BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Naomi Osaka’s first win at the elite level since becoming a mother didn’t come easily. But it did come on Day 1 of the year. That’s two items Osaka has checked off the list for her comeback to professional tennis. The former No. 1-ranked Osaka was broken while serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set and needed three match points before converting in the tiebreaker for a 6-3, 7-6 (9) victory over Tamara Korpatsch in the first round of the Brisbane International. The former U.S. and Australian Open champion pulled out of the 2023 Australian Open in Melbourne before later revealing she was pregnant.

BANGKOK (AP) — A survey of factory managers in China shows manufacturing contracted in December in the latest sign the world’s second-largest economy remains sluggish. The official purchasing managers index, or PMI, fell to 49 last month in what officials said was evidence of weak demand. It was the third straight month of contraction. The PMI is on a scale up to 100 where 50 marks the cutoff between expansion and contraction. The index has fallen in eight of the past nine months, with an increase only in September. Despite unexpectedly prolonged weakness after the pandemic, the economy is estimated to have grown at an annual pace of about 5% last year.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jordan Love threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score to put the Green Bay Packers in control of a spot in the playoffs with a 33-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Aaron Jones rushed for 120 yards and Jayden Reed had two touchdown catches as the Packers moved to 8-8. They can get the NFC’s last wild-card spot by beating Chicago at home next week. Green Bay moved above the cut when Seattle lost earlier in the day. The Vikings fell to 7-9. They benched Jaren Hall for Nick Mullens in another quarterback switch.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s minimum-wage workers had more than just the new year to celebrate Monday, with a pay bump kicking in as the clock ticked over to 2024.

In the first of a series of annual increases slated for the Empire State, the minimum wage increased to $16 in New York City and some of its suburbs, up from $15. In the rest of the state, the new minimum wage is $15, up from $14.20.

The state’s minimum wage is expected to increase every year until it reaches $17 in New York City and its suburbs, and $16 in the rest of the state by 2026. Future hikes will be tied to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, a measurement of inflation.

New York is one of 22 states getting minimum wage rises in the new year, according to a recent report by the Economic Policy Institute.

In California, the minimum wage increased to $16, up from $15.50, while in Connecticut it increased to $15.69 from the previous rate of $15.

This most recent pay bump in New York is part of an agreement made last year between Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature. The deal came over the objections of some employers, as well as some liberal Democrats who said it didn’t go high enough.

The federal minimum wage in the United States has stayed at $7.25 per hour since 2009, but states and some localities are free to set higher amounts. Thirty states, including New Mexico and Washington, have done so.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Ron DeSantis is underscoring how much Iowa means to him, campaigning there into the waning hours of 2023. The Florida governor held a New Year’s Eve event in a Sheraton Hotel ballroom in West Des Moines, where jeans and cowboy boots outnumbered tuxedos and cocktail dresses. Roughly 200 people turned out for the last campaign event of the busy year in Iowa. DeSantis has wagered the future of his Republican bid for president on the leadoff Iowa caucuses, just two weeks away. He asked his supporters if they were “ready to work hard over these next two weeks and win the Iowa caucuses.”

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his military to “thoroughly annihilate” the United States and South Korea if provoked, state media reported Monday, after he vowed to boost national defense to cope with what he called an unprecedented U.S.-led confrontation.

Kim is expected to ramp up weapons tests in 2024 ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November. Many experts say he likely believes his expanded nuclear arsenal would allow him to wrest U.S. concessions if former President Donald Trump is reelected.

In a five-day major ruling party meeting last week, Kim said he will launch three more military spy satellites, produce more nuclear materials and develop attack drones this year in what observers say is an attempt to increase his leverage in future diplomacy with the U.S.

In a meeting on Sunday with commanding army officers, Kim said it is urgent to sharpen “the treasured sword” to safeguard national security, an apparent reference to his country’s nuclear weapons program. He cited “the U.S. and other hostile forces’ military confrontation moves,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim stressed that “our army should deal a deadly blow to thoroughly annihilate them by mobilizing all the toughest means and potentialities without moment’s hesitation” if they opt for military confrontation and provocations against North Korea, KCNA said.

