AP News Digest 3 a.m.

APTOPIX Afghanistan (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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AFGHANISTAN — Tens of thousands of people in Afghanistan have waited nervously to see whether the United States would deliver on President Joe Biden’s new pledge to evacuate all Americans and all Afghans who aided the war effort, as U.S. helicopters plucked people from locations beyond the teeming, chaotic Kabul airport and its Taliban checkpoints. By Ahmad Seir and Rahim Faiez. SENT: 370 words, photos. With AFGHANISTAN-THE-LATEST.

AFGHANISTAN-REFUGEES-NOT-WELCOMED — European Union leaders haunted by a 2015 migration crisis fueled by the Syrian war desperately want to avoid a large-scale influx of migrants and refugees from Afghanistan. Except for those who helped Western forces in the two-decade war against the Taliban, the message to any Afghans considering fleeing to Europe is: If you must leave, go to neighboring countries. By Karl Ritterf and Mehmet Guzel. SENT: 1,140 words, photos.

BIDEN — Authority over America’s longest war finally fell into President Joe Biden’s hands this year, and he insisted that the U.S. withdraw from Afghanistan, settling on an August 31 deadline. And despite the rapid collapse of the Afghan government earlier this week, spurring a humanitarian crisis and searing criticism, he was resolute. By Jonathan Lemire and Zeke Miller. SENT: 1,160 words, photos. With BIDEN-AFGHANISTAN — Biden pledges firmly to bring all Americans home from Afghanistan — and all Afghans who aided the war effort, too. SENT: 1,140 words, photos, video.

AFGHANISTAN-IT’S PERSONAL — For senior military and Pentagon leaders, this week’s news was profoundly personal. The photos and videos pouring out of Afghanistan hit a nerve, and triggered searingly vivid flashbacks to battles fought, troops lost and tears shed during their own deployments there. By Lolita C. Baldor. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.

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MORE ON AFGHANISTAN

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AFGHANISTAN-TALIBAN-ONLINE — Taliban websites that delivered the victorious insurgents’ official messages to Afghans and the world at large in five languages went offline abruptly, indicating an effort to try to squelch them. SENT: 380 words, photo.

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TRENDING NEWS

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CHINA-POPULATION — China allows couples third child amid demographic crisis. SENT: 550 words.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VIETNAM — Vietnam’s government has said it is sending troops to Ho Chi Minh City to help deliver food and aid to households as it further tightens restrictions on people’s movements amid a worsening surge of the coronavirus. SENT: 350 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-TEXAS-MASK-EXPLAINER — The legal battle over whether Texas communities can require students and others to wear masks in response to the current surge in COVID-19 cases remains entangled in a series of lawsuits, orders and appeals. SENT: 780 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-WATER LIMITS — The mayor of the Florida city of Orlando asked residents on Friday to stop watering their lawns and washing their cars immediately, saying water usage needed to be cut back because of the recent surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations. SENT: 300 words, photo.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-ANTIBODY DRUGS — A photo showing a handful of COVID patients, too sick to stand, laying on the floor while waiting for antibody infusions has become a vivid illustration of the huge demand a coronavirus treatment that has grown in popularity during the summer surge. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-SOUTH-AFRICA-VACCINES — Faced with slowing numbers of people getting COVID-19 vaccinations, South Africa has opened eligibility to all adults to step up the volume of inoculations as it battles a surge in the disease driven by the delta variant. SENT: 715 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-TEXAS-LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR — Texas’ lieutenant governor blamed rising hospitalization and death rates from COVID-19 on unvaccinated Black people — comments that were quickly denounced as racist. SENT: 720 words, photo.

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WASHINGTON

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BIDEN-IMMIGRATION COURTS - The Supreme Court is temporarily halting a judge’s order that would have forced the government to reinstate a Trump administration policy forcing thousands to wait in Mexico while seeking asylum in the U.S. Sent: 600 words, with photos.

CAPITOL-BREACH-ARRESTS — The host of a program for the right-wing website Infowars, Owen Shroyer, has been charged in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to court documents. SENT: 630 words, photo.

BIDEN-AMBASSADORS — President Biden nominates former senior State Department official Nicholas Burns to serve as his ambassador to China and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to serve as his envoy to Japan. SENT: 1,140 words, photos.

SUSPICIOUS TRUCK-COURT APPEARANCE — A man who claimed he had a bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol tells a federal judge he has not taken his “mind medication” and is ordered to undergo a mental competency hearing. SENT: 470 words, photos.

VOTING BILLS-TEXAS — The sudden end of Texas Democrats’ 38-day walkout has put Republicans back on a fast track to pass a sweeping voting bill and is causing rifts among some Democrats who said Friday they felt “betrayed” by colleagues who returned to the state Capitol. SENT: 440 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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MALAYSIA-POLITICS — Malaysia’s new Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob will be sworn in, bringing back the rule of the country’s longest-governing political party, but he faces a tall task in uniting a polarized society and reviving a slumping economy amid a worsening pandemic. SENT: 700 words, photos.

