AP News Digest 2 p.m.
Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, 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.
-------------------
-------------------
AMERICA PROTESTS — Far-right activists scuffled with police and other protesters in London and Paris as more demonstrations in support of Black Lives Matter unfolded across Europe. In the U.S., a police shooting drew people to the scene where a man was killed outside an Atlanta fast-food restaurant. Tensions were high in cities around the globe, nearly three weeks after George Floyd, a black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee to his neck. By Sylvia Hui and Ed White. SENT: 750 words, photos. WITH: AMERICA PROTESTS-THE LATEST.
Full coverage of America Protests on AP News.
TRUMP-WEST POINT -- As the nation struggles to confront its complicated racial legacy, President Donald Trump preached unity to West Point graduates and told them to never forget the legacy of soldiers from generations ago who fought ``a bloody war to extinguish the evil of slavery.’’ His appeal to reconciliation and remembrance came at a time when his own relationship with the military under strain, and the commander in chief and Pentagon leaders have faced unrelenting criticism over their response to the civil unrest that overwhelmed the country after George Floyd’s death. By Darlene Superville. SENT: 920 words, photos.
POLICE REFORM-LEGAL ACCOUNTABILITY -- In the wake of George Floyd’s death, state lawmakers around the country want to make it easier to hold police legally accountable for their actions. Elected officials have introduced proposals to take some charging decisions away from local prosecutors, eliminate officers’ wide immunity from lawsuits and make the relationship between prosecutors and police less cozy. Several states are considering putting the state attorney general’s office in charge of investigating officers accused of wrongdoing. By Andrew Selsky. SENT: 970 words, photos.
CONFEDERATE FLAG-MISSISSIPPI --The young activists who launched a protest movement after George Floyd’s death are bringing fresh energy to a long-simmering debate about a Confederate symbol — the rebel flag that white supremacists embedded within the Mississippi state flag more than 125 years ago. Mississippi has been a holdout for years in displaying the battle emblem in the upper-left corner of its banner. By Emily Wagster Pettus. SENT: 945 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-TRAILBLAZING MEDELLIN — As coronavirus cases surge in Latin America, one city is defying expectations and managing to keep numbers remarkably low: Medellin, Colombia. The city of eternal spring – once long ago the brandished murder capital of the world – is now emerging as a surprise COVID-19 pioneer. Three months in, there are just 712 cases citywide and only 7 patients hospitalized in ICUs. By Christine Armario. SENT: 1,150 words, photos. Eds: This story has moved as the Sunday Spotlight.
Full coverage of the Virus Outbreak in AP Newsroom.
ELECTION 2020-PROTESTS BATTLEGROUND -- Protests over black injustice have cropped up in small cities in rural areas across the upper Midwest and Rust Belt, in many places with their own lingering current of white supremacy and racial unrest. Demonstrations have taken place in counties that President Donald Trump carried resoundingly in 2016, and this movement is testing his ability to reassemble this older, white voting bloc that’s crucial to his hopes for a second term. By Thomas Beaumont. SENT: 980 words, photos.
--------—-----------------—-----—————-
-----------------—---------------——————
AMERICA PROTESTS-WHITE ALLIES -- In the more than two weeks of protests following the killing of George Floyd by police, multiracial crowds have surged into the streets around the country and the globe. Those scenes have raised the issue: For white people wanting to be part of an anti-racist movement, what does it mean to be an ally? As a new generation steps up, activists and historians believe there’s important work for white people: Listening to black voices and following rather than leading, for one, and the deep introspection it takes to confront unconscious bias and the perks of privilege that come just from being white. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.
POLICE SHOOTING=ATLANTA — Georgia authorities said Saturday a man was shot and killed in a late night struggle with Atlanta police outside a fast food restaurant after he failed a field sobriety test and resisted arrest. SENT: 275 words. Developing.
GEORGE FLOYD-INVESTIGATION-BODY CAMERAS -- Video recorded by a bystander showed the world George Floyd’s horrifying last minutes. But footage recorded by body cameras that officers wore as they were arresting Floyd could show even more about what the officers were doing and saying during that fateful encounter. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.
