AP News Digest 3:45 a.m.

APTOPIX Naval Academy Harris (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

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-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.

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.

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.

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. When the scandal erupted into public view nearly two years ago, it unleashed a rare wave of street protests, prompted the Cabinet’s resignation and forced a reckoning in the country about endemic corruption. Now, Kuwait’s justice system is testing the government’s pledges to root out graft and hold ministers accountable for $790 million gone missing. By Isabel Debre. SENT: 890 words, photos.

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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

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BAHAMAS-AMERICANS KILLED — NTSB: Pilot error caused fatal helicopter crash in Bahamas. SENT: 240 words, photo.

TIMES-SQUARE-SHOOTING — Man accused of shooting, injuring 3 in Times Square charged. SENT: 260 words.

BOEING-PLANES — FAA questions lead to new halt in deliveries of Boeing plane. SENT: 190 words, photo.

INTERSTATE 40 BRIDGE CLOSED — Transportation secretary to visit closed interstate bridge. SENT: 200 words, photo.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK

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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-CHINA — 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: 210 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.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-CAMP GUIDANCE Kids at summer camps can skip wearing masks outdoors, with some exceptions, federal health officials said Friday. Children who aren’t fully vaccinated should still wear masks outside when they’re in crowds or in sustained close contact with others – and when they are inside, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Fully vaccinated kids need not wear masks indoors or outside. SENT: 890 words, photos.

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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BIDEN-BUDGET — President Biden proposes a $6 trillion budget for next year that’s piled high with new safety net programs for the poor and middle class. But Biden’s generosity depends on taxing corporations and the wealthy to keep the nation’s spiking debt from spiraling totally out of control. By Andrew Taylor. SENT: 1,090 words, photos. With BIDEN-BUDGET-HIGHLIGHTS — Plenty of spending, taxes on the rich. SENT: 520 words, photo.

CONGRESS-ELECTIONS BILL — Pressure mounts on Democrats to end the practice of requiring 60 votes to move legislation through the Senate A June vote on an elections overhaul bill will test Democrats’ willingness to change the Senate’s filibuster rules that set the 60-vote threshold. By Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 800 words, photos.

CAPITOL BREACH-COMMISSION — Senate Republicans block creation of a bipartisan panel to study the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, a show of party loyalty to Donald Trump and an effort to shift the political focus away from the violent insurrection by his GOP supporters. By Mary Clare Jalonick and Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 1,140 words, photos, video. With CONGRESS-FILIBUSTER-EXPLAINER — What is the filibuster, and why change it? SENT: 890 words, photos.

CONGRESS-INFRASTRUCTURE — President Biden wants to wrap up infrastructure negotiations soon with Senate Republicans. He is finding their idea of tapping COVID-19 relief funds to pay for the investment unworkable. SENT: 1,000 words, video.

POSTAL RATES — The U.S. Postal Service is raising rates on first-class stamps from 55 cents to 58 cents as part of a host of price hikes and service changes designed to reduce debt for the beleaguered agency. UPCOMING: 400 words, photo by 7 p.m. With POSTAL SERVICE — All three of President Biden’s nominees to the governing board of the Postal Service have been approved by the Senate. SENT: 380 words, photos.

RACIAL INJUSTICE-PROTEST LAWSUIT — Lawyers say lawsuits filed by protesters who were forcefully removed from a park near the White House last summer should be dismissed, because the new administration is not likely to repeat such action. SENT: 700 words, photo.

SUPREME COURT-BREYER — The country may be increasingly polarized, but Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer says he remains “basically optimistic” about the America’s system of democracy. SENT: 590 words, photo .

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NATIONAL

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RAIL YARDS-CALIFORNIA SHOOTING — The gunman who nursed a seething hatred of his California workplace amassed an arsenal and 25,000 rounds of ammunition at the home he tried to burn down before killing nine co-workers at a rail yard, authorities said after searching the residence. SENT: 620 words, photos, video.

TULSA-MASSACRE-REMEMBRANCE-CANCELED — Organizers who called off a headline commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre said Friday the event was canceled after an agreement couldn’t be reached over monetary payments to three survivors of the deadly attack by a white mob, highlighting broader debates over reparations for racial injustice. SENT: 960 words, photos.

MISSOURI-LAWMAKER-INVESTIGATION — A Missouri sheriff says that he didn’t find credible a report that a man who is now a state lawmaker had sex with a drunken 19-year-old while on duty as a police officer in 2015. SENT: 720 words, photos.

PRIVATE-PRISON-NEGLIGENCE-LAWSUIT — A federal appeals court said Friday the nation’s largest private prison corporation can be held liable for negligence by a man who spent almost a year in solitary confinement at a southern Nevada facility without ever seeing a judge on marijuana-related charges. SENT: 680

SCOTT PETERSON-DEATH SENTENCE — A California district attorney won’t seek a new death sentence against Scott Peterson, convicted in 2005 of murdering his pregnant wife. SENT: 610 words.

INMATE DEATH-OFFICERS FIRED — Eleven employees with a Texas sheriff’s office have been fired and six others suspended following the February death of an inmate who was hit multiple times in the head by detention officers, authorities announce. SENT: 540 words.

CALIFORNIA-DEATH-ROW-INMATE-DNA — Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered an independent investigation into the conviction of death row inmate Kevin Cooper, who says he was framed for the stabbing deaths of four people, including two children, at a suburban Los Angeles home in 1983. SENT: 540 words, photos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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AUSTRALIAN-CHINA-TRIAL — Australia considers the incarceration of a Chinese Australian writer who has been tried in Beijing for alleged espionage a case of arbitrary detention, the foreign minister says. Yang Hengjun faced a closed trial on Thursday. The court deferred its verdict to a later date. SENT: 540 words, photos.

COLOMBIA-PROTESTS — Colombian President Iván Duque has announced the deployment of military forces to the city of Cali after at least three people died in increasingly violent protests and talks to end the social uprising stalled. SENT: 520 words, photos.

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.

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BUSINESS/TECH

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FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Stocks moved higher on Wall Street, keeping major indexes on track to post their first weekly gain in three weeks. SENT: 360 words, photo.

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SPORTS

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BKN--NETS-CELTICS — Bottled up in Brooklyn, Jayson Tatum came home and showed off an array of drives, step-back jumpers and 3-pointers. When Tatum was done, he had one of the best playoff games in Celtics history — and the Nets had themselves a series. SENT: 900 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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