AP News Digest 6 p.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 in AP Newsroom.

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NEW/DEVELOPING

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ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS, LEBANON-ISRAEL, MIDEAST TENSIONS-THE LATEST, JUNETEENTH-SLAVERY MONUMENT, TEN COMMANDMENTS LAW-LOUISIANA, MED-ALZHEIMER’S GENE, PISTON-WILLIAMS FIRED, SUDAN, COPA AMERICA-ARGENTINA-MESSI.

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TOP STORIES

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ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS — The Israeli army’s chief spokesman on Wednesday appeared to question the stated goal of destroying the Hamas militant group in Gaza in a rare public rift between the country’s political and military leadership. With the war now in its ninth month, frustration has been mounting with no clear end or postwar plan in sight. By Josef Federman and Elena Becatoros. SENT: 900 words, photos. Also SENT: LEBANON-ISRAEL — The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group warns archenemy Israel against wider war; MIDEAST TENSIONS-THE LATEST — Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon have killed three Hezbollah fighters as a U.S. envoy tasked with avoiding a devastating regional war returned to Israel after meeting officials in Lebanon.

TEN COMMANDMENTS LAW-LOUISIANA — Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom under a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday. The GOP-drafted legislation mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” be required in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Opponents question the law’s constitutionality, warning that lawsuits are likely to follow. By Sara Cline. SENT: 520 words, photos.

NORTH KOREA-RUSSIA — Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have signed a new partnership that includes a vow of mutual aid if either country faces “aggression.” Their summit came Wednesday as both face escalating standoffs with the West. Details were not immediately clear, but the deal could mark their strongest connection since the end of the Cold War. By Kim Tong-Hyung. SENT: 1,270 words, videos, audio. Also SENT: RUSSIA-NORTH KOREA-EXPLAINER — What’s known, and not known, about the partnership agreement signed by Russia and North Korea; KOREAS-TENSIONS-EXPLAINER - How did North Korean soldiers wander across the world’s most heavily guarded border?

MIDEAST TENSIONS-AIRCRAFT CARRIER — Fatigue is setting in as a U.S. aircraft carrier nears its ninth month waging the most intense running sea battle since World War II. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, its strike group and about 7,000 sailors have been protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea from months of attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. By Lolita C. Baldor and Jon Gambrell. SENT: 1,130 words, photos by 6:30 a.m.. Also SENT: MIDEAST TENSIONS-AIRCRAFT CARRIER-GLANCE — Where the Navy’s carriers are now; MIDEAST-TENSIONS —Ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in fatal assault sinks in Red Sea in second-such sinking.

NEW MEXICO-WILDFIRES — Air tankers dropped water and red retardant on Wednesday on a pair of growing fires in mountainous New Mexico that killed at least one person, damaged more than 1,400 structures, forced thousands to flee a tourist locale and may now threaten hundreds of firefighters amid high wind risks. Weather patterns were shifting Wednesday with moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. By Morgan Lee. and Andres Leighton. SENT: 1,000 words, photos, video.

HEAT WAVE — A blistering heat wave Wednesday extended from the Midwest to New England, leaving millions of people sweltering through the Juneteenth holiday, including in places like northern Maine where they rarely experience such conditions this early in the year. The city of Caribou, Maine, just 10 miles from the Canadian border, saw a record 103 degrees (39.4 C) on the heat index, which combines heat and humidity. The region was under a heat advisory until Wednesday evening and temperatures. By Michael Casey. SENT: 890 words, photos, videos, audio.

SAUDI ARABIA-HAJJ — Hundreds of people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, officials said Wednesday as people tried to claim their loved ones’ bodies. By Samy Magdy. SENT: 835 words, photos, audio.

OBIT-MAYS-APPRECIATIONS — Long after his iconic “Catch” and his 660 home runs, and the daring runs around the bases with his hat falling off, Willie Mays could command a room like no other. Mays would frequently hold court at the ballpark in San Francisco with his contemporaries and the younger generation of players who hung on every word said by a player they were too young to have ever watched play. He was simply the “Say Hey Kid” from his days patrolling center field at the Polo Grounds in the 1950s to his death at age 93 on Tuesday. By Josh Dubow. SENT: 810 words, photos.

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SPOTLIGHTING VOICES

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BIDEN-IMMIGRATION-WINNERS-AND-LOSERS - Hundreds of thousands of immigrants had reason to rejoice when President Joe Biden unveiled a highly expansive plan to extend legal status to spouses of U.S. citizens but, inevitably, some were left out. Claudia Zúniga, 35, married in 2017, or 10 years after her husband came to the United States. He moved to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, after they wed, knowing that, by law, he had to live outside the country for years to gain legal status. SENT: 770 words, photos, video.

