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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TOP STORIES
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UNITED STATES-UKRAINE-INTELLIGENCE — The Biden administration and its allies are taking an unusually proactive approach to publicizing intelligence findings and trying to defuse influence campaigns by Russia as they raise alarms about a possible new Russian invasion of Ukraine By Nomaan Merchant. SENT: 990 words, photos. With UKRAINE-TENSIONS — Biden says Russian invasion in February a “distinct possibility." For full coverage of Ukraine.
SUPREME COURT-BLACK WOMEN — President Joe Biden’s vow to nominate the first Black woman on the Supreme Court is a striking reflection of the demographic’s critical role in the Democratic Party and its increased societal clout. By Nicholas Riccardi. SENT: 940 words, photos. Also see SUPREME COURT-BREYER’S ARC and SUPREME COURT-CONGRESS below.
BIDEN — Biden will appear in Pittsburgh as an opening step in a broader campaign to promote the White House’s achievements in key states before the midterm elections. But two of the three leading Democrats on Pennsylvania’s statewide ballot who were invited will not attend. By Steve Peoples and Marc Levy. SENT: 1,160 words, photos. UPCOMING: 990 words after 2 p.m. speech.
IRAQ-CHINA — In north Iraq, a Chinese language school projects soft power. Anchored in energy, China’s interest in Iraq is expanding. Beijing is building power plants, factories, water treatment facilities, as well as badly needed schools across the country. Dozens of contracts signed in recent years ensure China’s growing footprint in Iraq, right as major western companies, including the U.S., plot their exit. By Samya Kullab. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-PACIFIC — Two years into the pandemic, a handful of far-flung Pacific islands were among the last remaining places on Earth to have avoided outbreaks. But their defenses are crumbling under the onslaught of omicron. Kiribati, Somoa and Tonga have all been impacted in different ways. SENT: 930 words, photos.
CAPSIZED BOAT-FLORIDA-EXPLAINER — Little is known about the 40 people believed to have been aboard a boat that capsized and was found this week near the Florida coast with just one survivor. But the travelers were on a route often used by migrants trying to enter the country clandestinely, and authorities suspect the trip was organized by smugglers. Apprehensions of migrants in the Florida-Caribbean region appear to be on pace to surpass numbers from last year, with more Cubans and Haitians taking to sea despite the dangers and stricter U.S. refugee policies. By Adriana Gomez Licon. SENT: 730 words, photos. With CAPSIZED BOAT-FLORIDA — Coast Guard suspends search for migrants off Florida.
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OLYMPICS
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BEIJING-WINTER SPORTS — Villagers in Yanqing, a sleepy farm area in rural Beijing that will host the downhill and other skiing events at the Winter Olympics, are riding an emerging winter sports wave in China, from becoming a ski coach to opening hostels for winter sports enthusiasts. SENT: 860 words, photos.
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TRENDING NEWS
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AUSTRALIAN OPEN-PENG SHUAI — Where is Peng Shuai? Australian Open T-shirts grab attention. SENT: 870 words, photos.
INTERSTATE-MAN SHOT — Authorities: Officers shoot, kill man walking on Tennessee interstate. SENT: 330 words.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SARAH PALIN — Sarah Palin dines out again in New York days after positive virus test. SENT: 270 words, photos.
WARRIORS-GREEN-TNT — Draymond Green will do TV analyst work for TNT as a player. SENT: 160 words, photos.
BOOKS-KELLYANNE-CONWAY — Kellyanne Conway memoir “Here’s the Deal" coming out May 24. SENT: 580 words, photo.
DRAKEO THE RULER STABBING — Family says lax security allowed killing of rapper Drakeo. SENT: 460 words, photos.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-VIRAL QUESTIONS-N95 — Experts say how often you can safely wear an N95 or KN95 mask will vary depending on how it’s used. SENT: 290 words, illustration.
WHO-TURMOIL-IN-ASIA — Japan’s government says it will watch the World Health Organization’s investigation into staff complaints over racism and abuse by a top Japanese official at the agency but denied it inappropriately received sensitive vaccine information from him. SENT: 520 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SOUTH KOREA — South Korea plans next month to add hundreds of small neighborhood hospitals and clinics to treat the thousands more people expected to get COVID-19 during a developing omicron surge. SENT: 410 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-HONG KONG — Hong Kong is cutting the length of mandatory quarantine for people arriving from overseas from 21 to 14 days, even as the southern Chinese city battles a new surge in COVID-19 cases. SENT: 360 words, photos.
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WASHINGTON
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SUPREME COURT-BREYER’S ARC — In the nearly 30 years Justice Stephen Breyer has spent on the Supreme Court, it has been conservative, then more conservative and now much more conservative. SENT: 840 words, photos.
