AP News Digest 2 p.m.

Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. Find the AP’s top photos of the day in Today’s Photo Collection. For up-to-the-minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan in AP Newsroom.

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ONLY ON AP

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CONTAMINATED-LAND-TRIBES-SEEK-ANSWERS — The remote Duck Valley reservation that straddles Nevada and Idaho has battled toxic contaminants on its land for decades. The discovery of a decades-old document with a passing mention of Agent Orange chemicals suggests the government may have been more involved in contaminating the land. By Gabe Stern. SENT: 2,120 words, photos. With CONTAMINATED-LAND-TRIBE-SEEKS-ANSWERS-TAKEAWAYS (sent).

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TOP STORIES

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ELECTION-2024-DEBATE-HARRIS — Kamala Harris steps on to the presidential general election debate stage for the first time Tuesday. But the vice president and Democratic nominee has plenty of debate experience to draw on as she takes on former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump. By Bill Barrow. SENT: 1,220 words, photos. With ELECTION-2024-TRUMP-CLINTON — What the Trump-Clinton debate might tell us about Tuesday’s match with Harris; An abridged version is also available. ELECTION-2024-THE-LATEST (both sent). Find all debate content on the APNewsroom hub.

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-AMERICAN-KILLED — The Palestinian Authority has held a funeral procession for an American activist who a witness says was shot and killed by Israeli forces last week following a demonstration against settlements in the occupied West Bank. By Imad Issied. SENT: 360 words, photos, video, audio. With SYRIA-ISRAEL — Syria says Israeli strikes kill 18 people in a large-scale attack on sites; MIDEAST-TENSIONS-THE-LATEST; ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-UN-RESOLUTION — Palestinians’ UN proposal demands Israel leave Gaza and the West Bank in 6 months; UNITED-NATIONS-SECRETARY-GENERAL-INTERVIEW — The UN chief calls the death and destruction in Gaza the worst he’s seen (all sent).

ELECTION 2024-PALESTINIAN AMERICANS — For months, many Palestinian Americans have been contending with the double whammy of the rising Palestinian death toll and suffering in Gaza and their own government’s support for Israel in the war. Alongside pro-Palestinian allies, they’ve grieved, organized, lobbied and protested as the killings and destruction unfolded on their screens or touched their own families. Now, they also wrestle with tough, deeply personal voting decisions, including in battleground states. By Mariam Fam. SENT: 1,500 words, photos. With ELECTION-2024-PALESTINIAN-AMERICANS-TAKEAWAYS (sent).

KENTUCKY-INTERSTATE-SHOOTING — More than a dozen school districts have shut down classes across a wide swath of southeastern Kentucky as a grueling search stretched into a third day for a gunman who opened fire on an interstate highway and wounded five people over the weekend. By Bruce Schreiner. SENT: 920 words, photos, videos, audio.

ASIA-POPE — Pope Francis has received a raucous welcome as he arrived in East Timor to celebrate its recovery from a bloody and traumatic independence battle, even as he indirectly acknowledged an abuse scandal involving its Nobel Peace Prize-winning hero. By Nicole Winfield and Niniek Karmini. SENT: 1,030 words, photos, video, audio. With EAST-TIMOR-POPE-VISIT — Activists criticize high cost of Pope Francis’ visit to East Timor, one of the poorest nations; POPE-FRANCIS-VISITS-PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA:-PHOTO-COLLECTION (sent).

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SPOTLIGHTING VOICES

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IMMIGRATION-PREGNANT-MIGRANTS — Over the past two years, an unprecedented number of Venezuelans have traveled to the U.S. border, seeking a better life. They’ve found themselves in American communities roiling with conflict about how much to help newcomers, or whether to help at all. In Aurora, Colorado, one pregnant migrant gave birth and returned to the tent she was living in. Then her whole family, including the baby, contracted chicken pox. She incurred thousands of dollars in medical debt. Now, she’s afraid it will jeopardize her chances of staying in the U.S. By Bianca Vázquez Toness. SENT: 2,420 words, photos. An abridged version is also available.

CHILE-PALESTINIAN-SOCCER-TEAM — The players have names like José and Antonio and grew up in a South American nation near Antarctica. But their fervor for the Palestinian cause and bright red, white, black and green-colored jerseys is unmatched. For a century now, this storied Chilean soccer club has served as an entry point for the world’s largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East to connect with an ancestral home thousands of miles away. By Nayara Batschke. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.

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RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

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RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — A senior Ukrainian official said Monday Western partner countries must allow Ukraine to use weapons they have supplied to strike military warehouses inside Russia because of strong suspicions Iran has provided ballistic missiles for the Kremlin’s war effort. SENT: 530 words, photos, audio.

