AP News Digest 6 p.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.

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NEW & DEVELOPING

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BRITAIN-JEWELRY-HEIST; COLD-CASE-KILLER-IDENTIFIED; ELECTION-2024-RUSSIA-IRAN-SANCTIONS; PANAMA-CANAL-ANNIVERSARY; FUMES-IN-COCKPIT-SEATTLE; HKN-WINTER-CLASSIC; FINANCIAL-MARKETS

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ONLY ON AP

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SOUTH-KOREA-ADOPTION-FRAUD-PARENTS — Peg Reif was among more than 120 who contacted The Associated Press this fall, after a series of stories and a documentary made with Frontline exposed how South Korea created a baby pipeline, designed to ship children abroad as quickly as possible to meet Western demand. Most who wrote were adoptees, but some were adoptive parents like Reif, horrified to learn they had supported this system. Reif fretted that her greatest fear might be true: had she adopted and raised a kidnapped child? By Claire Galofaro and Kim Tong-hyung. SENT: 1,640 words, photos.

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TOP STORIES

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NEW-YEAR’S-EVE — From Sydney to Vladivostok, communities around the world have begun welcoming 2025 with spectacular light shows, embraces and ice plunges. Auckland became the first major city to celebrate. Countries in the South Pacific Ocean are the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball drop in Times Square in New York. By Charlotte Graham-McLay. SENT: 830 words, photos, video, audio. Find a selection of New Year's Eve related photos in AP Newsroom.

MIDEAST-WARS-NEW-YEAR — The streets were buzzing with excitement in Damascus as Syrians welcomed in a new year that seemed to many to bring a promise of a brighter future after the unexpected fall of Bashar Assad’s government weeks earlier. While Syrians in the capital looked forward to a new beginning after the ousting of Assad, the mood was more somber along Beirut’s Mediterranean promenade. By Ghaith Alsayed, Wafaa Shurafa and Lujain Jo. SENT: 790 words, photos. WITH: MIDEAST-WARS-THE-LATEST

TRUMP-MAR-A-LAGO-THE SCENE — President-elect Donald Trump calls his Mar-a-Lago resort the “center of the universe.” Famous figures such as Elon Musk, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pop up at events held daily at the opulent club. Over the weekend, Mike Love of the Beach Boys performed the band’s hits under a tent at Mar-a-Lago as Trump wandered through the crowd and swung his fists to the music. By Adriana Gomez Licon and Michelle L. Price. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.

JIMMY-CARTER-GLOBAL-DEMOCRACY — Jimmy Carter helped expand democracy around the world long after he left the White House. His efforts gave rise to the Carter Center, which promotes fair elections as a vehicle for peace. It has monitored 125 elections in 40 countries and three tribal nations since it first started the work in 1989. By Farai Mutsaka and Christina A. Cassidy. SENT: 800 words, photos. With AP-WAS-THERE-CAMP-DAVID-PEACE-AGREEMENT — AP WAS THERE: Carter announces Middle East peace agreement; CARTER-US MARKETS CLOSED — Major U.S. markets will close on Jan. 9 in honor of Carter. For more on Jimmy Carter, visit the AP's Carter obit page in Newsroom.

GUANTANAMO-911-CASE – A military appeals court has ruled against Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s effort to throw out the plea deals reached for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants in the 9/11 attacks. The decision Monday night puts back on track the agreements that would have the three men plead guilty in exchange for being spared the possibility of the death penalty. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by al-Qaida killed nearly 3,000 people. By Ellen Knickmeyer. SENT: 615 words, photos, audio.

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SPOTLIGHTING VOICES

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CONGRESS-TRANSGENDER TRAILBLAZER — Sarah McBride will be sworn in as the first openly transgender member of Congress on Jan. 3. The Democrat’s political victory comes during a reckoning for transgender rights, and after an election filled with campaign ads and politicians demeaning trans people. By Tiffany Stanley. SENT: 1,680 words, photos, video. WITH: CONGRESS-TRANSGENDER TRAILBLAZER-TAKEAWAYS.

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YEAR END STORIES

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WINTER-ARC-CHALLENGE — A new year brings new goals. But studies have shown that most people don’t tend to uphold their New Year’s resolutions much past the first month. So in an attempt to reframe the thinking around new year goal-setting, a new wellness trend has popped up online. It’s called the ’Winter Arc,’ and it involves utilizing the cold, dark earlier months of winter to turn inward and get a jumpstart on goals. SENT: 690 words, photo.

YE-2024-THE-YEAR-OF-THE-PICKLE? — When did we know for sure? Was it April, when Nature Made introduced its pickle-flavored gummy vitamins? Was it November, when Petco’s “Pickle Mania” promotion offered 26 different pickle-themed toys for dogs and cats? Maybe it was the day last month that a food scholar was heard to utter, “Everyone can kind of see their needs met by pickles.” Tangy Pickle Doritos. Grill Mates Dill Pickle Seasoning for your steak. Pickle mayonnaise, pickle hummus, pickle cookies, pickle gummies. Spicy pickle challenges. Pickleback shots at the bar. By AP National Writer Ted Anthony. SENT: 1,270 words, photos.

