10 things you need to know today: March 15, 2014

(Image credit: (AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool))

last updated 8 January 2015

1. U.S.-Russia talks fail to broker agreement on Crimea crisis

With Sunday's scheduled referendum looming, the U.S. and Russia were unable to agree on a solution to the Ukrainian crisis on Friday. As Western nations express concern over Russian troop movements along the Ukrainian border, Russia's Sergey V. Lavrov insisted the country has no invasion plans. But, in 11th-hour talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Lavrov also maintained that disputed peninsula Crimea has a right to self-determination. [The New York Times, Los Angeles Times]

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Saying the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is entering a "new phase," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak reported on Saturday that investigators have determined "deliberate action by someone on the plane" was taken to divert the flight's course. Malaysian authorities now believe the plane may have flown for up to seven more hours after losing its communications systems. Razak outlined two possible paths on which the plane may have continued, one south toward Australia, the other north over heavily monitored airspaces such as Pakistan, India, and even the United States' Bagram Air Base. [The Washington Post]

Five cities completed applications for the 2022 Winter Olympics by the International Olympic Committee's Friday deadline: Lviv, Ukraine; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing, China; Krakow, Poland; and Oslo, Norway. The IOC will whittle the contenders this summer before selecting a winner in July 2015. Ukraine's Lviv bid team hopes the country's crisis will not affect its chances, but "of course, it's very uncertain," Sergej Gontcharov, CEO of the Lviv bid, said. "I'm not here telling fairytales." [The Associated Press]

After 37 years on the run, authorities caught up to one of the U.S. Army's "15 Most Wanted" fugitives, James Robert Jones, 59, on Thursday. Jones had been living in Deerfield Beach, Florida, since at least 2005, under the alias Bruce Walter Keith, but authorities finally discovered his real identity using a facial recognition database. The U.S. Army private was sentenced to 23 years in a maximum-security federal prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1974, but he escaped three years later. "The first words out of his mouth was, 'I knew this would catch up with me one day,'" Barry Golden of the U.S. Marshals Service said. [NBC 6]

Authorities rescued about 200 people, including at least 100 children, on Friday from a human smuggling camp in southern Thailand. Believed to be Muslim Uighurs originally from China's far-western region of Xinjiang, the group is the latest find as Southeast Asian authorities continue to crack down on human trafficking rings. So far, the group is refusing to speak more than a few words or confirm their nationality, because of fears for their safety if returned to China. "They're under pressure," police Major General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot said. "They want to go somewhere, but they don't want to go back to China." [Reuters]

Following last month's call from the U.N. Security Council for more aid access in Syria, the country agreed in talks with UNICEF this week to allow more supplies across frontlines separating President Bashar al-Assad's forces and the rebels. While no specific numbers were released, UNICEF officials said they hope the agreement will include more food and medicine to be delivered to refugee camps and other areas most devastated by the fighting. [Reuters]

After years of touting the Pap test as the first line of defense against cervical cancer, an FDA advisory committee recommended this week that an HPV test be used instead. Current guidelines recommend women between the ages of 30 and 65 receive a Pap test every three years; the new recommendation would allow women 25 years and older to receive just the Roche cobas test, which detects the DNA of the human papillomavirus. [CNN]

Boston Beer Co., maker of Sam Adams beer, said Friday it will not sponsor Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade. The event, which draws more than 1 million spectators to South Boston, does not allow gay groups to march, and that decision has led politicians such as Boston Mayor Martin Walsh and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch to say they will not participate in the parade. Boston Beer Co. says it will still sponsor the annual St. Patrick's Day breakfast, which takes place on Sunday along with the parade. [The Associated Press]

Colorado budget advisers discovered this week that the state could owe as much as $100 million to its taxpayers, depending on how much money Colorado brings in through recreational marijuana taxes. The state is allowed to collect about $70 million, but if it brings in more than that — and it's currently on track to exceed $100 million — Colorado would have to return the surplus to taxpayers, either through a credit on next year's tax bill, a reduced sales tax, or a similar measure. [CNNMoney]

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

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