AP News Digest 3:10 a.m.
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TOP STORIES
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TEXAS-SCHOOL SHOOTING — President Joe Biden grieved with the shattered community of Uvalde on Sunday. He mourned privately for three hours with anguished families left behind when a gunman killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers. The president was met with chants of “do something” as he departed a church service and responded, “we will.” Biden and his wife, Jill, visited a memorial to those who were slain at Robb Elementary School and attended Mass at a Catholic church. By Zeke Miller and Elliot Spagat. SENT: 1080 words, photos.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — Russian and Ukrainian troops are trading blows in fierce close-quarter combat in an eastern Ukraine city. Local officials reported Russian forces “storming” the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk on Sunday, a situation that the Ukrainian president described as “indescribably difficult.” By Elena Becatoros and Ricardo Mazalan. SENT: 1080 words, photos, video.
PACIFIC ISLANDS CHINA — For Georgina Matilda, working for Chinese infrastructure company China Railway means that she can put food on the table for her children. Like many Fijians, Matilda sees a benefit in foreign investment wherever it comes from, so long as it uplifts the people. The welcoming attitude by many in Fiji and elsewhere in the South Pacific comes as China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi sweeps through on an island-hopping tour amid growing international concerns about Beijing’s military and financial ambitions in the region. On Monday, Wang hosts a key meeting in Fiji with foreign ministers from 10 Pacific nations he hopes will endorse a sweeping new agreement covering everything from security to fisheries. But some nations, including Micronesia, are pushing back. By Aileen Torres-Bennett and Nick Perry. SENT: 630 words, photos.
COLOMBIA-ELECTIONS — Colombian voters have opted for a dramatic change in presidential politics, choosing a leftist former rebel and an outsider populist businessman to advance to a runoff election in June. They hope a new face can pull them out of the economic damage from the pandemic. Leftist Sen. Gustavo Petro on Sunday led the field of six candidates in Sunday’s opening round with just over 40% of the votes. By Astrid Suarez and Regina Garcia Cano. SENT: 990 words, photos.
ELECTION 2022-CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM — A movement known as Christian nationalism is making its presence known in many Republican primary races this year. Most prominent is the campaign of Doug Mastriano, who easily won the Republican nomination for governor of Pennsylvania. He has made his faith central to his personal story and has woven his conservative Christian beliefs and symbols into his campaign. Mastriano and many other candidates reject the label of Christian nationalist. They say they’re applying their values to their politics, just as any citizen would. But scholars say the label fits those who support a fusion of American and Christian values, symbols and identity. By Peter Smith and Deepa Bharath. SENT: 1,300 words, photos. This is the Monday Spotlight.
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MORE ON TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING
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TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING-JUSTICE DEPARTMENT — The Justice Department says it will review the law enforcement response to the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 students and two teachers dead. It’s an unusual federal look back that’s been prompted by questions about the shifting and at times contradictory information from authorities that have enraged a community in shock and sorrow. SENT: 390 words, photos.
TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING-GOVERNORS — The nation’s governors are diverging over how to respond to mass shootings such as the one that killed 19 students and two teachers at a Texas elementary school. Democrats are amplifying their calls for greater restrictions on guns. Many Republican governors are instead emphasizing more security at schools. SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
TEXAS-SCHOOL SHOOTING-SCHOOL JITTERS — U.S. schools have bolstered security in the aftermath of the horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, including making visitors ring a bell and temporarily banning large backpacks. SENT: 730 words, photos, video.
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MORE ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-AFRICA FOOD CRISIS — Families across Africa are paying about 45% more for wheat flour as Russia’s war in Ukraine blocks exports from the Black Sea. Some countries like Somalia get more than 90% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine. That’s forcing many people to substitute wheat for other grains. But the United Nations is warning that the price hikes are coming as many parts of Africa are facing drought and hunger. SENT: 880 words, photos.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR-CIVILIANS — Civilians who managed to flee Ukraine have described intensified shelling over the past week that left them unable to venture out at all from basement bomb shelters. SENT: 540 words, photos.
