1. Search continues for missing Malaysia Airlines plane
Vietnamese air force planes discovered a 12-mile oil slick that could be connected to a missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 that disappeared off radar screens less than an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur on Saturday morning. Bound for Beijing, the plane has 227 passengers and 12 crew members aboard. Malaysia Airlines said neither the pilot nor the first first officer sent a distress signal, suggesting any problems occurred very quickly. [The Associated Press]
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2. Overnight takeovers raise tensions in Crimea
Another round of takeovers and skirmishes re-upped tensions in Crimea overnight, as Russian forces gained control of a military office and seized an armory, kicking the officers and their families who live there out of apartments. The moves came on the heels of Russia’s parliament signaling it would annex Crimea if the region votes to break away from Ukraine in a hastily scheduled March 16 referendum. [CNN, The New York Times]
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3. JPMorgan whistleblower nabs $63.9 million
Former JPMorgan Chase & Co employee Keith Edwards will receive $63.9 million for his tips that helped bring about the company's settlement with the government. JPMorgan admitted to defrauding the government into insuring flawed home loans for more than a decade. The payment to Edwards was disclosed in a filing on Friday which also officially closed the case. [Reuters]
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4. Winter Paralympics begin in Sochi
President Vladimir Putin opened the 11th Winter Paralympics in Sochi on Friday, despite Russia's ongoing military action in Crimea. Only one member of Ukraine's 23-person team appeared in the parade, bearing the Ukrainian flag alone in an apparent protest. "I don't remember a situation when the organizing country during a Paralympics started an intervention on the territory of a country taking part," Valeriy Sushkevich, president of the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee, said. [USA Today]
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5. Idaho legislation allowing guns on college campuses advances
An NRA-drafted bill allowing guns on Idaho's public college campuses easily passed in the state House on Thursday, despite opposition from Idaho colleges, Boise's and Moscow's chiefs of police, and biology professor Greg Hampikian. If the bill is signed into law by Governor Butch Otter, it would take effect on July 1. [Spokesman Review, The New York Times]
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6. Officials uncover spyware targeting U.S. government computers
A small German anti-virus firm called G Data published a report this week about a piece of spyware which has been infecting hundreds of government computers in Europe and the United States. The malware, known as Turla, may be a more complex iteration of past spyware operations such as Red October. Researchers believe Turla to be Russian-backed, although experts say unless Moscow confirms ownership, there is no way to know for sure. Still, "it is sophisticated malware that's linked to other Russian exploits, uses encryption and targets western governments," said Jim Lewis, a former U.S. foreign service officer. "It has Russian paw prints all over it." [Reuters]
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7. Kim Jong Un's deputy reappears in public
Choe Ryong Hae, considered North Korea's No. 2 official under dictator Kim Jong Un, resurfaced on Friday in official television footage. Following Kim Jong Un's purge of other high-ranking officials last year, speculation had begun that Hae might be imprisoned or dead, because he failed to appear at several public events over the last month. [NPR]
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8. February's jobs report outpaces Wall Street's expectations
The Labor Department reported on Friday that employers added 175,000 jobs in February, despite the unemployment rate rising from 6.6 percent to 6.7 percent. However, the numbers were considerably better than expected in light of an especially cold, snowy winter that kept a large portion of the workforce homebound. [Reuters]
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9. Daylight Saving Time: Get ready to spring forward
With a few exceptions, such as Arizona and Hawaii, the United States turn the clocks from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Sunday morning. Since many smartphones, computers, and tablets automatically adjust, most Americans won't need to remember to turn the clock forward an hour on Saturday night before hitting the hay. But for clocks and more traditional timekeepers? Be sure to make the switch. [Los Angeles Times]
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10. California lawmaker proposes ban on amusement park whale shows
After watching the SeaWorld-shaming documentary Blackfish, California lawmaker Richard Bloom was so shaken he wrote a bill proposing a ban on whale shows at amusement parks. If the bill passes, SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium in San Diego would likely close. [Los Angeles Times]
