AP News Digest 3:17 a.m.

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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ONLY ON AP

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TRAFFIC-FATALITIES-INEQUALITY – Black communities have been especially hard hit amid a national surge in traffic fatalities. Those sobering statistics could give new momentum to plans to redesign what is known in Philadelphia as the “corridor of death,” Roosevelt Boulevard. From 10% to 13% of the city’s traffic fatalities occurred each year on Roosevelt prior to the pandemic. Officials say speed cameras have helped keep the number of fatalities there steady even as they have increased significantly across the city during the pandemic. Philadelphia hopes a federal priority on equity will mean a greater chance of funding to pare down the 12-lane road and make safety improvements. By Claudia Lauder. SENT: 1,500 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 960 words is also available.

ELECTION-2022-CROSSOVER VOTERS – Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger probably would not have won last Tuesday’s Republican primary without Democrats. An Associated Press analysis of early voting data has determined that more than 37,000 people who voted in Georgia’s Democratic primary two years ago cast ballots in last week’s Republican primary. Raffensperger avoided a runoff election by just over 27,000 votes despite opposition from former President Donald Trump. Voters across the political spectrum are working to stop extremists backed by Trump from winning control of state and federal governments. By Steve Peoples and Aaron Kessler. SENT: 1,310 words, photo.

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TOP STORIES

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TEXAS-SCHOOL-SHOOTING-EMPTY SPACES – In a town as small as Uvalde, Texas, even those who didn’t lose their own child lost someone — their best friend, the little boy down the road who dribbled his basketball in the driveway, the kid who stood on the curb, backpack in hand, waiting for the bus. Before the shooting shattered their world, “what’s your son up to?” or “your daughter played a great game” were the most common exchanges when they ran into people they knew, which was all the time because everyone knows everyone. Some say now that closeness is both their blessing and their curse: they can lean on each other to grieve. But every single one of them is grieving. By Claire Galofaro. SENT: 1,920 words, photos. An abridged version of 940 words is also available.

TEXAS-SCHOOL-SHOOTING –It should have been the first day of a joyous week for Robb Elementary School students — the start of summer break. Instead, the first two of 19 children slain in a classroom were being remembered at funeral visitations. Over the coming days, people in the Texas town will say goodbye to the children and their teachers, one heart-wrenching visitation, funeral and burial after another after another. SENT: 980 words, photos, video.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR – Russian troops pushed deeper into a key eastern Ukrainian city, fighting street by street with Kyiv’s forces in a battle that the mayor of Sievierodonetsk said has left his city in ruins. That comes as the European Union agreed to a partial embargo of Russian oil in an attempt to pressure Moscow to end the war. By Yuras Karmanau and Elena Becatoros. SENT: 1,040 words, photos, video. With RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-THE LATEST and RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-EUROPE.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA – Shanghai authorities say they will take some major steps toward reopening China’s largest city after a two-month COVID-19 lockdown that has throttled the national economy and largely bottled up millions of people in their homes. SENT: 360 words, photos.

TEXAS-SCHOOL-SHOOTING-POLICE CHIEF – The blame for an excruciating delay in killing the gunman at a Texas elementary school — even as parents outside begged police to rush in and panicked children called 911 from inside — has been placed with the school district’s homegrown police chief. It’s left residents in small city of Uvalde struggling to reconcile what they know of the well-liked local lawman after the director of state police said that Pete Arredondo — as the commander at the scene — made the “wrong decision” not to breach a classroom at Robb Elementary School sooner. By Adriana Gomez Licon and Jamie Stengle. SENT: 970 words, photos, video.

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MORE ON TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING

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BIDEN – President Joe Biden says there may some bipartisan support to tighten restrictions on the kind of high-powered weapons used by the gunman in the Texas school shooting. Biden told reporters at the White House that some Republicans who’ve been against more gun restrictions may have been jolted by the massacre into what he calls a more “rational” approach. By Will Weissert. SENT: 770 words, photos, videos.

TEXAS-SCHOOL SHOOTING-JUSTICE DEPARTMENT - Since the Columbine High School shooting over 20 years ago, police have been trained to waste no time confronting school shooters . But it took officers in Uvalde, Texas, more than an hour to stop a shooter who massacred 19 children, a lapse that will likely be at the center of a Department of Justice probe into the police response. SENT: 900 words, photos, video.

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MORE ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-HOSPITALS UNDER PRESSURE — Across eastern Ukraine, hospitals in cities and towns near the front lines of the war are increasingly coming under pressure. Many staff have fled, and those who remain have to deal with the added influx of war wounded on top of their usual flow of sick patients. One lifeline for the overstretched hospitals is a specially equipped evacuation train, run by the medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders. It includes an intensive care unit compartment and ferries the wounded and the sick westward to better equipped hospitals in safer parts of the country. By Elena Becatoros. SENT: 810 words, photos.

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TRENDING NEWS

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TROPICAL WEATHER – Hurricane Agatha made history as the strongest hurricane ever recorded to come ashore in May during the eastern Pacific hurricane center, making landfall on a sparsely populated stretch of small beach towns and fishing villages in southern Mexico. SENT: 370 words, photo.

