Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EST. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan at https://newsroom.ap.org.
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NEW/DEVELOPING
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Adds: ACTIVIST-GOATS SEIZED, ST-PATRICK’S-SAVANNAH, VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ITALY-WHO, VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BRAZIL-ECONOMY, AIR BASE-INTRUDER, IRAN-CONTROVERSIAL-VIDEO, VOTING-RESTRICTIONS-REPUBLICANS, FEDERAL-EVICTION-MORATORIUM, RIDE-HAILING-SAFETY-PROGRAM, FILM-DIVERSITY-STUDY, MEDIA-TIMES-VS-CARLSON
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ONLY ON AP
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ONE-YEAR-AP-POLL — About 1 in 5 Americans say they lost a relative or close friend to the coronavirus. A year into the pandemic, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds divisions. The public’s worry about the virus is dropping even as people still in mourning express frustration at the continued struggle to stay safe. And while vaccines offer real hope for ending the scourge, about 1 in 3 Americans don’t intend to get one. The most reluctant: Younger adults, people without college degrees, and Republicans. By Lauran Neergaard, Hannah Fingerhut and Marion Renault. SENT: 995 words, photos.
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TOP STORIES
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE YEAR-BIDEN — President Joe Biden signs into law the $1.9 trillion relief package that he says will help the U.S. defeat the coronavirus and nurse the economy back to health. The signing comes hours before Biden delivers his first prime-time address since taking office. By Zeke Miller. SENT: 1,060 words, photos, video. UPCOMING: 1,100 words after 8 p.m. speech. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-FORMER PRESIDENTS — Former Presidents Obama, Bush, Clinton and Carter join in a public service effort to urge Americans to get vaccinated; Donald Trump is absent. SENT: 320 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BIDEN-MONEY — President Biden is about to learn how hard it can be to spend $1.9 trillion on rescuing the country from the grip of the coronavirus. It’s a mammoth sum that Biden’s administration is still figuring out how to effectively distribute. By Josh Boak. SENT: 900 words, photos.
CONGRESS-GUNS — Congressional Democrats are making a new push to enact the first major new gun control laws in more than two decades. Legislation passed by the House would require background checks on all firearms sales and transfers and allow an expanded 10-day review for gun purchases. By Mary Clare Jalonick. SENT: 990 words, photos, video.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ONE-YEAR-ECONOMY-IN-CHARTS — A once-in-a-century pandemic has ground on for a year, throwing millions out of work and upending wide swaths of the American economy. Black and Hispanic workers fared worse than others. And many women, mostly mothers, felt compelled to quit the workforce to care for children being schooled online from home. By Christopher Rugaber. SENT: 1,730 words, photos. WITH: VIRUS OUTBREAK-UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 712,000. SENT: 550 words, photos.
BRITAIN-HARRY-AND-MEGHAN-MEDIA — Britain’s royal family is smarting from its depiction in Meghan and Harry’s explosive TV interview as aloof, uncaring and tinged with racism. But the couple identified an even bigger villain: the British media, which they accused of racist bullying and personal attacks. Some British journalists, especially those from minority backgrounds, hope the interview will trigger a long-overdue reckoning with media misbehavior and lack of diversity. By Jill Lawless. SENT: 1,050 words, photos. WITH: BRITAIN-HARRY-AND-MEGHAN — Prince William says that his family is not racist, becoming the first British royal to speak out about accusations of bigotry made by Prince Harry and Meghan, his brother and sister-in-law. SENT: 645 words, photos.
GEORGE-FLOYD-OFFICER-TRIAL — A judge granted prosecutors’ request to add a third-degree murder charge against the former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill added the charge after the former officer, Derek Chauvin, failed to get appellate courts to block it. Cahill had earlier rejected the charge as not warranted by the circumstances of Floyd’s death, but an appellate court ruling in an unrelated case established new grounds for it. SENT: 800 words, photos. WITH: EXPLAINING GEORGE FLOYD-OFFICER TRIAL-SPARK OF LIFE — People tuning in to jury selection for a former Minneapolis police officer’s trial in George Floyd’s death may have heard an unfamiliar term: “spark of life.” Just what does it mean? SENT: 780 words, photos.
CUOMO-SEXUAL-HARASSMENT— New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s grip on power appears increasingly threatened as a majority of state legislators called for his resignation and police said they stood ready to investigate a groping allegation. The Times Union of Albany reported Wednesday that an unidentified aide had accused Cuomo of reaching under her shirt and fondling her. Cuomo said he never touched anyone inappropriately. At least 121 members of the state Assembly and Senate have said publicly they believe Cuomo can no longer govern. By Maria Villeneuve. SENT: 850 words, photos. videos.