In his New Year’s Day address Monday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said he will strengthen his military’s preemptive strike, missile defense and retaliatory capabilities in response to the North Korean nuclear threat.

“The Republic of Korea is building genuine, lasting peace through strength, not a submissive peace that is dependent on the goodwill of the adversary,” Yoon said, using South Korea’s official name.

At the party meeting, Kim called South Korea “a hemiplegic malformation and colonial subordinate state” whose society is “tainted by Yankee culture.” He said his military must use all available means including nuclear weapons to “suppress the whole territory of South Korea” in the event of a conflict.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry warned in response that if North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, South Korean and U.S. forces will punish it overwhelmingly, resulting in the end of the Kim government.

Experts say small-scale military clashes between North and South Korea could happen this year along their heavily armed border. They say North Korea is also expected to test-launch intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the mainland U.S. and other major new weapons.

In 2018-19, Kim met Trump in three rounds of talks on North Korea’s expanding nuclear arsenal. The diplomacy fell apart after the U.S. rejected Kim’s offer to dismantle his main nuclear complex, a limited step, in exchange for extensive reductions in U.S.-led sanctions.

Since 2022, North Korea has conducted more than 100 missile tests, prompting the U.S. and South Korea to expand their joint military drills. North Korea has also tried to strengthen its relationships with China and Russia, which blocked efforts by the U.S. and its partners in the U.N. Security Council to toughen U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its weapons tests.

KCNA said Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged New Year’s Day messages on Monday on bolstering bilateral ties. North Korea faces suspicions that it has supplied conventional arms for Russia’s war in Ukraine in return for sophisticated Russian technologies to enhance the North’s military programs.

Estimates of the size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal vary, ranging from about 20-30 bombs to more than 100. Many foreign experts say North Korea still has some technological hurdles to overcome to produce functioning nuclear-armed ICBMs, though its shorter-range nuclear-capable missiles can reach South Korea and Japan.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge will allow Mississippi officials to move forward with creating a state-run court in part of the majority-Black capital city of Jackson. Attorneys for NAACP say the new court undermines democracy because local voters or local elected officials won’t choose its judge or prosecutors. The Capitol Complex Improvement District Court will have a judge appointed by the state Supreme Court chief justice and prosecutors appointed by the state attorney general. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate late Sunday dismissed requests to block the new court that was created by the majority-white and Republican-controlled Mississippi Legislature. Jackson is governed by Democrats.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Harrison Butker was a career-best 6 for 6 on field-goal attempts, and Kansas City held the Bengals without a point over their final seven possessions in a 25-17 victory that clinched the Chiefs’ eighth straight AFC West title. Patrick Mahomes had 245 yards passing and a touchdown for Kansas City, which also secured at least the No. 3 seed and one home playoff game. The Bengals had one last chance, and Jake Browning hit Tyler Boyd to convert a long fourth down and get into Kansas City territory in the closing minutes. But back-to-back sacks by George Karlaftis and Chris Jones ended their comeback hopes.

SEATTLE (AP) — Najee Harris rushed for a season-high 122 yards and bullied his way into the end zone for a pair of touchdowns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive into Week 18 with a 30-23 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Using a punishing running attack that faced little resistance from Seattle, the Steelers pushed their way into the final week of the regular season with a chance at the postseason and ensured that Mike Tomlin’s team would yet again avoid a losing record. Pittsburgh thrived against Seattle’s run defense that has been awful for more than half the season and finished with 202 yards rushing and a season-high 468 total yards.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — James Conner ran for a 2-yard touchdown with 32 seconds remaining, Kyler Murray threw three TD passes, and the Arizona Cardinals rallied from a 15-point deficit to stun Philadelphia 35-31 and disrupt the Eagles’ playoff path. Former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon returned to Philly and got his biggest win yet as Arizona’s coach. Granted, there haven’t been many of them for the Cardinals. But the playoff-bound Eagles’ fourth loss this month was a huge setback to their standing in the NFC. Dallas now has the inside track to win the NFC East and San Francisco has locked up the top seed in the conference.