AP News Digest 3:20 a.m.

APTOPIX Western Wildfires (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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NEW/DEVELOPING

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EUROPE-WEATHER — At least six people have died and several people are missing in Germany after heavy flooding turned streams and streets into raging torrents, sweeping away cars and causing some buildings to collapse. SENT: 360 words, photos.

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TOP STORIES

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VIRUS-OUTBREAK — As many Asian countries battle their worst surge of COVID-19 infections, the slow-flow of vaccine doses from around the world is finally picking up speed, giving hope that low inoculation rates can increase and help blunt the effect of the rapidly spreading delta variant. Some 1.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine are set to arrive in Indonesia which has become a dominant hot spot with a record high infections and deaths. By David Rising and Victoria Milko. SENT: 1,350 words, photos.

BIDEN-CHILD TAX CREDIT — The U.S. government is depositing child tax credit money into the accounts of more than 35 million families starting Thursday. President Joe Biden has expanded the credit for one year as part of coronavirus relief, and most families will now qualify for monthly payments of as much as $300 per child. By Josh Boak. SENT: 1,120 words, photos. With BIDEN-CHILD TAX CREDIT-GLANCE — How the payments work. SENT: 200 words.

UNITED STATES-AFGHANISTAN-CENTRAL ASIA — American diplomats are escalating a charm offensive with Central Asian leaders as they work to secure a spot to respond to any resurgence of outside militants in Afghanistan after the U.S. military withdraws. Afghanistan’s neighbors are responding warily. By Ellen Knickmeyer. SENT: 930 words, photo.

HAITI-PRESIDENT-ASSASSINATED-MIAMI — A small private security company in Miami faces questions about its role in the assassination of Haiti’s president. CTU Security hired more than 20 former soldiers from Colombia for a mission to the island nation. Now the Colombians have been killed or captured in the aftermath of the July 7 killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. By Gisela Salomon and Andrew Selsky. SENT: 980 words, photos.

QUEST FOR CARP NAME — What’s in a name? When it comes to Asian carp, quite a lot. For decades, that term has been used to describe four fish species that have infested many U.S. rivers and threaten to invade the Great Lakes. They were imported to cleanse fish farms and sewage ponds but escaped into the wild. Now some government agencies are changing the label to “invasive carp” in the wake of anti-Asian hate crimes that surged during the pandemic. By Environmental Writer John Flesher. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.

RACIAL INJUSTICE-AUDUBON — Audubon Society chapters are grappling with how to address their namesake’s legacy as the nation continues to reckon with its racist past. John James Audubon was a celebrated 19th century naturalist but also a slaveholder publicly opposed to abolition. The Massachusetts chapter of the prominent conservation group has published an essay on Audubon’s life and pledged to improve staff diversity. By Philip Marcelo. SENT: 1,010 words, photos.

WESTERN-WILDFIRES — A blaze that erupted near the flashpoint of the deadliest wildfire in recent U.S. history was heading away from homes on Thursday but survivors of the 2018 blaze in the town of Paradise worried that history could repeat itself. SENT: 900 words, photos.

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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

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CALIFORNIA-RAIL YARD SHOOTING — US agents failed to share questioning of rail yard shooter. SENT: 410 words, photos.

FATAL WRECK-GIRLS HOME — Service set for 8 killed in wreck of Alabama girls home van. SENT: 270 words, photos.

BLACK HISTORY-GRANTS — $3 million in grants going to Black history sites, groups. SENT: 340 words, photos.

MEXICO-EARTHQUAKE-SENTENCE — 208 years for Mexican expert over quake-collapsed school. SENT: 210 words, photo.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-BIDEN-RODRIGO — Olivia Rodrigo boosts White House youth vaccine push. SENT: 230 words, photos, video.

TIGER KING-SENTENCE — Court orders shorter sentence for ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic. SENT: 228 words.

