Here are the AP’s top stories and promotable content. All times U.S. Eastern. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit AP Newsroom’s Coverage Plan.

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NATIONAL

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US--COLORADO-PSYCHEDELIC THERAPY

Psychedelic therapy begins in Colorado, causing tension between conservatives and veterans

SUMMARY: Colorado becomes the second state to allow psychedelic therapy this week after two years of rulemaking. State residents voted in 2022 to decriminalize psilocybin, the chemical compound found in psychedelic mushrooms. But in conservative Colorado Springs, some have sought to restrict the places where the therapy can be administered. The proposed restrictions pitted some of the 90,000 veterans who call the city home against conservative leaders wary of too liberal a drug policy. Combat veterans have become surprising advocates for psychedelic therapy as a PTSD treatment. Research on psychedelic drugs in treating mental health conditions is in its early stages, and some remain concerned that scientists and doctors don’t yet know enough for the treatment to be safe.

WORDS: 1013 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 01:28 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:99fc5a0703d85daa0903d5a2b2acc9be

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US--FIREWORKS DEATHS-HAWAII

A fireworks explosion in the Honolulu area has killed 2 people and injured 20

SUMMARY: Authorities say two people died and another 20 were injured in a New Year’s Eve fireworks explosion in a Honolulu-area neighborhood. According to the Honolulu Fire Department, the accident occurred just before midnight outside a home. The neighborhood is near Honolulu’s international airport and a joint U.S. Air Force and Navy base. Authorities said Wednesday that two people were declared dead at the scene, and the other 20 victims were transported to hospitals. The Honolulu Fire Department said it was investigating the cause of the blast and had no details about how it occurred. The victims were not immediately identified.

WORDS: 155 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 12:57 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:1075a875d2f881516dde4e412d21fd7d

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US--JIMMY CARTER-FAITH

Jimmy the Baptist: Carter redefined ‘evangelical,’ from campaigns to race and women’s rights

SUMMARY: Former President Jimmy Carter was widely known as a man of faith, a born-again Christian who defined himself as a progressive evangelical. He felt called to help others, teaching Baptist Sunday school, building homes with Habitat for Humanity and eradicating diseases across the developing world. David Gergen was a White House adviser to four presidents. He said most people go to Washington in search of power, while Carter searched for our national soul. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said some conservatives use the Bible as a weapon and some liberals invoke faith to signal their virtue. But he said Carter demonstrated a third way — that faith demands making yourself useful to others.

WORDS: 1689 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 12:21 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:93343181bb9fac49723470c7e10561d1

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US--NEW-ORLEANS-CAR INTO CROWD-VEHICLE ATTACKS

New Orleans New Year’s Day ramming is the latest attack to use a vehicle as a deadly weapon

SUMMARY: Police say a person who drove a pickup truck at high speed into a crowd of people celebrating the new year in New Orleans was hell-bent on creating carnage. While a motive for the attack that killed at least 10 people early Wednesday has yet to be revealed, the FBI is investigating it as a terrorist act. Several such attacks have taken place over the past two decades, some inspired by extremist politics and others blamed on mental illness or misogyny. What authorities call “vehicle as a weapon attacks” have reshaped cities around the world, with planners erecting concrete barriers around public spaces and building anti-vehicle obstacles in new developments.

WORDS: 900 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 11:53 a.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:8af368ea95bea1eec9bc15ebaf43f7ec

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US--NEW ORLEANS-CAR INTO CROWD-WHAT TO KNOW

What we know after a driver crashes into pedestrians on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, killing 10

SUMMARY: Authorities say a driver in a pickup truck sped through a crowd of pedestrians gathered on New Orleans’ bustling French Quarter district early on New Year’s Day, killing 10 people and injuring more than 30 other revelers. The attack occurred on Bourbon Street, known worldwide as one of the largest destinations for New Year’s Eve parties, and with crowds in the city in anticipation of the Sugar Bowl college football playoff game later Wednesday at the nearby Superdome. Two police officers were also injured in a shootout with the suspect, who the FBI says died after that firefight with police. The FBI says it is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism.

WORDS: 503 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 10:50 a.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:1685016388d65039ce62e720aab2ba14

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US--OBIT-HARRY CHANDLER

Harry Chandler, Navy medic who survived Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, dies at 103

SUMMARY: A Navy medic who helped pull injured sailors from the oily waters of Pearl Harbor after the 1941 Japanese attack on the naval base has died at the age of 103. Harry Chandler’s family says he died at a senior living center in Tequesta, Florida on Monday. He had congestive heart failure but his doctors and nurses noted his advanced age when giving a cause of death. Chandler was a hospital corpsman 3rd Class when waves of Japanese fighter planes dropped bombs and fired machine guns on battleships in the harbor. He first thought the aircraft were American planes flying from the U.S. mainland until they started releasing munitions.