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WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
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MEDIA-TIMES-VS-CARLSON — The issue of online harassment of women in journalism is in sharp focus following a skirmish this week between Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson and The New York Times. Carlson belittled Times journalist Taylor Lorenz after she tweeted support for women undergoing harassment and said such attacks had “destroyed my life.” By David Bauder. SENT: 680 words, photo.
BOOKS-DR.-SEUSS — Oh, the books that sold last week by Dr. Seuss. More than 1.2 million copies of stories by the children’s author sold in the first week of March — more than quadruple from the week before — following the news that his estate was pulling six books because of racial and ethnic stereotyping. SENT: 225 words, photo.
ODD-GERMANY-HUNGRY-BURGLAR — German police say they have solved a nine-year-old burglary after DNA found on a half-eaten piece of sausage matched that of a man detained in France over an unrelated crime. SENT: 120 words.
ITALY-LOOTED MOSAIC — A looted mosaic that once decorated a ship of the Roman Emperor Caligula and ended up as a coffee table in New York City has finally returned home. SENT: 750 words, photo.
KEN DOLL TURNS 60 — Ken is turning 60, two years after his best friend Barbie did. Mattel launched a reproduction of the original Ken doll on Thursday to commemorate his 1961 debut. SENT: 250 words, photos.
DIGITAL ART — Christie’s says it has auctioned off a digital collage by an artist named Beeple for nearly $70 million. It was an unprecedented sale of a digital artwork that fetched more money than physical works by many better known artists. SENT: 410 words.
ODD-RUNAWAY-STEER — A runaway steer is still roaming the streets of Rhode Island, more than a month after it escaped a slaughterhouse. Police in the city of Johnston say they don’t have the resources to chase the 1,600-pound animal, but they’ve been keeping loose track of it. SENT: 265 words.
ACTIVIST-GOATS SEIZED — Connecticut authorities have seized dozens of goats from the Redding home of longtime environmental activist Nancy Burton. The state Department of Agriculture says there were citizen complaints and surveillance that revealed a lack of water, untrimmed hooves and excessive manure. SENT: 500 words.
ST-PATRICK’S-SAVANNAH — The South’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade is canceled, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping thousands of tourists with plans to visit Savannah, Georgia. SENT: 780 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-STATES — Shut out in the last congressional relief package, states and cities stand to gain a windfall from the $1.9 trillion aid plan that passed Wednesday. Supporters say the $350 billion will help governments avoid government layoffs and spending cuts at a time when the economy has been upended by business shutdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic. By Geoff Mulvihill. SENT: 800 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-CONGRESS-MATERNAL HEALTH — Labor and delivery are thought of as the riskiest times for new mothers, but many women die in the weeks and months after giving birth. A provision in the COVID-19 relief bill could help change that. SENT: 680 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ONE-YEAR-WHO — When the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic one year ago, it did so only after weeks of resisting the term and maintaining that the highly infectious virus could still be stopped. A year later, the U.N. agency is still struggling to keep on top of the evolving science of COVID-19, to persuade countries to abandon their nationalistic tendencies and help get vaccines where they’re needed most. SENT: 1,120 words, photos.
MED-VIRUS-OUTBREAK-EUROPE-VACCINES — The European Medicines Agency has authorized Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose coronavirus vaccine, giving the European Union’s 27 nations a fourth licensed vaccine to try to curb the pandemic amid a stalled vaccination drive in the bloc. SENT: 780 words, photo.
DENMARK-SUSPENDING-VACCINATIONS — Denmark’s Health Authority says it has temporarily suspended use of the coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca after reports of blood clots in some people, but the authority says it has no evidence the vaccine was responsible. SENT: 775 words, photo.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ITALY-WHO — A U.N. epidemiologist who publicly denounced the World Health Organization’s withdrawal of a report on Italy’s coronavirus response has resigned. Francesco Zambon said Thursday his resignation was effective March 31. He declined further comment other than to say it was “humanly and professionally” impossible for him to continue. By Nicole Winfield. SENT: 250 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-BRAZIL — Brazil’s hospitals are faltering as a highly contagious coronavirus variant tears through the country, the president insists on unproven treatments and the only attempt to create a national plan to contain COVID-19 has just fallen short. SENT: 1,050 words, photos. WITH: VIRUS-OUTBREAK-BRAZIL-ECONOMY. SENT: 370 words, photos.
