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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RUSSIA-PUTIN; FEDERAL RESERVE-STATEMENT; BRITAIN-CHURCH OF ENGLAND-ABUSE; GIULIANI-ELECTION MISINFORMATION; STELLANTIS-LAYOFFS

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ONLY ON AP

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ELECTION-2024-VOTECAST-KEY-GROUPS — Donald Trump won the presidency after holding tight to his core base of voters and slightly expanding his coalition to include several groups that have traditionally been a part of the Democratic base. That finding comes from AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide that shows what issues mattered to voters in this election. By Linley Sander. SENT: 670 words, photo, audio.

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TOP STORIES

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ELECTION 2024-BIDEN — Joe Biden’s name wasn’t on the ballot, but history will likely remember Kamala Harris’ resounding defeat as his loss too. As Democrats pick up the pieces after President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory, some of the vice president’s backers are expressing frustration that Biden’s decision to seek reelection until this summer — despite long-standing voter concerns about his age and unease about post-pandemic inflation as well as the U.S.-Mexico border — all but sealed his party’s surrender of the White House. By Aamer Madhani. SENT: 1,260 words, photos, video, audio.

TRUMP-TRANSITION — President-elect Donald Trump is launching one of the defining tests of his next administration: building the team that will help him run the government. His first go-around provides some key lessons as he gets ready for a second. By White House Correspondent Zeke Miller. UPCOMING: 900 words, photos by 7 p.m.

REL-2024-TRUMP-EVANGELICALS — After former President Donald Trump gave his victory speech at the Palm Beach Convention Center, dozens of his supporters gathered in a lobby to sing “How Great Thou Art,” reciting from memory the words and harmonies of a classic hymn, popular among evangelical Christians. It was a fitting coda to an election in which Trump once again won the support of about 8 in 10 white evangelical Christian voters, according to AP VoteCast. By Peter Smith. SENT: 1,260 words, photos.

ELECTION-2024-CONGRESS — Republican leaders project confidence that they will keep control of the U.S. House as more races were decided in their favor, while Democrats insisted they still see a path toward the majority and sought assurances every vote will be counted. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 920 words, photos.

CALIFORNIA-WINDS-WILDFIRES — A wildfire northwest of Los Angeles has burned out of control for a second day Thursday after destroying dozens of homes, but officials said firefighters could get a break with fierce winds expected to subside by evening. By Marcio J. Sanchez, Christopher Weber and Stefanie Dazio. SENT: 1,030 words, photos, videos, audio. Find a selection of related photos in AP Newsroom. With NEW-JERSEY-FOREST-FIRES — Crews battling 2 wildfires in New Jersey, where conditions are driest in nearly 120 years. (sent)

FEDERAL-RESERVE — The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point in response to the steady decline in the once-high inflation that had angered Americans and helped drive Donald Trump’s presidential election victory this week. By Christopher Rugaber. SENT: 1,080 words, photos, audio. With FEDERAL-RESERVE-STATEMENT — Text of the policy statement by the Federal Reserve (sent).

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MIDEAST WARS

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ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-DEPORTATION-LAW — Israel’s parliament has passed a law that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers, including the country’s own citizens, to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or other locations. SENT: 740 words, photos.

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RUSSIA UKRAINE WAR

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RUSSIA UKRAINE WAR — Dozens of Russian drones have targeted the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in a nighttime attack that lasted eight hours. Russia was keeping up its relentless pounding of Ukraine after almost 1,000 days of war. SENT: 420 words, photos.

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MORE NEWS

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GIULIANI-ELECTION-MISINFORMATION — Giuliani is ordered again to turn over cherished assets as part of a $148M judgment against him. SENT: 390 words, photos, audio.

CHRISTMAS-TREE-ROCKEFELLER-CENTER — A giant Norway spruce that will serve as this year’s Rockefeller Christmas tree is en route to New York City from its tiny Massachusetts hometown. SENT: 510 words, photos, video.

FRANCE-NOTRE-DAME-BELLS – Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral, whose historic bells were silenced following 2019’s devastating fire, will soon echo again with fresh chimes. SENT: 480 words, photos, video.

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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ELECTION 2024-CAPITOL RIOT — Rioters who stormed the Capitol after Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat are reveling in his return to the White House. SENT: 1,000 words, photos. With CAPITOL RIOT-SENTENCING — A man who smashed glass panels on a door at the Capitol is sentenced to eight years in prison (sent).

RUSSIA-PUTIN — Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory in his first public comment on the U.S. vote, and he praised the president-elect’s courage during the July assassination attempt. SENT: 390 words, photos.

ELECTION-2024-TRUMP-NEWSOM — California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump, on Thursday called for lawmakers to convene a special session ahead of another Trump presidency to safeguard the state’s progressive policies. Meanwhile, attorneys general in blue states across the country announced they were also gearing up for a legal fight. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.

