10 things you need to know today: March 17, 2016

1. Obama nominates Merrick Garland to Supreme Court

President Obama on Wednesday nominated Merrick Garland to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death last month of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Garland, a moderate, currently serves as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Obama praised Garland as "one of America's sharpest legal minds." Garland called the nomination the "greatest honor" of his life. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reiterated GOP lawmakers' refusal to even consider confirming any Obama nominee, saying the next president should pick the next justice.

The Washington Post

2. Fox News cancels GOP debate after Trump drops out

Fox News on Wednesday canceled a Republican debate that had been scheduled for next Monday after Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, dropped out. Ohio Gov. John Kasich backed out after Trump did. The other candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, accused Trump of trying to "duck" a showdown. Trump set off the chain reaction of events in a phone interview with the Fox and Friends morning show, when he said, "I think we have had enough debates." The forum would have been the party's 13th of the primary season.

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The Wall Street Journal CBS News

3. Stocks rise as Fed scales back rate hike forecasts

U.S. stocks closed at a 2016 high on Wednesday after Federal Reserve officials held interest rates steady and scaled back their forecast on coming rate hikes. Fed policy makers said they anticipated two quarter-point hikes this year instead of four. The Fed raised rates for the first time in nearly a decade last December, before putting on the brakes due to financial turmoil in the new year. Chairwoman Janet Yellen, after a two-day meeting, said strong job growth should allow the Fed to resume its plan to gradually increase borrowing costs, although "there is room for improvement."

MarketWatch The Telegraph

4. Trumps warns of riots if party blocks nomination

Donald Trump warned "riots" will erupt if he falls just short of the 1,237 delegates he needs to win the Republican presidential nomination and the GOP chooses another candidate at its July convention. He made the remark to CNN on Wednesday, hours after extending his lead with primary wins in Illinois, North Carolina, and delegate-rich Florida. "I'm representing a tremendous, many, many millions of people," Trump said. "If you disenfranchise those people... I think bad things would happen."

The New York Times

5. SeaWorld to end orca breeding program

SeaWorld announced Thursday that it is ending its controversial killer whale breeding programs. Animal rights activists have been exerting increasing pressure on the company since the 2013 release of the documentary Blackfish, which argued that keeping the whales in captivity was cruel and made them violent. SeaWorld said it would not set free the 24 orcas it has at three parks in California, Texas, and Florida, because they would die, but that it would not acquire more. "SeaWorld has been listening and we're changing," the company said in a statement.

NBC News Los Angeles Times

6. Brazil's scandal-plagued ex-president gets cabinet post

Embattled Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff named her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as her chief of staff on Wednesday. The move came as Rousseff faces an impeachment effort, a recession, and massive street protests calling for her to resign. Allies say the popular Lula is the only one who can save Rousseff, but taking the job also could save him by giving him ministerial immunity, which would shield him from prosecution in a corruption scandal swirling around him.

AFP

7. 2 suicide bombers kill at least 22 at Nigeria mosque

Two female suicide bombers killed at least 22 people in a Nigerian mosque on Wednesday. One of the bombers detonated her explosive device inside the mosque, while the other waited outside to kill worshippers as they fled following the first explosion. A survivor who was on his way into the mosque when the bombs went off said all he could see inside "was dark smoke and bodies littered around." The attack was believed to have been committed by members of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram.

Chicago Tribune

8. FIFA asks for millions in damages from ex-officials over scandal

FIFA is seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages from former top officials accused in a corruption scandal that erupted last year at soccer's global governing body. While declaring itself a victim of its own scandal, FIFA also acknowledged for the first time that former executives had accepted illegal payments from countries hoping to host the World Cup. "The defendants... deeply tarnished the FIFA brand and impaired FIFA's ability to use its resources for positive actions throughout the world," FIFA said in a restitution request filed in New York on Tuesday.

Bloomberg Reuters

9. NCAA basketball tournament kicks off in earnest today

The NCAA men's basketball tournament kicks off in earnest on Thursday as the round of 64 gets underway. In two play-in games on Wednesday night, No. 11 seed Michigan beat Tulsa, 67-62, and Holy Cross, the only team in the tournament with a losing record, beat Southern 59-55. Michigan moves on to a first-round game against No. 6 seed Notre Dame in the East Region, and No. 16 Holy Cross will play No. 1 seed Oregon in the West. Kansas, North Carolina, and Virginia are the other top-seeded teams.

Sports Day

10. Frank Sinatra Jr. dies at 72

Frank Sinatra Jr., the son of famed singer Frank Sinatra and a musician and conductor in his own right, died Wednesday of cardiac arrest while on tour in Florida. He was 72. Sinatra released his first album, Young Love for Sale, in 1965, and by the time he was 24 had performed in dozens of countries and 47 states. After years as a vocalist, he signed on as his father's musical director and conductor in 1988. When he was 19, Sinatra was famously kidnapped, then released two days later after his father paid a $240,000 ransom.

Variety