BC-AP News Coverage Advisory 10:15,ADVISORY
Good morning! Here's a look at how AP's general news coverage is shaping up today. Some plans are subject to change; see the 2 p.m. News Digest for updates. You can find our contact info at the bottom of this advisory. All times EST.
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HIGHLIGHTING:
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Among today's coverage highlights as we see them at 10:15 a.m. EST:
-- UNITED STATES-ISRAEL (sent; developing)
-- UNITED STATES-ISRAEL-MIDEAST (sent; developing)
-- ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-MIDEAST (sent; developing)
-- TRUMP-WHITE HOUSE TURMOIL (upcoming)
-- TRUMP-FLYNN (sent; developing)
-- TRUMP-IRS-HEALTH OVERHAUL (sent; developing)
-- CONGRESS-REGULATIONS-GUNS (upcoming)
-- TRUMP-SPELLING (upcoming)
-- MALAYSIA-NORTH KOREA (sent; developing later)
-- MALAYSIA-NORTH KOREA-UNANSWERED QUESTIONS (sent)
-- NKOREA-KIM'S BROTHER-WHY NOW? (sent)
-- DAMAGED DAM (sent; developing)
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WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT:
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-- GOVERNORS RACES (sent)
-- RUDE SURGEONS (upcoming)
-- ON THE MONEY-ART OF THE CAR DEAL (upcoming)
-- MARIJUANA CLUBS-COLORADO (upcoming)
-- GIRL DONATES BOOKS (sent)
-- YOSEMITE-FIREFALL (sent)
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Here are details of those stories, plus others we have in the works for today (all times EST):
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WASHINGTON/POLITICS
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UNITED STATES-ISRAEL - Trump holds his first White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump is under pressure to explain whether he is backing away from the two-state solution, and to clarify his muddled stance on settlements. SENT: 990 words. UPCOMING: Updates from noon press conference, 890 words by 4 p.m., photos.
UNITED STATES-ISRAEL-MIDEAST - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met secretly with the CIA chief in the West Bank, Palestinian officials said Wednesday, as they expressed concern over the Trump administration's suggestion that a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel is optional. SENT: 750 words, photos. UPCOMING: Developing.
ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-ALTERNATIVES - The Trump administration appears to be easing away from longstanding U.S. support for Palestinian statehood as the preferred outcome of Middle East peace efforts, which may please some allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. But the alternatives are few, and each comes with daunting and combustible complications, including for Israel itself. SENT: 1170 words, photos.
TRUMP-FLYNN - Just six days into his presidency, Trump was informed his national security adviser had misled his vice president about contacts with Russia. Has been updated with Trump Wednesday tweets denouncing media for "Russian connection non-sense." SENT: 1100 words, photos.
TRUMP-WHITE HOUSE TURMOIL - Trump's White House is nearly paralyzed by crisis, divisions and dysfunction. Virtually all policy announcements have slowed to a crawl. Five day after a legal defeat, the White House is still struggling to regroup. UPCOMING: 750 words by 4 p.m., photos.
TRUMP-IRS-HEALTH OVERHAUL - The IRS says it's following Trump's executive order on health care by easing enforcement of the unpopular Obama-era requirement for people to have coverage or risk fines. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING: Developing.
HEALTH OVERHAUL - The Trump administration is expected to release its rules designed to bring stability to the health insurance industry even as it seeks to repeal and replace the Obama health care law. UPCOMING: 760 words by 5 p.m., photos.
TRUMP-SPELLING - Time to make spellcheck great again. The mangled spellings that were a staple of Trump's presidential campaign are flourishing in Trump administration. UPCOMING: 800 words, photos.
CONGRESS-REGULATIONS-GUNS - The Senate is poised to block an Obama-era rule designed to keep guns out of the hands of certain mentally disabled people. A final vote will send the legislation to Trump for his expected signature. UPCOMING: Developing from 10 a.m. votes, 600 words by 3 p.m., photo.
UNITED STATES-EUROPE - Defense Secretary Jim Mattis delivers a public U.S. commitment to NATO, while also reinforcing the Trump administration's demand that allies pay their fair share. SENT: 830 words, photos.
DEVOS-MAGNET SCHOOLS - Education Secretary Betsy DeVos gives her first speech since joining the Trump administration, addressing an organization promoting magnet schools. UPCOMING: Developing from 4 p.m. speech, 500 words by 6 p.m., photo.
GOVERNORS RACES - The governor's races this year in Virginia and New Jersey contain powerful echoes of the wild campaign for the White House. On a national scale, the races are expected to serve as a rehearsal for the 2018 midterm elections, which are shaping up as a referendum on Donald Trump's presidency. SENT: 700 words, photos.
TRAFFIC FATALITIES - National Safety Council will release 2016 traffic fatality figures. UPCOMING: 450 words by 11 a.m.
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WORLD
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MALAYSIA-NORTH KOREA - Malaysian police arrest a woman in connection with the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half brother. SENT: 1,050 words. With MALAYSIA-NORTH KOREA-RULING FAMILY - Slain North Korean played complicated role in ruling dynasty; NKOREA-ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS
NKOREA-KIM'S BROTHER-WHY NOW? - If North Korea did order the assassination of its leader's exiled half brother, as many suspect, a big question looms: Why now? Some analysts point to a largely ignored South Korean news story about an attempted defection as a possible tipping point in Pyongyang's calculations. SENT: 900 words, photos. With NKOREA-LEADERS' HIDDEN LIVES - Rumors highlight the hidden lives of North Korean leaders (sent)
MALAYSIA-NORTH KOREA-UNANSWERED QUESTIONS - A look at what officials are trying to piece together as they work to reconstruct what appears to be one of the most audacious, mysterious assassinations in recent Asian history. SENT: 670 words, photos.
