The Associated Press
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:
1. US, EU RATCHET UP SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA
The aim is to punish Putin for annexing the Crimean Peninsula and head off any further Russian military inroads into Ukraine.
2. SATELLITE DETECTS POSSIBLE PIECES OF MISSING PLANE
The development raises new hope of finding the vanished jet in the southern Indian Ocean and sends another emotional jolt to the families of the 239 people aboard.
3. ARMY GENERAL REPRIMANDED, FINED $20,000
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair’s penalty in a sexual misconduct case is lambasted as too light by some legal experts. Others say the charges against him were weak.
4. WHY FUTURE’S BLEAK FOR LONG-TERM JOBLESS
Just 11 percent of Americans who have been unemployed for more than six months will ever regain steady full-time work, a study finds.
5. PELOSI DEFIANTLY DEFENDS ‘OBAMACARE’
The House Democratic leader predicts the health care law will be a winner for her party in this fall’s elections – despite ceaseless Republican attacks.
6. PISTORIUS SELLING HOUSE WHERE HE KILLED GIRLFRIEND
The Olympic runner needs money to pay his legal bills, his lawyer says, and can’t imagine ever living in the home again.
With alternatives like designer mints, chewing gum sales in the U.S. have tumbled 11 percent over the past four years.
8. VIRULENTLY ANTI-GAY PASTOR LEAVES COMPLEX LEGACY
Some believe that the Westboro Baptist Church’s Fred Phelps, who died Wednesday, actually helped the cause of gay rights by serving as such a provocative symbol of intolerance.
9. HOW GOOGLE IS GUARDING AGAINST SPYING
The company has improved the encryption technology for its flagship email service – making it harder for the NSA to intercept messages.
10. QUICK UPSETS BLEMISH NCAA BRACKETS
After the tournament’s first afternoon, about 95 percent of people who filled out brackets had missed at least one game.
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