WORDS: 639 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 02:15 a.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:22e11aa91195ffd719ea9e4351322064

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US--FLORIDA-SCHOOL-PAYOUT

Hundreds apply for restitution for abuse suffered at Florida reform schools

SUMMARY: Hundreds of people who say they suffered physical or sexual abuse at two state-run reform schools in Florida are in line to receive tens of thousands of dollars in restitution from the state, after Florida lawmakers formally apologized for the horrors they endured as children more than 50 years ago. Ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline, the state of Florida received more than 800 applications for restitution from people held at what is now known as the Dozier School for Boys and its sister school in Okeechobee, Fla., attesting to the abuse they endured at the hands of school personnel.

WORDS: 534 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 12:07 a.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:c1f1bcd546b8134605e56a83c4629d1f

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US--SUBWAY BURNING

Woman burned to death in New York subway is identified as 57-year-old from New Jersey

SUMMARY: New York City police say they’ve identified the woman who died earlier this month after being set on fire while asleep in a New York subway train. The victim is 57-year-old Debrina Kawam of New Jersey. She had worked at the pharmaceutical giant Merck from 2000 until 2002, but New York’s social services department said she recently had briefly been in a city homeless shelter. Thirty-three-year-old Sebastian Zapeta has been indicted on murder and arson charges in her Dec. 22 death. He hasn’t entered a plea. Police identified

WORDS: 643 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 06:23 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:688e2ebd46f0eb8f5c9e3430cf2b4bd5

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US--COLD CASE-KILLER IDENTIFIED

The killing of an 18-year-old Ohio woman was solved with DNA technology after 43 years

SUMMARY: 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. Mansfield Police Chief Jason Bammann said Debra Lee Miller’s case was reopened in 2021. New DNA technology produced “staggering” evidence that James Vanest, Miller’s then-neighbor, killed her in her apartment on April 29, 1981. County prosecutors were preparing a case against him when Vanest was shot dead in a Canton-area motel standoff with federal marshals and local SWAT officers on Nov. 18.

WORDS: 649 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 05:45 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:117aa486e09bf3990bf557907157c254

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US--FUMES-IN-COCKPIT-SEATTLE

Fumes in the cockpit prompts Hawaiian flight’s return to Seattle

SUMMARY: A Hawaiian Airlines flight bound for Honolulu was forced to return to the Seattle airport shortly after takeoff due to fumes in the cockpit. The FAA initially said it was smoke but changed it to fumes. The Airbus A330 took off at about 1 p.m. Monday from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport carrying 273 passengers and 10 crew members. An airline spokesperson says the crew reported fumes in the cabin and the captain declared an emergency. The plane returned to Seattle and everyone safely deplaned. An airport spokesperson says once the plane was clear, the Port of Seattle Fire Department boarded but did not find any smoke or smell. The FAA is investigating.

WORDS: 206 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 05:18 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:434bfb5a253757a17d5b5e5d6ef177ad

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US--OBIT-AARON BROWN

Former CNN anchor Aaron Brown, who helped viewers through the Sept. 11 attacks, has died

SUMMARY: 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. A family spokeswoman says Brown died Sunday of pneumonia in Washington, D.C., where he lived. He was 76. Brown’s first day on camera at CNN was Sept. 11, 2001, and his anchoring from a Manhattan rooftop immediately thrust him into a major role there. As the second tower fell that morning, Brown responded with the horror most viewers no doubt felt. He said, “Good lord. There are no words.” His coverage of the attacks earned Brown the Edward R. Murrow Award.

WORDS: 504 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 03:27 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:2cd2b53255908cfecfe56d491f1b1e89

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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US--TRUMP-CARTER

Trump says he is planning to attend Jimmy Carter’s funeral

SUMMARY: President-elect Donald Trump says he’s planning to attend the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. Asked about it as he walked into a New Year’s Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trump responded, “I’ll be there.” Trump said he’d rather not say if he’d spoken to members of Carter’s family. Funeral services honoring Carter, who died Sunday at age 100, will be held in Georgia and Washington, beginning Jan. 4. Trump says he thinks 2025 will be a “great year.”

WORDS: 439 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 08:20 a.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:2d7fc241ff0be4eb99b9c6547010bd03

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US--TRUMP-MAR-A-LAGO-THE SCENE

Trump calls it the ‘center of the universe.’ Mar-a-Lago is a magnet for those seeking influence

SUMMARY: 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. Sightings of those passing through offer a glimpse into the workings of Trump’s incoming White House, how he is setting priorities for his administration and what some VIPs are doing to curry favor.