GM-BOLT-FIRES — GM warns some Bolt owners to park outdoors due to fire

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRAL QUESTIONS-IMMUNE SYSTEM — COVID-19 vaccines probably won’t work as well if you have a weakened immune system, but the shots should still offer some protection. That’s why vaccination is still recommended if your immune system is weakened by disease or certain medications. SENT: 340 words, photo.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-HAITI — Haiti has received its first coronavirus vaccine since the pandemic began, welcoming 500,000 doses as the country battles a spike in cases and deaths. SENT: 440 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-ARGENTINA — Argentina has reported more than 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, a heavy blow to a country that intermittently imposed some of the most severe lockdowns in the world, only to see erratic compliance by many people. SENT: 811 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MEDICARE-NURSING HOMES — With COVID-19 on the rise again and many nursing home staffers unvaccinated, families still lack easy access to crucial Medicare immunization data that will help them pick the right facility for their loved ones. SENT: 750 words, photos.

FAKE-VACCINE-ARREST — Federal prosecutors have arrested and charged a naturopathic physician in Northern California accused of selling fake COVID-19 immunization treatments. The U.S. Department of Justice said Juli Mazi of Napa also distributed fake vaccination cards to make it appear that customers had received the Moderna vaccine. SENT: 285 words.

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WASHINGTON & POLITICS

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CONGRESS-INFRASTRUCTURE — President Biden goes to the Capitol to hunt for support for his multitrillion-dollar domestic agenda, a menu of infrastructure, health care and other programs that would notch a landmark achievement but require near-unanimous backing from fractious Democrats to achieve. By Alan Fram and Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 1,110 words, photos, video. With CONGRESS-INFRASTRUCTURE-CLIMATE — Environmental groups hail the sweeping $3.5 trillion spending plan. SENT: 690 words, photo.

BIDEN-MERKEL — German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets with President Biden at the White House. The leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the rise of China and a Russian gas pipeline that Washington opposes. By Frank Jordans and Alexandra Jaffe. UPCOMING: 770 words, photos by 5:30 a.m.; meeting at 2 p.m.

TEXAS VOTING BILL-EXPLAINER — The Texas voting bills that prompted state Democrats’ flight to Washington this week include a raft of tweaks and changes to the state’s already restrictive election law. Many of the changes are highly technical and incremental, but they add up to make voting harder and, occasionally, legally riskier for Texans. By Nicholas Riccardi. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.

CONGRESS-MARIJUANA — The Senate’s top Democrat is backing a bill that would strike down a longstanding federal prohibition on marijuana, embracing a proposal that has slim chance of becoming law yet demonstrates growing public support for decriminalizing the drug. By Brian Slodysko. SENT: 790 words, photo.

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INTERNATIONAL

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INDIA-NEW-INTERNET-RULES — It began with a tweet by pop star Rihanna that sparked widespread condemnation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handling of massive farmer protests near New Delhi. Officials ordered Twitter to block hundreds of tweets critical of the government, and relations between Twitter and Modi’s government have gone downhill ever since. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.

CUBA-PROTESTS — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel has acknowledged shortcomings in his government’s handling of shortages and of neglecting certain sectors, but he urged Cubans to not act with hate — a reference to violence during recent street protests. SENT: 560 words, photos.

VATICAN-POPE SURGERY — Pope Francis was discharged from a Rome hospital and returned home to the Vatican on Wednesday, 10 days after undergoing surgery to remove half his colon. Francis, 84, stopped at St. Mary Major Basilica to give thanks for the success of the operation and pray for others before returning home, the Vatican said. SENT: 625 words, photos, video.

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NATIONAL

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CALIFORNIA-GUARANTEED-INCOME — California lawmakers are scheduled to vote on a bill that would fund guaranteed income programs across the state. Guaranteed income programs give money to people each month with no restrictions on how they can spend it. SENT: 860 words, photos.

TERRORISM-SUSPECT-ARIZONA — An Arizona judge will hold a hearing over whether to sign off on a request by the Iraqi government to extradite a Phoenix driving school owner on charges that he participated in the 2006 killings of two Iraqi police officers as the leader of an al-Qaida group. SENT: 710 words, photos.

