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AP News Digest 2 p.m.

Via AP news wire
Tuesday 01 June 2021 19:00 BST
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak India
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak India (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

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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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BIDEN-TULSA MASSACRE — President Joe Biden takes part in a remembrance of one of the nation’s darkest — and largely forgotten — moments of racial violence as he commemorates the 100th anniversary of the destruction of a thriving Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma. By Darlene Superville and Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 1092 words. UPCOMING: Developing from 4:15 p.m. Biden remarks, 1090 words by 5 p.m., photos, video.

CONGRESS-INFRASTRUCTURE — President Biden meets this week with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, the top Republican negotiator on infrastructure, as the administration signals time is running out to strike a bipartisan deal on his top legislative priority, raising doubts about reaching agreement by the June 7 deadline. By Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 376 words. UPCOMING: 790 words by 5 p.m., photo.

VATICAN-SEX-ABUSE — Pope Francis has changed Catholic Church law to explicitly criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests who abuse their authority and to say that laypeople who hold church office also can be sanctioned for similar sex crimes. The new provisions, released after 14 years of study, were contained in the revised criminal law section of the Vatican’s Code of Canon Law, the in-house legal system that covers the 1.3 billion-member Catholic Church and operates independently from civil laws. By Nicole Winfield. SENT: 1,035 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-NURSING-HOMES — Nursing homes across the country are still reporting scattered COVID-19 outbreaks and COVID-associated deaths, albeit at much smaller rates than during the height of the pandemic. Those facilities are subsequently following federal and state recommendations to pause visitations, causing disappointment and frustration among family members who hoped to get back to normal once the residents were fully vaccinated. More often, staff are the ones infected. By Sue Haigh. SENT: 1,055 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK — It’s sinking in that Japan’s scramble to catch up on a frustratingly slow vaccination drive less than two months before the Summer Olympics start may be too little, too late. Instead, an expert warns that the Olympics risks becoming an incubator for “a Tokyo variant,” as tens of thousands athletes, officials, sponsors and journalists descend on and potentially mix with a largely unvaccinated Japanese population. With infections in Tokyo and other heavily populated areas at high levels and hospitals already under strain, experts have warned there is little slack in the system. By Mari Yamaguchi. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.

BRAZIL-AMAZON-FLOODING — Rivers around the biggest city in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest have swelled to levels unseen in over a century of record-keeping, according to data published by Manaus’ port authorities, straining a society that has grown weary of increasingly frequent flooding. By Fernando Crispim and Diane Jeantet. SENT: 565 words, photos.

TEN-FRENCH-OPEN-OSAKA — The leaders of the four Grand Slam tournaments have reacted to tennis star Naomi Osaka’s stunning withdrawal from the French Open by promising to address players’ concerns about mental health. The pledge came in a statement signed by the same four tennis administrators who threatened the possibility of disqualification or suspension for Osaka if she continued to skip news conferences. Osaka is a four-time major champion and is ranked No. 2. She was fined $15,000 when she didn’t speak to reporters after her first-round victory. Osaka then pulled out of the tournament. She says she experiences anxiety before meeting with the media. By Howard Fendrich. SENT: 700 words, photo.

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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

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TEEN-SHOVES-BEAR — A 17-year-old girl shoved a large bear that was swatting at her family dog in their Southern California backyard. Surveillance video aired by the ABC 7 television station shows the mother bear perched on top of a wall, facing off with a black dog on the ground. SENT: 170 words.

ODD--BORROWED ALBUM-LATE RETURN — A man living in San Francisco has mailed a Bob Dylan album back to an Ohio library where it was due to be returned in June 1973. SENT: 295 words.

BOY-SAVES-FAMILY — A 7-year-old boy is being credited for saving his father and 4-year-old sister by out-swimming a strong current to get help during a holiday weekend boating trip. SENT: 315 words.

CHINA-BIRD-FLU — The Chinese government says a man has contracted what might be the world’s first human case of the H10N3 strain of bird flu, but that the risk of large-scale spread is low. SENT: 195 words, photo.

BELARUS-ACTIVIST — A Belarusian activist stabbed himself in the neck during a court hearing to protest political repression and authorities’ threats to prosecute his relatives. SENT: 245 words, photos.