AMERICA-PROTESTS-WORLD-LEADERS — People have taken to the streets of Berlin, London, Paris and other cities around the world to demonstrate in support of Black Lives Matter protesters in the United States and to vent anger over President Donald Trump’s response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. But at the top, the leaders of traditional allies of the United States have taken pains to avoid criticizing Trump directly, walking a fine line to reconcile international diplomacy with domestic outrage. By David Rising. SENT: 1,030 words, photos.
AMERICA PROTESTS-GLOBAL — A day of demonstrations across Australia in support of the Black Lives Matter movement begins with protesters gathering in the far northern city of Darwin with approval from state health authorities. However, protesters in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth were urged to stay away by government officials concerned about the risk of spreading the new coronavirus. SENT: 540 words, photos.
------------------------------------——————
-----------------—-----------------———————
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ASIA -- India has reported more than 11,000 new coronavirus infections, another single-day high for the country, as it passed the grim milestone of 300,000 cases. The Health Ministry reported 11,458 new cases, driving the toll to 308,993, the fourth-highest in the world. It also reported 386 deaths, raising the number of fatalities to 8,884. SENT: 525 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA -- The largest wholesale food market in Beijing has been shuttered behind police guard and the surrounding neighborhood locked down after more than 50 people tested positive for the new coronavirus in the Chinese capital. The unexpected outbreak comes more than 50 days since the last local case in the city of 20 million people. SENT: 525 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW ORLEANS -- Bars are being allowed to reopen in party-loving New Orleans after a long shutdown prompted by coronavirus fears. The question as bar owners got ready to reopen was whether locals and tourists will show up in sufficient numbers to help them stay afloat financially. The reopening comes with restrictions. Bars can be filled to only 25 percent capacity. And live music remains off-limits. City officials are warning bar owners — and patrons — to be mindful of social distancing requirements to prevent the spread of COVID-19. SENT: 600 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FRANCE-MASK-SURPLUS — The French praised the altruism of their prized textile and luxury goods companies when production facilities got diverted from churning out the latest fashions to making cloth masks designed to protect the general public from the coronavirus. Now, the companies that helped France avoid a feared shortage of virus-filtering face wear for everyday use say they need help unloading a surplus of 20 million masks. SENT: 720 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SUDAN-DARFUR — In the sprawling refugee camps of Darfur, the war-scarred western region of Sudan, officials say the elderly are falling sick and dying at astonishing rates. In North Darfur’s provincial capital of El Fasher, some say they scroll through a dozen death announcements each day: Another old friend, relative, community leader lost with dizzying speed. SENT: 980 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE GOOD THING-BOLIVIA -- From a small room in Bolivia’s capital, a schoolteacher lives his out his childhood dreams while transforming the lockdown-limited lives of his students with the virtual classes he gives dressed up as superheroes like Spiderman, Flash or Green Lantern. His classes have become so popular that siblings fight for the laptop screen to see their superhero arts teacher who they in turn often help with operating the newer apps. SENT: 495 words, photos, video.
------------------—————————
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
------------------—————————
BRITAIN-QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY — Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday is being marked with a smaller ceremony than usual this year. SENT: 200 words, photos.
SAN ANTONIO-SHOOTING — A man who was turned away from a bar in San Antonio shot and wounded at least eight people in the parking lot, police said. SENT: 250 words.
CHINA TANKER TRUCK-EXPLOSION — A tanker truck exploded on a highway in China, killing 10 people and injuring 117 others, state media said. SENT: 100 words.
TEXAS-EXECUTION — A federal appeals court clears the way for the execution to proceed next week of a man condemned for the fatal stabbing more than 20 years ago of an 85-year-old woman. SENT: 250 words.
------------------—————————
------------------—————————
CONGRESS-PUBLIC LANDS -- At a time of national crises, the Senate has been able to come together on a topic both parties celebrate. It’s the great outdoors, and lawmakers have reached bipartisan agreement on an election-year deal to double spending on a popular conservation program and devote nearly $2 billion a year to improve and maintain national parks. SENT: 910 words, photos.
