Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT.
—————-
TOP STORIES
—————-
UNITED STATES-SYRIA — President Donald Trump condemns a chemical weapons attack in Syria as an “affront to humanity” and declares it “cannot be tolerated.” But he does not specify how he plans to respond, only suggesting the attack has “crossed many, many lines” and hardened his views on the civil war and Syrian President Bashar Assad. By Josh Lederman. SENT: 900 words, photos, video. UPCOMING: 900 words with new approach by 4 p.m., photos. With UNITED STATES-SYRIA-THE LATEST; TRUMP-NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL — Trump removes Bannon from National Security Council (sent).
SYRIA-A FATHER’S LOSS — The father cradled his 9-month-old twins, Aya and Ahmed, each in an arm, stroking their hair and choking back tears as he mumbled, “Say goodbye, baby, say goodbye” to their lifeless bodies. By Sarah El Deeb. SENT: 250 words, photos, including BEI102-104. UPCOMING: Video. With SYRIA — Victims of a suspected chemical weapons attack in northern Syria show signs of nerve gas exposure, a U.N. body and Doctors Without Borders say (sent).
SYRIA-THE SURVIVORS — Holding her 20-month-old son in her arms, Aya Fadl raced out of her house to escape the toxic gases that engulfed her town in northern Syria. Over a dozen family members were killed in the suspected chemical attack, with many of the bodies piled in the back of a truck and in a courtyard turned into a makeshift morgue. By Sarah El Deeb. UPCOMING: 900 words by 5 p.m., photos, video.
SENATE-SUPREME COURT — Democrats cast Judge Neil Gorsuch as an ally of the powerful as the Senate points to a Thursday showdown over President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. By Congressional Correspondent Erica Werner. SENT: 770 words, photos. UPCOMING: 750 words with new approach by 4 p.m., photos.
DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT-LESBIAN — The decision by a federal appeals court in Chicago that companies cannot discriminate against LGBT employees in the workplace because of their sexual orientation is likely to lead to a battle before the Supreme Court over the over the interpretation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. SENT: 780 words, photos. UPCOMING: 750 words with new approach by 5 p.m., photos. With LGBT-LEGAL-GLANCE — Nationwide, in the absence of comprehensive federal legislation, protections against a broad range of anti-LGBT bias are available only on a patchwork basis. UPCOMING: 600 words by 4 p.m.
TV-FOX NEWS — A rapid defection of advertisers is raising what once seemed an unthinkable question: Can Bill O’Reilly survive at Fox News? By Television Writer David Bauder. UPCOMING: 700 words by 4 p.m.
GOOGLE-YOUTUBE TV DEBUTS — YouTube TV, Google’s new streaming package of about 40 television channels, is the tech industry’s latest bid to get cable-shunning millennials to pay for live TV over the internet. By Technology Writer Anick Jesdanun. SENT: 640 words, photos. With NETFLIX-THUMBS-UP OR DOWN — Netflix is looking for a thumbs-up as star ratings fade away (sent).
————————————-
WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
————————————-
PEPSI AD — Pepsi says it’s “halting any further rollout” of an ad that has been widely mocked and criticized. SENT: 170 words, photo.
BOOKS-BIDENS — First the Obamas, now the Bidens: Former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, have book deals. SENT: 420 words, photos.
PRINCE PILGRIMAGE — A Minneapolis-area Prince pilgrimage a year after his death. SENT: 940 words, photos.
MUSIC-ROCK HALL-LETTERMAN — David Letterman replaces Neil Young at Rock Hall show. SENT: 120 words, photo.
——————————–
WASHINGTON & POLITICS
——————————–
TRUMP-XI — President Donald Trump has backed down once to China over Taiwan and now will find out if his ultimatum to President Xi Jinping leads to action on North Korea. UPCOMING: 800 words by 3 p.m., photo.
TRUMP-BODYGUARD — President Donald Trump’s former personal bodyguard, Keith Schiller, has a complex and personal role as director of Oval Office operations, including accompanying son-in-law Jared Kushner to Iraq. UPCOMING: 900 words by 4 p.m., photos, video.
FBI-CYBER RECRUITMENT — Can hack, but can’t shoot? FBI Director James Comey hints the FBI may change its physical training requirements to compete for talent with high-tech private sector companies. UPCOMING: 800 words by 4 p.m., photos.