MACE-HOME-VANDALIZED — U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace posted a video of obscenities that she said had been spray-painted on her Charleston-area home over the Memorial Day weekend. SENT: 290 words, photos.

SWIMMING-POOL-SHOOTINGS — Authorities say two people walked into the swimming pool area of a Louisiana apartment complex on Memorial Day and opened fire on two young men, also killing a 1-year-old girl. SENT: 115 words.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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REL-VIRUS OUTBREAK SURVIVING SON’S-REMORSE — Brian Walter says he took all precautions to protect his parents from the coronavirus, but the New York City Transit employee had to carry on with his duties as an essential worker. He believes he exposed his father to the virus before John Walter died from COVID-19. Survivors wonder whether decisions they made had catastrophic consequences. SENT: 525 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRITAIN — A terminal at London’s Heathrow Airport that was mothballed because of the coronavirus pandemic reopened to serve passengers arriving from high-risk countries — an action that critics said was long overdue. SENT: 480 words, photos.

LONDON-BEYOND-THE-PANDEMIC-ONE-SCHOOL'S STORY — Schools across Britain are racing to offset the disruption caused by COVID-19, which has hit kids from low-income and ethnic minority families the hardest. Students across England lost an average of 115 days of in-school instruction to the pandemic. SENT: 1200 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MALAYSIA — Malls and many businesses in Malaysia have shuttered as the country begins its second nationwide lockdown to tackle a worsening surge of the coronavirus that has put its health care system on the verge of collapse. SENT: 595 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-AUSTRALIA — An Australian court has rejected a challenge to the federal government’s draconian power to prevent most citizens from leaving the country so they don’t bring COVID-19 home. SENT: 590 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-URUGUAY — When Eduardo Rey celebrated his 69th birthday with 10 family members, he didn’t suspect it would start a mortal race to find medical care amid a surging pandemic. One month later, he died of respiratory insufficiency, joining more than 3,000 people who have died of COVID-19 in Uruguay since March. Uruguay faces one of the highest per capita coronavirus death rates. SENT: 860 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ONE-GOOD-THING-KIDNEY-DONOR-EX-WIFE — They aren’t supposed to get along, let alone be friends, but this new wife and ex-wife say they’re sisters for life after a kidney transplant. In November, Debby Neal-Strickland put on a lace gown and married her longtime sweetheart Jim. Two days later, she put on a hospital gown and donated a kidney to her new husband’s ex-wife. SENT: 705 words, photos.

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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SUPREME COURT-TALC-LAWSUIT — The Supreme Court leaves in place a $2 billion verdict in favor of women who claim they developed ovarian cancer from using Johnson & Johnson talc products. SENT: 320 words, photo.

SUPREME COURT-TRIBAL POLICE — The Supreme Court rules that tribal police officers can stop and search non-Indians on tribal lands for potential violations of state or federal law. SENT: 263 words, photo.

CONGRESS-NEW-MEXICO — A special congressional election in New Mexico is testing political enthusiasm among Democrats in an increasingly progressive district last won by a Republican in 2006. The winner of Tuesday’s four-way election for the 1st Congressional District will fill a seat left vacant by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland as she joined the Biden Cabinet. SENT: 415 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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RUSSIAN-OPPOSITION — Russian authorities are cracking down on dissent before a crucial parliamentary election in September, in what a leading Kremlin critic has described as an attempt to sideline opponents. Mikhail Khodorkovsky a Russian tycoon who moved to London after spending a decade in prison in Russia on charges widely seen as political revenge for challenging President Vladimir Putin’s rule, said the latest moves against opposition activists reflected the authorities’ concern about the waning popularity of the main Kremlin-directed party, United Russia. SENT: 620 words, photos.

ISRAEL-US — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he’s prepared to risk tension with the U.S. if that is what it takes to neutralize Iran’s nuclear capabilities. The embattled premier, whose political future is in question just 11 days out from a bruising war, said Israel’s biggest threat remains the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran. SENT: 400 words, photos.

CHINA-AGING-POPULATION — China’s leaders are easing limits on how many children each couple can have, hoping to counter the rapid aging of Chinese society. On Monday, the ruling Communist Party announced it would let all couples have three children instead of two. Its track record suggests such rule changes do little to change long-term trends as couples are put off from having children by the costs, disruptions to jobs and the extra burden of elder care. SENT: 880 words, photos.