WORDS: 1269 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 10:42 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:4a7dfb1cec7607962ed5ca8d3ddfa347

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US--SUPREME COURT-ANNUAL REPORT

Chief Justice John Roberts defends judicial independence, says it is under threat in several ways

SUMMARY: Chief Justice John Roberts issued a defense Tuesday of judicial independence, which he said is under threat from intimidation, disinformation and the prospect of public officials defying court orders. Roberts decried officials across the political spectrum who have raised the possibility of defying court orders and said other branches of government must be willing to enforce court orders even if they are unpopular or mark a defeat for a presidential administration. He laid out his concerns in an annual report released as Donald Trump prepares to start another term as president with an ambitions agenda that could end up before the Supreme Court.

WORDS: 562 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 08:06 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:1e11fa540245a8c629c90772674ea8f7

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US--ELECTION 2024-RUSSIA-IRAN-SANCTIONS

US imposes sanctions on Russian and Iranian groups over disinformation targeting American voters

SUMMARY: 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 Tuesday, saying the two groups sought to spread false claims designed to stoke political tension and undermine the candidates ahead of November’s vote. Officials say the Russian organization worked with Russian military intelligence and used artificial intelligence to create fake videos about American candidates. The Iranian group is accused of working at the direction of Iran’s military to spread disinformation aimed at inciting voters. Both countries have rejected accusations that they sought to meddle with the election.

WORDS: 474 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 07:19 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:959d3f36ffc81f3e5d07386122076e7e

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US--GUANTANAMO-9/11 CASE

The Pentagon chief loses bid to reject 9/11 plea deals

SUMMARY: 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. The military judge hearing the 9/11 case said Austin lacked standing to throw out the plea deals after they were underway. That had set up the Defense Department’s appeal to the military appeals court.

WORDS: 663 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 02:00 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:279abd0342a84dc2694941c07f51c6bb

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INTERNATIONAL

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NEW YEAR’S EVE

The world welcomes 2025 with light shows, embraces and ice plunges

SUMMARY: From Sydney to Mumbai to Paris to Rio de Janeiro, communities around the world are welcoming 2025 with spectacular light shows, embraces and ice plunges. Auckland became the first major city to celebrate. Countries in the South Pacific Ocean were the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball dropped in Times Square in New York. Conflict muted acknowledgements of 2025 in places like the Middle East, Sudan and Ukraine. American Samoa will be among the last to welcome the New Year, a full 24 hours after New Zealand.

WORDS: 1054 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 01:28 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:d272e3c02dd0a0c39be1ef06634ff3f3

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US--NEW ORLEANS-CAR INTO CROWD

Driver rams New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, killing 10. FBI investigating as ‘act of terrorism’

SUMMARY: Authorities say a driver wrought carnage on New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on New Year’s Day, killing 10 people as he rammed a pickup truck into a crowd before being shot to death by police. More than 30 people were injured as Wednesday’s attack turned festive Bourbon Street into macabre mayhem. The FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism. Authorities are looking into whether other people may have been involved. The driver was identified as 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar. That is according to six law enforcement officials who spoke to The Associated Press. The officials were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

WORDS: 1127 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 01:26 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:63a1b43d615af365cb8ba6f5f0583eca

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ML--MIDEAST-WARS

Israeli strikes kill 12 in Gaza, including children, as war grinds into the new year

SUMMARY: Palestinian medics say Israeli strikes have killed at least 12 people in Gaza, mostly women and children. The nearly 15-month war is grinding on into the new year. One man carrying the body of a child shouted: “Are you celebrating? Enjoy as we die. For a year and a half, we have been dying.” The Israeli military says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in dense residential areas. Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,000 Palestinians and that women and children make up more than half the dead.

WORDS: 899 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 01:12 p.m. EST

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AS--SOUTH KOREA-PLANE FIRE

South Korea air crash investigators extract black box data as grieving families mourn the victims

SUMMARY: Grieving relatives of the victims of the South Korean plane disaster have visited the crash site to pay respects to their loved ones on New Year’s Day. All but two of the 181 people on board the Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air died when it crashed in Muan International Airport in southern South Korea on Sunday. Bereaved families visited the site on Wednesday for the first time since the crash, taking turns to lay white flowers. A memorial table was set up with food, including “ddeokguk,” a Korean rice cake soup eaten on New Year’s Day.

