AP News Digest 3:30 am

Thursday 07 October 2021 03:31 EDT

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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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NEW/DEVELOPING

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SWEDEN NOBEL LITERATURE — The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announces the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry UPCOMING: Announcement at 7 a.m., photos, video.

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ONLY ON AP

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AFGHANISTAN-DRUGS — The Taliban have begun going after drug addicts, beating them, rounding them up and forcing them to undergo 45 days of mandatory hospital detox. But as the country slips into an economic crisis, questions remain over the future of the opium trade which previously helped finance the Taliban insurgency. By Samya Kullab and Mstyslav Chernov. SENT: 1,290 words, photos.

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TOP STORIES

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ABORTION-TEXAS — A federal judge ordered Texas to suspend the most restrictive abortion law in the U.S., calling it an “offensive deprivation” of a constitutional right by banning most abortions in the nation’s second-most populous state since September. The order is the first legal blow to the Texas law known as Senate Bill 8, which until now had withstood a wave of early challenges. In the weeks since the restrictions took effect, Texas abortion providers say the impact has been “exactly what we feared.” By Paul J. Weber. SENT: 970 words, photo. With TEXAS-ABORTION LAW-EXPLAINER — The Texas abortion law’s swift impact, and future.

CALIFORNIA-OIL-SPILL — A massive cargo ship made a series of unusual movements while anchored in the closest spot to a Southern California oil pipeline that ruptured and sent crude washing up on beaches, according to data collected by a marine navigation service. The Coast Guard is investigating whether a ship anchor might have snagged and bent the pipeline owned by Amplify Energy, a Houston-based company that operates three offshore oil platforms south of Los Angeles. By Michael Biesecker, Stefanie Dazio and Michael Balsamo. SENT: 1,090 words, photos, videos.

CONGRESS-DEBT — Senators edge back from a perilous standoff over lifting the nation’s borrowing cap, with Democrats signaling they are receptive to an offer from Republican leader Mitch McConnell that would allow for an emergency debt limit extension into December. By Lisa Mascaro, Josh Boak and Kevin Freking. SENT: 940 words, photos, videos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-BIDEN — President Joe Biden visits a construction site outside Chicago to champion COVID-19 vaccination requirements across the country, hoping to compel the roughly 67 million unvaccinated American adults to roll up their sleeves. By Zeke Miller. UPCOMING: 880 words, photo by 5:30 a.m.; event at 3:10 p.m.

PAKISTAN-EARTHQUAKE — A powerful earthquake collapsed at least one coal mine and dozens of mud houses in southwest Pakistan, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 200, an official says. By Kathy Gannon and Abdul Sattar. SENT: 500 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-COVID ORPHANS — A new study suggests the number of “COVID orphans" in the United States is greater than previously estimated, and finds the toll has been far worse in certain states and racial groups. During just 15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 120,000 U.S. children lost a parent or grandparent who were their primary providers of financial support and care, according to the study. By Medical Writer Mike Stobbe. SENT: 590 words, photo.

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AP News Digest 3:30 am

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