AP News Digest 7 a.m.

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 _______________

VIRUS-OUTBREAK — Scientists race to find a treatment, crews scrub everything from money to buses, and quarantines are enforced from a beachfront resort in the Atlantic to an uninhabited island in the Pacific as the world fights the spread of a new virus. By Kim Tong-Hyung and Matt Sedensky. SENT: 980 words, photos. With VIRUS OUTBREAK-AT A GLANCE.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-DEATH RATE Q&A — Scientists can't tell yet just how deadly the new respiratory virus that's spreading the globe really is. Deepening the mystery, the fatality rate differs even from one part of China to another. One reason is that other parts of China had time to prepare while the health care system for Wuhan, the outbreak's epicenter, was quickly overwhelmed. Experts caution that as other countries struggle to contain clusters of cases, they may have a similar learning curve. By Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard. SENT: 710 words, photo. Also see VIRUS-OUTBREAK below.

ELECTION 2020 — Democrats unleash a roaring assault against Bernie Sanders and seize on Mike Bloomberg’s past with women in the workplace during a contentious debate that tested the strength of the two men at the center of the party’s presidential nomination fight. By Steve Peoples, Meg Kinnard and Aamer Madhani. SENT: 1,390 words, photos, video. ELECTION 2020-DEBATE-TAKEAWAYS — Moderate Democrats can't seem to agree on a strategy to slow Sanders; ELECTION 2020-DEBATE-FACT CHECK — Questionable claims on gun control, workplace sexism and health care; ISRAEL-SANDERS — Israeli foreign minister slams Sanders “horrifying comment"; ELECTION 2020-BIDEN-ILLINOIS — Biden looks beyond Super Tuesday with Illinois endorsements.

ELECTION 2020-ANALYSIS — Sanders has spent much of his career on the political margins, but now he is learning what it’s like to be the front-runner for a major political party. In the latest Democratic presidential debate, his leadership credentials were challenged and his temperament tested like no other time in his career. By Washington Bureau Chief Julie Pace. SENT: 990 words, photos, video.

Find more coverage on the 2020 U.S. Elections featured topic page in AP Newsroom.

OPIOID CRISIS-GENERIC DRUGMAKERS — The maker of OxyContin is often seen as the key villain in the opioid crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives, but makers of generic drugs shipped far more of the powerful prescription painkillers. By Geoff Mulvihill and Larry Fenn. SENT: 1,050 words, photos.

TRUMP-INDIA-PROTESTS — At least 20 people were killed in three days of clashes in New Delhi apparently sparked by President Donald Trump's first state visit to India, with the death toll expected to rise as hospitals were overflowed with dozens of injured people, authorities say. By Sheikh Saaliq and Emily Schmall. SENT: 930 words, photos. With TRUMP-INDIA-PROTESTS-HOSPITAL — Victims of Delhi's deadly communal clashes fill hospital. Also see INDIA-LOVING TRUMP below.

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VIRUS-OUTBREAK

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VATICAN-ASH WEDNESDAY — The Vatican is going ahead with plans for Pope Francis to celebrate the Ash Wednesday ritual kicking off the Catholic Church's Lenten season, but elsewhere in Italy Masses were canceled over fears of the coronavirus and other Catholic countries took precautions. SENT: 540 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-US-SKOREA MILITARY — The U.S. and South Korean militaries, used to being on guard for threats from North Korea, face a new and formidable enemy that could hurt battle readiness: a virus spreading around the world that has infected more than 1,200 people in South Korea. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-MIDEAST — Iran's president says Tehran has no immediate plans to quarantine cities over the new coronavirus rapidly spreading across the country, even as the Islamic Republic suffers the highest death toll outside of China with 19 killed amid 139 cases confirmed. SENT: 750 words, photos.

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PEOPLE-DUFFY — Singer Duffy says rape, captivity, led to her public retreat. SENT: 230 words, photos.

FLASH-GORDON-ARTWORK-AUCTION — Original “Flash Gordon” comic strip art headed to auction. SENT: 170 words, photo.

REFINERY FIRE — Los Angeles County firefighters respond to massive refinery fire. SENT: 200 words, photo.

ISRAEL-PEOPLE-MICHAEL DOUGLAS — Michael Douglas, Zeta-Jones to co-host Jerusalem ceremony. SENT: 510 words, photo.

BARR-RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS — Barr, DeVos addressing National Religious Broadcasters. SENT: 150 words, photo.

POLICING-THE-POLICE — Phoenix Council votes for civilian oversight of police. SENT: 430 words, photo.

SYRINGE ATTACK — Man accused of Maryland syringe attack arrested. SENT: 150 words, photos.

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INDIA-LOVING TRUMP — India, it seems, loves Trump, but it’s not so simple. SENT: 930 words, photos.

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CALIFORNIA-WILDFIRES-UTILITY — A hearing will weigh whether federal and state agencies that doled out billions after California wildfires are entitled to tap a $13.5 billion settlement between victims and the utility blamed for the blazes. SENT: 880 words, photos.

MINNESOTA-EX-ASSISTANT-INVESTIGATION — A former hockey player at the University of Minnesota says he was disappointed to find out that one of his old coaches was still coaching, despite allegations of sexual abuse. SENT: 940 words.

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EGYPT-MUBARAK FUNERAL — Egypt held a full-honors military funeral for the country's former autocratic President Hosni Mubarak, who held power for decades before he was ousted in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that swept much of the region. SENT: 970 words, photos.

MEXICO-INDUSTRY-AND-VIOLENCE — Mexico’s drug war has long played out in dusty northern border cities or the poppy fields of its southern mountains, but now the killings have moved to the conservative industrial heartland state of Guanajuato, creating a strange duality: shiny new auto plants and booming foreign investment even as the state becomes Mexico’s most violent. SENT: 1,550 words, photos.

MALAYSIA-POLITICS — Mahathir Mohamad says that he will form a new nonpartisan government if he is elected to return as Malaysia's prime minister, as the king completes two days of consultations with lawmakers to resolve a political vacuum caused by the abrupt collapse of Mahathir's ruling coalition. SENT: 790 words, photos.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE A — former senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin warns that Ukraine will never be able to regain control over the separatist-controlled east. SENT: 530 words, photos. With RUSSIA-PUTIN — Putin: Russian opposition provoked summer police violence.

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FINANCIAL-MARKETS — Global shares fall on growing fears that a new virus' spread may be unstoppable, hurting global growth considerably. By Business Writer Yuri Kageyama. SENT: 750 words, photos.

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ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

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PLACIDO DOMINGO-APOLOGY — Opera star Placido Domingo’s apology to the women who say he sexually harassed them prompted a new accuser to come forward and drew mixed reactions from other women. SENT: 1,170 words, photos.

SEXUAL MISCONDUCT-NYGARD — Federal authorities raid the Manhattan headquarters of the Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard, a search that came amid claims he trafficked and sexually assaulted dozens of teenage girls and women. SENT: 490 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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TOKYO-VIRUS-OUTBREAK — A Japanese government spokesman says the International Olympic Committee and local organizers are going ahead as planned with the Tokyo Olympics despite the threat of the spreading coronavirus. By Sports Writer Stephen Wade. SENT: 610 words, photos.

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