ELECTION-2024-IRAN-US — Iranians are divided on what Donald Trump’s next presidency will bring: Some foresee an all-out war between Tehran and Washington, particularly as other conflicts rage in the region. Others hold out hope that America’s 47th president might engage in unexpected diplomacy as he did with North Korea. But nearly all believe something will change in the U.S.-Iran relationship. SENT: 980 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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TEENS-KILLED-INDIANA — A murder trial in the small Indiana town of Delphi was wrapping up after weeks of testimony and evidence surrounding the fate of two teenage girls who vanished during a winter hike in 2017. Years passed before authorities announced an arrest, jailing a man who lived and worked in the same town. SENT: 800 words, photos.

BUS-ROLLS-OVER — A bus with more than two dozen passengers aboard rolled over on a highway in upstate New York, critically injuring one person and sending others to hospitals, police said. SENT: 270 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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TROPICAL-WEATHER — Cuba was left reeling after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island, destroying hundreds of homes, knocking out the country’s power grid and damaging other infrastructure. No fatalities were immediately reported in Cuba, and Hurricane Rafael had weakened to a Category 2 storm. SENT: 610 words, photos, videos, audio.

MOZAMBIQUE-PROTESTS-EXPLAINER — Thousands are protesting in Mozambique’s capital and police are responding by firing tear gas and rubber bullets as weeks of post-election unrest continued in the southern African country. It was sparked by a vote last month that will keep the ruling party in power for more than a half-century amid allegations of rigging. SENT: 720 words, photos, video.

BRITAIN-CHURCH OF ENGLAND-ABUSE — The Church of England covered up “horrific” abuse by a lawyer who volunteered at Christian summer camps in the 1970s and 1980s, and the ceremonial head of the Anglican Communion failed to report him to authorities when he learned of the abuse in 2013, according to an independent review. SENT: 630 words, photo.

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BUSINESS

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STELLANTIS-LAYOFFS — About 1,100 workers at the Stellantis Jeep factory in Toledo, Ohio, are facing layoffs early next year as the company takes further steps to cut high inventory at dealerships. SENT: 440 words.

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HEALTH & SCIENCE

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SCI-POMPEII-ANCIENT-DNA — When a volcanic eruption buried the ancient city of Pompeii, the last desperate moments of its citizens were preserved for centuries. Observers see stories in the figures, like a mother holding a child and two women embracing as they are buried in ash. But new DNA evidence suggests these prevailing interpretations come from looking at the ancient world through modern eyes. Scientists discovered that the person thought to be a mother was actually a man unrelated to the child. SENT: 530 words, photos.

CLIMATE-PRIVATE-JETS — A new study says private jet carbon pollution soared 46% from 2019 to 2023. Thursday’s study figures about a quarter million of the super wealthy last year emitted 17.2 million tons of carbon dioxide flying in private jets. That’s about the same amount of carbon pollution as generated by the 67 million people who live in Tanzania. SENT: 880 words, photo.

MED-BIRD-FLU — Federal health officials are calling for more testing and treatment of workers on farms with bird flu. The new guidance comes after new study showed that some dairy workers had signs of infection, even when they didn’t report feeling sick. Blood tests of 115 workers on farms in Michigan and Colorado showed that eight workers had antibodies that indicated previous infection. SENT: 520 words, photo.

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SPORTS

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FBN-BENGALS-RAVENS — When the Bengals and Ravens played earlier this season, neither defense was up to the challenge. The question now is whether anything has change -- or will Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow drive up and down the field again? UPCOMING: 750 words, photos. Game starts at 8:15 p.m.

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HOW TO REACH US

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At the Nerve Center, Jerome Minerva 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.

Chimo carries his dog Lou as he walks through the muddy streets after the floods in in Masanasa, Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A migrant cradles a child as he walks along the Huixtla highway hoping to reach the country's northern border and ultimately the United States, in Huehuetan, southern Mexico, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

CORRECTS CAR - Firefighters and sheriff's deputies push a vintage car away from a burning home as the Mountain Fire burns in Camarillo, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Smoke and fire rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Israelis light a bonfire during a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu near his residence in Jerusalem, a day after he dismissed his defence minister Yoav Gallant, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A billboard that displays a photo of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and reads "Congratulations! Trump, make Israel great" is projected a day after the U.S. election, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Vice President Kamala Harris gestures as she delivers a concession speech for the 2024 presidential election, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Supporters look on as Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a concession speech for the 2024 presidential election, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, on the campus of Howard University in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Trump supporter Diana Trouy, center, waves an American flag along the El Curtola Boulevard overpass in Lafayette, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

BEIRUT (AP) — Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the militant leader whose stunning insurgency toppled Syria’s President Bashar Assad, has spent years working to remake his public image, renouncing longtime ties to al-Qaida and depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. In recent days, the insurgency even dropped his nom de guerre and began referring to him by his real name, Ahmad al-Sharaa.

