Top Eight

Top eight stories for today including advocates are voicing dismay that a House bill removing barriers to citizenship for certain qualifying immigrants does not include juveniles who have run afoul of the criminal-justice system; Europe solemnly marked the milestone of 1 million deaths from Covid-19; A judge ruled the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd will go on as scheduled, and more.

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National

1.) After the House took a big step toward removing barriers to citizenship for certain qualifying immigrants, advocates are voicing dismay that the move does not include juveniles who have run afoul of the criminal-justice system.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., joined at right by Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., chairman of the House Hispanic Caucus, and Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., discusses the upcoming vote on the American Dream and Promise Act of 2021, a bill to help reform the immigration system, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 18, 2021. The bill gives over 2 million young “Dreamer” immigrants and others legal status and a chance for citizenship. A second measure would do the same for around 1 million immigrant farm workers. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

2.) The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division faces an onslaught of voter-suppression efforts across the country. Experts worry it might not have all the tools to combat them.

Campaign activists are seen outside Brook Hollow Library in San Antonio on Tuesday, July 14, 2020, as voters cast ballots in Texas runoff elections. (Daniel Conrad/Courthouse News)

3.) Saying it’s safe, with universal masking, for school desks to be just 3 feet apart, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance Friday, cutting in half the recommended distance between desks.

FILE - In this March 18, 2021, file photo, students in teacher Christopher Duggan's science class clean their work areas at the end of class at Windsor Locks High School in Windsor Locks, Conn. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its social distancing guidelines for schools Friday, March 19, saying students can now sit 3 feet apart in classrooms. The new guidelines also remove recommendations for plastic shields or other barriers between desks. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)

4.) The week was a mixed one for stocks, but it was very good for bonds, which saw yields rise significantly as inflation concerns continue to bubble up.

Pedestrians pass the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

5.) Attorneys general for Maryland and the District of Columbia have asked the Fourth Circuit for guidance on the outcome of district court opinions in since-mooted emoluments clause cases against former President Donald Trump.

Regional

6.) The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd will go on as scheduled in Minneapolis, and evidence related to an earlier arrest Chauvin’s attorney says speaks to a pattern of behavior for Floyd will be tightly restricted.

In this screen grab from video, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill discusses pre-trial motions, prior to continuing jury selection, Friday, March 19, 2021, during the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn. Chauvin is charged in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. (Court TV via AP, Pool)

7.) In a victory for women’s health and civil rights advocates, a federal judge on Friday issued an injunction blocking South Carolina’s latest abortion legislation that bans the procedure after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.

Protesters on both sides of the abortion issue gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, during the March for Life. (Susan Walsh/AP)

International

8.) Pushing vaccination as the means to both revive social and economic life before the start of summer, as well as prevent a fresh wave of death, Europe solemnly marked the milestone of 1 million deaths from Covid-19 on Friday.

Medical staff meets in a room of a patient affected by COVID-19 virus in the ICU unit at the Ambroise Pare clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, Friday, March 19, 2021. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new coronavirus restrictions as the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units spikes. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

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