AP News Digest 3:20 am

Facebook Whistleblower

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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NEW/DEVELOPING

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SWEDEN NOBEL PHYSICS — The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announces the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics. SENT: 180 words, photo. UPCOMING: Developing from 5:45 a.m. announcement.

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TOP STORIES

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CALIFORNIA-OIL SPILL — Officials investigating one of California’s largest oil spills are looking into whether a ship’s anchor may have struck a pipeline on the ocean floor, causing a major leak of crude into coastal waters and fouling beaches. The spill sent up to 126,000 gallons of heavy crude into the ocean, contaminating the sands of famed Huntington Beach and other coastal communities. It could keep beaches closed for weeks or longer. By Brian Melley, Matthew Brown and Stefanie Dazio. SENT: 1,240 words, photos, videos.

CONGRESS-FACEBOOK-WHISTLEBLOWER — Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager who provided The Wall Street Journal with internal documents that exposed the company’s awareness of harms caused by its products and decisions, is scheduled to testify before a Senate subcommittee. By Business Writer Marcy Gordon. SENT: 800 words, photo. UPCOMING: 990 words after 10 a.m. hearing.

BIDEN — President Joe Biden is shifting strategy to sell his ambitious social spending plan, refocusing on travel and courting Democrats who have complained they felt left out of the process. Biden goes to Michigan, visiting the district of a moderate lawmaker who has urged him to sell his proposals more aggressively. By Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 960 words, photos. UPCOMING: 1,100 words after 3:30 p.m. event. With CONGRESS-DEBT — Biden tells GOP to “get out of the way" on debt limit.

FRANCE-QANON-STYLE KIDNAPPING — The beliefs of the U.S. far-right extremist movement QAnon are finding a foothold abroad — especially the tenet that government workers are part of a cabal of child traffickers. QAnon influence has now been tracked to 85 countries, and its beliefs have been adapted to local contexts and languages from Hindi to Hebrew. Authorities say those beliefs are translating into real-world violence outside the United States, where QAnon traces its origins. By Lori Hinnant. SENT: 2,330 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,020 words is also available.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-ALASKA — The highly contagious delta variant is spreading across Alaska, driving one of the nation’s sharpest upticks in infections and posing risks for remote outposts like Tanacross where the closest hospital is hours away. “If somebody gets sick around there, there’s no place to take them,” said 78-year-old Alfred Jonathan, a village elder. By Mark Thiessen and Becky Bohrer. SENT: 1,330 words, photos, video.

PANDORA PAPERS-BRITAIN — Britain's Conservative government is facing calls to tighten the country's defenses against “dirty money” after a massive leak of offshore data showed how London in particular, is the destination of choice for some of the world’s richest and most powerful people to conceal their cash. The cache of almost 12 million files, which has been dubbed the “Pandora Papers," was published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and its media partners, such as Britain's Guardian newspaper and the BBC. By Pan Pylas. SENT: 740 words, photos.

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TRENDING NEWS

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FACEBOOK-OUTAGE — Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram suffer worldwide outage. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.

LOTTERY-JACKPOT — $699.8 million Powerball jackpot won, ticket sold in California SENT: 280 words, photo.

NIH-DIRECTOR — NIH director Francis S. Collins to step down by end of year. SENT: 240 words, photo.

TESLA-RACISM-SUIT — Black ex-Tesla worker who claimed racial abuse awarded $137 million. SENT: 330 words.

AUSTRALIA-HILLSONG FOUNDER — Lawyer: Hillsong founder to deny concealing abuse in court. SENT: 300 words, photo.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-AUSTRALIA — International tourists won’t be welcomed back to Australia until next year, with the return of skilled migrants and students given higher priority, the prime minister says. SENT: 350 words, photos. With AUSTRALIA-POLITICS — New Australian state leader sticks to lockdown timetable; VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST.

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WASHINGTON

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BIDEN-FAMILY PLANNING — The Biden administration reverses a ban on abortion referrals by federally funded family planning clinics. SENT: 710 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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HURRICANE-IDA-DECISIONS — Destruction caused by Hurricane Ida has people in south Louisiana debating whether they want to relocate — and where thy might go. SENT: 890 words, photos.

KENOSHA-PROTEST-SHOOTINGS — A judge in Kenosha County is set to hold a motions hearing for Kyle Rittenhouse, an Illinois man accused of shooting three people during a protest against police brutality last year. SENT: 310 words, photo. UPCOMING: Hearing begins at 11 a.m.

MISSOURI-EXECUTION — Ernest Johnson, convicted of killing three people during a convenience store robbery in 1994, is scheduled to die by injection — the first execution in Missouri in more than 16 months. SENT: 770 words, photos. UPDATE: Execution scheduled for 7 p.m.

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INTERNATIONAL

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FRANCE SEXUAL ABUSE — Tens of thousands of people, and possibly more, are believed to have been victims of child sex abuse within France’s Catholic Church over the past seven decades, according to a major report. SENT: 690 words.

EUROPE-BALKANS — The European Union's enlargement policy is at an impasse as its leaders gather for a summit focused on how to deal with Western Balkans neighbors that have been trying to enter the club for two decades. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.

JAPAN-US — Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held his first talks as Japanese leader with Biden and confirmed they will work to strengthen their alliance and cooperate in regional security in the face of growing challenges from China and North Korea. SENT: 480 words, photos.

AFGHANISTAN — Taliban forces unlawfully killed 13 ethnic Hazaras, most of them Afghan soldiers who had surrendered to the insurgents, a prominent rights group says. SENT: 690 words, photo.

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BUSINESS/ECONOMY

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TRADE GAP — The Commerce Department reports on the U.S. trade gap for August. By Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger. UPCOMING: 130 words after 8:30 release, then expanded, photo.

FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Shares have fallen in Asia after a broad slide on Wall Street led by technology companies. By Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach. SENT: 530 words, photos.

ECONOMY-SERVICES — The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, issues its index of non-manufacturing activity for September. By Business Writer Matt Ott. UPCOMING: 130 words after 10 a.m. release, may be updated, photo.

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SPORTS

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TIM DAHLBERG-TIGER’S FIRST — Twenty-five years ago this week, Tiger Woods won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the Las Vegas Invitational — a win that changed golf forever. By Sports Columnist Tim Dahlberg. SENT: 810 words, photos.

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ARTS/ENTERTAIMENT

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HOLLYWOOD-CREW-STRIKE — Film and television production in North America is in jeopardy of coming to a standstill after its behind-the-scenes workers overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike for the first time in its 128-year history. By Film Writer Lindsey Bahr. SENT: 540 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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