistent policy of whitewashing Japan’s history of sexual and labor exploitation before and during the war. By Mari Yamaguchi. SENT: 1,150 words, photos. WITH: SOUTH-KOREA-JAPAN-SADO — South Korea says it will not attend the ceremony due to disagreements with Japan over the event. SENT: 700 words, photo.

——————————

MORE NEWS

——————————

LAOS-TOURISTS-POISONED — The Laotian government on Saturday officially acknowledged the mass poisoning that has killed at least six tourists, pledging it would bring perpetrators to justice. Two Australian teenagers and a British woman died from suspected methanol poisoning after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos. An American man and two Danes also died, though their exact causes of death have not been released. A New Zealander also has been sickened. SENT: 380 words, photos.

PET DOG SHOT — An animal control officer shot and killed a pet dog in a Massachusetts town after mistaking it for a coyote in an incident that has the animal’s owner fuming, but that local police are describing as a sad mix-up. SENT: 590 words, photos, video, audio.

ADULTERY-NEW-YORK — New York on Friday repealed a seldom-used, more than century-old law that made it a crime to cheat on your spouse, a misdemeanor that once could have landed adulterers in jail for three months. SENT: 410 words, photos.

——————————————————

WASHINGTON/POLITICS

——————————————————

ELECTION 2024-RANKED-CHOICE VOTING — Election reform advocates had hoped for a big year at the ballot box. That’s because a historic number of states were considering initiatives for ranked choice voting or to end partisan primaries. Instead, voters dealt them big losses in the November elections. SENT: 990 words, photos.

ELECTION 2024-MONTANA-SENATE — Democrats’ crushing loss in Montana’s nationally important U.S. Senate race settled a fierce political debate over whether a surge of newcomers in the past decade favored Republicans. It also addressed the question of whether one of the new arrivals could even take high office. Voters answered with an emphatic “yes” to both. SENT: 1,190 words, photos.

—————————

NATIONAL

—————————

CHARLOTTE-AIRPORT-WORKERS — Charlotte airport workers voting on whether to strike during busy Thanksgiving travel week. SENT: 500 words, photos, video, audio.

FUNERAL-HOME-IMPROPER-BODY-STORAGE — Colorado funeral home owners who let nearly 190 bodies decay plead guilty to corpse abuse. SENT: 760 words, photos, video, audio.

CANADA-US-BORDER-DEATHS — A jury convicted two men on Friday of charges related to human smuggling for their roles in an international operation that led to the deaths of a family of Indian migrants who froze in 2022 while trying to cross the Canada-U.S. border. SENT: 840 words, photos, video, audio.

DEAD-INFANT-BABY-BOX-ARREST — Idaho teen is arrested in connection with a dead infant found in a baby box at a hospital. SENT: 240 words.

————————————

INTERNATIONAL

————————————

PAKISTAN VIOLENCE — Fighting between armed Sunni and Shiite groups in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 33 people and injured 25 others, police said Saturday. The overnight violence was the latest to rock Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and comes days after a deadly gun ambush killed 42 people. SENT: 260 words, photo. WITH: PAKISTAN-LOCKDOWN — Pakistan is sealing off its capital ahead of a planned rally by Imran Khan supporters. SENT: 250 words, photos.

UNITED NATIONS-CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY — A key U.N. General Assembly committee adopted a resolution late Friday paving the way for negotiations on a first-ever treaty on preventing and punishing crimes against humanity after Russia dropped amendments. SENT: 540 words, photo. WITH: UNITED-NATIONS-MYANMAR — A new U.N. report says Myanmar’s military junta is ramping up attacks on villages that have fallen to opposition groups, carrying out beheadings, gang rapes and torture. SENT: 870 words.

PHILIPPINES-VICE-PRESIDENT-ASSASSINATION-THREAT — Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday she has contracted an assassin to kill the president, his wife and the House of Representatives speaker if she herself is killed. SENT: 580 words, photo.

INDIA-STATE-ELECTION — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party headed for a stunning victory Saturday in state elections in politically significant Maharashtra while the opposition seemed about to clinch victory in mineral-rich Jharkhand. SENT: 400 words.

VENEZUELA-MACHADO-INVESTIGATION — Venezuela’s government on Friday announced another investigation against opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, continuing its efforts to blame her for the economic sanctions that the United States and other nations have imposed. SENT: 400 words, photo.

———————————————

HEALTH & SCIENCE

———————————————

LISTERIA-YU-SHANG-DEATH — A California infant died and at least 10 other people have been sickened in an outbreak of listeria food poisoning tied to ready-to-eat meat and poultry products, federal health officials reported Friday. SENT: 340 words, photos.

BE WELL-REDUCING TRAVEL STRESS — Travel, especially during the holiday season, can be stressful. But following some tips from the pros as you prepare for a trip can make for a smoother, less anxious experience. SENT: 860 words, photos.

