--- title: Morning Must Reads: April 16 description: In the news: Nearly 300 people are missing after a South Korean passenger ferry sinks; Ukraine and separatist forces flex their muscles; China's gross domestic product growth slips in first quarter; Conservatives ask Republican leaders for ObamaCare replacement package by August canonical: https://time.com/64758/morning-must-reads-april-16/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-16T12:00:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:19:50.396Z article:section: Politics og:title: Morning Must Reads: April 16 og:description: In the news: Nearly 300 people are missing after a South Korean passenger ferry sinks; Ukraine and separatist forces flex their muscles; China's gross domestic product growth slips in first quarter; Conservatives ask Republican leaders for ObamaCare replacement package by August og:url: https://time.com/64758/morning-must-reads-april-16/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Morning Must Reads: April 16 twitter:description: In the news: Nearly 300 people are missing after a South Korean passenger ferry sinks; Ukraine and separatist forces flex their muscles; China's gross domestic product growth slips in first quarter; Conservatives ask Republican leaders for ObamaCare replacement package by August twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Morning Must Reads: April 16 > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Apr 16, 2014 12:00 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Apr 16, 2014 12:00 PM UTC * “Ukrainian government forces and separatist pro-Russian militia staged rival shows of force in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday amid escalating rhetoric on the eve of crucial four-power talks in Geneva on the former Soviet country’s future.” \[[Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/16/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA3A1B520140416)\] * Here’s What the CIA Director Was Really Doing in Kiev \[[Daily Beast](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/15/here-s-what-the-cia-director-was-really-doing-in-kiev.html)\] * * “There’s a sense of unreality inside the Beltway as news networks broadcast images of armed, masked men carrying out military operations in the worst standoff between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.” \[[Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/ukraine-washington-russia-105733.html?hp=t1%5F3)\] * “China’s gross domestic product growth slipped in the first quarter to its slowest level in 18 months as the world’s second-largest economy continued to downshift.” \[[WSJ](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303663604579504400644326182?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303663604579504400644326182.html)\] * “Three people have died and 293 remain unaccounted for after a South Korean passenger ferry slowly sank Wednesday off the country’s southern coast…” \[[WashPost](http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia%5Fpacific/south-korean-ferry-carrying-470-sinking/2014/04/15/0f3f4fa2-c515-11e3-b195-dd0c1174052c%5Fstory.html?hpid=z1)\] * “Michael R. Bloomberg, making his first major political investment since leaving office, plans to spend $50 million this year building a nationwide grass-roots network to motivate voters who feel strongly about curbing gun violence, an organization he hopes can eventually outmuscle the National Rifle Association.” \[[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/16/us/bloomberg-plans-a-50-million-challenge-to-the-nra.html?%5Fr=0)\] * “Top House conservatives are pressuring Republican leaders to bring an ObamaCare replacement bill to a vote by the August recess…party leaders have given no indication when they might present a plan or what form it will take.” \[[Hill](http://thehill.com/homenews/house/203641-gop-right-wheres-our-bill)\] * Texas Twins Campaign, But They Aren’t Sure For What \[[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/16/us/politics/texas-twins-campaign-but-they-arent-sure-for-what.html?hp)\] * How the President Got to ‘I Do’ on Same-Sex Marriage \[[NYT Mag](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/magazine/how-the-president-got-to-i-do-on-same-sex-marriage.html?%5Fr=0)\] * The Grisly Reality Behind Soaring Lime Prices \[[National Journal](http://www.nationaljournal.com/economy/the-grisly-reality-behind-soaring-lime-prices-20140415)\] * Here’s What the CIA Director Was Really Doing in Kiev \[[Daily Beast](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/15/here-s-what-the-cia-director-was-really-doing-in-kiev.html)\] * “There’s a sense of unreality inside the Beltway as news networks broadcast images of armed, masked men carrying out military operations in the worst standoff between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War.” \[[Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/ukraine-washington-russia-105733.html?hp=t1%5F3)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/64758/morning-must-reads-april-16/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/64758/morning-must-reads-april-16/"},"headline":"Morning Must Reads: April 16","datePublished":"2014-04-16T12:00:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:19:50.396Z","description":"In the news: Nearly 300 people are missing after a South Korean passenger ferry sinks; Ukraine and separatist forces flex their muscles; China's gross domestic product growth slips in first quarter; Conservatives ask Republican leaders for ObamaCare replacement package by August","url":"https://time.com/64758/morning-must-reads-april-16/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Rogers","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/64758/morning-must-reads-april-16/","name":"Morning Must Reads: April 16"}}]}] ```