10 things you need to know today: March 9, 2014

Four passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines plane may have used false documents, Ukraine's prime minister is headed to the U.S., and more

Malaysia Airline representatives discuss the latest on missing Flight MH370 in Beijing, China.
(Image credit: Lintao Zhang / Getty Images)

1. Stolen passports used on missing plane

Four passengers aboard Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 may have flown with false documents, investigators said. Interpol on Sunday confirmed that two passengers listed on the flight's manifest, an Italian and an Austrian, had their passports stolen in Thailand, while investigators said they were also looking into the identities of two other passengers who may have flown with inaccurate papers. Investigators have yet to turn up any sign of the plane, which went missing early Sunday en route to Beijing. [New York Times, Associated Press]

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2. Ukrainian interim prime minister to visit U.S.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said Sunday he would head to the United States this week to discuss the ongoing situation between his nation and Russia. "I am going to the United States to hold top-level meetings on resolving the situation unfolding in our bilateral and multilateral relations," Yatseniuk said. The announcement came as Russia has indicated it will try to annex Ukraine's Crimea region. [USA Today]

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3. Rand Paul wins CPAC straw poll

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Saturday won the annual Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll for the second-straight year, easily trumping a crowded field of candidates. Paul captured 31 percent of the vote, putting him well ahead of second-place finisher Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) who finished with 11 percent. [Washington Post]

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4. Indiana couples file suit over gay marriage ban

Four same-sex couples in Indiana filed a federal lawsuit on Friday over the state's ban on gay marriage. Two of the couples want to get married in the state, while the other two were married elsewhere and want Indiana to recognize their unions. A handful of federal courts around the country have struck down or rolled back state-level bans on gay marriage following the Supreme Court's landmark rulings on the issue last year. [Indianapolis Star]

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5. Julian Assange says more WikiLeaks releases on the way

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Saturday the group was prepared to release even more secretly obtained information. Speaking via video to the annual South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, Assange declined to offer specifics on when WikiLeaks would release the information, and on what it might entail. [Bloomberg]

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6. Honeymooners star Sheila MacRae dead at 92

Sheila MacRae, the actress best known for her role as Alice Kramden on the 1960s version of the TV show The Honeymooners, has died of natural causes. McRae, who also starred on Broadway and in films, was 92 years old. [New York Times]

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7. Hundreds of immigrant detainees stage hunger strike

Hundreds, and possibly more than 1,000, detainees at a holding center in Washington are staging a hunger strike to protest conditions at the federal facility and call for an end to deportations. U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement confirmed that at least 550 detainees had participated in the hunger strike, which began Friday, though organizers put the total at 1,200. [Reuters, Al Jazeera America]

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8. Police arrest 73 at pre-St. Pat's blowout in Massachusetts

Police, some wearing riot gear, arrested 73 revelers at a pre-St. Patrick's Day bash that went wildly out of control near the Amherst, Massachusetts campus of the University of Massachusetts. Four officers were injured while trying to quell the carousing of an estimated 4,000 participants in the annual "Blarney Blowout" late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Amherst Police Captain Jennifer Gundersen reported that students hurled snowballs and beer bottles at campus, city, and state police who tried to break up the event, calling it, "Perhaps one of the worst scenes we have ever had with drunkenness and unruliness." [Associated Press]

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9. Duke trumps hoops rival North Carolina

Behind a dominant 30-point performance from star freshman Jabari Parker, Duke's men's basketball team beat rival North Carolina Saturday by a final score of 93-81. Parker — who North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said played as if he was "possessed" — added 11 rebounds to help the fourth-ranked Blue Devils avenge a loss last month to the Tar Heels. [Sports Illustrated]

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10. Barbie turns 55

The Barbie doll, which debuted at the American International Toy Fair on March 9, 1959, turned 55 years old Sunday. Sports Illustrated honored Mattel's iconic doll by placing it on the cover of the 50th anniversary edition of its swimsuit issue. [USA Today, CNN]

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.