The extent of that transformation from jihadi extremist to would-be state builder is now put to the test.

Insurgents control capital Damascus, Assad has fled into hiding, and for the first time after 50 years of his family’s iron hand, it is an open question how Syria will be governed.

Syria is home to multiple ethnic and religious communities, often pitted against each other by Assad’s state and years of war. Many of them fear the possibility Sunni Islamist extremists will take over. The country is also fragmented among disparate armed factions, and foreign powers from Russia and Iran to the United States, Turkey and Israel all have their hands in the mix.

The 42-year-old al-Golani -- labeled a terrorist by the United States -- has not appeared publicly since Damascus fell early Sunday. But he and his insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS – many of whose fighters are jihadis -- stand to be a major player.

For years, al-Golani worked to consolidate power, while bottled up in the province of Idlib in Syria’s northwest corner as Assad’s Iranian- and Russian-backed rule over much of the country appeared solid.

He maneuvered among extremist organizations while eliminating competitors and former allies. He sought to polish the image of his de-facto “salvation government” that has been running Idlib to win over international governments and reassure Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities. And he built ties with various tribes and other groups.

Along the way, al-Golani shed his garb as a hard-line Islamist guerrilla and put on suits for press interviews, talking of building state institutions and decentralizing power to reflect Syria’s diversity.

“Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional, no one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions,” he said in an interview with CNN last week, offering the possibility HTS would eventually be dissolved after Assad falls.

“Don’t judge by words, but by actions,” he said.

Al-Golani’s ties to al-Qaida stretch back to 2003, when he joined extremists battling U.S. troops in Iraq. The Syrian native was detained by the U.S. military but remained in Iraq. During that time, al-Qaida usurped like-minded groups and formed the extremist Islamic State of Iraq, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

In 2011, a popular uprising against Syria’s Assad triggered a brutal government crackdown and led to all-out war. Al-Golani’s prominence grew when al-Baghdadi sent him to Syria to establish a branch of al-Qaida called the Nusra Front. The United States labeled the new group as a terrorist organization. That designation still remains in place and the U.S. government has put a $10 million bounty on him.

As Syria’s civil war intensified in 2013, so did al-Golani’s ambitions. He defied al-Baghdadi’s calls to dissolve the Nusra Front and merge it with al-Qaida’s operation in Iraq, to form the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

Al-Golani nonetheless pledged his allegiance to al-Qaida, which later disassociated itself from ISIS. The Nusra Front battled ISIS and eliminated much of its competition among the Syrian armed opposition to Assad.

In his first interview in 2014, al-Golani kept his face covered, telling a reporter for Qatari network Al-Jazeera that he rejected political talks in Geneva to end the conflict. He said his goal was to see Syria ruled under Islamic law and made clear that there was no room for the country’s Alawite, Shiite, Druze and Christian minorities.

In 2016, al-Golani revealed his face to the public for the first time in a video message that announced his group was renaming itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham -– the Syria Conquest Front -- and cutting its ties to al-Qaida.

“This new organization has no affiliation to any external entity,” he said in the video, filmed wearing military garb and a turban.

The move paved the way for al-Golani to assert full control over fracturing militant groups. A year later, his alliance rebranded again as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham -– meaning Organization for Liberating Syria -- as the groups merged, consolidating al-Golani’s power in northwest Syria’s Idlib province.

HTS later clashed with independent Islamist militants who opposed the merger, further emboldening al-Golani and his group as the leading power in northwestern Syria, able to rule with an iron fist.

With his power consolidated, al-Golani set in motion a transformation that few could have imagined. Replacing his military garb with shirt and trousers, he began calling for religious tolerance and pluralism.

He appealed to the Druze community in Idlib, which the Nusra Front had previously targeted, and visited the families of Kurds who were killed by Turkish-backed militias.

In 2021, al-Golani had his first interview with an American journalist on PBS. Wearing a blazer, with his short hair gelled back, the now more soft-spoken HTS leader said that his group posed no threat to the West and that sanctions imposed against it were unjust.

“Yes, we have criticized Western policies,” he said. “But to wage a war against the United States or Europe from Syria, that’s not true. We didn’t say we wanted to fight.”

Syrian opposition fighters stand atop a seized military armored vehicle on the outskirts of Hama, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian opposition fighters stand atop a seized military armored vehicle on the outskirts of Hama, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Syrian opposition fighters seize ammunition abandoned by the army in the town of Khan Assubul, Syria, southwest of Aleppo, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Insurgents launched a two-pronged attack on Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

FILE - This undated photo released by a militant group in 2016, shows Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of Syria's al-Qaida affiliate, second from right, discussing battlefield details with commanders in Aleppo, Syria. (Militant UGC via AP, File)