AP News Digest 3 a.m.

APTOPIX Hong Kong Tiananmen Anniversary (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan at https://newsroom.ap.org.

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TOP STORIES

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FAUCI-ATTACKS — Anthony Fauci has been a lightning rod since the early days of the pandemic, villainized by the right and lionized by the left. But since the release of a trove of Fauci’s emails, Republicans are sensing a political opening to escalate their attacks on the nation’s top government infectious-disease expert. By Jill Colvin and Zeke Miller. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.

UFOS — UFOs are making a splash in Washington. The U.S. government has been taking a hard look at unidentified flying objects, under orders from Congress, and a report summarizing what officials know is expected to come out this month. An alien unmasking is not likely. By Nomaan Merchant and Calvin Woodward. SENT: 1,370 words, photos, video.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-AFGHANISTAN — Afghanistan is battling a brutal surge in COVID-19 infections as health officials plead for vaccines, only to be told by the World Health Organization that the 3 million doses the country expected to receive by April won’t be delivered until August. By Kathy Gannon. SENT: 950 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-SPAIN-PILGRIM'S PATH — Committing to the pilgrim’s path has for centuries been a source of renewal for those willing to put their lives on hold and spend days, weeks or even months crossing Spain along the Camino de Santiago. After a year of being kept off the Way of St. James due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, soul-searchers hoping to heal wounds left by the coronavirus are once again strapping on backpacks and walking o the reported burial place of the apostle. By JOSEPH WILSON and IAIN SULLIVAN. SENT: 1,180 words, photos.

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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

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NICARAGUA-OPPOSITION — US calls on Nicaragua to free opposition figure Chamorro. SENT: 410 words, photo.

NRA-LAWSUIT — NRA drops countersuit, will fight New York AG in state court. SENT: 390 words.

OFFICER-AND-TEEN-DROWN — Mass. officer drowns trying to save teen who also died. SENT: 170 words, photos.

OBAMA-LIBRARY — Obama: Presidential center will promote Chicago’s South side. SENT: 360 words.

CAMBODIA-RAT HERO RETIRES — Mine-sniffing rat Magawa ends years of hard work in Cambodia. SENT: 290 words, photo.

ROYAL-CARRIBEAN-CRUISES — Royal Caribbean sets 2021 cruises in Florida, Texas, Alaska. SENT: 280 words, photo.

ODE TO BILLY JOE-MEMORIAL — Mississippi group honors fictional man in ‘Ode to Billy Joe’. SENT: 240 words, photos.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CALIFORNIA-VACCINE JACKPOT — California Gov. Gavin Newsom plays gameshow host in a drawing for 15 winners of $50,000 prizes for getting vaccinated against the coronavirus. SENT: 590 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-HUNGER — The Department of Agriculture is sending $1 billion to the country’s food bank networks, seeking to expand the reach of the system and revamp the way food banks acquire and distribute aid. SENT: 350 words, photo.

HAWAII-VACCINATIONS — Hawaii Gov. David Ige says that the state will drop its quarantine and COVID-19 testing requirements for travelers once 70% of the state’s population has been vaccinated against the disease. Hawaii will also lift its requirement that people wear masks indoors once that level has been reached, he says. SENT: 340 words.

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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BIDEN-ENDANGERED SPECIES — The Biden administration says it is reviewing a host of actions by the Trump administration to roll back protections for endangered or threatened species, with a goal of strengthening the landmark law while addressing climate change. By Matthew Daly. SENT: 840 words, photos.

CONGRESS-INFRASTRUCTURE — Senate Republicans pan President Biden’s latest infrastructure proposal and are expected to make a new offer as talks grind toward next week’s deadline for a bipartisan deal. By Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking. SENT: 920 words, photos.

ELECTION-2021-NYC-MAYOR — A second woman has come forward with sexual misconduct accusations against mayoral candidate and City Comptroller Scott Stringer, saying he groped her and made unwanted advances when she worked as a waitress in 1992 at a bar he ran. SENT: 380 words, photos.

ELECTION-2021-FORTWORTH-MAYOR — Fort Worth is electing a new mayor in a race that resembles a Texas battleground and could lead to key decisions over policing in one of America’s largest cities as a former officer awaits trial over the 2019 fatal shooting of a Black woman. SENT: 460 words, photos.

JUSTICE-DEPARTMENT-REPORTERS-RECORDS — The FBI issued a subpoena demanding U.S. newspaper giant Gannett provide agents with information to track down readers of a USA Today story about a suspect in a child pornography case who fatally shot two FBI agents in February. SENT: 850 words, photos.

CAPITOL BREACH-INTERNET TROLL — A federal magistrate has declined to order house arrest for a far-right internet troll charged in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after court officials raised concerns about his recent encounters with police officers in Arizona. SENT: 530 words, photos.

EX-CONGRESSWOMAN-REVENGE PORN — Former California congresswoman Katie Hill has been ordered to pay about $220,000 in attorneys’ fees to a British tabloid and two conservative journalists she had sued after the publication of intimate photos without her consent. SENT: 550 words, photo.

