From the Wire

Miss. Common Core Opponents Lose Spending FightMississippi will keep spending money to implement the Common Core state standards for public schools if senators have their way.
Malaysia Defends Search for Missing JetMalaysian authorities defended their handling of the hunt for the missing Boeing 777 on Wednesday but acknowledged they still are unsure which direction the plane was headed when it disappeared, highlighting the massive task facing an international search now in …
G7 Leaders: No Recognition of Crimea ReferendumThe Group of 7 world leaders say they won't recognize results of a referendum for the Crimea region to split from Ukraine and join Russia.
Obama to Host New Ukrainian PM at White HouseIn a diplomatic dig at Russia, President Barack Obama is hosting the new Ukrainian prime minister at the White House, a high-profile gesture aimed at cementing the West's allegiance to Ukraine's fledgling government.
House Seeks Repeal of Later School Start MandateHouse leaders are giving up on requiring school to start later in August.
Miss. Senate Passes Amended 20-week Abortion BanMississippi House and Senate members must work out differences on a bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks' gestation.
Ukraine's Crimea Seeks to Become Independent StateThe Crimean parliament voted Tuesday that the Black Sea peninsula will declare itself an independent state if its residents agree to split off from Ukraine and join Russia in a referendum.
Judge's Order Preserves NSA Surveillance RecordsA federal judge in San Francisco stopped the destruction of millions of telephone records collected by the National Security Agency more than five years ago.
Hunt for Missing Jet Widens to Distant WatersAuthorities are expanding their search for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane to the Malacca Strait, far from its last confirmed location, the airline said Tuesday, injecting new mystery into an investigation that so far has failed to come up with …
Senator: CIA Improperly Searched Computer NetworkThe head of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Tuesday the CIA improperly searched a stand-alone computer network established for Congress in its investigation of allegations of CIA abuse in a Bush-era detention and interrogation program and the agency's own inspector …
Sheriff: Leads Developing in Case of Missing GirlMadison County Sheriff Randy Tucker says his office is investigating numerous leads in the search for a 2-year-old girl missing for more than a week.
Americans Board Public Transit in Booming NumbersAmericans are boarding public buses, trains and subways in greater numbers than any time since the suburbs began booming.
Investigators Chase 'Every Angle' in Missing JetRescue helicopters and ships searching for a Malaysia Airlines jet rushed Monday to investigate a yellow object that looked like a life raft. It turned out to be moss-covered trash floating in the ocean.
In China, Brutality Yields Confessions of GraftChina's government is under strong pressure to fight rampant corruption in its ranks, faced with the anger of an increasingly prosperous, well-educated and Internet-savvy public. However, the party's methods for extracting confessions expose its 85 million members and their families …
U.S. Network to Scan Workers with Secret ClearancesU.S. intelligence officials are planning a sweeping system of electronic monitoring that would tap into government, financial and other databases to scan the behavior of many of the 5 million federal employees with secret clearances, current and former officials told …