• 2014 Crimean crisis:
  • Leaders in the Ukrainian Kherson Oblast threaten to shut off all power and water to Crimea if the referendum goes forward. (Fox)
  • Russia masses its military near the Ukrainian border again as new military operations are announced. (BBC News)
• At least 100 rockets have been fired from Gaza into southern Israel over the last 3 days, with the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine claiming responsibility. The IDF responded by shelling two alleged PIJ targets. (The Jerusalem Post)
• Post-coup unrest in Egypt:
  • Masked gunmen attack a bus carrying Egyptian Army soldiers in Cairo, killing one. (AP via The Hindu)

• An executive board member of the European Central Bank, Benoît Cœuré, says that the ECB is determined to secure the continued decline in real interest rates in the months ahead. (Reuters)

• An intoxicated hit-and-run driver in Austin, Texas, United States, drives into a nighttime crowd at the South by Southwest festival, killing two and injuring 23. (USA Today) (CNN)
• A U.S. newspaper report claims Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 flew for hours after vanishing from radars Saturday. (Al Jazeera) (Wall Street Journal)
• Rescue crew continue to search for victims in the explosion in the New York City neighborhood of East Harlem, which killed 8 and injured more than 70. (NBC)
• A magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurs near Japan's Kyushu Island. (Chicago Tribune)
• A helicopter crash in Norfolk, United Kingdom, kills Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond. (Eastern Counties Newspapers)

• Murderer and Sex Offender Brett Peter Cowan is sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 20 years after being found guilty of murder, improperly interfering with a corpse and indecently dealing with a child under the age of 16 following the murder of Daniel Morcombe on the Sunshine Coast in December 2003. (Brisbane Times)

• David Willetts, the UK science minister, announces £11m of funding for data processing linked to the Square Kilometre Array. (The Register)