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MORE NEWS

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BRITAIN-ROYALS — Kate, the princess of Wales, says she has completed chemotherapy and will return to some public duties in the coming months. SENT: 530 words, photos. With BRITAIN-ROYALS-TIMELINE — A timeline of recent British royal events; BRITAIN-ROYALS-TRANSCRIPT — Read the transcript of Kate’s video announcement about her cancer treatment (both sent).

DOLPHINS-HILL — Tyreek Hill was was not ‘immediately cooperative’ with officers during stop, police union says. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by 3 p.m.

FOUR-KILLED-UNIVERSITY-OF-IDAHO — A judge has agreed to move the trial of man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students to a different city. SENT: 480 words, photo.

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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CONGRESS-DIVERSITY — The Congressional Black Caucus has issued new guidelines for corporations to use in adopting their diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The report by the Democratic caucus outlines how companies can adopt effective and inclusive DEI policies to promote broad prosperity. SENT: 750 words, photo.

CONGRESS-TARGETING-CHINA — How to curb and counter China’s influence and power will dominate the U.S. House’s first week back from summer break. Lawmakers are taking up a series of measures targeting Beijing through its biotech companies, drones and electric vehicles. SENT: 980 words, photos.

CONGRESS-AFGHANISTAN — House Republicans have released a scathing report on their investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The more than 18-month investigation by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee lays the blame for the chaotic end of America’s longest war at the feet of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. SENT: 1,190 words, photos.

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NATIONAL

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SEPT-11-I-NEVER-MET-YOU — A poignant phrase will likely echo Wednesday at the World Trade Center when 9/11 victims relatives remember loved ones lost in the 2001 attacks. The words ‘I never got to meet you’ are the sound of generational change at ground zero. SENT: 900 words, photos.

TYRE-NICHOLS — Jury selection is scheduled to begin in the federal trial of three former Memphis officers charged with violating the civil rights of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old man whose fatal beating was caught on police cameras, triggering protests and calls for police reform. SENT: 380 words, photos. With TYRE-NICHOLS-INTERACTIVE — What to know about the video showing Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating by Memphis police officers (sent).

WILDFIRES — Days of triple-digit temperatures have fed a wildfire in the foothills of a national forest east of Los Angeles as another blaze in a recreational area south of Reno, Nevada, forced thousands of residents to flee. SENT: 710 words, photos, video, audio.

TROPICAL-WEATHER — Tropical Storm Francine has formed off the coast of Mexico and was expected to drench the Texas coast with up to a foot of rain before coming ashore in Louisiana Wednesday night as a hurricane. SENT: 270 words, photo, videos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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CHINA-GAME-SEXISM — A blockbuster new Chinese video game hailed as a milestone for the country’s gaming industry has put an unexpected spotlight on longstanding claims of rampant sexism in China’s male-dominated gaming culture. While some gamers are basking in the runaway success of the action-adventure title “Black Myth: Wukong,” others are voicing their complaints about sexism in Chinese gaming and lodging allegations against the game’s Shenzhen-based developer, Game Science, that it posted offensive messages online. SENT: 590 words, photos.

ASIA-STORM — A bridge collapsed and a bus was swept away by flooding in Vietnam, raising the death toll in the Southeast Asian country to at least 64 from a typhoon and subsequent heavy rains that also damaged factories in export-focused northern industrial hubs, state media reports. SENT: 690 words, photos, videos, audio.

SOUTH-KOREA-ADOPTIONS — A South Korean commission found evidence that women were pressured into giving away their infants for foreign adoptions after giving birth at government-funded facilities where thousands of people were confined and enslaved from the 1960s to the 1980s. SENT: 950 words, photos.

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BUSINESS/ TECH

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GOOGLE-ANTITRUST — One month after a judge declared Google’s search engine an illegal monopoly, the tech giant faces another antitrust lawsuit that threatens to break up the company, this time over its advertising technology. SENT: 1,100 words, photo.

PEDESTRIAN-SAFETY-STANDARDS — The U.S. government’s road safety agency wants the auto industry to design new vehicles including increasingly large SUVs and pickup trucks so they reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries. SENT: 510 words, photos.

APPLE-SHOWCASE — Apple’s ubiquitous iPhone is about to break new ground with a shift into artificial intelligence that will do everything from smartening up its frequently dim-witted assistant Siri to creating customized emojis on the fly. SENT: 420 words, photo.

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WELLNESS

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MED-BE-WELL-DEATH-CONVERSATIONS — Talking about death is never easy, but doing so early can help families prepare. Experts recommend starting off by asking what matters most to their loved one such as what song they might want played at their funeral, or where they’d like to be buried. Remind them that it’s about honoring them exactly as they want to be honored. SENT: 540 words, photos.

