AP News Digest 3:20 am

APTOPIX China Martyr's Day (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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ONLY ON AP

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AWOL WEAPONS-RISKY SOLUTION — Determined to keep track of their guns, some U.S. military units have turned to a technology that could let enemies detect troops on the battlefield, The Associated Press has found. The rollout on Army and Air Force bases continues even though the Department of Defense itself describes putting the technology in firearms as a “significant” security risk. video. SENT: 2,080 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,100 words is also available. With AWOL-WEAPONS-RISKY-SOLUTION-TAKEAWAYS.

MIGRATION-THE ALBANIAN ROUTE — Migrants and refugees seeking to get out of Greece are increasingly turning to a little-used migration route into Albania as other routes through Bulgaria and Macedonia have become too dangerous or well-guarded. About 50 people were camped near the Greek border with Albania during a visit by the AP, waiting to make their crossing attempt alone or with the paid help of smugglers. By Costas Kantouris. UPCOMING: 820 words, photos by 4 a.m.

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TOP STORIES

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CONGRESS-GOVERNMENT FUNDING — Congress is poised to approve legislation that would keep the federal government running into early December, preventing a partial government shutdown when the new fiscal year begins Friday. By Kevin Freking. SENT: 740 words, photos. UPCOMING: 900 words after votes, timing uncertain.

CONGRESS-DIVIDED DEMOCRATS — Congressional Democrats are fighting over trillions of dollars, and it’s not helping that the party’s progressives and centrists are saying they don’t trust each other. They’re also tossing around words like “stupid” and “insanity” and they’re drawing lines in the sand. By Alan Fram. SENT: 940 words, photos. Also see CONGRESS-BUDGET-HEALTH CARE PIE below.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-DOUBLE PANDEMIC — Primetta Giacopini was born in 1916, two years before the Spanish flu outbreak, the deadliest pandemic in history, that took her mother’s life. She went on to live a life of adventure that spanned two continents. She fell in love with a World War II fighter pilot, barely escaped Europe ahead of Benito Mussolini’s fascists, ground steel for the U.S. war effort and advocated for her disabled daughter in a less-enlightened time. But at 105, just like her mother, the COVID-19 pandemic took her life. By Todd Richmond. SENT: 950 words, photos.

ECUADOR-PRISON VIOLENCE — Ecuador’s president declares a state of emergency in the prison system following a battle among gang members in a coastal lockup that killed at least 116 people and injured 80 in what authorities say was the worst prison bloodbath ever in the country. Officials said at least five of the dead were found to have been beheaded. By Gabriela Molina. SENT: 590 words, photos.

IRAN-SUPERMARKET SQUEEZE — As U.S. sanctions strangle Iran’s economy, record inflation is causing stunned shoppers in the country to cut meat and dairy from their diets and to purchase less each month. Those who previously hauled sacks of staples from grocery stores now struggle to scrape together meals. By Mohammad Nasiri. SENT: 690 words, photos.

LEAF-PEEPING-CLIMATE-CHANGE — Droughts that cause leaves to turn brown and wither before they can reach peak color. Heat waves prompting leaves to fall before autumn even arrives. Extreme weather events like hurricanes that strip trees of their leaves altogether. For a cheery autumnal activity, leaf peeping is facing some serious threats from the era of climate change. By Patrick Whittle. SENT: 740 words, photos, video.

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TRENDING NEWS

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TRUMP AIDE-BOOK — Takeaways from Trump aide’s account of chaotic White House. SENT: 1,230 words, photo.

HAWAII VOLCANO-ERUPTION — Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts, lava fountains form in park. SENT: 670 words, photos.

CAPITOL-BREACH-OLYMPIAN — Olympic swimmer who stormed Capitol pleads guilty to felony. SENT: 190 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-THEATER-ALADDIN — Reopening of “Aladdin on Broadway halted by COVID-19 cases. SENT: 170 words, photo.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BOSNIA-VACCINATIONS — Hospitals across Bosnia are again filling with COVID-19 patients gasping for air, and the country’s pandemic death toll is rising. SENT: 860 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRAL QUESTIONS-BOOSTER — People who got a two-dose vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson shot are considered fully vaccinated — even without a booster. By Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson. SENT: 290 words, graphic.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-AUSTRALIA — Australia’s Victoria state reported a jump of more than 50% in daily COVID-19 cases, which authorities largely blame on Australian Rules Football parties last weekend that breached pandemic regulations. SENT: 550 words, photo.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-SINGAPORE — As the island nation of Singapore pursues a strategy of “living with COVID” and a gradual relaxation of pandemic restrictions, daily cases are skyrocketing and residents are growing increasingly anxious. SENT: 1,180 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VIETNAM — Vietnam will lift the lockdown in its largest city, ending nearly three months of restrictions on movement to curb a coronavirus surge. SENT: 400 words, photos.