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RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Russia launched an aerial attack on Ukraine, striking the capital and other regions with multiple missiles and drones. Minutes after Ukraine’s air force reported a ballistic missile threat overnight, at least two explosions were heard in Kyiv. SENT: 540 words, photo.

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MORE NEWS

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FUMES-IN-COCKPIT-SEATTLE — Fumes in the cockpit prompts Hawaiian flight’s return to Seattle. SENT: 195 words, photo.

BELGIUM-MARATHON-WOMAN — Belgian ultra runner Hilde Dosogne feels she has done all it takes to become the first woman to run a marathon every single day of the year. She only has the paperwork left to send to the Guinness World Records so it can vet and approve her record. SENT: 520 words, photos.

PUERTO-RICO-POWER-OUTAGE – Nearly all of Puerto Rico is without power on New Year’s Eve. SENT: 745 words, photos.

BRITAIN-WEATHER — Wind, rain and the threat of floods play the spoiler for New Year’s festivities in the U.K. SENT: 400 words, photos, video.

BRITAIN-JEWELRT-HEIST — Thief swipes $13 million in jewels, handbags and cash from a London mansion. SENT: 215 words, photos.

TEN-DABROWSKI-CANCER — Wimbledon finalist Gabriela Dabrowski reveals she played through 2024 after breast cancer diagnosis. SENT: 320 words, photo.

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WASHINGTON/ POLITICS

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VOTING-BALLOT SIGNATURES — The use of mail ballots exploded in 2020 as states looked for ways to accommodate voters during the COVID-19 pandemic. But a consistent problem has surfaced since then: Hundreds or even thousands of ballots being rejected because the signatures on the return envelope don’t match the ones on file. It’s led to a lawsuit over a close county government race in Hawaii and calls for reform in Nevada, where 9,000 mail ballots were rejected, mostly over signature problems. SENT: 1,180 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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SUBWAY-BURNING — New York Police announced they’ve identified the woman who died on Dec. 22 after being set on fire while inside a New York subway train as a 57-year-old from New Jersey. SENT: 450 words, photos, video.

COLD-CASE-KILLER-IDENTIFIED — A man fatally shot last month as authorities attempted to serve him an indictment on federal gun charges has been identified as the killer of an 18-year-old Ohio woman whose beating death had gone unsolved for 43 years. SENT: 615 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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SOUTH-KOREA-PLANE-FIRE — A team of U.S. investigators including representatives from Boeing examined the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea while authorities were conducting safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines. SENT: 650 words, photos, video, audio.

ELECTION-2024-RUSSIA-IRAN-SANCTIONS — The U.S. has imposed sanctions on two groups linked to Russian and Iranian disinformation campaigns targeting this year’s election. Treasury officials announced the actions, saying the two groups sought to spread false claims designed to stoke political tension and undermine the candidates ahead of November’s vote. SENT: 415 words.

PANAMA-CANAL-ANNIVERSARY — Panama celebrated the 25th anniversary of the U.S. handover of the Panama Canal, which president-elect Donald Trump has threatened to take back. SENT: 500 words, photos, video.

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HEALTH & SCIENCE ————————————————

SCI-METEOR-SHOWER — The Quadrantid meteor shower will be the year’s first chance to see fireballs in the sky. A waning crescent moon means good visibility under clear and dark conditions. These meteors usually don’t have long trains, but the heads may appear as bright fireballs. NASA says Friday’s peak may reveal as many as 120 meteors per hour. SENT: 340 words, photo.

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BUSINESS

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FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Stock market today: Wall Street indexes lose ground as market closes another record-breaking year. SENT: 760 words, photo.

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ENTERTAINMENT

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OBIT-AARON-BROWN — Aaron Brown, a veteran television news anchor whose steady hand helped guide CNN viewers through the unfolding tragedy of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has died. CNN, citing a statement from Brown’s family, reported that he died Sunday. A cause of death was not given. He was 76. SENT: 480 words, photo.

ENT-FILM-WALLACE-AND-GROMIT — The cheese-loving English inventor Wallace and his loyal dog Gromit are coming back to the small screen. “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” debuts Friday on Netflix. It’s their first feature film since the Oscar-winning “Curse of the Were-Rabbit,” from 2005, and brings back a fan favorite as a villain. SENT: 980 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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HKN-WINTER-CLASSIC — Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks took the train to work. Carrying their sticks and skates and dressed in custom “Team Chicago” gear, the Blackhawks used one of the city’s famed elevated trains to travel to Wrigley Field for their matchup with the St. Louis Blues in the NHL Winter Classic. SENT: 425 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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At the Nerve Center, Randy Herschaft 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.

