The Morning Brief: James Comey, Duke’s NCAA Loss and Spring Equinox 2017

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Good morning. These are today’s top stories:

FBI head to testify on Russian interference

FBI Director James Comey is set to testify during a House Intelligence Committee public hearing today on claims that Russia meddled in the U.S. presidential election last year. The panel is also looking into whether Russian officials had contact with President Donald Trump’s campaign team.

Supreme Court Justice hearing gets underway

Neil Gorsuch is expected to deliver opening statements today as the Senate Judiciary Committee opens his nomination hearing to be U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice. Trump tapped Gorsuch for the role at the end of January.

Norway is now the world’s happiest country

Norway has booted Denmark for the title of world’s happiest country this year, according to a report by the United Nations. The European nation, which ranked fourth on the list last year, is trailed closely in 2017 by Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland. Organizers of the report said it took into consideration levels of “caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income and good governance.”

Goodbye, winter. Spring is officially here

Today marks the first day of spring in 2017. The spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere is the point in the year when the day and the night are both 12 hours long. Those looking to celebrate the upcoming warmer weather may want to indulge in something cold: Dairy Queen is offering free ice cream cones today while Rita’s Italian Ice is giving away free scoops of Italian ice.

Also:

Rock ‘n’ Roll legend Chuck Berry has died at 90.

A man who took a soldier hostage at a Paris airport over the weekend had consumed drugs and alcohol beforehand.

The Marine Corps is changing its social media policy after its nude photo scandal.

Taiwan told the U.S. and China not to use Taiwan “as a chess piece” when seeking to improve their relations.

Uber’s president has quit less than seven months after joining the company.

Duke University, a No. 2 seed, stunned the sports world when it lost to South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament last night.

Beauty and the Beast broke many records and brought in $170 million in the U.S. during its opening weekend.

The Morning Brief is published Mondays through Fridays. Email Morning Brief writer Melissa Chan at melissa.chan@time.com.

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