—————————

BUSINESS

—————————

CYPRUS-ECONOMY — Moody’s two-notch upgrade of Cyprus’ credit rating to A3 from Baa2 opens the threshold to quality foreign investment that will generate new jobs, President Nikos Christodoulides said Saturday. SENT: 290 words.

—————————————

ENTERTAINMENT

—————————————

MUSIC-KENDRICK LAMAR — Kendrick Lamar gave music listeners an early holiday present with a new album. The Grammy winner released his sixth studio album “GNX” on Friday. The 12-track project is the rapper’s first release since 2022’s “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.” SENT: 370 words, photo. WITH: MUSIC-REVIEW-KENDRICK-LAMAR-GNX — Kendrick Lamar’s pride, anger and confidence drive “GNX." SENT: 530 words, photo.

SEXUAL-MISCONDUCT-DIDDY — Sean “Diddy” Combs′ lawyers tried for a third time Friday to persuade a judge to let the hip-hop mogul out of jail while he awaits his sex trafficking trial, but a decision won’t come until next week as prosecutors warned of his “concerted effort” to disrupt the case. SENT: 750 words, photos.

OBIT-ALICE-BROCK — Alice Brock, whose Massachusetts-based eatery helped inspire Arlo Guthrie’s deadpan Thanksgiving standard, “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” died at age 83. SENT: 600 words, audio.

———————

SPORTS

———————

IRELAND-MCGREGOR-LAWSUIT — A civil jury in Ireland has awarded more than $250,000 to a woman who says she was raped by mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor in a Dublin hotel penthouse after a night of heavy partying. The jury on Friday awarded Nikita Hand in her lawsuit that claimed McGregor “brutally raped and battered” her in 2018. SENT: 930 words, photos, video, audio.

GUARDIANS-NAKKEN — Alyssa Nakken, the first woman to coach in an MLB game, is leaving the San Francisco Giants to join the Cleveland Guardians. SENT: 350 words, photo.

——————————————

HOW TO REACH US

——————————————

The Nerve Center 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 AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.

FILE - San Francisco Giants assistant baseball coach Alyssa Nakken speaks to a reporter in San Francisco, July 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Josie Lepe, File)

Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor and partner Dee Devlin leave the High Court in Dublin, Ireland, Friday Nov. 22, 2024. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)

In this courtroom sketch, attorney Marc Agnifolo, left, speaks at the podium, as Alexandra Shapiro, Sean Diddy Combs, and attorney Tony Riccio, seated second left to right, listen during a hearing in federal court, Friday, Nov. 24, 2024, in New York. (Jane Rosenberg via AP)

FILE - Kendrick Lamar performs during the Festival d'ete de Quebec in Quebec City, Canada on July 7, 2017. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado waves a Venezuelan national flag during a rally to protest official results that declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of the July presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez, File)

Shiite Muslims chant slogans to condemn the killing of Shiite Muslims by gunmen in an ambush in Kurram district, during a demonstration in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

A foreign tourist rests near a swimming pool at Nana Backpackers hostel in Vang Vieng, Laos, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Mannequins enacting a mining scene are seen inside remains of the Sado gold mine on Sado Island, northern Japan, on July 4, 2024. (Atsushi Watanabe/Kyodo News via AP)

Patricia Johnican passes through a common kitchen area after Wednesday bingo at Commons of Grace Senior on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo / Annie Mulligan)

Firefighters walk through floodwaters while responding to a rescue call in unincorporated Sonoma County, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Cows are seen at the largest dumpsite where textile waste ends up at Old Fadama in Accra, Ghana, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Activists demonstrate in silence protesting a draft of a proposed deal for curbing climate change at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)

Lubnan Baalbaki shows a sketch depicting him while he was asleep drawn by his late father, during an interview with The Associated Press at his house in Geitawi, Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks during a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense, representatives of the military-industrial complex and developers of missile systems at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - Investor Scott Bessent speaks on the economy in Asheville, N.C., Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)

FILE - Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., accompanied by Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., left, and House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., right, speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and the head of NATO have met for talks on global security, the military alliance said Saturday.

In a brief statement, NATO said Trump and its secretary general, Mark Rutte, met on Friday in Palm Beach, Florida.

“They discussed the range of global security issues facing the Alliance,” the statement said without giving details.

It appeared to be Rutte's first meeting with Trump since his Nov. 5 election. Rutte had previously congratulated Trump and said “his leadership will again be key to keeping our Alliance strong" and that he looked forward to working with him.

Trump has for years expressed skepticism about the Western alliance and complained about the defense spending of many of its member nations, which he regarded as too low. He depicted NATO allies as leeches on the U.S. military and openly questioned the value of the alliance that has defined American foreign policy for decades. He threatened not to defend NATO members that fail to meet defense-spending goals.

Rutte and his team also met Trump's pick as national security adviser, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, and other members of the president-elect's national security team, the NATO statement said.

Rutte took over at the helm of NATO in October.

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, July 18, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)