QUICK HITS

1 Facebook to block news: Facebook plans to block people

and publishers in Australia from sharing news, a move that pushes back against a proposed law forcing the company to pay media companies for their articles. The threat escalates an antitrust battle between Facebook and the Australian government, which wants the social media giant and Google to compensate publishers for the value they provide to their platforms.

2 Author dies: Julia Reed, a Mississippi native who wrote about presidential politics and fashion for Vogue before emerging as an irreverent and stylish chronicler of Southern life and food, died Aug. 28 at a hospital in Newport, R.I. She was 59. The cause was cancer. 3 Finance minister resigns: Thailand’s finance minister resigned unexpectedly Tuesday after less than a month in the job, in which he was responsible for helping restore an economy slammed by the coronavirus. Thai media reported without citing a source that Predee Daochai, 61, had resigned for health reasons, but no officials were willing to publicly comment.

4 Defying blacklist: President Rodrigo Duterte will allow Chinese companies to participate in infrastructure projects in the Philippines even if they are blacklisted by the United States, his spokesman said Tuesday.

5 NYC to pay $5.9 million in death

of transgender inmate: New York City has reached the largest settlement recorded over an inmate’s death at the Rikers Island jail complex, agreeing to pay $5.9 million to the family of a 27-yearold transgender woman who died there last year while in solitary confinement. Layleen Polanco was found unresponsive in her cell in June 2019 after having an epileptic seizure.