Good morning, and happy Tuesday! Here are some of the stories we're following today:
1. Satellite data from missing Malaysian jet released
The data — released today by the Malaysian government — features communications logs between Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and the satellite firm Inmarsat before the jet completely vanished. Families of the passengers have been demanding the data be released since the plane went missing March 8. They want their own analysis done to help figure out what happened to the Boeing 777, believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. Read more in NEWS.
2. Vigils honor young victims of Isla Vista tragedy
The college community of the University of California, Santa Barbara, gathered Monday night to honor the six students killed by 22-year-old gunman Elliot Rodger. People carried candles at Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks, where 19-year-old victim Veronica Weiss had lived. Another memorial is scheduled for 4 p.m. today at UC Santa Barbara. Rodger, a student at Santa Barbara City College, left a trail of online videos and writings warning of violence — triggered by rejection from women. Read more in NEWS.
3. Nigerian military says it knows where missing girls are
The military, however, says it won’t say publicly where the girls are and doesn’t want to use force for fear the students’ safety would be at risk. “We can’t kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back,” a military official said, according to Reuters. The U.S. military couldn’t immediately confirm the Nigerian military's claims. Nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls have been missing for more than a month after they were abducted by Islamist rebels Boko Haram. Read more in NEWS.
4. Deadly fighting rages on in eastern Ukraine
Ukrainian authorities said they seized back control of an airport in Donetsk from pro-Russian separatists on Monday. Fighting continued today as Ukraine complained that Russian militia was smuggling a convoy of arms across the border. So far, Ukraine’s military forces have had little success against rebels who have declared independent “people's republics” in two provinces of the eastern industrial heartland where about 20 people have been killed in recent days. Read more in NEWS.
5. Tornado destroys North Dakota workers’ camp
The twister ripped through the temporary housing camp for oil workers on Monday night in Watford City, injuring nine people and crushing at least a dozen trailers. One of the injured had to be airlifted to a hospital. The storm also produced baseball-sized hail, according to reports. Read more in NEWS.
6. Tiny town looks for big boost from space tourism
The desert community of Truth or Consequences, N.M., is looking to capitalize on the final frontier with the upcoming opening of the $212 million Spaceport America. The terminal will eventually be home to Virgin Atlantic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane and WhiteKnightTwo mothership, which will shoot space tourists as high as 62 miles above the Earth. Read more in SCIENCE.
… What’s trending today?
A driver caught a dramatic crash on camera as a train tore through an 18-wheeler stuck on the tracks near California's Highway 99.
Miraculously, no one was hurt — but the crash left boxes of trail mix littering the road.