RUSSIA-SERBIA-GAS — The Serbian populist president has announced that he has secured an “extremely favorable” gas deal with Russia. The deal came during his telephone conversation Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. SENT: 430 words, photos.
TURKEY-NATO — Turkey’s president has told journalists he still intends to block Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO. SENT: 330 words.
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TRENDING NEWS
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NANCY-PELOSI-HUSBAND-ARRESTED — Paul Pelosi, the 82-year-old husband of U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, was arrested this weekend on suspicion of DUI in Northern California, police records show. SENT: 160 words. UPCOMING: Developing.
FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS-MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND — Hundreds of flights worldwide were cancelled by midday Sunday, adding to the mounting number of scrubbed flights during the busy Memorial Day holiday weekend. SENT: 360 words, photos.
BRAZIL-INDIGENOUS DOLLS — Luakam Anambé wanted her newborn granddaughter to have a doll, and she wanted it to share their Indigenous features. But there was nothing like that in Brazilian stores. So she sewed one herself from cloth and stuffing, and a business idea was born. SENT: 750 words, photos.
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WASHINGTON/ POLITICS
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US BIDEN POLICING — The White House and the Fraternal Order of Police has agreed to start over on an executive order on race and policing. The final version brought together law enforcement leaders, civil rights activists, and families of people who had been killed by police. SENT: 1302 words, photos.
ELECTION 2022-VERMONT — With a rare opening this fall in its congressional delegation, Vermont appears poised to lose its distinction as the only state that has never been represented by a woman in Washington. SENT: 1100 words, photos.
HARVARD COMMENCEMENT-GARLAND — Attorney General Merrick Garland told Harvard graduates Sunday that their generation has been asked to show “an impossible kind of resilience” after yet another mass shooting at another school. SENT: 460 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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OKLAHOMA-SHOOTING-FESTIVAL — Authorities say a 26-year-old man has been taken into custody after one person was killed and seven people were injured in a shooting at an outdoor festival in eastern Oklahoma. SENT: 480 words, photos.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK AVALANCHE — A climber was killed and two others were injured Sunday after a rock fall and avalanche in Rocky Mountain National Park, officials said. SENT: 130 words, photos.
VATICAN-NEW CARDINALS-McELROY — Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego is one of 21 new cardinals named by Pope Francis. The 68-year-old McElroy is an ideological ally of the pope and has often sparred with more conservative U.S. bishops. SENT: 670 words, photo.
GEORGIA-BOAT COLLISION — Searchers have found the bodies of three missing boaters after two motorboats collided on a Georgia river, bringing the death toll from the crash to five people. SENT: 200 words.
TENNESSEE SHOOTING — Police in Tennessee say six people were wounded during an exchange of gunfire in a downtown Chattanooga business district. SENT: 180 words.
WYOMING-ABORTION CLINIC — Organizers of a planned new women’s health clinic that would offer abortions in Wyoming vow to press ahead with their plans despite a suspected arson attack, protests, harassing messages and the chance that abortion could soon become illegal in the state and several others. SENT: 1,070 words, photos.
SAN DIEGO-WATER COSTS — As a worsening drought forces millions of Californians to use less water, one corner of Southern California has largely shielded itself from supply-related woes: San Diego County. The path it took to get there serves either as a blueprint or a cautionary tale for Western water planners. San Diego’s water is now among the most expensive in the country. SENT: 1,150 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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NEPAL PLANE CRASH — The wreckage of a plane that crashed in Nepal’s mountains has been found, and the bodies of 14 of the 22 people on board have been recovered. The search of the mountainside crash site was continuing, and there was no word on survivors. SENT: 300 words, photos.
ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS — Thousands of Israeli nationalists, some of them chanting “Death to Arabs,” paraded through the heart of the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday, in a show of force that risked setting off a new wave of violence in the tense city. By Josef Federman. SENT: 1150 words, photos.
AISA-UN-METHAMPHETAMINE — The number of methamphetamine tablets seized in East and Southeast Asia exceeded a billion last year, highlighting the scale of illegal drug production and trafficking in the region. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said the sum is seven times the amount seized by law enforcement agencies a decade ago. SENT: 560 words, photos.
