REUTERS NEWS SCHEDULE AT 11 a.m. GMT/6 a.m. ET

Here are the top stories and upcoming coverage plans for Reuters text service as of 11 a.m. GMT/6 a.m. ET. For a full schedule of news and events, go to our editorial calendar on Reuters Connect.

TOP STORIES

GLOBAL

UKRAINE-CRISIS/CHINA

Ukraine presses peace plan, points to N. Korean involvement in talks with Chinese envoy

Senior Ukrainian officials, in a meeting with a Chinese regional envoy on Thursday, pressed Kyiv's plan to end the two-year conflict with Russia and presented what they said was evidence of North Korean weaponry supplied to Moscow.

CHINA-PARLIAMENT/LAWMAKING

China's top legislators pledge to safeguard sovereignty, security interests

BEIJING, March 8 (Reuters) - China's top legislators on Friday vowed to enact a slew of new laws to "modernise China's system and capacity for national security" while safeguarding sovereign interests, a sign of what some analysts say is a heightened focus on perceived security threats.

U.S.

USA-BIDEN/CONGRESS

Biden takes on Trump and Republicans in fiery State of the Union speech

WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Thursday laid out his case for re-election in a fiery State of the Union speech that accused Donald Trump of threatening democracy, kowtowing to Russia and torpedoing a bill to tackle U.S. immigration woes.

USA-CONGRESS/BUDGET

US House Republicans try to beat Biden to punch on 2025 budget proposal

WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - As the U.S. Congress struggles to pass legislation to fund the government through the fiscal year that began in October, House Republicans on Thursday sought to jump the gun on Democratic President Joe Biden by unveiling a plan for the next year.

BUSINESS

NOVONORDISK-STRATEGY/

Over 80 Swiss branches of UBS and Credit Suisse to shut, report says

COPENHAGEN, March 8 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk's head of development on Friday told Reuters he was very comfortable the drugmaker would be able to launch the pill version of its experimental weight loss drug amycretin this decade.

CHINA-PROPERTY/DEBT-EVERGRANDE-LAWYERS

China Evergrande liquidators appoint legal advisers, sources say

SYDNEY, March 8 (Reuters) - China Evergrande's liquidators have hired three law firms to advise on the troubled property giant's winding-up process, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

ENTERTAINMENT

JAPAN-COMIC/DRAGON BALL

'Dragon Ball' creator Akira Toriyama dies at 68

TOKYO, March 8 (Reuters) - Japanese manga comic creator Akira Toriyama, best known for his "Dragon Ball" series that spawned widely popular films, video games and TV shows, died on March 1 from a blood clot in his brain, his production studio said on Friday. He was 68.

WOMENS-DAY/CHINA

Punching and pumping iron, Chinese women go 'YOLO'

BEIJING, March 8 (Reuters) - Without a job, friends or direction in life, a 30-something woman decides to take up boxing, triggering a physical transformation that is the narrative of the biggest box office for any movie in China this year.

SPORTS

RUGBY-UNION-SUPER/

Savea scores 61st try to claim Super Rugby record

Former All Blacks winger Julian Savea scored his 61st Super Rugby try during Moana Pasifika's 23-29 defeat by the Melbourne Rebels in Hamilton on Friday to become the leading try-scorer in the competition's history.

SOCCER-EUROPA-QAR-B04/

Alonso not worried about Leverkusen's unbeaten run coming to an end

Bayer Leverkusen were minutes away from seeing their unbeaten season come to an end on Thursday but coach Xabi Alonso said the thought of losing holds no fear for him and he is more concerned with how his team reacts when defeat finally comes their way.

UPCOMING

POLITICS / INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

USA-DAYLIGHT (PIX)

EXPLAINER-Daylight saving time 2024: When do clocks change in the US and why was it created?

Countries including the United States, Canada and Cuba prepare to set clocks back an hour on March 10 as daylight saving time ends.

8 Mar 11:00 ET / 11:00 GMT

TURKEY-ELECTION/ERDOGAN

Turkey's Erdogan makes speeches at Women's Day, youth foundation events

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will attend an International Women's Day event and a meeting of the Turkish Youth Foundation (1330 GMT) before meeting Ukraine's Zelenskiy.

8 Mar 11:30 ET / 11:30 GMT

USA-ELECTION/REPUBLICANS (PIX)

Republicans elect new leadership

Republicans elect new leadership at RNC Spring Meeting. Donald Trump has endorsed his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to be co-chair.