NEW-ZEALAND-VIRUS-TARIFFS — New Zealand is pushing for nations around the world to end tariffs on face masks, syringes and other supplies needed to battle the coronavirus pandemic. SENT: 370 words, photo.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE YEAR-VOICES-PHOTO GALLERY — One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has seen death, economic hardship and anxiety on an unprecedented scale. But it has also witnessed self-sacrifice, courage and perseverance. In India, Brazil, South Africa and other places around the globe, people are helping others and reinventing themselves. SENT: 1,380 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-ONE-GOOD-THING-KOSOVO-SOPRANO — In Kosovo, virus lets humanity shine through. SENT: 610 words, photos.
VIRUS-OUTBREAK-VIRAL-QUESTIONS-VIRUS-FUTURE — Nobody knows for sure how the coronavirus will behave over the long term, but experts say it may be with us for decades or longer. SENT: 280 words, graphic.
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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CONGRESS-WHAT’S NEXT — Passing President Biden’s COVID-19 rescue package into law was the easy part for Democrats. Now, the split Congress is hunkering down for a long spring slog to push the next priorities in Biden’s agenda forward. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 1,060 words, photos.
ATTORNEY-GENERAL-GARLAND — Attorney General Merrick Garland tells career staffers on his first day on the job that his priority is to restore the Justice Department’s reputation for political independence after a tumultuous four years of President Donald Trump’s administration. Trump insisted on personal loyalty from his attorneys general and the Cabinet department they led. SENT: 850 words, photos.
BIDEN VS OIL — President Joe Biden’s bid to tackle climate change is running straight through the heart of the U.S. oil and gas industry. It’s a much bigger, more influential foe than Democrats faced when they took on the coal industry during the Obama years. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.
BIDEN-CABINET-HEALTH — Senate Democrats muscle ahead Xavier Becerra’s nomination to be health secretary, using a new procedure in the evenly divided Senate that can overcome committee deadlocks. By Kevin Freking. SENT: 560 words, photos.
BIDEN-IRAN — U.S. and Israeli officials hold a first round of talks on Iran and other Mideast matters as the Biden administration looks to avoid antagonizing Jerusalem while attempting to resurrect the international Iran nuclear deal. By Aamer Madhani and Joseph Krauss. SENT: 610 words, photo.
UNITED-STATES-ASIA — A new agreement with South Korea on sharing the cost of keeping U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula is early evidence that President Biden is shifting America’s approach to alliances in Asia and beyond. His promise to focus more on Asia mirrors commitments by the two previous administrations — with both having their plans stymied by persistent turmoil in the Mideast. SENT: 930 words, photos.
AIR BASE-INTRUDER — In a highly unusual breach of security last month at the air base that operates the Air Force One presidential aircraft, an apparently aimless intruder went undetected for several hours and walked on and off an airplane on the flight line before his quirky headgear gave him away. By Robert Burns. SENT: 720 words, photo.
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INTERNATIONAL
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JAPAN-TSUNAMI-ANNIVERSARY — Japan fell quiet at 2:46 p.m. to mark the minute that an earthquake began 10 years ago, setting off a tsunami and nuclear crisis that devastated the country’s northeast coast in a disaster that one survivor said he fears people are beginning to forget. SENT: 660 words, photos. With JAPAN-TSUNAMI-FUKUSHIMA PLANT-EXPLAINER — How dangerous is the Fukushima nuke plant today? JAPAN-TSUNAMI-ANNIVERSARY-DAMAGE-PRESERVED-PHOTO-GALLERY — Damage preserved as memorial of Japanese tsunami; JAPAN-TSUNAMI ANNIVERSARY-BY THE NUMBERS; JAPAN-TSUNAMI ANNIVERSARY-TIMELINE.
MYANMAR-IMAGES-AND-IMPACT — The images ricochet across the planet, as so many do in this dizzying era of film it, upload it, tell it to the world: scenes from a protest-turned-government crackdown, captured at ground level by smartphone users on the streets of Myanmar. SENT: 1,220 words, photos. With MYANMAR — Myanmar junta spurns U.N. appeal, kills more protesters; UN-HUMAN RIGHTS-MYANMAR — An independent U.N. human rights expert says “credible reports” indicate Myanmar security forces have murdered at least 70 people, and cites growing evidence of crimes against humanity committed following last month’s coup. SENT: 380 words.