WORDS: 429 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 08:16 a.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:904b15ec24a543c99e3c8e416af3a0a7

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CB--PUERTO RICO-POWER OUTAGE

Nearly all of Puerto Rico is without power on New Year’s Eve

SUMMARY: A blackout has hit nearly all of Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory prepares to celebrate New Year’s. More than 1.3 million clients were without electricity early on Tuesday and officials say it could take up to two days to restore power. The private company that oversees electricity transmission and distribution says it appears the outage was caused by a failure in an underground power line. Puerto Rico continues to struggle with chronic power outages blamed on a crumbling power grid that was razed by Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm in September 2017.

WORDS: 841 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 10:22 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:b594dc464d469b812dc9b65c76cc16e9

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US--SOUTH KOREA ADOPTION FRAUD-PARENTS

South Korean adoptees and families rocked by fraud allegations

SUMMARY: 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. The reporting shook adoption communities around the world with details about how agencies competed for babies — pressuring mothers, bribing hospitals, fabricating documents. 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?

WORDS: 1721 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 04:39 p.m. EST

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:fa035f2b7b57358f71e0b7cca4c20f85

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YE--DEATHS

The year in review: Influential people who died in 2024

SUMMARY: It was a life that took him from peanut farming to the presidency. While former President Jimmy Carter’s time in the White House only lasted one term, the decades afterward were defined by humanitarian work that affected people all around the world. Carter was the nation’s longest-lived president when he died in December at age 100. But he was just one of many influential and noteworthy people who died in 2024. Alexei Navalny, who died in prison in February, was a fierce political foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin. And the music industry lost a titan in producer Quincy Jones, who died in November.

WORDS: 7430 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 03:51 p.m. EST

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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

SUMMARY: Stock indexes closed mostly lower on Wall Street on the final day of another record-setting year. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% Tuesday, but still managed to rack up a gain of 23.3% for the year, its second straight year with gains of more than 20%. The last time it had back-to-back yearly gains that big was 1998. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.9%. Big Tech stocks led this year’s rally, pushing the Nasdaq composite to a yearly gain of 28.6%. The Dow, which is far less weighted with tech, rose 12.9% for the year.

WORDS: 841 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 05:39 p.m. EST

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RELIGION

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EU-REL--POPE-VATICAN-ABORTION

Pope calls for commitment to protect life as he doubles down on abortion in New Year’s Day message

SUMMARY: Pope Francis ushered in the New Year with an appeal for the faithful to reject abortion, calling for a “firm commitment” to protect and respect life from conception to natural death. Francis celebrated a New Year’s Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday that was dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus. In his homily, he prayed that everyone learns to care for “every child born of a woman” and to protect “the precious gift of life.” In recent years, Francis has been speaking out much more emphatically about abortion than he did at the start of his pontificate.

WORDS: 437 - MOVED: 01/01/2025 01:11 p.m. EST

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ENTERTAINMENT

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ENT--FILM-BLAKE LIVELY-JUSTIN BALDONI

Blake Lively sues ‘It Ends With Us’ director Justin Baldoni alleging harassment and smear campaign

SUMMARY: Actor Blake Lively has sued the director of the film “It Ends With Us” alleging harassment on the set and a coordinated campaign to smear her reputation. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday, just hours after the director, Justin Baldoni, and several others tied to the film filed their own lawsuit against The New York Times, alleging it coordinated with Lively to smear them. Lively’s suit filed in federal court in New York says the director schemed with publicists to plant negative stories about her. Baldoni’s suit says it was Lively and the Times that engaged in a scheme to smear his reputation. The Times said it stands by its reporting.

WORDS: 918 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 11:29 p.m. EST

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ENT--JOLIE-PITT DIVORCE

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt reach divorce settlement after 8 years

SUMMARY: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have reached a divorce settlement, ending one of the longest and most contentious divorces in Hollywood history. The two filed a court document Monday saying they’d reached a written agreement. Jolie’s attorney says she is exhausted but relieved. Pitt’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The two Oscar winners were among Hollywood’s most prominent couples for 12 years. She filed for divorce in 2016 after a private flight where she said he was abusive to her and their children. A judge declared the two single in 2019, but they still had to split assets and child custody.

WORDS: 984 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 04:19 p.m. EST

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SPORTS

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HKN--OVECHKIN-CHASING GRETZKY

Alex Ovechkin is on track to break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record

SUMMARY: Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals is chasing the NHL career goals record of 894 held by Wayne Gretzky. Ovechkin entered the season 42 goals short of breaking a record that long seemed unapproachable. He missed 16 games with a broken leg but resumed his pursuit in December.

WORDS: 355 - MOVED: 12/31/2024 04:08 p.m. EST

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