PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine might create a grant program designed to help the state's tourism and hospitality industries, which have suffered during the coronavirus pandemic.

Democratic Sen. Joe Rafferty of Kennebunk has introduced a proposal that would allow tourism and hospitality businesses that lost revenue because of the pandemic to apply for the grants. Rafferty said the grants would be financed by federal money Maine has received this year.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched four astronauts into orbit Friday using a recycled rocket and capsule, the third crew flight in less than a year for Elon Musk’s rapidly expanding company.

The astronauts from the U.S., Japan and France should reach the International Space Station early Saturday morning, following a 23-hour ride in the same Dragon capsule used by SpaceX’s debut crew last May. They’ll spend six months at the orbiting lab.

MILAN (AP) — The Uffizi Gallery in Florence used the winter COVID shutdown to push ahead with renovations, discovering lost frescoes that will greet visitors when the leading repository of Italian Renaissance art reopens on May 4.

Uffizi director Eike Schmidt said the six months of closure were put to good use: renovating 14 new rooms that will open to the public next month, and discovering frescoes that would otherwise have remained hidden.

Chloé Zhao's “Nomadland” won best feature at the 36th Independent Spirit Awards in a ceremony that turned the annual beach soiree into a virtual, mostly pre-taped event, and, possibly, an Oscar preview.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The unique circumstances surrounding Derek Chauvin's trial in George Floyd's death could offer the former Minneapolis police officer some shot at winning a retrial on appeal, though most legal experts agree it's a long shot.

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:

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The Baltimore Orioles and the Maryland Department of Health are going to offer spectators free COVID-19 testing during the AL East team’s home games.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian troops began pulling back to their permanent bases Friday after a massive buildup that caused Ukrainian and Western concerns.

On Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu declared the sweeping maneuvers in Crimea and wide swaths of western Russia over, and ordered the military to bring the troops that took part in them back to their permanent bases by May 1.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the announcement.

A documentary about the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain is coming to theaters this summer.

Directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville, Focus Features said Friday that “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” will hit theaters on July 16.

The Spanish and Italian clubs still clinging to the Super League must disavow the breakaway or face being banned from the Champions League, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin told The Associated Press on Friday.

Although the Super League imploded this week after being rapidly abandoned by most participants, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan have not left the project and officials could “suffer some consequences,” Ceferin said.

Zdeno Chara left the Boston Bruins when they couldn't guarantee him a full-time gig at age 43 and joined the Washington Capitals.

Chara has since turned 44 and shown he can still put in the work.

WILLOUGHBY HILLS, Ohio (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Justin Layne was arrested Friday in Ohio after police said they found a loaded gun in his car during an early morning traffic stop.

Layne, 23, was arrested on a fourth-degree felony charge of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, Willoughby Hills police said.

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — A historic garage building was destroyed by fire and another was damaged at the Scotty’s Castle complex in Death Valley National Park.

The main house and other surrounding structures were not harmed in the fire Thursday morning, the National Park Service said.

A photo shows the structure reduced to rubble.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — President Joe Biden has nominated a longtime environmental advocate and Democratic aide to oversee the vast expanses of federally owned land in Western states — the latest political appointment raising concerns among Republicans as Biden moves to curtail energy production from public reserves.

Stocks were rising in afternoon trading Friday and erasing most of the losses for the S&P 500 at the end of a choppy week.

Investors continue to be focused on individual company earnings, getting results late Thursday from chip giant Intel and, on Friday, companies like American Express and Honeywell. Corporate earnings have been mostly positive, but investors are weighing economic growth against threats from the pandemic and worries about changes in tax policy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has decided to keep an aircraft carrier in the Middle East to help provide protection for American and coalition troops during their planned withdrawal from Afghanistan in coming weeks, U.S. defense officials said Friday.

Also, two U.S. Air Force bombers will be deployed to Afghanistan as part of the pre-pullout bolstering of security.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Democrats pushed back Friday against a Republican rewrite of election laws forthcoming in Ohio as “regressive,” saying its ballot drop box limits, tightened voter ID requirements and shortened early voting window amount to voter suppression.

