AP News Digest 3:10 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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WHITE SUPREMACISTS-LAW ENFORCEMENT — Florida prison guards can openly tout associations with white supremacist groups to intimidate inmates and Black colleagues. It’s a persistent practice that often goes unpunished. That’s according to allegations in public documents and interviews with a dozen inmates and current and former employees in the nation’s third largest prison system. By Jason Dearen. SENT: 1,970 words, photos. An abridged version of 1,130 words is also available.

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TOP STORIES

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INDIA-FARM-LAWS — In a surprise announcement, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi says his government will withdraw the controversial agriculture laws that prompted yearlong protests from tens of thousands of farmers and posed a significant political challenge to his administration. By Sheikh Saaliq. SENT: 740 words, photos.

CONGRESS-BUDGET — Democrats brushed aside months-long divisions and approached House passage of their expansive social and environment bill, as President Joe Biden and his party neared a defining win in their drive to use their control of government to funnel its resources toward their domestic priorities. By Alan Fram. SENT: 1,190 words, photos. UPCOMING: 1,200 words after House vote, expected after 8 a.m. Also see CONGRESS-BUDGET-DEMOCRATS and CONGRESS-MCCARTHY below.

AFGHANISTAN-HUMANITARIAN PAROLE — Thousands of Afghans have applied for temporary admission into the U.S. for humanitarian reasons, but few have been approved since the Taliban recaptured control of their homeland. Their families in the U.S. and the immigrant groups supporting them say they’re frustrated at the slow pace of the humanitarian parole program. By Philip Marcelo. SENT: 1,160 words, photos, video.

VIRUS OUTBREAK AFRICA — When the coronavirus first emerged last year, health officials feared the pandemic would sweep across Africa, killing millions and destroying the continent’s fragile health systems. Although it’s still unclear what COVID-19’s ultimate toll will be, that catastrophic scenario has yet to materialize in Zimbabwe or much of Africa. Some scientists say Africa’s younger population, in addition to their lower rates of urbanization, may have spared it the more lethal effects the virus has had elsewhere. By Maria Cheng and Farai Mutsaka. SENT: 930 words, photos.

VENEZUELA-PEDIATRIC TRANSPLANTS — Not one Venezuelan child has received a transplant since 2017, when the government shut down a program that allowed them to take place at a hospital in Caracas. Dozens of children have died since then, including 13 this year. Some families are blaming President Nicolás Maduro for the low survival chances of roughly 80 children waiting for a transplant in the troubled South American nation. By Regina Garcia Cano and Juan Pablo Arraez. SENT: 1,310 words, photos.

PALESTINIANS-CHRISTMAS IN BETHLEHEM — Ahead of Christmas, a towering wooden screen — once blackened with soot from millions of worshippers’ candles — is being restored to its gilded glory in the Church of the Nativity, built at the site where many believe Jesus was born. But few visitors are expected to see it during the upcoming Christmas holiday season. By Ilan Ben Zion. SENT: 800 words, photos.

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TRENDING NEWS

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MALCOLM X — “Fundamental justice": Judge clears two in Malcolm X slaying. SENT: 950 words, photos, videos.

PEOPLE-DUCHESS-OF-SUSSEX — Meghan gets goofy on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show. SENT: 310 words, photos.

RAPPER-KILLED-YOUNG-DOLPH — Slain rapper Young Dolph left a lasting legacy in Memphis. SENT: 830 words, photos.

META-INSTAGRAM-STATE INVESTIGATIONS — State attorneys general probing Instagram’s effects on kids. SENT: 380 words, photos.

AUSTRALIA-PAINE-QUITS — Australia cricket captain resigns after “sexting” scandal. SENT: 780 words, photos.

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WASHINGTON

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CONGRESS-BUDGET-DEMOCRATS — If Biden’s $1.85 trillion budget bill is passed, it may not be politically transformational for the Democratic Party — at least not immediately. SENT: 1,090 words, photos.

