AP News Digest 3:15 am
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ONLY ON AP
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PANDEMIC AFRICA-ZIMBABWE-PREGNANT GIRLS — In Zimbabwe pregnant girls have long been excluded from school, but after a steep rise in teen pregnancies during pandemic lockdowns, changes to the country's laws were brought in to allow girls back to class. But it seems not only the law must change, public attitudes also need to. By Farai Mutsaka. SENT: 1,760 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,080 words has also been sent.
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TOP STORIES
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VIRUS OUTBREAK — Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19′s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically. The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already be running out of people to infect, just a month and a half after it was first detected in South Africa. By Maria Cheng and Carla K. Johnson. SENT: 900 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-AUSTRALIA-SURGE — The omicron variant of the coronavirus has swept across Australia despite its high vaccination rate and strict border policies that kept the country largely sealed off from the world for almost two years. Those measures turned Australia into a virtually COVID-free utopia at the start of the pandemic. Frustrated and fatigued Australians are now asking why their country now finds itself infested with the virus despite doing so much to keep it out. By Kristen Gelineau. SENT: 1,240 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-AUSTRALIA — Australia’s New South Wales sets new high for COVID deaths.
BIDEN-VOTING RIGHTS — President Joe Biden challenges senators to stand against voter suppression, urging them to change Senate rules in order to pass voting rights legislation that Republicans are blocking. By Alexandra Jaffe, Colleen Long and Jeff Amy. SENT: 1,130 words, photos, video.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-DEMOCRATS-SCHOOLS — Democrats are speaking out against school closures even as the omicron surge puts additional pressures on public education. Party members fear they could be vulnerable in November if closures persist. By Nicholas Riccardi and Collin Binkley. SENT: 1,120 words, photos.
HARRY REID — The late Sen. Harry Reid the Nevada Democrat who served as majority leader during a 30-year career in the Senate, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 720 words, photos. UPCOMING: 900 words after 10:30 a.m. arrival ceremony.
AUSTRALIAN OPEN-DJOKOVIC — Novak Djokovic knew he had tested positive for COVID-19 when he attended a newspaper interview and photo shoot at his tennis center in Serbia last month, saying he made an “error of judgment” and should have immediately gone into isolation. By John Pye and Rod McGuirk. SENT: 940 words, photos. With AUSTRALIAN OPEN-DJOKOVIC TIMELINE; AUSTRALIA-DJOKOVIC-ANCHORS’ HOT MIC — TV anchors’ off-air critique of Djokovic goes viral.
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TRENDING NEWS
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VIRUS-OUTBREAK-FAUCI — Senate hearing on pandemic gets testy: “What a moron." SENT: 400 words, photos.
JAPAN TWIN PANDAS — Twin panda cubs debut at Tokyo zoo, woo devoted fans. SENT: 450 words, photos.
MEDICARE-ALZHEIMER’S-DRUG — Medicare limits coverage of $28,000-a-year Alzheimer’s drug. SENT: 1,050 words, photo.
VATICAN-POPE OUTING — Pope slips out of Vatican to visit record shop, gets CD. SENT: 190 words, photos.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS-EICHEL — Vegas’ Eichel back on ice for first time since neck surgery. SENT: 430 words.
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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-CHINA — The northern Chinese city of Tianjin ordered a second round of COVID-19 testing on all 14 million residents following the discovery of 97 cases of the omicron variant during initial screenings that began Sunday. SENT: 770 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-INDONESIA — Indonesia kicked off a COVID-19 booster campaign for the general public, prioritizing third shots for the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. SENT: 280 words, photos.
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WASHINGTON
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ELECTION 2022-FLORIDA-CD 20 — Health care CEO Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was elected to fill the seat of late Democratic Florida U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, boosting the Democrats’ slim majority in the House. SENT: 620 words, photos.
CAPITOL-RIOT-EPPS-FACT FOCUS — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection poked another hole in the pro-Trump conspiracy theory that federal agents orchestrated the attack, confirming that a man at the center of the claims said he’d never been an FBI informant. SENT: 1,000 words, photo.
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NATIONAL
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FLINT WATER — A year after unprecedented charges against a former Michigan governor, the Flint water prosecution of Rick Snyder and eight others is moving slowly, bogged down by disputes over millions of documents and even whether some cases were filed in the proper court. SENT: 500 words, photos.
FLORIDA-OLD KEYS BRIDGE — A segment of a 110-year-old Florida Keys bridge is reopening to pedestrians and bicyclists following a $44 million restoration project. SENT: 300 words, photos.
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INTERNATIONAL
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KOREAS-TENSIONS — North Korea says its leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a successful flight test of a hypersonic missile he claimed would remarkably increase the country’s nuclear “war deterrent.” SENT: 1,000 words, photos.
NATO RUSSIA — Senior NATO and Russian officials are meeting to try to bridge seemingly irreconcilable differences over the future of Ukraine, amid deep skepticism that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s security proposals for easing tensions are genuine. SENT: 640 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing from 4 a.m. meeting.
UNITED NATIONS-MALI — Russia and China blocked the U.N. Security Council from supporting new sanctions on Mali for its military leaders’ decision to delay next month’s elections until 2026, a blow to the restoration of democracy in the troubled West African nation. SENT: 750 words, photo.
INDIA-NAGALAND-PHOTO GALLERY — Hundreds of people walked over 40 miles in India’s northeast to demand the repeal of a controversial act that grants special powers to Indian troops, following a deadly incident last month when soldiers killed over a dozen civilians. SENT: 490 words, photos.
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
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CONSUMER PRICES-EXPLAINER — Inflation is flashing red for the Federal Reserve's policymakers — and delivering sticker shock to Americans at the car lot, the supermarket, the gas station, the rental office. What caused the surge in inflation, and how long will it likely last? By Economics Writer Paul Wiseman. UPCOMING : 950 words, photo by 10:30 a.m. With CONSUMER PRICES — The Labor Department reports on U.S. consumer prices for March. UPCOMING: Report at 8:30 a.m.
FINANCIAL MARKETS — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said monetary policy would return to normal and interest rates might be raised earlier than planned. By Business Writer Joe McDonald. SENT: 420 words, photos.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-JAPAN-ECONOMY — The Japanese minister responsible for containing COVID-19 while steering the world’s third largest economy toward growth says he is confident he can carry out that precarious “balancing act.” By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 470 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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HIDEKI'S INFLUENCE — The Sony Open in Hawaii is a reunion of sorts for three No. 1 amateur players in the world. The mentor is Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama. By Golf Writer Doug Ferguson. SENT: 770 words, photos.
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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
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VIRUS OUTBREAK-MEDIA — The COVID-19 surge caused by the omicron variant means once-reliable indicators of the pandemic's progress are much less so, complicating how the media is able to tell the story. By Media Writer David Bauder. SENT: 770 words, photo.
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HOW TO REACH US
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