FACT CHECK-WEEK -- President Trump has been speaking a lot about law and order. An AP Fact Check finds misinformation in his mix. SENT: 1,300 words, photos. Find AP Fact Checks at https://apnews.com/APFactCheck
————————
————————
GEORGIA-ELECTION-UNCOUNTED VOTES -- Election officials and activists in four Georgia counties say faulty software or poorly calibrated vote-tabulation scanners used in the state’s primary may have prevented thousands of mailed-in votes from being counted. The activists say the fact that the problem occurred in multiple counties suggests it is systemic. They are calling for statewide audits. A top Georgia voting official, Gabriel Sterling, says he has not yet seen evidence of the issue and blamed “activists who have an ax to grind” for raising it. SENT: 875 words, photos.
————————————
————————————
KOREAS-TENSIONS — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened military action against South Korea as she bashed Seoul on Saturday over declining bilateral relations and its inability to stop activists from floating anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border. SENT: 970 words, photos.
VENEZUELA-BUSINESSMAN-ARRESTED — Authorities in Cape Verde have arrested en route to Iran a prominent businessman accused by the U.S. of corrupt dealings with President Nicolás Maduro’s socialist government in Venezuela. A U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman said that Alex Saab was arrested pursuant to an Interpol red notice issued in connection with U.S. money laundering charges in Miami. SENT: 675 words.
LIBYA — A dozen people were missing and feared drowned off the coast of Libya on Saturday after a boat carrying around three dozen migrants bound for Europe capsized in the Mediterranean Sea. SENT: 360 words.
POLAND-POLITICS — Poland’s president has accused the LGBT rights movement of promoting a viewpoint more harmful than communism and said he agreed with another conservative politician who stated that “LGBT is not people, it’s an ideology.” SENT: 610 words, photos.
ZIMBABWE-ALBINISM — While much of the world is engrossed in the race-related outrage over the death of George Floyd in the United States, Zimbabwe’s young people with albinism are fighting prejudices against the color of their skin. In nearby Malawi and Tanzania, many people with albinism are killed because their body parts are thought to bring good luck. No such killings have been reported in Zimbabwe, which has about 70,000 people with albinism out of a population of about 15 million. SENT: 650 words, photos.
—————————————
BUSINESS
—————————————
AMAZON-STATE INQUIRIES — State officials in California and Washington are reviewing Amazon’s business practices to determine whether the company is violating any laws with respect to the independent merchants that sell goods on its site. SENT: 270 words.
—————————————
HEALTH & SCIENCE
—————————————-
VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINE -- Pharma giant AstraZeneca has struck a deal with Europe’s Inclusive Vaccines Alliance to supply up to 400 million doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine, as efforts to boost manufacturing capacity continue at pace. SENT: 300 words, photos.
—————————————
—————————————-
AMERICA PROTESTS-FICTIONAL COPS --The May 25 death of George Floyd during an arrest by Minneapolis police has set off protests nationwide and transmitted images of law enforcement worlds away from an episode of “Dragnet”: beatings and lethal chokeholds of handcuffed suspects, firing mace and rubber bullets at peaceful protesters. SENT: 970 words, photos.
-----------—-
-----------—
FBN--STADIUMS WITHOUT FANS - The NFL has an advantage over other pro leagues during the pandemic. More than half of its $15 billion in revenue comes from television contracts, leaving the league in good financial position. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
GLF--COLONIAL — Harold Varner III has a one-shot lead over Jordan Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau, while Rory McIlroy is two back entering the third round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. This is the first live network coverage of weekend golf since early March. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 6:30 p.m.
OLY--USOC-PROTEST PROBLEMS — U.S. Olympic leaders are open to challenging IOC rules restricting protests at the Olympics. At the same time, some of the very athletes the federation is trying to help are angered that they have been kept out of the loop in key decisions. SENT: 900 words, photos.
NEW ZEALAND-RUGBY CROWDS RETURN - New Zealand becomes one of the first nations to welcome back fans to a packed sports stadium, with a crowd of more than 20,000 on hand for rugby. The country has not reported any COVID-19 cases in more than three weeks. SENT: 550 words, photos.
-------------------
HOW TO REACH US
-------------------
At the Nerve Center, Richard A. Somma can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Donald E. King (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.