MIGRATION-ENGLISH CHANNEL — Strict asylum rules and the hostile treatment of migrants are pushing people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia out of Europe and toward the United Kingdom. The U.K. government has been hostile toward migrants, but many have family or friends there, and a perception they will have more opportunities in Great Britain. One morning last month, the rising tide crept around a group of Kurdish migrants, soaking the babies they hugged tight. Around a dozen people refused to leave the cold waters of the English Channel in a futile attempt to delay the inevitable: French police had just foiled their latest attempt to reach the United Kingdom by boat. SENT: 1,240 words, photos, video.

MLB-RICKWOOD FIELD — Rickwood Field in Alabama will host an MLB game between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants on Thursday. It’s the oldest professional ballpark in the U.S. and former home to the late baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues. By Sports Writer Alanis Thames. SENT: 1,160 words, photos.

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MORE NEWS

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TROPICAL WEATHER — Tropical Storm Alberto formed on Wednesday in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, the first named storm of what is forecast to be a busy hurricane season. Alberto, which is bringing strong winds, heavy rainfall and some flooding along the coasts of Texas and Mexico, is expected to make landfall in northern Mexico on Thursday. SENT: 740 words, photos, audio.

CICADA INVASION-ZOMBIE FUNGUS — With their bulging red eyes and their alien-like mating sound, periodical cicadas can seem scary and weird enough. But some of them really are sex-crazed zombies on speed, hijacked by a super-sized fungus. SENT: 720 words, photos.

BRITAIN-STONEHENGE PROTEST — Two climate protesters who sprayed orange paint on the ancient Stonehenge monument in southern England were arrested Wednesday after two bystanders appeared to intervene and stop them. SENT: 430 words, photos, video.

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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ELECTION 2024-PENNSYLVANIA SENATE — Abortion rights, suddenly a potent political force in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to leave such matters to the states, have found an unlikely champion in swing state Pennsylvania. Sen. Bob Casey has begun doing something he’s never done before: attacking an opponent over abortion rights. The senator, who once called himself a “pro-life Democrat,” accuses Republican challenger David McCormick in a new TV ad of wanting to “make abortion illegal even in cases of rape and incest” — a characterization McCormick says is wrong. By Marc Levy. SENT: 1,180 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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JUNETEENTH-SLAVERY MONUMENT — Thousands of surnames grace the towering monument, representing the more than 4 million enslaved people who were freed after the Civil War. The Equal Justice Initiative, a criminal justice reform nonprofit, invoked the Juneteenth holiday — the day that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. — on Wednesday as it dedicated its National Monument to Freedom. SENT: 460 words, photos.

CANNABIS PARDONS-EXPLAINER — Maryland is pardoning 175,000 marijuana convictions, joining a growing list of states that have issued pardons or expungements to about 2.5 million people for using a drug in the past that is now legal in much of the U.S. SENT: 740 words, photos. Embed table also is available.

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INTERNATIONAL

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JAPAN-NEW ZEALAND — Japan and New Zealand agreed Wednesday in principle on an intelligence sharing pact as their leaders shared concern about the increasingly challenging security environment in the region, including closer ties between Russia and North Korea. SENT: 400 words, photos.

SUDAN — South Darfur saw a slight increase in critical aid when the U.N.’s World Food Program delivered life-saving food and nutrition to some families across the violence-riddled western Sudanese state. But more assistance is needed, humanitarian organizations say. SENT: 470 words, graphic.

RUSSIA-US-SOLDIER-SENTENCED - A court in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok on Wednesday sentenced an American soldier arrested earlier this year to three years and nine months in prison on charges of stealing and threats of murder, Russian news reports said. SENT: 480 words, photos.

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BUSINESS

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MIGRATION-ITALY — Italy’s coast guard is searching by sea and from the air for dozens of people missing when a boat capsized and partially sank in the perilous central Mediterranean off the Calabrian coast. SENT: 350 words, photos, video.

BRITAIN-ECONOMY - Inflation in the U.K. returned to the Bank of England’s target rate of 2% for the first time in nearly three years, official figures showed Wednesday, a development that has been seized on by the governing Conservative Party that its economic plan is “working” ahead of the July 4 election. SENT: 550 words, photos.

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HEALTH/SCIENCE

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MED-ALZHEIMER'S GENE — Scientists studying a family plagued by early-in-life Alzheimer’s found some carry a genetic oddity that delays their initial symptoms by five years. The finding points to novel ways of fighting the mind-robbing disease – if researchers can unravel how a single copy of that very rare gene variant offers at least a little protection. SENT: 570 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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PISTON-WILLIAMS FIRED — The Detroit Pistons have fired coach Monty Williams after just one season that ended with an NBA-worst 14-68 record. Last season was the first in what was a six-year, $78.5 million contract for Williams — one that, at the time, was the richest ever given to an NBA coach. SENT: 490 words, photos.

