--- description: In the news: Vladimir V. Putin declared his intention to make Crimea a part of the Russian Federation; a Big-Bang theory gets a big boost; the latest on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane; March Madness title: Morning Must Reads: March 18 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Morning Must Reads: March 18 by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 18, 2014 12:56 PM CUT  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 [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 18, 2014 12:56 PM CUT * “Moving swiftly in the face of international condemnation, President Vladimir V. Putin declared his intention to make Crimea a part of the Russian Federation, defying the United States and Europe just hours after they imposed their first financial sanctions against Moscow since the crisis in Ukraine began.” \[[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/world/europe/ukraine.html?hp "undefined")\] * “Foreign policy analysts warn the latest steps could be the beginning of a deep freeze in U.S.-Russian relations.” \[[Hill](http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-strategy/201025-obama-putin-at-breaking-point "undefined")\] * “European stocks rose, extending their biggest gain in two weeks, after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he isn’t seeking to split up Ukraine.” \[[Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-18/european-index-futures-decline-after-stock-rally.html "undefined")\] * “From Crimea to North Korea, from Syria to Egypt, and from Iraq to Afghanistan, America apparently has no good options. If possession is nine-tenths of the law, Russia owns Crimea and all we can do is sanction and disinvite—and wring our hands.” \[Former Republican presidential candidate [Mitt Romney/WSJ](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304747404579445170801186310?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304747404579445170801186310.html "undefined")\] * A Big-Bang Theory Gets a Big Boost: Evidence That Vast Cosmos Was Created in Split Second \[[WashPost](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-big-bang-theory-gets-a-big-boost-evidence-that-vast-cosmos-were-created-in-split-second/2014/03/17/d6c21850-adfc-11e3-9627-c65021d6d572%5Fstory.html?hpid=z1 "undefined")\] * “That, in turn, confirmed that in the first billionth of a trillionth of a quadrillionth of a second after the Big Bang, the universe briefly expanded faster than the speed of light—a speed that’s supposed to be impossible, but in this exceptional case wasn’t.” \[[TIME](http://time.com/27891/big-bang-theory-inflationary-universe/ "undefined")\] * “The first turn to the west that diverted the missing Malaysia Airlines plane from its planned flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing was carried out through a computer system that was most likely programmed by someone in the plane’s cockpit who was knowledgeable about airplane systems…” \[[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-flight.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined")\] * White House Jumps Through Hoops to Increase Obamacare Enrollment \[[Daily Beast](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/18/white-house-jumps-through-hoops-to-increase-obamacare-enrollment.html "undefined")\] * “The denizens of Wall Street and wealthy precincts around the nation said they are still plenty worried about the shift in tone toward top earners and the popularity of class-based appeals.” \[[Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/the-rich-strike-back-104753.html?hp=t1 "undefined")\] * A Day in the Life of a Marijuana Lobbyist \[[Yahoo!](http://news.yahoo.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-marijuana-lobbyist-023347656.html "undefined")\] * [March Madness](http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/college-basketball/PDF/2014-ncaa-tournament-printable-bracket.pdf "undefined") begins. * “Foreign policy analysts warn the latest steps could be the beginning of a deep freeze in U.S.-Russian relations.” \[[Hill](http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-strategy/201025-obama-putin-at-breaking-point "undefined")\] * “European stocks rose, extending their biggest gain in two weeks, after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he isn’t seeking to split up Ukraine.” \[[Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-18/european-index-futures-decline-after-stock-rally.html "undefined")\] * “From Crimea to North Korea, from Syria to Egypt, and from Iraq to Afghanistan, America apparently has no good options. If possession is nine-tenths of the law, Russia owns Crimea and all we can do is sanction and disinvite—and wring our hands.” \[Former Republican presidential candidate [Mitt Romney/WSJ](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304747404579445170801186310?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304747404579445170801186310.html "undefined")\] * “That, in turn, confirmed that in the first billionth of a trillionth of a quadrillionth of a second after the Big Bang, the universe briefly expanded faster than the speed of light—a speed that’s supposed to be impossible, but in this exceptional case wasn’t.” \[[TIME](http://time.com/27891/big-bang-theory-inflationary-universe/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/28512/morning-must-reads-march-18/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/28512/morning-must-reads-march-18/"},"headline":"Morning Must Reads: March 18","datePublished":"2014-03-18T12:56:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:49:17.362Z","description":"In the news: Vladimir V. 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