AP News Digest 2 p.m.

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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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CAPITOL BREACH-MISINFORMATION ON TRIAL — Falsehoods about the election helped bring insurrectionists to the Capitol on Jan. 6, and now some who are facing criminal charges hope their claims of gullibility might save them or at least engender some sympathy. Lawyers for at least three defendants say they’ll blame election misinformation and conspiracy theories, much of it pushed by then-President Donald Trump for misleading their clients. By David Klepper. SENT: 1,090 words, photos.

BIDEN-LEGISLATIVE TEAM — While President Joe Biden pitches his infrastructure plan to the American public, the real work of delivering his legislative agenda takes place behind the scenes. Biden’s 15-person legislative team is engaged in constant phone calls and Zoom meetings with lawmakers and their staff. By Alexandra Jaffe and Josh Boak. SENT: 1,390 words, photos.

IMMIGRATION-DEPORTEES — With President Joe Biden in office, advocates are pushing new campaigns and proposals to bring back immigrants they believe were unfairly deported from the U.S. One of them urges creating a centralized Department of Homeland Security office to consider requests from deported immigrants trying to reunite with their families in the United States. It’s a long shot: White House officials have never publicly mentioned the idea, and it doesn’t yet have a supporter in Congress. By Claudia Torrens and Gisela Salomon. SENT: 970 words, photos.

CRITICAL-RACE-THEORY-STATES — Republican-controlled legislatures across the country are advancing measures to limit how students can be taught about race and racism. Democrats, teachers and racial justice scholars say the measures will have a chilling effect on educators. They also worry that students could be given a whitewashed version of the nation’s history. By Bryan Anderson. SENT: 1,100 words, photos. This story is the Sunday Spotlight

TULSA MASSACRE-POLICE-RESPONSE — There’s been undeniable progress in the relationship between the Tulsa police and the city’s Black community in the past 100 years. Then again, it’s hard to imagine it could have gotten worse. Complaints about police bias and a lack of enough minority officers remain. But the police chief is now a Black man from north Tulsa, the area that includes what once was America’s wealthiest Black business district. By Cliff Brunt. SENT: 1,200 words, photos. With: TULSA-MASSACRE-HISTORY'S IMPACT — The toll from the 1921 massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was horrific. A thriving Black community was gutted by a white mob. The nightmare cried out for attention, but the horror and violence visited upon Tulsa’s Black community didn’t become part of the American story. Instead, it was pushed down, unremembered and untaught until efforts decades later started bringing it into the light. By Deepti Hajela. SENT: 880 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK — Coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths are plummeting across much of Europe. That’s after second and third surges over the winter and spring claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and led to more rolling lockdowns, distance learning and overwhelmed intensive care units. Vaccination rates are accelerating, and with them, the promise of summer vacations. By Nicole Winfield, Frank Jordans and Colleen Barry. SENT: 1,110 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-THE-LATEST.

BELARUS-ISOLATION-DEEPENING — As fear of repression rises among Belarusians following the arrest of a dissident journalist whose plane was forcibly diverted to Minsk, those who want to leave the country are feeling increasingly cornered. By Yuras Karmanu. SENT: 850 words, photos. With: BELARUS-PROTESTS — Belarusians in Ukraine protest repression in homeland. SENT: 340 words, photo.

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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

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CANADA-INDIGENOUS-SCHOOL-DEATHS — The remains of 215 children, some as young as 3 years old, have been found buried on the site of what was once Canada’s largest Indigenous residential school — one of the institutions that held children taken from families across the nation. SENT: 520 words, photos, video.

CHINA-SPACE-STATION — China launches cargo rocket with supplies for space station. SENT: 190 words, photos.

BRITAIN-ROYALS — Duchess of Cambridge ‘hugely grateful’ for 1st vaccine dose. SENT: 160 words, photo.

BRITAIN-PROTEST — UK: Anti-immigration protest blocks traffic in port of Dover. SENT: 130 words, photos.

BICYCLE-ACCIDENT-ACTOR-KILLED — Group: Spot where car hit bicycling ‘School of Rock’ actor is unsafe. SENT: 260 words, photo.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VIETNAM — Vietnam has discovered a new coronavirus variant that’s a hybrid of strains first found in India and the U.K., the Vietnamese health minister said. SENT: 400 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-US — More states are lifting COVID-19 restrictions amid rising vaccination rates and falling caseloads. Massachusetts lifted its facemask requirement Saturday, a day after New Jersey, while New York City and Chicago reopened public beaches. Officials celebrated the relaxed rules, even as they urged unvaccinated Americans to get immunized. UPCOMING: 500 words by 4 p.m.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FRANCE-TEST-CONCERT — Thousands of people, masked and tested for the coronavirus, packed inside a Paris arena for a concert as part of a public health experiment to prepare France to host big events again. SENT: 200 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-MIDEAST — Lebanon’s health authorities have launched a daylong COVID-19 vaccination “marathon” to speed up inoculations around the country, including areas where turnout has so far been low. SENT: 290 words.

VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHINA — The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou shut down a neighborhood and ordered its residents to stay home for door-to-door coronavirus testing following an upsurge in infections that has rattled authorities. SENT: 300 words, photos.

VIRUS-OUBREAK-NEPAL-EVEREST — A year after Mount Everest was closed to climbers as the pandemic swept across the globe, hundreds are making the final push to the summit with only a few more days left in the season, saying they are undeterred by a coronavirus outbreak in base camp. SENT: 620 words, photos.

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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VOTING BILLS-TEXAS — Texas Republicans dig in for a final weekend vote on some of the most restrictive new voting laws in the U.S., finalizing a sweeping bill that would eliminate drive-thru voting, reduce polling hours and limit Sunday voting, when many Black churchgoers head to the polls. UPCOMING: 600 words by 4 p.m.

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NATIONAL

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MARIJUANA-K-9-RETIREMENTS — Drug-sniffing police dogs from around Virginia are being forced into early retirement as the state prepares to legalize adult recreational use of marijuana on July 1. Virginia is following a trend in other states where legalization has led to K-9s being put out to pasture earlier than planned. SENT: 800 words, photos.

DEATH-PENALTY-SOUTH CAROLINA — Death penalty opponents have been making stops in South Carolina to speak out about why they feel the firing squad shouldn’t be used here. Earlier this month, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed into law a bill forcing inmates to choose death by firing squad or electric chair, if lethal injection drugs aren’t available. SENT: 700 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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AFGHANISTAN — Afghan officials say a roadside bomb has struck a minivan full of university lecturers and students in Afghanistan’s northern Kapisa province, killing at least 4 people and wounding 11 others. SENT: 130 words, photo.

KUWAIT-CORRUPTION-TRIAL — A Kuwaiti court in an unprecedented move has ordered two former ministers and royal family members detained pending trial over their suspected misuse of the Defense Ministry’s funds. SENT: 890 words, photos.

SUEZ CANAL-VESSEL — An Egyptian court adjourned the case of a massive cargo vessel that blocked the Suez Canal earlier this year. The move will give the Suez Canal Authority and the vessel’s owner more time to resolve a financial dispute. SENT: 330 words, photo.

SOUTH CHINA SEA — The Philippines has demanded that China withdraw its ships and fishing vessels from the vicinity of a Philippine-occupied island in the South China Sea, where the Chinese military has asserted its sovereignty and vowed to “unswervingly safeguard” the disputed territory. SENT: 480 words, photo.

INDONESIA-IRAN-CHINA — Indonesian authorities say an Iranian oil tanker and another ship have been released after a four-month detention for illegally transferring oil in Indonesian waters. SENT: 250 words, photos.

INDONESIA-FERRY-ACCIDENT — Officials in eastern Indonesian say a ferry caught fire with nearly 200 people on board, forcing passengers and crew to jump into the sea but causing no casualties. SENT: 200 words, photos.

BRITAIN-ACTIVIST-SHOT — A teenager from south London appeared in court on charges that he was involved in the shooting of a prominent member of the Black Lives Matter movement. SENT: 240 words.

BELARUS PROTESTS — Belarusians distraught by an intensifying crackdown on political opposition in their homeland demonstrated against the country’s authoritarian president in the capital of neighboring Ukraine. SENT: 340 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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SOC--CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL — In an all-English Champions League final, Manchester City plays Chelsea in soccer’s showpiece club championship. City is going for its first European Cup; Chelsea won it once before, in 2012. The game was moved from Istanbul because of Turkey’s rise in coronavirus infections. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos. Game starts 3 p.m.

TEN--FRENCH OPEN — The French Open — back in its regular May slot and with considerably more fans than when last played -- starts Sunday with Rafael Nadal pursuing a record-extending 14th championship and 21st Grand Slam title. He is looking to break a tie for the overall men’s mark he shares with Roger Federer. SENT: 800 words, photos.

HKN--CLUTCH CAPTAINS — Captains are coming up clutch in the NHL playoffs: Patrice Bergeron (Bruins), Blake Wheeler (Jets), Steven Stamkos (Lightning), Gabriel Landeskog (Avalanche). The Islanders are doing their best without injured Anders Lee while the Maple Leafs are rallying around the absence of John Tavares. UPCOMING: 650 words, photos by 6 p.m.

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HOW TO REACH US

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At the Nerve Center, Rob Jagodzinski can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, (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.