ROME (AP) — Hundreds of workers from Italian airline Alitalia protested outside Rome’s international airport Friday during a four-hour strike against what they see as plans to destroy the long-struggling carrier.

The Italian government is negotiating with the European Union on what aid it can provide loss-making Alitalia and is running up against stiff demands for “economic discontinuity” as the government creates a trimmed down new company to replace the bankrupt entity.

Michael Kors is a top designer, of course, but he’s also a confirmed theater geek. He celebrated his love for the performing arts as he marked his 40th anniversary as a designer this week, with a digital show that showcased the razzle-dazzle of Broadway.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek police set up checkpoints Friday along highways leading out of Athens to enforce a travel ban tightened for Orthodox Easter on May 2.

Easter holidays are often celebrated with relatives outside Athens and other cities, but the government said COVID-19 infection levels remain too high to allow free travel.

LONDON (AP) — In a ruling that reversed one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history, 39 people who ran local post offices had their convictions for theft, fraud and false accounting overturned Friday because of what an appeals court said was clear evidence of “bugs, errors or defects” in an IT system.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is heading to Georgia next week to mark his first 100 days in office and promote his infrastructure and jobs plan with a drive-in rally in Atlanta.

NEW YORK (AP) — American Express Co. saw its first-quarter profits rise sharply, but the company saw a significant drop in revenue as fewer customers used their credit cards and those with balances paid down debt.

Nonprofits have an unexpected new source of funding: State marijuana sales.

Over the past two years, California has used some of the fees it collects from the sale of recreational marijuana to give grants to community organizations that serve people and communities harmed by the war on drugs. So far, the state has awarded nearly $100 million, a figure expected to jump to $175 million in May.

WASHINGTON — Officials say the U.S. is trying to help India deal with its coronavirus surge, which is straining that country’s health care system amid a record number of infections.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Biden administration’s top medical adviser on the pandemic, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with its counterpart agency in India to provide technical support and assistance.

CLEVELAND (AP) — For all their drafting mistakes and missteps over the past two decades, the Browns got it right in 2018.

On Friday, the team exercised the fifth-year contract options on quarterback Baker Mayfield and cornerback Denzel Ward, the respective Nos. 1 and 4 overall picks three years ago who have become integral to Cleveland's new-found success.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — When Casey Thompson and the Texas Longhorns whipped Colorado in the Alamo Bowl, there was little talk of a coming quarterback competition, let alone any whiff of a potential controversy at the position.

NEW YORK (AP) — NBC News' Kristen Welker, shortly before she expects the birth of a daughter through a surrogate, is revealing the struggles with infertility that she and her husband, John Hughes, have gone through.

Welker, NBC's chief White House correspondent and the moderator of last fall's final presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, said on the “Today” show Friday that their daughter is expected in June.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When police respond to a person gripped by a mental health or drug crisis, the encounter can have tragic results. Now a government insurance program will help communities set up an alternative: mobile teams with mental health practitioners trained in de-escalating such potentially volatile situations.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Friday declared a state of emergency to curb a rapid coronavirus resurgence, the third since the pandemic began. The measures in parts of Japan, including Tokyo, have so far failed to curb infections caused by a more contagious new variant of the virus.

Here's a look at how the state of emergency differs from previous ones, what measures are included, and whether Japan can control infections before the Tokyo Olympics in July.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Protesters against Myanmar’s military coup returned Friday to the streets of downtown Yangon, defiantly chanting their opposition to the army’s seizure of power as the junta chief prepared to attend a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders on the country’s crisis.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Joe Biden's global climate summit (all times local):

11:55 a.m.

President Joe Biden has wrapped up his two-day climate summit, saying the climate crisis has created an opportunity to remake the global economy and produce millions of jobs in clean energy and technology “while doing so much good″ to slow climate change.

LONDON (AP) — The European Medicines Agency said Friday that people who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should also get the second one despite the rare risk of blood clots that have been linked to the shot.

In new guidance, the European Union's drug regulator said people should still get a second AstraZeneca dose four to 12 weeks after their first shot and that the benefits of immunization far outweighed the risks of the unusual clotting disorder.