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INTERNATIONAL

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MYANMAR — Representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met with Myanmar’s junta leader, six weeks after an emergency regional summit on the coup in the country drew promises of progress toward a solution but produced no tangible results. SENT: 590 words, photo.

NORTH KOREA — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has presided over a meeting of his ruling party in his first public appearance in about a month, and called for a larger political conference to discuss efforts to salvage a decaying economy. SENT: 530 words, photos.

UNITED NATIONS-AFGHAN-TALIBAN — Taliban insurgents show no sign of reducing the level of violence in Afghanistan to facilitate peace negotiations with the government, and appear to be trying to strengthen their military position as leverage, with the “unprecedented violence” of 2020 carrying into 2021, U.N. experts say in a new report. SENT: 840 words.

UNITED-NATIONS-ETHIOPIA-FAMINE — The U.N. humanitarian chief has warned that famine is imminent in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region and the country’s north and there is a risk that hundreds of thousands of people or more will die. SENT: 540 words, photo.

CANADA-INDIGENOUS-SCHOOL-DEATHS — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is “deeply disappointed” the Roman Catholic Church has not offered a formal apology and made amends for its role in Canada’s former system of church-run Indigenous boarding schools after the remains of 215 children were located at what was once the country’s largest such institution. SENT: 700 words, photos.

VATICAN-CASTEL-GANDOLFO-PHOTO-GALLERY — As COVID-19 restrictions are lifted in Italy, thousands of people are heading to see the extensive gardens and apartments at the Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo in the Alban Hills near Rome. SENT: 390 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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CALIFORNIA-ASSAULT-WEAPONS — A federal judge has overturned California’s three-decade-old ban on assault weapons, ruling that it violates the constitutional right to bear arms. SENT: 890 words.

POLICE-SHOOTING-ATLANTA — A judge has granted a request from the district attorney in Atlanta to recuse her office from prosecuting the police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks and instructed the state attorney general to appoint another prosecutor. SENT: 620 words, photo.

GEORGE-FLOYD-OFFICERS-CIVIL-RIGHTS — A magistrate judge has delayed until September the arraignment of four former Minneapolis police officers charged with federal civil rights violations in George Floyd’s death, ruling that the case is complex and not subject to time restraints under the Speedy Trial Act. SENT: 350 words, photos.

POLICE-SHOOTING-NASHVILLE — A prosecutor has accused attorneys for a white Nashville police officer of a “character assassination” attempt against the Black man he’s charged with fatally shooting in 2018 as the officer’s first-degree murder trial approaches next month and courtroom tensions mount. SENT: 520 words.

WEST-VIRGINIA-GOVERNOR-LOANS — In a new court filing, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice blamed a bankrupt U.K. bank for fraudulently inducing him into personally guaranteeing $700 million in loans that were taken out by his companies. SENT: 490 words, photo.

MISSING-WOMAN-COLORADO — An arrest warrant affidavit for a Colorado man charged with murder in the death of his wife who disappeared last year will remain sealed, a judge rules, saying that release of the document could harm the couple’s daughters and witnesses in the case and hinder Barry Morphew’s ability to prepare his own defense. SENT: 350 words, photo.

CREMATORY-SHUTDOWN-ORDER — State licensing officials have ordered a southeastern Michigan company to stop performing cremations after an anonymous complaint of improperly stored bodies, heavy smoke and leaking bodily fluids on the premises. SENT: 270 words.

SHOT OVER HEADPHONES — A young man serving life without parole has been exonerated Friday in a case stained by a Philadelphia detective now charged with sexually assaulting witnesses. Authorities say the victim was killed over a pair of $300 headphones. SENT: 630 words.

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HEALTH & SCIENCE

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MED-FDA-OBESITY-DRUG — Regulators said a new version of a popular diabetes medicine could be sold as a weight-loss drug in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy, a higher-dose version of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug semaglutide, for long-term weight management. SENT: 700 words.

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BUSINESS/ECONOMY

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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Stocks were higher on Wall Street after a lukewarm report on the job market raised hopes the Federal Reserve will keep the accelerator floored on its support for the economy. SENT: 400 words, photo.

WALMART-THANKSGIVING — Walmart says it will close its U.S. stores on Thanksgiving for the second consecutive year. SENT: 210 words, photo.

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SPORTS

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BKN--NBA PLAYOFFS — The path to the NBA championship -- usually with a big roadblock in the form of LeBron James -- is as clear as it has ever been. At least half the teams left in the playoffs have never won an NBA title, and there’s only a handful of players with rings. By Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 4 p.m.

TEN--FRENCH OPEN — PARIS -- Serena Williams, yelling at herself to play better, rallies in the second set to beat Danielle Collins in the third round of the French Open. Third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka did not fare as well, leaving the women’s draw without its top three seeds. By Samuel Petrequin and Andrew Dampf. SENT: 850 words, photos. With Latest (sent), Notebook (sent), glance (sent). Sidebars on Silent Nights (sent), arrest/match fixing (sent).

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HOW TO REACH US

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