CONGRESS-MCCARTHY — Part political performance, part stall tactic, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy unleashed a long, rambling and vitriolic speech, seizing control of the House floor and preempting passage of Biden’s big domestic policy bill. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 990 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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KENOSHA-PROTEST-SHOOTINGS — The jury at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial was to return for a fourth day of deliberations, after a quiet day behind closed doors that ended with one juror asking if she could take home the jury instructions. SENT: 630 words, photos, videos.

AHMAUD-ARBERY-GEORGIA-TRIAL — Defense attorneys rested their case in the Ahmaud Arbery trial after calling just seven witnesses, including the shooter, who testified that Arbery did not threaten him in any way before he pointed his shotgun at the 25-year-old Black man. SENT: 860 words, photos, videos.

OKLAHOMA-EXECUTION-JONES — Oklahoma’s governor spared the life of Julius Jones, just hours before his scheduled execution that had drawn widespread outcry and protests over doubts about his guilt in the slaying of a businessman more than 20 years ago. SENT: 1,140 words, photos. With OKLAHOMA-EXECUTION-JONES-EXPLAINER — How Jones’ execution was stopped.

ALASKA NATIONAL FOREST — The federal government says that it is beginning the process of repealing a Trump-era rule that permitted road-building and logging harvesting in an enormous southeast Alaska rainforest that provides habitat for wolves, bears and salmon. SENT: 300 words, photo.

MARIJUANA-TRIBAL-LANDS — A federal raid on a household marijuana garden on tribal land in northern New Mexico is sowing uncertainty and resentment about U.S. drug enforcement priorities on Native American reservations, as more states roll out legal marketplaces for recreational pot sales. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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HUNGARY OPPOSITION-LEADER — Hungary’s opposition leader wants to restore his country’s frayed ties with the West — and also has a message for American fans of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban. By Justin Spike. SENT: 930 words, photos.

SOUTH AFRICA-DE KLERK-APARTHEID'S LASTING LEGACY — South Africa is engrossed in debate over the legacy of apartheid’s last president, F.W. de Klerk, who died last week at 85 and is to be buried Sunday. SENT: 970 words, photos.

SPAIN-MASS GRAVES — For decades, the remaining family members of the tens of thousands of victims of Francisco Franco's authoritarian regime have had little help to recover their loved ones from hundreds of mass graves. A government-sponsored bill meeting some resistance aims to change that. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.

ETHIOPIA-TIGRAY-CRISIS-ECONOMY — Ethiopia’s once rapidly growing economy is taking another hit because of its yearlong war as global clothing manufacturer PVH Corp. says it is closing its facility there because of the “speed and volatility of the escalating situation.” SENT: 660 words.

CANADA-MUDSLIDES — An advance team of Canadian soldiers went to work and more were due as some major highways reopened to limited traffic in British Columbia, but officials said the situation remained critical after floods and mudslides that forced evacuations, blocked transportation routes, caused the death of at least one person and killed thousands of farm animals. SENT: 680 words, photos.

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BUSINSS/ECONOMY

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THERANOS-FOUNDER-FRAUD-TRIAL — The Fortune Magazine reporter whose cover story helped turn Elizabeth Holmes into a Silicon Valley sensation testified as to how he ended up feeling like a pawn in the entrepreneur’s promotion of what she called a revolutionary blood-testing technology. By Technology Writer Michael Liedtke. SENT: 780 words, photo.

JAPAN-ECONOMIC-PACKAGE — Japan’s prime minister outlines a record $490 billion stimulus package, including cash handouts and aid to ailing businesses, to help the economy out of the doldrums worsened by the coronavirus pandemic. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 440 words, photo.

FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Asian stock markets were mostly higher after Wall Street hit a record and Japanese inflation eased. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. SENT: 410 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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COACHING PIPELINE-SEAHAWKS-CURRY — Aaron Curry imagines a day in the future standing at the front of a room with NFL players using his measured voice and commanding presence in a role his current boss would not have imagined a decade ago. By Sports Writer Tim Booth. UPCOMING: 830 words, photo by 4 a.m.

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HOW TO REACH US

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