ETHIOPIA-NEW-EXODUS — Skinny, hungry, fleeing threats of violence, thousands of people who have been hiding in rural areas of Ethiopia’s Tigray region have begun arriving in a community that can barely support them — and more are said to be on the way. SENT: 730 words, photos.
RUSSIA-US — Russian President Vladimir Putin has characterized the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump as a “stroll.” SENT: 180 words, photos.
SOUTH-KOREA-ABUSIVE-FACILITY — South Korea’s Supreme Court upholds a controversial 1989 ruling that acquitted the owner of a massive institution that housed vagrants, children and the disabled of serious charges despite the enslavement and abuse of thousands of those trapped there in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. SENT: 700 words, photo.
ISRAEL-NETANYAHU — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called off a visit to the United Arab Emirates due to a diplomatic disagreement with Jordan. SENT: 1,000 words, photo.
ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS — Israeli troops have detained five Palestinian children after they were confronted by Jewish settlers while gathering wild artichokes near a settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank. SENT: 390 words, photo.
IRAN-CONTROVERSIAL-VIDEO — Iranian media and a California-based management company say that Iranian authorities have arrested multiple producers connected to a prominent Iranian pop singer in exile. It’s Tehran’s latest effort to halt what it deems decadent Western behavior. By Isabel Debre. SENT: 640 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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VOTING-RESTRICTIONS-REPUBLICANS — Republican lawmakers are pushing a wave of legislation through statehouses across the nation to make voting more difficult. The bills are fueled by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud and many are sponsored by his most loyal allies. By Steve Peoples, Jonathan J. Cooper and Ben Nadler. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
FEDERAL-EVICTION-MORATORIUM — A federal judge in Ohio has ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lacked the authority to issue a nationwide moratorium on rental evictions. It’s the second such ruling issued by a federal judge in two weeks. SENT: 350 words.
TAMIR-RICE-SHOOTING — An appeals court in Cleveland has ruled that the former Cleveland police officer who killed a 12-year-old Black child playing with a pellet gun should not get his job back. SENT: 180 words.
TRANSGENDER-SPORTS-MISSISSIPPI — Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has signed a bill banning transgender athletes from competing on girls or women’s sports teams. Mississippi becomes the first state this year to enact such a ban, with more than 20 states considering similar bills. SENT: 570 words, photo.
SEPT 11-ANNIVERSARY — A year after a disagreement over coronavirus protocols spawned competing Sept. 11 ceremonies in New York, the 20th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks will be marked with the traditional reading of victims’ names at the World Trade Center’s memorial plaza, officials announced Thursday. SENT: 360 words.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Broad gains in stocks pushed several major indexes to all-time highs on Wall Street. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a measure of small-company stocks all closed at record levels on Thursday. The gains came as President Joe Biden signed a huge economic relief bill into law. SENT: 650 words, photos.
RIDE-HAILING-SAFETY-PROGRAM — Uber and Lyft have teamed up to create a database of drivers ousted from their ride-hailing services for complaints about sexual assault and other crimes that have raised passenger-safety concerns for years. The safety program follows through on a promise that Uber made 15 months ago when it revealed that more than 3,000 sexual assaults had been reported on its service in the U.S. during 2018. By Michael Liedtke. SENT: 650 words, photo.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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FILM-DIVERSITY-STUDY — For years, researchers have said a lack of diversity in Hollywood films doesn’t just poorly reflect demographics, it’s bad business. A new study by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company estimates just how much Hollywood is leaving on the table: $10 billion. The McKinsey report, released Thursday, analyzes how inequality shapes the industry and how much it ultimately costs its bottom line. By Jake Coyle. SENT: 360 words, photos.
MUSIC-KINGS OF LEON — With the longest gap between album releases, the Nashville-based rockers Kings of Leon return with their eighth studio album, “When You See Yourself.” Frontman Caleb Followill says the family-based band was firing on all cylinders in the studio. SENT: 800 words, photos, video.
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SPORTS
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-ONE YEAR-THE END OF SPORTS — When the NBA game between Utah and Oklahoma City was canceled because a player tested positive, it set off a cascade of cancelations from the start of the MLB season to European soccer to March Madness to the Olympics. A year later, the AP looks at sports’ role in the chaotic worldwide lockdown. SENT: 800 words, photos.
BKC--NCAA TOURNAMENT-THE PLAN — To bring the madness back to March in college basketball and keep the coronavirus from being a bracket buster, the NCAA has a plan to control everything it can from seating arrangements to COVID-19 testing for three weeks in Indianapolis. SENT: 1,400 words, photos
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HOW TO REACH US
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