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LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia on Wednesday suspended vaccinations with the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus jab while it probes the death of a 20-year-old woman, as thousands started gathering for a protest against vaccination in the small European Union nation.

The suspension will be in place until experts examine whether there is a link between the woman’s death from a stroke and the vaccine she had received two weeks earlier, said Health Minister Janez Poklukar.

The one-dose jabs have grown in popularity in recent weeks in Slovenia after authorities widely introduced COVID passes, including for going to work in all state-run firms. The government has approved the purchase of an additional 100,000 J&J doses from Hungary in response to the growing demand.

The woman’s death this week was the second serious case of adverse effects of the Johnson & Johnson jabs that have been administered to about 120,000 people in Slovenia, the official STA news agency reported.

However, “benefits continue to outweigh the risks,” Poklukar said.

Still, the announcement is likely to fuel Wednesday’s protests planned in the capital, Ljubljana, against vaccination and coronavirus measures.

Previous similar protests have drawn thousands, and demonstrators recently clashed with police. Ahead of Wednesday’s rally, police put up metal fences and urged participants to remain calm.

Like much of Central and Eastern Europe, Slovenia in recent weeks has seen a rise in infections. The country of some 2 million people has fully vaccinated nearly 48% of the population, which is lower than in many other EU states.

Slovenia has recommended Johnson & Johnson vaccines to all people over 18 years old, unlike some countries who have limited its use to older people.

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All Times Eastern

NASCAR CUP SERIES

YellaWood 500

Site: Talladega, Alabama.

Schedule: Sunday, race, 2 p.m.

Track: Talladega Superspeedway

Race distance: 188 laps, 500.8 miles.

Last year: Denny Hamlin won from the pole position.

Last race: Hamlin led 137 of 267 laps at Las Vegas and opened the second round of the playoffs the same way he opened the first: by winning.

Fast facts: Hamlin was winless until the playoffs began. … Kyle Larson still leads in the point standings, but three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers are closing in. His lead has shrunk to 14 points over Hamlin, 22 over Kyle Busch and 26 over Martin Truex Jr. Ryan Blaney is fifth, 33 behind. … Eight of the top 10 finishers at Las Vegas are playoff contenders. …. Kevin Harvick had a postrace lug nut violation, which means crew chief Rodney Childers will be fined $20,000 and suspended from the race in Alabama.

Next race: Oct. 10, Concord, North Carolina.

Online: http://www.nascar.com

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

Sparks 300

Site: Talladega, Alabama.

Schedule: Saturday, race, 4:30 p.m.

Track: Talladega Superspeedway

Race distance: 113 laps, 300.58 miles.

Last year: Justin Haley won after starting eighth.

Last race: Josh Berry, substituting for the injured Michael Annett, led a 1-2-3 finish for JR Motorsports at Las Vegas, his second victory of the season.

Fast facts: Justin Allgaier was second and Noah Gragson third. Gragson’s finish came despite two pit road penalties. … Eight of the 12 drivers in the playoffs finished in the top 10. … Defending series champion Austin Cindric leads A.J. Allmendinger by seven points in the title chase. Allgaier and Gragson are 28 and 29 points behind, respectively, and Daniel Hemric is 32 behind.

Next race: Oct 9, Concord, North Carolina.

Online: http://www.nascar.com

NASCAR TRUCK SERIES

Chevrolet Silverado 250

Site: Talladega, Alabama.

Schedule: Saturday, race, 1 p.m.

Track: Talladega Superspeedway

Race distance: 94 laps, 250.04 miles.

Last year: Raphael Lessard won after starting 15th.

Last race: Christian Eckes led a 1-2-3-4 finish for ThorSport Racing at Las Vegas, taking the lead on a restart with four laps remaining for his first career victory.

Fast facts: Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter followed Eckes across the finish line. … John Hunter Nemechek won his series-best 11th stage, but mechanical problems relegated him to 33rd and cost him the series points lead. Rhodes leads him by six with Stewart Friesen 25 back, three-time champ Crafton 29 behind and defending series champ Sheldon Creed 34 behind.

Next race: Oct. 30, Martinsville, Virginia.

Online: http://www.nascar.com

FORMULA ONE

Last race: Seven-time series champion Lewis Hamilton rallied from seventh place to win in Russia — his 100th career victory — and reclaim the series points lead from runner-up Max Verstappen.

Next race: Oct. 10, Istanbul, Turkey.

Online: http://www.formula1.com

INDYCAR

Last race: Colton Herta won at Long Beach and Alex Palou finished fourth to become the first Spaniard to win IndyCar season championship.

Fast facts: Palou and Herta were the only three-time winners in the 16-race season. Herta won the last two races but finished just fifth in the standings. … Two-time series champion Josef Newgarden finished second in the standings, followed by Pato O’Ward and six-time and defending series champion Scott Dixon. … The 2022 schedule has 17 races.