GOLFING WITH TRUMP — Leave your ego in the clubhouse if you ever get the chance to golf with President Donald Trump. UPCOMING: 1,000 words by 3 p.m., photos, video. With GOLFING WITH TRUMP-FERGUSON — First-person account by Golf Writer Doug Ferguson. UPCOMING: 250 words by 3 p.m., photos.
MELANIA TRUMP — Jordan’s Queen Rania and Melania Trump visit a Washington, D.C., girls’ school. UPCOMING: 500 words by 4 p.m., photos.
HOMELAND SECURITY-BORDER — Homeland security chief backtracks, says parents and children caught crossing the Mexican border illegally won’t be separated. SENT: 560 words, photos.
————
NATIONAL
————
SEVERE WEATHER — Big hail and heavy rains pelt the Deep South, and schools and churches shut down as severe storms that forecasters said could spawn powerful tornadoes began moving across the region. SENT: 380 words, photo. UPCOMING: Developing. With SEVERE WEATHER-THE LATEST.
TRANSGENDER STUDENT-LOCKER ROOM — Suburban Chicago school board members who support a policy allowing a transgender student to use the girl’s locker room survive an election challenge in one of several local races that took on an issue that has been the focus of state and national debate. SENT: 370 words, photo. UPCOMING: 500 words with new approach by 5 p.m., photo.
POLICE BARRACKS AMBUSH — Jurors are set to hear their first full day of testimony in the trial of a man charged in a 2014 sniper attack that killed a Pennsylvania State Police trooper and injured a second. SENT: 450 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing.
DISTRACTED DRIVING — A Harvard University professor who introduced Americans to the concept of designated drivers to deter drunken driving is now taking on the deadly problem of motorists distracted by cellphones and other electronics. UPCOMING: 600 words by 4 p.m., photos.
——————–
INTERNATIONAL
——————–
KOREAS-TENSION — A North Korean missile test ends in failure when the rocket spins out of control and plunges into the ocean in a fiery crash, a senior U.S. defense official says. SENT: 700 words, photos. With KOREAS-TENSION-The LATEST; AP EXPLAINS-NKOREA-WEAPONS TESTS (sent).
RUSSIA-SUBWAY-EXPLOSION — As part of a sweeping hunt for any accomplices of the St. Petersburg suicide bomber, investigators round up seven suspected Islamic State recruiters from the Central Asia region of the former Soviet Union but find no immediate evidence of their involvement in the subway attack. SENT: 400 words, photos. UPCOMING: 500 words with new approach by 3 p.m., photos. With RUSSIA-SUBWAY-EXPLOSION-THE LATEST; RUSSIA-SUBWAY EXPLOSION-DOLL MAKER — Mom dies, daughter survives in St. Petersburg subway blast (sent).
BRITAIN-THAILAND-RED BULL HEIR — An heir to the Red Bull fortune refuses to answer questions about whether he will return to Thailand this month to meet with prosecutors over an alleged hit-and-run that killed a police officer almost five years ago. SENT: 360 words, photos.
————-
BUSINESS
————-
ON THE MONEY-ONLINE RETURNS — A surge of online shopping also means more returns. That’s a big problem for retailers, but also for shoppers who are looking for the easiest way to deal with items that aren’t right. UPCOMING: 800 words by 3 p.m., photo.
——————–
ENTERTAINMENT
——————–
TV-PLAYBOY-HUGH HEFNER — Most Americans would hate living in a world untouched by Hugh Hefner. That’s a message from “American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story,” which premieres Friday on Amazon Prime. By Television Writer Frazier Moore. SENT: 830 words, photos. With PEOPLE-COOPER HEFNER — Hugh Hefner skips party celebrating his new Amazon series (sent).
———
SPORTS
———
GLF–MASTERS — So much for the calm before the storm. The day before the Masters was all about squeezing in practice ahead of a forecast of damaging wind and rain that could change how Augusta National plays. By Golf Writer Doug Ferguson. UPCOMING: 700 words by 5 p.m., photos. With GLF–MASTERS-REMEMBERING ARNIE — The King turned up one last time at the Masters, in ill health but still flashing that familiar thumbs-up sign. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 5 p.m., photos.
————————-
HOW TO REACH US
————————-
At the Nerve Center, Alina Heineke can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Alyssa Goodman (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, Phil Holm (ext. 7636). Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact [email protected] or call 877-836-9477.