COPA AMERICA-ARGENTINA-MESSI — The Copa America could mark Lionel Messi’s final chapter with Argentina’s national soccer team. The World Cup winner will turn 37 during the tournament in the United States, which kicks off on Thursday. SENT: 520 words, photos.

CAITLIN CLARK-THE CONVERSATIONS — Some of the atmosphere in the public and media that has swirled around the WNBA since the season started last month has been less fun time and more culture war, with rookie Caitlin Clark as the unwilling eye of the storm. SENT: 1,210 words, photos, audio.

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HOW TO REACH US

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CORRECTS TO SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS, NOT NEW YORK GIANTS AS ORIGINALLY SENT - FILE - San Francisco Giants' Willie Mays poses for a photo during baseball spring training in 1972. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays' family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had “passed away peacefully” Tuesday afternoon surrounded by loved ones. (AP Photo, File)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend the official welcome ceremony at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Vladimir Smirnov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Edmonton Oilers right wing Connor Brown (28) scores a goal against Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the first period of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals, Tuesday, June 18, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

FILE - New York Giants' Willie Mays poses for a photo during baseball spring training in 1972. Mays, the electrifying “Say Hey Kid” whose singular combination of talent, drive and exuberance made him one of baseball’s greatest and most beloved players, has died. He was 93. Mays' family and the San Francisco Giants jointly announced Tuesday night, June 18, 2024, he had “passed away peacefully” Tuesday afternoon surrounded by loved ones. (AP Photo, File)

Best friends Anna Labelle, left and Frankie Russell got creative Tuesday morning, June 18, 2024, to help stay cool in Labelle's backyard in Auburn, Maine, as the temperature began to climb. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal via AP)

Antonio Valle, left, and wife, Brenda, stand for a photo after an interview with The Associated Press in Los Angeles, Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Both were born in Mexico. Antonio Valle has been a U.S. citizen since 2001. Brenda Valle came to the U.S. with her family when she was 3 years old and will now be eligible for legal status under Biden's new plan. She is a DACA recipient and has worried every two years whether it would get renewed. Their sons are U.S. citizens. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A group of Kurdish migrants from Iran and Iraq who failed in their attempt to reach the United Kingdom by boat after being discovered by the police walk back to the town of Ambleteuse, northern France, on Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

An air tanker soars through a large plume of smoke over and around wildfire-affected areas in the village of Ruidoso, N.M., Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Chancey Bush/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, walks as North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with the Russian delegation during their meeting at the Pyongyang Sunan International Airport outside Pyongyang, North Korea, early Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend the official welcome ceremony at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Vladimir Smirnov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — Three bodies were found inside a crater at the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s most famous mountain, with one of them already brought down from the slopes, police said Thursday.

The identities of the people, including gender or age, were not confirmed. An effort to bring back the two other bodies will continue Friday or later, depending on weather conditions, they said. A search was called off for Thursday because of forecasts for heavy rainfall.

It’s unclear whether the three people were climbing the 3,776-meter (12,388-foot) mountain together, as the bodies were found several meters apart.

The official climbing season had not yet started when the climbers entered the mountain from the Shizuoka Prefecture side.

Japanese media reports showed a vehicle with one of the bodies driving into a police station in Shizuoka Prefecture. The rescue team had been searching for a 53-year-old man for whom a missing person report was filed.

Separately, Kyodo News service said professional climber Keita Kurakami, 38, died in a hospital after being found by police while climbing Fuji from the Yamanashi Prefecture side of the mountain.

Fuji can be climbed from both Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures. The climbing season kicks in for Yamanashi starting July 1.

Mount Fuji, made famous in ukiyoe, or woodblock prints, of 18th and 19th Century Edo Era masters Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige, is a popular tourist destination.

Experts warn it can get extremely cold, even in the summer, and proper gear, climbing boots and clothing are crucial. Trekkers are also at risk of altitude sickness if they ascend too quickly.

The picturesque Fuji has long been an iconic symbol of Japan, with its gracefully sweeping slopes and white icy cap that stand out amid tranquil lakes and rice fields.

As many as 300,000 people climb Fuji every year, and watching the sunrise from the mountaintop is coveted as a spiritual experience. But worries have been growing lately about overcrowding from the influx of tourists.

The town of Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi erected a large black screen along a sidewalk to block the view of Mount Fuji to discourage photo-snapping crowds.

Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

FILE - The shadow of Mount Fuji is cast on clouds hanging below the summit Aug. 27, 2019, in Japan. Three bodies were found inside a crater at the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s most famous mountain, with one of them already brought down from the slopes, police said Thursday, June 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)