NATO-US - NATO defense ministers hold two days of talks focused on military spending, terrorism and relations with Russia, as new U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis makes his first appearance at the military alliance. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING: Developing.
JORDAN-SYRIA - The head of Jordan's border guard says armed Islamic State extremists are setting up more cells in a sprawling camp for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees on the Jordanian border, posing a growing danger to the pro-Western kingdom. UPCOMING: 750 words by 1 p.m.
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US
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DAMAGED DAM - The stress of evacuation and the uncertain future is enough for Donald Azevedo and his family to opt to stay a few more nights in an emergency shelter despite officials allowing 200,000 Californians who live downstream from the country's tallest dam to return home. SENT: 960 words, photos, videos, graphic. UPCOMING: Developing. With DAMAGE DAM-SAFETY - Cracks may offer clues to dam's troubles.
ICE-DREAMER ARREST - A Seattle-area man who was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child but was protected from deportation under a policy by President Barack Obama is suing the federal government over his arrest and detention last week. SENT: 570 words. UPCOMING: Developing.
SEVERE WEATHER-TEXAS - Residents of a coastal area southwest of Houston are cleaning up debris after at least six tornadoes left a swath of damaged buildings. SENT: 130 words, photos, video.
MISSING TEENS-INDIANA - Authorities are performing autopsies on two bodies found near a northern Indiana creek during a search for two missing 13-year-old girls. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING: Developing.
PIPELINE EXPLOSION-TEXAS - A natural gas pipeline has exploded in South Texas, in a fiery display that lit up the sky and could be seen for miles. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING: Devleoping; seeking photos and video.
MARIJUANA CLUBS-COLORADO - At risk of raising the ire of the White House, Colorado is on the brink of becoming the first state with licensed pot clubs. UPCOMING: 750 words by 2 p.m., photos.
GIRL DONATES BOOKS - A 12-year-old New Jersey girl spent Valentine's Day delivering over 1,300 books donated to a children's hospital. SENT: 130 words.
YOSEMITE-FIREFALL - Mother Nature is again putting on a show at California's Yosemite National Park, where every February the setting sun draws a narrow sliver of light on a waterfall to make it glow like a cascade of molten lava. SENT: 130 words, photo.
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HEALTH/SCIENCE
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RUDE SURGEONS (HOLD FOR RELEASE, 11 a.m.) - Rude behavior among surgeons could be a tip-off to shoddy performance in the operating room, a study suggests, showing why it's important to speak up when doctors behave badly. UPCOMING: HOLD FOR RELEASE, 11 a.m., 400 words.
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BUSINESS /ECONOMY
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FEDERAL RESERVE-YELLEN - Day 2 of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's semiannual report to Congress. She will deliver remarks and answer questions from the House Financial Services Committee. UPCOMING: 130 words after embargo on prepared remarks lifts at 10 a.m. 400 words by 10:45 a.m.
BOEING-UNION VOTE - Nearly 3,000 production workers at Boeing's South Carolina plant are deciding on whether they want to unionize, writing the next chapter in efforts to organize labor in large manufacturing plants across the South. SENT: 910 words. UPCOMING: Developing.
ON THE MONEY-ART OF THE CAR DEAL - Now is the time to practically steal a new sedan from your car dealer. There are a few steps to finding the best bargain. UPCOMING: 800 words by 11 a.m., photos, glance.
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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
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FILM-OSCARS-HUPPERT - After a towering career of some 100 films and some of the most challenging roles in memory, Isabelle Huppet is finally nominated for an Oscar, an honor many consider long overdue. UPCOMING: 850 words by 6 p.m., photos.
FILM_OSCARS-LA LA LAND COMPOSER - A conversation with "La La Land" composer Justin Hurwitz, whose "City of Stars," ''The Fools Who Dream" and original score are all Oscar nominees this year. UPCOMING: 700 words by 5 p.m., photos.
FILM-GORE VERBINSKI - Gore Verbinski's last film, "The Lone Ranger," was one of the most spectacular bombs of the century. For his latest, the director has returned to horror with "A Cure for Wellness," a lushly gothic thriller. UPCOMING: 700 words by 2 p.m., photos.
TV-BILLIONS-MAGGIE SIFF - As the second season of' Billions' begins on Sunday, the equilibrium is shattered. Wendy has separated from her husband and bolted from Axes' firm, leaving those combatants to clash even more ferociously. UPCOMING: 800 words by 11 a.m., photos.
TV-PORTLANDIA - No surprise, but what happens in the "Portlandia" writers' room is as quirkily entertaining as the show itself. UPCOMING: 700 words by 2 p.m., photos.
NY FASHION WEEK-WATCH - Wednesday's shows at New York Fashion Week include Michael Kors, Thom Browne and Ralph Lauren. UPCOMING: 800 words by 6 p.m., photos, video.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Alexandra Olson 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 apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 877-836-9477.