A drone follows Antti Aalto, of Finland, as he soars through the air during his qualification jump at the second stage of the 73rd Four Hills ski jumping tournament in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Stefan Kraft, of Austria, goes down the ramp during training at the second stage of the 73rd Four Hills ski jumping tournament in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Cambodian dancers perform during the "Celebrating Cambodia" event as part of the New Year's Eve in front of Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A boy walks barefoot through the mud after overnight rainfall at the refugee tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

An Army soldier who died in an explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck at the Trump hote l in Las Vegas left a note saying it was stunt to serve as “wakeup call” for the country’s ills, investigators said Friday.

Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Green Beret from Colorado Springs, Colorado, also wrote in the note that he needed to “cleanse my mind” of the lives lost of people he knew and “the burden of the lives I took.”

Livelsberger apparently harbored no ill will toward President-elect Donald Trump, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officials said.

“Although this incident is more public and more sensational than usual, it ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who was struggling with PTSD and other issues,” FBI Special Agent In Charge Spencer Evans said at a news conference.

The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people but virtually no damage to the hotel. Authorities said Friday that Livelsberger acted alone.

“This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wakeup call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives,” Livelsberger wrote in a letter found by authorities who released only excerpts of it.

Investigators identified the Tesla driver — who was burned beyond recognition — as Livelsberger by a tattoo and by comparing DNA from relatives. The cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, according to coroners officials.

Pentagon officials have declined to say whether Livelsberger may have been suffering from mental health issues but say they have turned over his medical records to police.

Authorities excerpted the messages from two letters Livelsberger wrote using a cellphone note application, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said.

The letters covered a range of topics including political grievances, domestic issues and societal issues, Koren said.

Tesla engineers, meanwhile, helped extract data from the Cybertruck for investigators, including Livelsberger’s path between charging stations from Colorado through New Mexico and Arizona and on to Las Vegas, Koren said.

“We still have a large volume of data to go through,” Koren said. “There’s thousands if not millions of videos and photos and documents and web history and all of those things that need to be analyzed.”

The new details came as investigators sought to determine Livelsberger’s motive, including whether he sought to make a political point with the Tesla and the hotel bearing the president-elect’s name.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently become a member of Trump’s inner circle. Neither Trump nor Musk was in Las Vegas early Wednesday, the day of the explosion. Both had attended Trump’s New Year’s Eve party at his South Florida estate.

Musk spent an estimated $250 million during the presidential campaign to support Trump, who has named Musk, the world’s richest man, to co-lead a new effort to find ways to cut the government’s size and spending.

Investigators suspect Livelsberger may have been planning a more damaging attack but the steel-sided vehicle absorbed much of the force from the crudely built explosive.

Investigators said previously that Livelsberger shot himself inside the Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks just before it exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day.

“It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology,” Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBI’s special agent in charge, said Thursday.

Asked Friday about whether Livelsberger had been struggling with any mental health issues that may have prompted his suicide, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters that “the department has turned over all medical records to local law enforcement.”

A law enforcement official said investigators learned through interviews that he may have gotten into a fight with his wife about relationship issues shortly before he rented the Tesla in Colorado on Saturday and bought the guns. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Among the charred items found inside the truck were a handgun at Livelsberger’s feet, another firearm, fireworks, a passport, a military ID, credit cards, an iPhone and a smartwatch, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Kevin McMahill said. Authorities said both guns were purchased legally.

Livelsberger served in the Green Berets, highly trained special forces who work to counter terrorism abroad and train partners. He had served in the Army since 2006, rising through the ranks with a long career of overseas assignments, deploying twice to Afghanistan and serving in Ukraine, Tajikistan, Georgia and Congo, the Army said. He had recently returned from an overseas assignment in Germany and was on approved leave when he died, according to a U.S. official.

He was awarded a total of five Bronze Stars, including one with a valor device for courage under fire, a combat infantry badge and an Army Commendation Medal with valor.

Authorities searched a townhouse in Livelsberger's hometown of Colorado Springs Thursday as part of the investigation. Neighbors said the man who lived there had a wife and a baby.

Cindy Helwig, who lives diagonally across a narrow street separating the homes, said she last saw the man she knew as Matthew about two weeks ago when he asked her if he could borrow a tool he needed to fix an SUV he was working on.

“He was a normal guy,” said Helwig, who said she last saw the wife and baby earlier this week.

The explosion of the truck, packed with firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, came hours after 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar rammed a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing at least 14 people before being shot to death by police. The FBI says they believe Jabbar acted alone and that it is being investigated as a terrorist attack.

Copp, Richer and Long reported from Washington. Contributing were Associated Press journalists Rio Yamat, Ken Ritter and Ty ONeil in Las Vegas; Colleen Slevin in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles.

A car drives out of Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

Investigators search a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Parker Seibold /The Gazette via AP)

Investigators search the garbage outside of a townhouse in northeastern Colorado Springs, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the investigation connected to the explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck outside President-elect Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel continues. (Parker Seibold /The Gazette via AP)

This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows a passport belonging to Matthew Livelsberger, found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)

A Tesla Cybertruck pulls into Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows items found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)

This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows a weapon found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)

This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows the Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)

This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows an ID belonging to Matthew Livelsberger, found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)