8 Mar 15:30 ET / 15:30 GMT

UKRAINE-CRISIS/LITHUANIA-FRANCE (TV)

French, Ukrainian, Baltic foreign ministers meet in Vilnius to discuss support to Ukraine and security

France's Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Stephane Sejourne, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna give press conference after the meeting.

8 Mar 15:40 ET / 15:40 GMT

UKRAINE-CRISIS/TURKEY (PIX) (TV)

Turkish President Erdogan holds talks with Ukraine's Zelenskiy in Istanbul

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meets with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the Black Sea grain deal, the course of the Ukraine-Russia war and bilateral relations.

8 Mar 16:00 ET / 16:00 GMT

USA-ELECTION/BIDEN (TV)

Biden travels to Pennsylvania for campaign events

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a campaign event near Philadelphia.

8 Mar 22:00 ET / 22:00 GMT

GERMANY-USA/

German economy minister Habeck visits the U.S.

German economy minister Robert Habeck visits the U.S. cities of Washington D.C., New York City and

Chicago.

9 Mar

USA-PREPPERS/ (PIX)

A convention in liberal Boulder County offers a look at changes in the 'prepper' movement

As she surveyed the scene at the Survival & Prepper show in Boulder -- a county Joe Biden won in 2020 by nearly 57 percentage points over Donald Trump -- Brook Morgan noted what researchers have been reporting about what are known as preppers.

9 Mar

BUSINESS / ECONOMICS

USA-SHUTDOWN/ (PIX) (TV)

US Senate poised to pass spending package, averting government shutdown

The U.S. Senate is expected to give Congress' final approval on Thursday of legislation funding several federal agencies through September, averting a partial government shutdown that otherwise would begin at midnight Friday.

8 Mar 11:00 ET / 11:00 GMT

USA-BANKS/LENDING (PIX)

FOCUS-A year since SVB collapse, small business owners struggle for credit

A number of small business owners are struggling to get financing from traditional lenders prompting them to explore costly funding from alternative providers to sustain their businesses.

8 Mar 12:00 ET / 12:00 GMT

USA-FED/WILLIAMS

New York Federal Reserve Bank President Williams speaks at London School of Economics

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams participates in moderated discussion before hybrid event, "Connecting Academics to Policy: A Conversation with New York Fed President John C. Williams" organized by the London School of Economics, in London, England.

8 Mar 12:00 ET / 12:00 GMT

CHEVRON-WIRTH/GUYANA (PIX)

Chevron's CEO faces challenges of a lifetime with Hess bid

Chevron CEO Michael Wirth is facing a head-to-head match with Exxon Mobil with his $53 billion bid for Hess and its stake in oil hotspot Guyana, and could wind up trapped in an energy dispute between two of South America’s biggest energy rivals.

8 Mar 12:00 ET / 12:00 GMT

CANADA-ECONOMY/EMPLOYMENT

Canada-Employment

8 Mar 13:30 ET / 13:30 GMT

CLIMATE CHANGE-USA/PIPELINE (PIX)

INSIGHT-US natural gas pipeline accidents pose big, unreported climate threat

Accidental leaks happen routinely along the roughly 3 million miles of natural gas pipelines crisscrossing the United States, and yet the methane released is not currently accounted for in the U.S. official tally of greenhouse gas emissions.

8 Mar 14:00 ET / 14:00 GMT

PETROBRAS-RESULTS/

Petrobras investor's call

Petrobras to hold a call for investors to discuss their fourth quarter results.

8 Mar 14:30 ET / 14:30 GMT

UNITEDHLTH GRP-CYBER/RECOVERY

UnitedHealth could take months to recover from hack, security analysts say

The largest U.S. health insurer, UnitedHealth, is likely to take several months to recover from a cyberattack that has been one of the most disruptive hacks against American healthcare, analysts say.

8 Mar 15:00 ET / 15:00 GMT

USDA-TRADE/LIVESTOCK

USDA issues Livestock and Meat Trade International Trade data for January.

8 Mar 17:00 ET / 17:00 GMT

PERU-ECONOMY/CENBANK

Peru central bank call on monetary policy

8 Mar 17:00 ET / 17:00 GMT

USA-RIGS/BAKERHUGHES (GRAPHIC)

U.S. weekly oil and gas rig count data released by Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes releases weekly data detailing the number of oil and gas rigs deployed in the United States & Canada.

8 Mar 18:00 ET / 18:00 GMT

ARTS / CULTURE / ENTERTAINMENT

AWARDS-RAZZIES/ (PIX) (TV)

The Raspberry Awards are handed out for the worst films and performances on the eve of the Oscars.

And the Worst Picture goes to... The Raspberry Awards are handed out for the worst films and performances on the eve of the Oscars.

9 Mar