Uvalde and Buffalo survivors testify, Summit of the Americas, 'Ms. Marvel': 5 things to know Wednesday

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Uvalde and Buffalo survivors, families to testify before House committee

Nine witnesses will testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday about the mass killings at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and the racially motivated massacre of 10 people at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in a Black neighborhood. Lawmakers are holding the hearing amid a scourge of gun violence that has resulted in more than 200 mass shootings this year, according to statistics compiled by The Washington Post. In the past three weeks, mass shootings in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa in Oklahoma, have shocked the nation and driven debate. Witnesses will, most notably, include Miah Cerrillo, an 11-year-old who smeared herself with her slain friend's blood and played dead to survive the Uvalde shooting. Victims' parents, a pediatrician, gun safety advocates, the president of a teachers' union and the Buffalo police commissioner also are expected to participate. A package of gun-control legislation is expected to pass the House this week. But it will likely stall in the Senate.

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Biden's Summit of the Americas begins, with notable absences

President Joe Biden's Summit of the Americas kicks off Wednesday in Los Angeles, but is already off to a rocky start after Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced he would not attend the high-profile meeting of leaders from North, Central and South America. López Obrador's objection stems from the White House's decision to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the gathering because of their autocratic governments. Newly elected Honduran President Xiomara Castro indicated she would boycott the summit for the same reason. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden and the other leaders in attendance plan to discuss a wide range of policy issues, including the economy, climate change and migration. Biden will be the first U.S. president to attend the summit since 2015.

Russia's Lavrov in Turkey to discuss a plan to ship tons of Ukrainian grain

Top Russian official Sergey Lavrov will hold talks Wednesday with Turkish officials on a plan that could allow Ukraine to export its grain through the Black Sea amid an escalating food crisis. Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but the war and a Russian port blockade have halted much of that flow, endangering food supplies to many developing countries. An estimated 22 million tons of grain are sitting in Ukraine silos. Turkey is involved in the creation of a U.N.-led corridor for the Ukrainian grain shipment — and for Russia to export food and fertilizer. A top Russian official said Ukraine needs to remove sea mines near Odesa for exports to resume. In other developments, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Russia is trying to procure more troops and equipment to overcome unexpected resistance as the "heroic defense of the Donbas continues." Zelenskyy appealed for more longer-range weapons that could counter Russia's missile strikes.

College softball champion set to be crowned

A pair of Big 12 conference rivals will battle for the 2022 NCAA Division I softball championship as the Women’s College World Series final gets underway Wednesday at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. Top-ranked Oklahoma (57-3) will take on unseeded Texas (47-20-1) in a best-of-three championship series, with Game 1 set to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). Game 2 is Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN 2) and Game 3, if necessary, will be on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). The Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns have met three times this year, with Oklahoma winning the first two games on April 13-14 before Texas handed the Sooners their first loss of the season on April 15. The Sooners are seeking their second consecutive NCAA softball championship and sixth overall, while the Longhorns reached the championship series for the first time in school history.

'Ms. Marvel': Disney+ show introduces first Muslim superhero

Iman Vellani stars as the first Muslim superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in "Ms. Marvel," which premiered early Wednesday morning on Disney+. Vellani plays Kamala Khan, a Jersey City, New Jersey, teenager – and devoted Captain Marvel superfan – who mysteriously becomes endowed with superpowers and has to figure out how to use them. "Kamala just represents everything about nerd culture," says Vellani. "She's a fan just like us, which is why we root for her when she gets her powers." Kamala gets help from close friends Bruno (Matt Lintz) and Nakia (Yasmeen Fletcher) and her loving parents (Zenobia Shroff and Mohan Kapur). USA TODAY TV critic Kelly Lawler has "Ms. Marvel" as one of the six new TV shows you need to watch this summer.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gun control hearing, Summit of Americas: 5 things to know Wednesday