NORTH-KOREA-US — U.S. President Joe Biden’s special envoy for North Korea arrived in South Korea for discussions over stalled nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang. SENT: 560 words, photos.

TROPICAL-WEATHER-MEXICO — Hurricane Grace has crossed over Mexico’s Gulf shore as a major Category 3 storm, drenching small fishing towns and beach resorts as it made its second landfall in the country in two days. SENT: 530 words, photos.

BRAZIL-BOLSONARO-BANK — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has begun expressing irritation at the central bank’s newfound autonomy as surging inflation presents a threat to his 2022 reelection prospects, government officials told The Associated Press. SENT: 660 words, photos.

BRAZIL-BOLSONARO-SUPREME-COURT — President Jair Bolsonaro has asked Brazil’s Senate to impeach a Supreme Court justice — a largely symbolic move that shows he has little desire to ease tensions with the judiciary. SENT: 610 words, photos.

VENEZUELA-LAWSUIT — A former Miami congressman who was once roommates with Sen. Marco Rubio has countersued a U.S. affiliate of Venezuela’s state oil company in a politically charged dispute over a $50 million consulting contract he signed with Nicolás Maduro’s government. SENT: 480 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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CALIFORNIA-RECALL-ELDER — A day after facing allegations that he emotionally mistreated a former fiancee, Republican Larry Elder scheduled two weekend rallies and showed no outward signs of altering the course of his campaign in the California recall election that could remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom from office. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.

WESTERN WILDFIRES — Crews were digging in and burning out fire lines amid fears that another round of high winds will bring renewed fury to a Northern California wildfire. SENT: 650 words, photos.

IMMIGRATION-SEPARATED FAMILIES — Several parents who were separated from their children on the U.S.-Mexico border during former President Donald Trump’s administration has asked the Homeland Security Secretary for permanent legal residency in the United States and compensation, said the mother of two of the children. SENT: 710 words, photos.

BOYS-SCOUTS-BANKRUPTCY — Attorneys for the Boy Scouts of America are postponing a key bankruptcy hearing that was scheduled to start next week, following a court ruling that casts uncertainty on the future of the case. SENT: 660 words.

FLOODING-ARIZONA — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Friday toured a small community where recent flooding inundated homes and led to two deaths, part of a trail of destruction in the state unleashed by a fierce monsoon season. SENT: 630 words, photos.

INVESTIGATION-TRACKED-REAX — A Democratic senator has said the U.S. Justice Department needs to look into whether the algorithm-powered police technologies it funds contribute to racial bias in law enforcement and lead to wrongful arrests. SENT: 620 words, photos.

MEDIA-DESANTIS-REPORTER-HARASSMENT — The Associated Press called on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to end “harassing behavior” by one of his press aides against an AP reporter who has received threats and other online abuse. SENT: 650 words, photos.

COLUMBUS-ZOO-INVESTIGATION — Trustees of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium said that financial abuses by four former executives cost the institution more than $630,000, a new detail in the scandal that has marred the reputation of one of the nation’s largest zoos. SENT: 270 words, photos.

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BUSINESS

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APP-BASED-DRIVERS-CALIFORNIA — A judge Friday struck down a California ballot measure that exempted Uber and other app-based ride-hailing and delivery services from a state law requiring drivers to be classified as employees eligible for benefits and job protections. SENT: 300 words.

GENERAL-MOTORS-BOLT-RECALL — General Motors is recalling all Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles sold worldwide to fix a battery problem that could cause fires. The recall raises questions about lithium ion batteries, which now are used in nearly all electric vehicles. SENT: 400 words, photos.

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ENTERTAINMENT

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OBIT-TOM T. HALL — Tom T. Hall, the singer-songwriter who composed “Harper Valley P.T.A.” and sang about life’s simple joys as country music’s consummate blue collar bard, has died. He was 85. SENT: 1,030 words, photo.

OBIT-JAMES-LOEWEN — James W. Loewen, whose million-selling “Lies My Teacher Told Me” books challenged traditional ideas and knowledge on everything from Thanksgiving to the Iraq War, has died. He was 79. By National Writer Hillel Italie. SENT: 790 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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BBA--RAYS-WHITE SOX — Tim Anderson keeps on getting clutch hits for the Chicago White Sox. Anderson had a game-tying homer in the ninth and a tiebreaking RBI single in the 11th as the White Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-5 in a matchup of AL division leaders. SENT: 670 words, photos.

BBN--METS-DODGERS — Walker Buehler pitched two-run ball into the eighth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Mets 3-2 for their eighth straight win.. SENT: 900 words, photos.

BOX--PACQUIAO-UGÁS PREVIEW — Manny Pacquiao is a 42-year-old politician who hasn’t boxed professionally in two years and had less than two weeks to prepare for his opponent, cagey Cuban veteran Yordenis Ugás. The next contest for the former eight-division world champion will probably be the presidential race in the Philippines. By Greg Beacham. SENT: 760 words, photos.

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