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WASHINGTON

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CONGRESS-BUDGET-HEALTH CARE PIE — Democrats are fretting about how they’d divide a shrinking pie amid signs that negotiations over President Joe Biden’s massive domestic policy bill could yield a smaller serving of health care spending. SENT: 820 words, photo. With CONGRESS-BUDGET — Biden can’t budge fellow Democrats with big overhaul at stake.

CONGRESS-FACEBOOK — Political adversaries in Congress are united in outrage against Facebook for privately compiling information that its Instagram photo-sharing service appeared to grievously harm some teens, especially girls, while publicly downplaying the popular platform’s negative impact. By Business Writer Marcy Gordon. SENT: 810 words, photo.

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NATIONAL

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CALIFORNIA-SYNAGOGUE SHOOTING — A former nursing student will be sentenced for killing a woman and injuring three others, including a rabbi, when he stormed into a San Diego-area synagogue on the last day of Passover in 2019. SENT: 430 words, photos.

CATHOLIC BISHOPS-PROTEST — A conservative Roman Catholic group is seeking a court order to stage a rally at a waterfront pavilion in Baltimore. SENT: 700 words, photo.

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INTERNATIONAL

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JAPAN-ECONOMY-KISHIDA — Fumio Kishida, the man soon to become Japan’s prime minister, says he believes raising incomes is the only way to get the world’s third-largest economy growing again. By Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach. SENT: 890 words, photos.

KOREAS-TENSIONS — North Korea leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness to restore stalled communication lines with South Korea in coming days while shrugging off U.S. offers for dialogue as “cunning ways” to conceal its hostility against the North, state media reported. SENT: 890 words, photos.

LEBANON BACK TO SCHOOL — This fall, the academic year in Lebanon is gripped by the same chaos that has taken hold in the country dealing with a historic financial and economic crisis. SENT: 1,140 words, photos.

FRANCE-SARKOZY-TRIAL — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is facing a potential prison term in a verdict to be rendered about campaign financing in his unsuccessful 2012 re-election bid — a ruling that comes seven months after he was convicted in a corruption and influence peddling case. SENT: 390 words, photo.

CHINA MARTYR'S DAY CEREMONY — Chinese leader Xi Jinping paid respects at a solemn commemoration for those who died in the struggle to establish Communist Party rule, as he leads a national drive to reinforce patriotism and single-party authority. SENT: 370 words, photos.

KASHMIR-TUNNEL-PHOTO-GALLERY — India builds strategic tunnel project in Kashmir. SENT: 340 words, photos.

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BUSINESS/ECONOMY

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ECONOMY-GDP — The Commerce Department issues its third and final estimate of how the U.S. economy performed in the second 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 8:30 a.m. release, then expanded, photos.

FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Asian shares were mostly higher after a mixed trading session on Wall Street. By Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach. SENT: 610 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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NLRB-COMPENSATING ATHLETES-EXPLAINER — College athletes who make millions for their schools have moved one step closer to gaining the rights afforded private sector workers. By Sports Writer Jimmy Golen. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.

TIM DAHLBERG-BRADY RETURN — Tom Brady’s return to New England will surely be a massive lovefest, at least up until the moment he lines up under center Sunday night for Tampa Bay. By Sports Columnist Tim Dahlberg. SENT: 750 words, photos.

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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

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BRITNEY-SPEARS-EXPLAINER — Britney Spears has successfully ousted her father from the conservatorship that controls her life and money, and she is likely to be freed to make her own decisions in November. By Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton. SENT: 970 words, photos, video. With PEOPLE-BRITNEY-SPEARS — Judge suspends Spears’ father from conservatorship.

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HOW TO REACH US

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