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ENTERTAINMENT

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MUSIC-CMA-AWARD-NOMINATIONS — He had some help: Morgan Wallen tops the 2024 Country Music Association award nominations with seven. For a third year in a row, Wallen is up for both the top prize — entertainer of the year — and the male vocalist categories. Rounding out the entertainer of the year categories are Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton and Lainey Wilson. SENT: 500 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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PARALYMPICS-2028-LOS-ANGELES — Los Angeles, you’re next. Paris raised the game for the Paralympics, with more than 4,000 athletes as well as 2.4 million tickets sold, which was second only to the London Games of 2012. Now the challenge for U.S. organizers is to top it with another breakout moment for para sports. SENT: 950 words, photos. With PARALYMPICS-HIGHLIGHTS-PHOTO-GALLERY — Highlights of the Paralympic games in Paris (sent).

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HOW TO REACH US

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At the Nerve Center, Vincent K. Willis 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 AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.

Mahala Smith, of Sabattus, Maine, scrambles for yardage during a women's football game at the Mud Bowl in North Conway, N.H., Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Jannik Sinner, of Italy, kisses the championship trophy after defeating Taylor Fritz, of the United States, in the men's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Jannik Sinner, of Italy, reacts after defeating Taylor Fritz, of the United States, to win the men's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A devotee takes an idol of elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha to immerse in the Arabian Sea, during the ten days long Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Pope Francis hugs a child in traditional dress as he attends with East Timor's President José Manuel Ramos-Horta, seated at right, a welcome ceremony outside the Presidential Palace in Dili, East Timor, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. Pope Francis arrived in East Timor on Monday to encourage its recovery from a bloody and traumatic past and celebrate its development after two decades of independence from Indonesian rule. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The cauldron is seen ahead of the closing ceremony for the 2024 Paralympics, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Firefighter Nolan Graham sprays water around a scorched garage as the Boyles fire burns in Clearlake, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Weather forecasters sometimes warn of storms that unleash such unusual rain they are described as 100-year or even 500-year floods.

Here’s what to know about how scientists determine how extreme a flood is and how common these extreme events are becoming.

Scientists use math to help people understand how unusual a severe flood is and how to compare the intensity of one flood to another.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, one statistic scientists use is the percentage chance that a flood of a specific magnitude will happen. A 500-year flood means such an event has a 1 in 500 chance, or 0.2%, of occurring in a year.

Another concept scientists use is how frequently an event of a certain intensity is expected. For example, a meteorologist can look at the average recurrence interval of an anticipated flood and see that a similar event is only expected once every 25 years.

Agencies have preferred expressing the percent chance of a flood occurring rather than the recurrence interval because that statistic better represents the fact that rare floods can happen within a few years of each other. It's sort of like rolling a pair of dice and getting double six's twice in a row. It's rare, but statistically possible.

Another term people hear during an impending flood is that it could be a once-in-a-generation or once-in-a-lifetime event, a casual way of saying a flood could be unlike anything many people have experienced.

Houston, Texas, was struck by three 500-year flood events from 2015 through 2017, according to local officials at the time. The events included Hurricane Harvey, the heaviest recorded rainfall ever in the U.S. Homes and businesses were destroyed and cars were swept away by the floods.

Although math can calculate how often to expect floods of specific magnitudes, nature has its own plans, including irregularity. Many interconnected systems in the environment, such as local weather patterns and larger events like El Nino, can contribute to the changing likelihood of floods.

Since the early 1900s, precipitation events have become heavier and more frequent across most of the U.S. and flooding is becoming a bigger issue, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Gases emitted by humans, like carbon dioxide and methane, are warming the atmosphere, allowing it to hold more water vapor. For every 1 degree of Fahrenheit that the temperature warms, the atmosphere can hold nearly 4% more water, which is a 7% increase for every 1 degree Celsius, said Victor Gensini, professor of atmospheric sciences at Northern Illinois University. That vapor eventually falls back to the ground as rain or snow. “We’ve absolutely seen a shift in the probability distribution of heavy rainfall over the last three decades,” Gensini said.

Other regions have experienced drought due to changing precipitation patterns. According to NASA, major droughts and periods of excessive precipitation have been occurring more frequently. Globally, the intensity of extreme wet and dry events is closely linked to global warming.

This story has been corrected to show that the three 500-year flood events in Houston took place over three years, not 24 months. It has also been corrected to show that the origin of the calculations about 500-year flood events in Houston were from local officials, not researchers at the University of Chicago.

Seth Borenstein contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

FILE - Cars are submerged on a freeway flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey near downtown Houston, Texas, on Aug. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)