UAW-VOLVO-TRUCK-STRIKE — Striking blue-collar workers at a Volvo heavy truck plant in southwestern Virginia have narrowly ratified what the company said was its final offer in a long-running labor dispute. SENT: 600 words, photos,

CHINATOWN-MUSEUM-REOPENS — A New York City museum dedicated to telling Chinese American history marked its reopening to the public on Wednesday, with an exhibit on Asian Americans and racism that it curated partially through submissions gathered during the pandemic and a surge of anti-Asian bias incidents around the country. SENT: 670 words, photos.

TERRORISM-SUSPECT-ARIZONA — An Arizona judge will hold a hearing Thursday over whether to sign off on a request by the Iraqi government to extradite a Phoenix driving school owner on charges that he participated in the 2006 killings of two Iraqi police officers as the leader of an al-Qaida group. SENT: 710 words, photos.

INDIGENOUS BOARDING SCHOOL-REMAINS — The disinterred remains of nine Native American children who died more than a century ago while attending a government-run school in Pennsylvania are headed home to Rosebud Sioux tribal lands in South Dakota. SENT: 500 words, photo.

NEWSPAPER-SHOOTING-TRIAL — Maryland prosecutors have rested their case in a trial to determine whether the man who killed five people at a newspaper is not criminally responsible due to mental illness. SENT: 647 words, photos.

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HEALTH & SCIENCE

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PARALYZED-SPEECH DEVICE — Researchers say they have harnessed the brain waves of a man paralyzed and unable to speak for 15 years -- and turned what he intended to say into sentences on a computer screen. SENT: 650 words, photo.

WILD WEST WEATHER-NUMBERS — A triple interconnected whammy of extreme heat, megadrought and unusually early wildfires are bedeviling the West. Four sets of numbers explain how bad it is now, while another four sets of numbers explain why it got this bad. SENT: 1010 words, photos.

SMITHSONIAN-BEZOS — Amazon founder and soon-to-be-space traveler Jeff Bezos is donating $200 million to the Smithsonian Institution to boost its National Air and Space Museum. SENT: 370 words, photo.

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BUSINESS/TECH

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CHINA-ECONOMY — China’s economic growth slowed to a still-strong 7.9% over a year earlier in the three months ending in June as a rebound from the coronavirus leveled off. SENT: 830 words, photos.

FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Asian shares were mixed Thursday, taking their cues from a wobbly day of trading on Wall Street. China reported its economy expanded at a 7.9% annual rate in the last quarter, down from 18.3% in January-March in a leveling off of its relatively early recovery from the pandemic. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 730 words, photo.

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ENTERTAINMENT

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PEOPLE-DUCHESS OF SUSSEX-NETFLIX — Meghan and Prince Harry’s second Netflix project will focus on a 12-year-old girl’s adventures in an animated series. SENT: 210 words, photos.

FILM REVIEW-ROADRUNNER There are many startling moments in “Roadrunner,” Morgan Neville’s rich and moving documentary about the singular culinary storyteller Anthony Bourdain who tragically took his life at the age of 61. By AP National Writer Jocelyn Noveck. SENT: 834 words.

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SPORTS

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BKN--NBA FINALS — Khris Middleton’s big finish means these NBA Finals are just getting started. Middleton scored 40 points, including 10 straight for Milwaukee down the stretch, sending the Bucks past the Phoenix Suns 109-103 to tie the series 2-2. By Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney. SENT: 800 words, photos. With BKN--NBA Finals-Suns-Booker (sent).

BKN—NBA FINALS-SUNS-PAUL — Chris Paul has caught the turnover bug at a very inopportune time for the Phoenix Suns. Paul has had 15 turnovers through the past three games, including a crucial one in the final minute of the Suns’ 109-103 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. By David Brandt. UPCOMING: 520 words, photos by 4 a.m.

OLY--BKO-US-BEAL — A person with knowledge of the situation says U.S. Olympic guard Bradley Beal has entered the health and safety protocols related to the coronavirus, which raises the possibility that he might miss the Tokyo Games. By Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds. SENT: 700 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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