INDONESIA BOAT — Three days after a cargo boat sank in the Makassar Strait in South Sulawesi province, 10 more survivors were located, including the captain and other crew. Of the total 42 people on board, 31 have been rescued since search and rescue operations began Saturday. SENT: 260 words, photos.
IRAN — Online videos show renewed clashes between Iranian riot police and angry protesters in the southwestern city of Abadan where the death toll from a building collapse is now at 31. SENT: 250 words, photos.
TROPICAL WEATHER — Hurricane Agatha — the season’s first — is heading for a stretch of tourist beaches and fishing towns on Mexico’s southern Pacific coast amid warnings of dangerous storm surge and flooding from heavy rains. SENT: 410 words, photos.
SRI LANKA — Sri Lanka’s prime minister says protesting youth groups will be invited to be part of governance under political reforms he is proposing to solve the country’s political crisis triggered by an economic collapse. SENT: 520 words, photos.
MEXICO MIGRANT DEATHS — Mexican immigration authorities say they have found the bodies of three apparent migrants who drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande, the border river with Texas also known as the Rio Bravo. SENT: 370 words.
BRITAIN-JUBILEE — Britain is getting ready for a party featuring mounted troops, solemn prayers — and a pack of dancing mechanical corgis. The nation will celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years on the throne this week with four days of pomp and pageantry in central London. SENT: 1,180 words, photos.
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BUSINESS
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian stocks are higher after Wall Street rebounded from a seven-week string of declines and China eased anti-virus curbs on business activity in Shanghai and Beijing. SENT: 460 words, photos.
STARBUCKS-ALABAMA-UNION — Starbucks has until later this week to file objections after workers at a shop in Birmingham became the first of the company’s outlets in Alabama to vote to organize. SENT: 240 words, photo.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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FILM-BOX OFFICE — Tom Cruise got his first $100 million opening weekend with “Top Gun: Maverick.” Paramount Pictures said Sunday that in its first three days in North American theaters, “Top Gun: Maverick” earned an estimated $124 million in ticket sales. SENT: 910 words, photos.
INDIA-RAPPER — Indian police are investigating the murder of a popular Punjabi rapper, who blended hip-hop, rap and folk music, a day after he was fatally shot. Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, also known around the world by his stage name Sidhu Moose Wala, was killed Sunday evening while driving his car in Mansa, a district in northern India’s Punjab state. Police believe his killing to be a case of inter-gang rivalry. SENT: 310 words, photos.
DUBAI REAL HOUSEWIVES — The American ‘Real Housewives’ franchise is taking its glamour and soap opera abroad for the first time. This institution of network reality television is coming for the skyscraper-studded sheikhdom of Dubai. “The Real Housewives of Dubai” debuts on Wednesday, inducting six new women into the Bravo network’s crown jewel of catfights and marital meltdowns that is beloved, binged and hate-watched around the world. SENT: 990 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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BKN-CELTICS-HEAT — Jayson Tatum scored 26 points, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart each added 24 and the Boston Celtics held off a frantic rally in the final seconds to beat the Miami Heat 100-96 to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. The Celtics face the Golden State Warriors in a series that starts Thursday in San Francisco. By Tim Reynolds. SENT: 1,050 word, photos.
NHL-PLAYOFFS-RUSSIANS — The National Hockey League postseason has become an intersection of sports and politics because of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Some of the best in-game performances from Russian stars in North America are occurring against the backdrop of the war. A ban like Wimbledon’s on Russian and Belarusian tennis players was never seriously considered. The league has instead chosen to emphasize players belonging to their NHL teams. Russians in the NHL as a result are starring on the ice while attempting to keep a low profile away from the rink. By Stephen Whyno. SENT: 1170 words, photos.
INDY 500 — Marcus Ericsson had to leave Formula One to become a global superstar, and the Swedish driver achieved the goal by winning the Indianapolis 500. By AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer. SENT: 800 words, photos.
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