AFGHANISTAN — Two bombs exploded in quick succession in separate locations in a west Kabul neighborhood, killing at least six people and wounding seven others, an Afghan government spokesman said. SENT: 225 words, developing.

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NATIONAL

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GEORGE-FLOYD-OFFICER'S-CIVIL-RIGHTS — The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death is scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court to face charges alleging he violated Floyd’s civil rights by pinning the Black man to the pavement with his knee. Derek Chauvin, 45, is scheduled to appear in federal court via videoconference from Minnesota’s maximum-security prison in Oak Park Heights. SENT: 690 words, photos.

RACIAL-INJUSTICE-NEW-YORK-STATE-POLICE — The New York State Police agency remains overwhelmingly white, an imbalance some troopers say is rooted in a legacy of racism. Of the agency’s more than 4,700 troopers, only 4% are Black and 6% are Hispanic. Those are paltry proportions compared to the 16% and 19% of the state’s population those groups respectively constitute. A half-dozen minority troopers told The Associated Press that discrimination has flourished within the agency. Some spoke of being subjected to racist slurs or imagery. SENT: 1,140 words, photos.

VIRGINIA-MILITARY-INSTITUTE — The findings of a monthslong investigation into racism at the Virginia Military Institute will soon be made public. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia said an independent law firm’s final report will be released by Tuesday afternoon. SENT: 215 words, photo.

FBI-AGENT-TRAIN-SHOOTING — Court records show an FBI agent has been charged with attempted murder in the off-duty shooting of another man on a Metro subway train last year in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C. SENT: 395 words, photo.

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HEALTH/SCIENCE

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NEW ZEALAND-NASA — New Zealand has become the latest country to sign a space agreement with U.S. space agency NASA, just as New Zealand’s nascent space industry begins to take off. New Zealand became the eleventh signatory to the Artemis Accords, a blueprint for space cooperation and supporting NASA’s plans to return humans to the moon by 2024 and to launch an historic human mission to Mars. SENT: 370 words, photos.

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BUSINESS/ TECHNOLOGY

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VIRTUAL REALITY-MISSING THE MOMENT — Last year’s pandemic lockdowns could have been virtual reality’s chance to offer an escape for the homebound. But the breakout technology winners emerged elsewhere. VR technology that lets people interact with a 360 degree, three-dimensional environments has long been on the cusp of popularity, but Facebook’s latest VR gear could show whether the industry has finally cracked the code. SENT: 1,000 words, photo.

OIL-MARKETS — The OPEC oil cartel and allied producing countries have confirmed their plans to return 2.1 million barrels per day of oil output, balancing fears that continuing COVID-19 outbreaks in some countries will sap demand against rising demand from recovering economies around the globe. SENT: 585 words, photos.

FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Stocks were mixed as investors returned from a three-day holiday weekend in the U.S. SENT: 270 words, photos.

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ENTERTAINMENT

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PEOPLE-KELLY OSBOURNE — Kelly Osbourne is opening up about her battles with drug and alcohol addiction, stopping by “Red Table Talk” to discuss getting hooked as a teen and relapsing after the pandemic. By Entertainment Writer Mark Kennedy. SENT: 310 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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BKN-CELTICS-NETS — The Brooklyn Nets can advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals by beating the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of their series. The Nets easily won their two games at home so far. By Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos. Game starts 7:30 p.m.

TEN-FRENCH-OPEN — Top-ranked Ashleigh Barty has overcome a strong challenge from Bernarda Pera to win her first match at Roland Garros since she claimed the French Open title in 2019. Barty played with her left thigh bandaged and struggled before getting medical treatment at the start of the deciding set. Barty improved and eventually made the most of Pera’s lack of consistency to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. In the men’s draw, 13-time champion Rafael Nadal later starts his bid for a record 21st major title against Alexei Popyrin. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic faces Tennys Sandgren in the night session. SENT: 490 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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At the Nerve Center, Richard A. Somma be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Courtney Dittmar (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://newsroom.ap.org. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport(at)ap.org or call 877-836-9477.

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