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Editors:
Here are the top stories at this hour from The Associated Press. At the Nerve Center, Amir Bibawy can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). In photos, Don King (ext. 1900). Times in EST.
DEVELOPING
ANAHEIM-STAGE COLLAPSE — More than two dozen people reported injured in a stage collapse at a high school in Anaheim, Calif. SENT: 120 words.
INTERNATIONAL
MALAYSIA-PLANE
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Military radar indicates that the missing Boeing 777 jet may have turned back before vanishing, Malaysia's air force chief says as authorities investigate up to four passengers with suspicious identification documents. The revelations add to the uncertainties surrounding the final minutes of flight MH370, which was carrying 239 people when it lost contact with ground controllers somewhere between Malaysia and Vietnam after leaving Kuala Lumpur early Saturday morning for Beijing. A massive international sea search has so far turned up no trace of the plane, which sent out no distress signals before disappearing. Eileen Ng and Chris Brummitt. Sent: 910 words, photos, video.
MALAYSIA-PLANE-MANIFEST
BANGKOK — Numbered 1 to 227, the passenger manifest for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight is an outwardly unremarkable document. But behind the columns of names, nationalities and ages are 227 unique stories, part of a rich human tapestry assembled each time a flight departs: Retirees with wanderlust, 20 employees of a semiconductor company, a young Indonesian man heading to a new career and at least two people traveling on stolen passports. By Rod McGuirk and Stephen Wright. UPCOMING: 700 words by 9 a.m.
UKRAINE
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine's beleaguered government, locked in a tense standoff with Russia, schedules an extraordinary meeting Sunday, as the country prepares to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of national poet Taras Shevchenko, an opponent of czarist autocracy. By John Thor-Dahlburg. UPCOMING: 500 words by 1300 GMT, photos.
NKOREA-ELECTIONS
PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Koreans go to the polls to approve a new national legislature. The vote for the Supreme People's Assembly is the first in five years and the first under leader Kim Jong Un. SENT: 350 words, photos.
NATIONAL
BLARNEY BLOWOUT-ARRESTS
AMHERST, Mass. — A pre-St. Patrick's Day celebration near the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts spirals out of control, pitting police in riot gear against thousands of drunken and unruly revelers at the annual "Blarney Blowout." More than 70 people have been arrested and four officers were injured in the clashes that included some students throwing beer bottles, cans and snowballs. SENT: 750 words, photos.
IDITAROD
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Race leader Aliy Zirkle takes a two-hour lead out of the Yukon River village of Kaltag and became the first musher to reach the Alaska west coast community of Unalakleet in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Zirkle is trying to improve on two runner-up finishes the last two years and become the first woman to win the grueling 1,000-mile race since Susan Butcher in 1990. By Dan Joling. SENT: 610 words, photos.
— SPRING FORWARD — Daylight savings time has arrived. SENT: 130 words, photo.
Sports Coverage: FBN Free Agency Capsules, college basketball, soccer, baseball and boxing.
Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:
ABC's "This Week." Topics: Politics; and Ukraine. Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Joaquin Castro, D-Texas.
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NBC's "Meet the Press." Topic: Ukraine; and the pope. Tony Blinken, deputy national security adviser; New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
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CBS' "Face the Nation." Topics: Politics; and Ukraine. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.; former Vice President Dick Cheney; former Secretary of State James Baker.
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CNN's "State of the Union." Topics: Ukraine; and politics. Blinken; former Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist; Zygimantas Pavilionis, Lithuania's ambassador to the United States; Marina Kaljurand, Estonia's ambassador to the U.S.
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"Fox News Sunday." Topics: Politics; and Ukraine. Paul; former Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
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