Next race: Feb. 27, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Online: http://www.indycar.com

NHRA DRAG RACING

Last event: Steve Torrence won in Top Fuel and Matt Hagan won in Funny Car at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, Illinois.

Next event: Oct. 7-10, Ennis, Texas.

Online: http://www.nhra.com

WORLD OF OUTLAWS

Next events: Oct. 1-2, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

Online: http://worldofoutlaws.com/sprintcars

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More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing and https://twitter.com/AP

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ABOARD GEO BARENTS (AP) — A humanitarian vessel on Wednesday disembarked dozens of African migrants in an Italian coastal town a week after they were rescued in the Mediterranean Sea off conflict-stricken Libya, a charity operating the vessel said.

The Geo Barents, a rescue vessel operated by Doctors Without Borders, docked in the port town of Augusta late Tuesday after Italian authorities gave it permission to offload passengers, the charity, known by its French acronym MSF, said.

There were 60 African migrants, including six women and a seven-week-old child, on board.

Migrants said they were relieved when Barbara Deck, MSF’s project coordinator, announced that Italy had granted the vessel a port of safety. Many cheered and danced while others broke into tears when they saw the shore.

Some still have concerns however.

“We will be fully relieved after we are free,” said Kamal Mezali, a Tunisian migrant. Mezali, who lived and worked in Libya for years, said he plans to bring his two children and wife to establish a “peaceful life” in Italy.

Dr. Andolina Antonio from the Italian health ministry boarded the Geo Barents early Wednesday to oversee rapid COVID-19 testing for the migrants and the vessel’s crew. All tested negative for the coronavirus.

The migrants disembarked at the port where Italian police, representatives of the U.N.’s humanitarian agency, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, were present.

The most youngest migrants and women have been taken for a 10-day quarantine in centers at the port, while the rest would spend their quarantine period aboard a vessel operated by the ICRC.

The migrants were picked up from two separate boats on Sep. 20, a day after they embarked on the risky voyage from the Libyan coastal town of Zawiya.

It was the third rescue mission for the MSF-run Geo Barents this year. The vessel has brought 792 migrants including 43 women to Augusta since June.

The migrants disembarked in Augusta two days after an overcrowded fishing boat with around 700 people on board docked at the island of Lampedusa in what was the single biggest migrant arrival in Italy in years.

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QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A battle between prison gangs in the coastal city of Guayaquil killed 30 inmates and injured 47, according to Ecuadorian officials.

Police Commander Fabian Bustos told reporters that a police and military operation had regained control of the prison after five hours. He said several weapons had been seized.

The violence involved gunfire, knives and explosions and was caused by a dispute between the “Los Lobos” and “Los Choneros” prison gangs, officials said.

Television images showed inmates firing from the windows of the prison amid smoke and the detonation of firearms and explosives. The Guayas state government posted images on its Twitter account showing six cooks being evacuated from one of the prison’s wings.

In July, President Guillermo Lasso decreed a state of emergency in Ecuador’s prison system following several violent episodes that resulted in more than 100 inmates being killed.

The bloodiest day occurred in February, when 79 prisoners died in a simultaneous riot in three prisons in the country. In July, 22 more prisoners lost their lives in the Litoral penitentiary, while in September a penitentiary center was attacked by drones leaving no fatalities.

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LONDON (AP) — London finally honored the late Princess Diana Wednesday with a blue plaque at the place she called home in the two years before she married Prince Charles and her life in the goldfish bowl began.

For Diana, 60 Coleherne Court, an apartment near London’s fashionable King’s Road, was the start of a new adventure. Settling in the capital on reaching her 18th birthday, Diana shared the apartment with a number of friends from 1979 to 1981. It was there that she first started to court Charles.

One of her roommates then, Virginia Clarke, helped unveil the English Heritage plaque during Wednesday’s ceremony.

“Those were happy days for all of us and the flat was always full of laughter,” she said. “Diana went off to become so much to so many. It’s wonderful that her legacy will be remembered in this way.”

According to Andrew Morton’s 1992 best-selling book “Diana, In Her Own Words,” Diana described her years at the property as “the happiest time” of her life.

Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, is the highest profile former member of the monarchy to be bestowed the honor. She was nominated by the London Assembly in 2019 after the body ran a campaign asking Londoners to suggest women worthy of a blue plaque.

“Diana had, and still has, a very special place in the hearts of Londoners and we are thrilled to see her blue plaque formally placed as a monument to her work for others,” said Andrew Boff, chairman of the London Assembly.

The honor comes in the year when she would have celebrated her 60th birthday.

“Diana was one of the world’s most famous women and she used her fame and influence to raise awareness of issues such as homelessness and landmines,” said Anna Eavis, the curatorial director at English Heritage.

“It is fitting that our blue plaque remembers her at this place where her life in the public eye first began,” she added.

The renowned London blue plaque program began more than 150 years ago. The plaques commemorate people who achieved something worthwhile in their lives and who made London their home at some point. There are more than 900 official plaques in the capital.

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