AP News Digest 2 p.m.

Sunday 03 October 2021 19:08 BST

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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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VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPENDING-STATES — As Congress considered a massive COVID-19 relief package earlier this year, hundreds of mayors from across the U.S. pleaded for “immediate action” on billions of dollars targeted to shore up their finances and revive their communities. Now that they’ve received it, local officials are taking their time before actually spending the windfall. By David A. Lieb. SENT: 1,190 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK — The remote Ugandan district of Gulu is currently a COVID-19 hot spot in the East African country. There are repeated and sudden power failures that plague the vaccine storage unit. That adds to the logistical challenges facing efforts to ramp up vaccination across the country. Officials must first account for every dose previously received. So shortages are rampant despite the presence in the country of over 2 million vaccine shots. By Rodney Muhumuza. SENT: 1,080 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE LATEST (sent)

AFGHANISTAN - At least five civilians were killed in a bomb blast outside a Kabul mosque Sunday, a Taliban official said. It was the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since U.S. forces left at the end of August. By Samya Kullab. SENT: 440 words, photo.

PANDORA PAPERS — Hundreds of world leaders, powerful politicians, billionaires, celebrities, religious leaders and drug dealers have been hiding investments in mansions, exclusive beachfront property, yachts and other assets for the past quarter century, according to a review of nearly 12 million files obtained from 14 different firms located around the world. The report “Pandora Papers” was released Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and involved 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countries. By Michael Liedtke and Jonathan Mattise. UPCOMING: 400 words, photos by 3 p.m., 700 words by 5 p.m.

GEORGE FLOYD-POLICING POLITICS — A proposal on the Minneapolis ballot about the future of policing in the city where George Floyd was killed has its roots in the “defund the police” movement. And it has centrist Democrats worried that it could spell defeat. The fight is a microcosm for what’s been happening across the country as communities debate policing amid the nationwide reckoning on race that followed Floyd’s death under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. By Steve Karnowski. SENT: 1,020 words, photos. This is the Monday Spotlight

DEMOCRATS-LATINOS-ENERGY — Democrats are going bigger than ever on the environment as part of the spending package they’re trying to muscle through Congress. But that focus could create political liabilities in energy rich areas such as South Texas, where many Latino voters already turned against Democrats during last year’s presidential election and winning them back could prove critical to the party’s hopes of retaining control of Congress during next year’s midterms. By Will Weissert. SENT: 1,140 words, photos.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINATED STATES — Despite having the highest vaccination rates in the country, there are constant reminders for most New England states of just how vicious the delta variant of COVID-19 is. Hospitals across the region are seeing full intensive care units and staff shortages are starting to affect care. Public officials are pleading with the unvaccinated to get the shots. Health care workers are coping with pent-up demand for other kinds of care that had been delayed by the pandemic. SENT: 930 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ISRAEL — Israel has restricted its COVID Green Pass to allow only those who have received a vaccine booster dose or recently recuperated from coronavirus to enter indoor venues. The new criteria mean that nearly 2 million people will lose their vaccination passport in the coming days. SENT: 430 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-RUSSIA — Russia reported a record daily death toll from COVID-19, the fifth time in a week that deaths have hit a new high. SENT: 320 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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PUERTO RICO-DARKENED ISLAND — Not a single hurricane has hit Puerto Rico this year, but hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. territory feel like they’re living in the aftermath of a major storm: Students do homework by the light of dying cellphones. People who depend on insulin or respiratory therapies struggle to find power sources. Power outages across the island have surged in recent weeks, with some lasting several days. Officials have blamed everything from seaweed to mechanical failures. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.

SCHOOL SHOOTING-FLORIDA — The suspect in the 2018 killing of 17 people at a Florida high school goes on trial this week for allegedly attacking a jail guard. Jury selection begins Monday on charges Nikolas Cruz attacked a Broward County jail guard nine months after the 2018 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. SENT: 870 words, photos.

FLORIDA-CO-WORKERS-ATTACKED — Third victim dies after angry co-worker’s rampage. SENT: 260 words, photo.

