AP News Digest 3:40 am

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

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ONLY ON AP

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FLEEING AFGHANISTAN-MIDDLE AMERICA — The U.S. soldiers called them “Caroline’s guys.” They Afghan men transformed farms in a war zone — risking their lives for the program she built. Now Caroline Clarin is trying to save them one by one, and hosting families in her small Minnesota town. By Julie Watson. SENT: 2,210 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 910 words is also available.

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TOP STORIES

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VIRUS OUTBREAK — Last year with the pandemic raging, travelers were urged to stay home. Not this year. With more people vaccinated, expect to see busier roads and airports as family and friends gather again for Thanksgiving and the December holidays. By Airlines Writer David Koenig. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-GERMANY-100K-DEATHS — Germany is set to mark 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 this week, passing a somber milestone that several of its neighbors crossed months ago but which Western Europe’s most populous nation had hoped to avoid. By Daniel Niemann and Frank Jordans. SENT: 780 words, photos.

CHRISTMAS-PARADE-SUV — An 8-year-old boy became the sixth person to die as a result of a man driving his SUV into a suburban Milwaukee Christmas parade, with a criminal complaint alleging that the suspect in the case steered side-to-side with the intent of striking marchers and spectators. Darrell Brooks Jr., 39, was charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide, a charge that carries a mandatory life sentence if convicted. By Scott Bauer. SENT: 890 words, photos, video.

BIDEN-GAS PRICES-CLIMATE — Democrats and climate activists generally supported President Joe Biden’s decision to release a record 50 million barrels of oil from America’s strategic reserve, even as the move appeared to contradict his long-term vision of combating climate change. By Matthew Daly. SENT: 890 words, photos. With STRATEGIC-PETROLEUM-RESERVE-EXPLAINER — What is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?

AHMAUD-ARBERY-GEORGIA-TRIAL — Jury deliberations were scheduled to resume for a second day in the trial of three white men charged with chasing and killing Ahmaud Arbery after the 25-year-old Black man was spotted running in their coastal Georgia neighborhood. The disproportionately white jury received the case around and spent about six hours deliberating before adjourning without a verdict in the trial of father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan. By Russ Bynum. SENT: 300 words, photos.

ASTEROID-DEFENSE-TEST —NASA launched a spacecraft Tuesday night on a mission to smash into an asteroid and test whether it would be possible to knock a speeding space rock off course if one were to threaten Earth. By John Antczak. SENT: 400 words, photos, video.

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TRENDING NEWS

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MISSING-TRAVELER — Officials: Brian Laundrie fatally shot himself in the head. SENT: 360 words, photos.

TRIPLE-MURDER-WRONGFUL-CONVICTION — Missouri man exonerated in three killings, free after four decades. SENT: 930 words, photos, video.

AUSTRALIA-BARRIER-REEF — Australia’s Barrier Reef erupts in color as corals spawn. SENT: 200 words, photos.

T-MOBILE-OUTAGE-SETTLEMENT — T-Mobile to pay $20 million after outage led to failed 911 calls. SENT: 180 words, photos.

MARSHON-LATTIMORE-ARREST — Saints’ Lattimore pleads guilty to misdemeanor gun charge. SENT: 170 words, photo.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW ZEALAND — New Zealand will reopen its borders to the world over the coming months, the government says, allowing for the return of displaced residents from January and tourists from April. SENT: 400 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-SOUTH-KOREA — New coronavirus infections in South Korea exceeded 4,000 in a day for the first time since the start of the pandemic as a delta-driven spread continues to rattle the country after it eased social distancing in recent weeks to improve its economy. SENT: 450 words, photos.

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WASHINGTON

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CONGRESS-BUDGET — Painful Republican amendments, restrictive rules and Joe Manchin lurk as Democrats negotiate further changes for Biden’s $2 trillion package of social and climate initiatives. SENT: 980 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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UNITE THE RIGHT RALLY-TRIAL — A jury ordered 17 white nationalist leaders and organizations to pay more than $26 million in damages over the violence that erupted during the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017. SENT: 1,020 words, photos.

NEWPORT-HEIRESS-DEATH-WITNESS — The city manager in Newport, Rhode Island, is standing by the city police department’s review of the 1966 death of an employee of wealthy heiress Doris Duke that found — like the original investigation — it was all an accident. SENT: 480 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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GERMANY-POLITICS — The three parties negotiating to form Germany’s next government will finalize and present their coalition agreement, the environmentalist Greens say. SENT: 110 words. UPCOMING: Developing, will be updated, photos.

AUSTRALIA-TERRORIST-ORGANIZATIONS — Australia intends to add far-right extremist group The Base and the entirety of the Lebanese group Hezbollah to its list of outlawed terrorist organizations as national security services grapple with a surge in neo-Nazi cells and other ideologically motivated extremists. SENT: 500 words, photo.

TURKEY-UAE — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hosting Abu Dhabi’s powerful crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates seek to repair their tense relations and increase economic cooperation. SENT: 390 words.

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BUSINESS/ECONOMY

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THERANOS-FOUNDER-FRAUD TRIAL — Biotechnology entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes a former billionaire accused of engineering a massive medical scam, expressed some remorse while on the witness stand, but denied trying to conceal that her company’s blood-testing methods weren’t working as she had promised. By Technology Writer Michael Liedtke. SENT: 710 words, photos.

SAMSUNG-CHIP-FACTORY — Samsung says it plans to build a $17 billion semiconductor factory outside of Austin, Texas, amid a global shortage of chips used in phones, cars and other electronic devices. By Technology Writer Matt O’Brien. SENT: 960 words, photo.

ECONOMY-GDP — The Commerce Department issues its second of three estimates of how the U.S. economy performed in the third quarter of 2021. By Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger. UPCOMING: 130 words after 8:30 a.m. release, then expanded, photos.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS — The Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. By Economics Writer Paul Wiseman. UPCOMING: 130 words after release of report at 8:30 a.m., then expanded, photo.

FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Asian shares mostly fell as worries about inflation set off expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve might move faster than anticipated to raise interest rates. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 600 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS — So much to be decided heading into this week’s Thanksgiving college football feast. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. SENT: 1,100 words, photos.

AROUND THE NHL — Injuries and COVID-19 protocol absences have muddled the NHL standings throughout the first quarter of the season. By Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno. SENT: 740 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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