SUPREME COURT-CONGRESS — In a Senate where bitter Supreme Court battles have left a lasting imprint, the confirmation of Biden’s pick for the high court has the potential to be much less combative and toxic. SENT: 990 words, photos.
BIDEN-OIL LEASING — A federal court has rejected a plan to lease millions of acres in the Gulf of Mexico for offshore oil drilling, saying the Biden administration did not adequately take into account the lease sale’s effect on planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, violating a bedrock environmental law. SENT: 680 words, photo.
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NATIONAL
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BREONNA TAYLOR-EX-OFFICER’S TRIAL — When hundreds of potential jurors gather at a Louisville courthouse, they’ll find out for the first time that they could be chosen to preside over the only criminal trial to arise from the botched police raid that left Breonna Taylor dead. SENT: 960 words, photos.
KENOSHA PROTEST-SHOOTINGS — A Wisconsin judge hears a motion from Kyle Rittenhouse to recover the gun he used in the shootings of three people during street unrest in Kenosha in 2020. SENT: 410 words, photos. UPCOMING: Hearing at 12:30 p.m.
ALABAMA EXECUTION — Alabama executed an inmate by lethal injection for a 1996 murder after a divided U.S. Supreme Court sided with the state and rejected defense claims the man had an intellectual disability that cost him a chance to choose a less “torturous,” yet untried, execution method. SENT: 870 words, photos.
GEORGE-FLOYD-OFFICERS-CIVIL RIGHTS — Prosecutors in the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers in George Floyd’s killing probed the department’s training on use of force, a key issue at the heart of charges that the officers violated Floyd’s civil rights. SENT: 600 words, photos, video.
HOUSTON CHASE-SHOOTOUT — A suspect led Houston police on a chase that ended with him wounding three officers in a shootout, stealing a car and barricading himself inside a home for hours before surrendering, authorities say. SENT: 540 words, photos.
TIGER KING-SENTENCE — "Tiger King" Joe Exotic is scheduled to be resentenced in federal court. SENT: 450 words, photo. UPCOMING: Sentencing at 11 a.m.
HOMELESS-THREE KILLINGS — Three random killings — a woman pushed in front of a train, another punched at a bus stop and a third stabbed to death while working alone in a store, all allegedly committed by homeless men — have reignited anger, fear and frustration with the intractable issue of homelessness in New York and Los Angeles. SENT: 1,300 words, photos.
POLICE OFFICERS SHOT — Mourning New York City police officers will give a final salute to Jason Rivera, a rookie colleague gunned down with his partner a week ago. SENT: 290 words, photos.
MUSTANG ROUNDUPS-LEGAL CHALLENGES — A federal judge says she may temporarily halt the capture of wild horses in Nevada where their advocates say the government is “needlessly and recklessly” killing free-roaming mustangs in violation of U.S. laws. SENT: 330 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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KOREAS-TENSIONS — North Korea says its two latest rounds of weapons tests this week were successful while vowing to bolster its nuclear “war deterrent” and speed up the development of more powerful warheads. SENT: 690 words, photos.
PORTUGAL-ELECTION — Sunday’s election for a new parliament and government in Portugal is providing a stage for voters to air old grievances. SENT: 710 words, photos.
UGANDA-RWANDA-BORDER TENSIONS — Rwandan authorities said they would reopen the border with Uganda, ending nearly three years of a standoff that appeared to hurt both countries’ economies and raised fears of armed hostilities. SENT: 520 words.
UNITED NATIONS-SYRIA-PRISON ATTACK — The attack by Islamic State militants on a Syrian prison holding around 3,000 of its fighters and about 700 children is a predictable tragedy spotlighting the need for urgent international action to deal with those allegedly linked to the extremist group in prisons and camps in the country’s northeast, the U.N. counter-terrorism chief says. SENT: 770 words, photo.
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HEALTH/SCIENCE
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JAPAN-TOYOTA-MOON — Toyota is working with Japan’s space agency on a vehicle to explore the lunar surface, with ambitions to help people live on the moon by 2040 and then go live on Mars, company officials say. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 410 words, photos.
AUSTRALIA-BARRIER REEF — The Australian government pledges to spend another $704 million over nine years on improving the health of the Great Barrier Reef after stalling a UNESCO decision on downgrading the natural wonder’s World Heritage status. SENT: 390 words, photos.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian stock markets rose as traders looked ahead to data on U.S. employment costs that might influence Federal Reserve decisions on planned interest rate hikes. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. SENT: 460 words, photos. With GERMANY-BRITAIN-TRADE — Germany: Brexit pushed exports to U.K. down 2.5% last year.
CONSUMER SPENDING — The Commerce Department issues its December report on consumer spending, which accounts for roughly 70 percent of U.S. economic activity. By Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber. UPCOMING: 130 words after release of report at 8:30 a.m., then expanded, photo.
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HOW TO REACH US
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