BLOODY SUNDAY-IDENTITIES — The world knows the names of John Lewis and a few more of the voting rights demonstrators who walked across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965 only to be attacked by Alabama state troopers on a day that came to be called “Bloody Sunday.” A new project aims to identify more of the hundreds of people who were involved in the protest. SENT: 440 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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KOREAS-TENSIONS — North Korea has warned the U.N. Security Council against criticizing the isolated country’s missile program, in a statement Sunday that included unspecified threats against the international body. SENT: 330 words, photos.

ITALY-PLANE-CRASH — A small, single-engine plane carrying six passengers and a crew of two crashed into a vacant two-story office building in a Milan suburb, and authorities said all eight people aboard died. SENT: 360 words, photos.

ITALY-MAYORAL ELECTIONS — Millions of people in Italy started voting for new mayors, including in Rome and Milan, in an election widely seen as a test of political alliances before nationwide balloting just over a year away. SENT: 600 words, photos.

SPAIN-VOLCANO — Spain’s prime minister vowed to rebuild the island of La Palma, where a volcanic eruption has spewed molten lava and a thick cloud of pyroclastic ash for the past two weeks, destroying houses and banana crops. The eruption is giving no indications it will end soon. SENT: 360 words, photos.

ALGERIA-FRANCE — Algeria has refused permission for France to fly military planes in its airspace and announced the recall of its ambassador from Paris in the wake of what it said were “inadmissible” comments attributed to French President Emmanuel Macron. SENT: 500 words, photo.

DUBAI EXPO 2020 — Dubai’s Expo 2020 acknowledged for the first time that three workers had died from the coronavirus over the course of building the world’s fair during the pandemic, as the prestigious event draws scrutiny of labor conditions in the United Arab Emirates. SENT: 550 words, photos.

BRITAIN-CONSERVATIVE-PARTY - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was ready to take “bold decisions” to rebuild the economy after the coronavirus pandemic as his Conservative Party meets for its first annual conference since 2019. SENT: 450 words, photos.

TAIWAN-CHINA — The Chinese military flew 16 warplanes over waters south of Taiwan as the United States expressed concern about what it called China’s “provocative military action” near the self-governing island that China claims. SENT: 240 words, photos.

JORDAN-SYRIA — Jordan’s King Abdullah II received a call from Syrian President Bashar Assad, the first conversation between the two leaders after a decade of strain over Syria’s civil war. SENT: 300 words, photo.

POLAND-MEDIA — Police confiscated the computer equipment of a journalist working for a leading newspaper in Poland which has carried out investigations of the country’s right-wing government. SENT: 320 words.

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BUSINESS/ECONOMY

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CHINA-TECH CRACKDOWN — The ruling Communist Party is tightening political control over China’s internet giants and tapping their wealth to pay for its ambitions to reduce reliance on U.S. and European technology. SENT: 980 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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FBN--BRADY RETURNS — The hero returns. Tom Brady goes back to Gillette Stadium, where a warm embrace — until kickoff — likely awaits the quarterback who carried the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl titles. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos By 7 p.m.

FBC-T25-COLLEGE FOOTBALL POLL — Expect a shakeup in The Associated Press college football poll after a week in which nine ranked teams lost, including four in the top 10. Through the first five weeks of the season, 34 ranked teams have lost, the most ever in poll history. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos, by 2:30 p.m.

BBO-REST VS. REPS — Less is more has become a more common approach in sports. Coaches from the profession leagues to college athletics are weighing how much work is too much in practice and ahead of games. As baseball enters the postseason after a six-month grind, players’ health and energy levels will be paramount. The teams that are fresh and injury-free might be the ones with enough stamina to reach the World Series. SENT: 860 words, photos.

SOC--OBIT-TAPIE — Bernard Tapie the charismatic president of French soccer club Marseille during its glory era whose reign was marred by a match-fixing scandal, has died. He was 78. SENT: 900 words, photos.

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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

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FILM-BOX OFFICE — Pandemic moviegoing is finally starting to look like pre-pandemic moviegoing. Sony Pictures’ Marvel sequel “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” blew away expectations to debut with $90.1 million in ticket sales — easily the best opening of the pandemic — according to studio estimates Sunday. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 2:30 p.m.

FRANCE-PARIS FASHION WEEK — Yet again, Naomi Campbell stole the show at Paris Fashion Week. The 51-year-old runway veteran trod the runway of Lanvin’s flower-themed collection to screams from guests in a dramatic black cloak. SENT: 600 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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