AFGHANISTAN-KABUL-CEMETERIES-PHOTO GALLERY — In Kabul, cemeteries a part of Afghan daily life. SENT: 550 words, photos.

MALAYSIA-CHICKEN EXPORT BAN — Malaysia will stop exporting chickens in a protectionist move to bolster domestic food supply, sparking distress in neighboring Singapore where chicken rice is a national dish. SENT: 400 words, photos.

NIGERIA-CLERIC-ABDUCTED – Police in Nigeria say the head of the Methodist Church Nigeria has regained his freedom a day after being abducted in the country’s southeast. SENT: 190 words.

NEBRASKA-CRASH – Police say two people are dead and 20 others injured in a crash that sent two cars careening into a crowd of bystanders while an annual Memorial Day weekend “cruise” night was wrapping up in Nebraska’s capital. SENT: 400 words.

BIKER GANGS-SHOOTIG-VEGAS – Police say rival motorcycle gangs were involved in a metro Las Vegas freeway shooting that injured seven people over the weekend. SENT: 170 words.

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WASHINGTON/ POLITICS

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BIDEN-FED-CHAIR — President Joe Biden will meet Tuesday with Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell as soaring inflation takes a bite out of Americans’ pocketbooks. SENT: 300 words, photo.

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NATIONAL

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CHEMICAL-FIRE-NEBRASKA – Authorities say a fire was raging through a chemical company just southwest of downtown Omaha, forcing some nearby residents to evacuate and leaving thousands without power. SENT: 200 words, photos, video.

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INTERNATIONAL

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BRITAIN PLATINUM JUBILEE - THE COMMONWEALTH — When Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge toured the Caribbean earlier this year they hoped to spread good cheer during the Platinum Jubilee celebrating the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. But the visit didn’t go according to plan. Amid the parades and black tie dinners, there were also protests over what some see as outdated colonial ties, demands that Britain apologize for its role in the enslavement of millions of Africans and calls for it to pay reparations to the ancestors of its victims. During her seven decades on the throne, Elizabeth has been the head of state for the United Kingdom and 14 “realms” that were once colonies of the British Empire and are now independent countries. She is also head of the larger Commonwealth. With Barbados ditching the queen earlier this year, Jamaica signalling it will soon cut ties to the crown and others likely to follow, the monarchy’s future role outside Britain is now in doubt. William acknowledged as much, telling a gathering in the Bahamas that it was up to local people to determine their future links with Britain. SENT: 940 words, photos.

BRITAIN PLATINUM JUBILEE-THE PAGEANT — When Ajay Chhabra was asked to design a pageant performance to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, he knew just what makes the perfect centerpiece: cake. Not just any cake, but Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s 1947 wedding cake, which was dubbed “the 10,000-mile cake” because it was whipped up with sugar, dried fruit, rum and brandy from all corners of the Commonwealth. Chhabra, a second-generation British Indian with Fijian heritage, wanted to use his segment of Sunday’s Jubilee pageant to highlight how the queen, through her historic 70 years’ reign. SENT: 650 words, photos, video.

IRAN – Protesters angry over a building collapse in southwestern Iran that killed at least 33 people have shouted down an emissary sent by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A crackdown saw riot police club demonstrators and fire tear gas. SENT: 920 words, photo.

CANADA-GUNS – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has introduced legislation that would put a national freeze on importing, buying or selling handguns. SENT: 640 words, photos.

HONG KONG – John Lee has received his official letter of appointment from Beijing a month before he takes over as leader of Hong Kong. Lee is in Beijing on a customary visit after winning the election for chief executive of the southern Chinese city. SENT: 410 words, photos.

AUSTRALIA-POLITICS — Australia’s liberal Labor Party has secured enough seats to hold an outright majority in the House as vote counting from an election 10 days ago continues. SENT: 360 words, photos.

TAIWAN-US — On a visit to Taiwan, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth is reiterating support for the island amid rising Chinese threats. SENT: 370 words, photos.

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BUSINESS

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CHINA-MANUFACTURING – An official survey shows Chinese manufacturing activity started to rebound in May after the government eased anti-virus restrictions that shut down Shanghai and other industrial centers. SENT: 150 words, photo.

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HEALTH AND SCIENCE

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MED-YOUNG CAREGIVERS – Millions of Americans with serious health problems depend on children ages 18 and younger to provide some or all of their care at home. An exact number is hard to pin down, but researcher Melinda Kavanaugh thinks as many as 10 million children are involved in caregiving in the U.S. SENT: 1,700 words, photos, video. By Health Writer Tom Murphy. An abridged version will be published after 9 a.m. EDT Tuesday.

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SPORTS

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SOC-CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL-DISORDER – French authorities have defended police for indiscriminately firing tear gas and pepper spray at Liverpool supporters at the Champions League final while blaming industrial levels of fraud that saw 30,000 to 40,000 people try to enter the Stade de France with fake tickets or none at all. SENT: 750 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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