Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
1. WHO'S IN THE SPOTLIGHT FOR GOP
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz enters the latest Republican presidential debate with a burst of momentum, a robust campaign infrastructure, and as a target for Donald Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
2. FALLOUT FROM SLAVE FISHERMEN SERIES CONTINUES
The president of seafood giant Thai Union promises change and expresses frustration after the AP found shrimp entering its supply chain was being peeled by slaves.
3. HOW A KILLER DESCRIBES HIS CRAFT
Some 26,000 Mexicans have been reported missing nationwide since 2007, and AP's E. Eduardo Castillo interviews one man responsible for 30 of them.
4. SAUDIS FORM COUNTERTERRORISM COALITION
The kingdom says that 34 nations agree to form a new "Islamic military alliance" to fight terrorism with a joint operations center based in Riyadh, but Iran, Iraq, Syria and Oman are notable absentees.
5. WHAT CONDITIONS PHYSICIANS ARE FACING IN IRAQ
Doctors are increasingly facing harassment and assaults by disgruntled relatives of patients, and the threats are spurring them to either turn down cases or seek work abroad.
6. STUDY: WHAT'S DRIVING U.S. JAIL POPULATION GROWTH
A first-of-its-kind data set shows that mid-sized and small counties drive the overall growth in the nation's jail population.
7. THE FORCE IS WITH NEWEST 'STAR WARS' FRANCHISE
Audiences cheer new and familiar characters at the world premiere of "The Force Awakens" in Los Angeles.
8. SUFFIX STARS AS WORD OF THE YEAR
Merriam-Webster picks the small but powerful "ism" as its top word.
9. SIRI VS. CORTANA VS. 'OK GOOGLE': WHO'S BETTER, WHO'S BEST
AP finds that Cortana's learning the neighborhood. Google's digital assistant can't tell a joke. And Siri apparently has a thing for the metric system.
10. DON SHULA ROOTING FOR SON TO GO 19-0
The Hall of Fame coach is rooting for the Carolina Panthers to join his 1972 Miami Dolphins as an undefeated Super Bowl champion. Shula's son Mike is Carolina's offensive coordinator.