Speakers and singers still come to the stage on Independence Square most of everyday. People are still laying flowers on the tire barricades, candles line the chart pavements.

I think people are just trying to understand what happened, trying to figure out this new situation, said *. It's hard to sort out these two weeks.

Another woman, there with her young daughter, was visiting the square for the first time since the protests began last year. She said she couldn't express how she felt. Emily Harris NPR News, Kiev.

 

 

The Senate has passed additional changes to the within military prosecute sexual assault. NPR's * reports these latest changes would build upon a larger package Congress passed last December. 

The bill would eliminate the good soldier defense in sexual assault cases, meaning a defendant wouldn't be able to rely on a good service record to fend off a charge. The legislation also requires that a commander's record in handling sexual assault allegations against subordinates be taken into account in every evaluation for promotion. Passage of this bill came just days after the Senate narrowly rejected a more far-reaching measure that would've prevented commanders from making the final call about which sexual assault cases to prosecute. Congress passed other reforms last December including requiring that all victims be provided with legal counsel. * NPR News, Washington.

 

 

Just weeks before Washington D.C. mayor Vincent Gray faces voters in a primary for re-election, a key ally has pleaded guilty to charges of funneling more than $3 m in illegal contributions to Gray, and more than two dozen other candidates. US attorney for the District of Columbia, Ronald Machen.

In 2010, D.C. voters went to the ballot box never knowing that one mayoral campaign was financing another. And that under-the-table deals conceal $650,000 in secret corporate funding for mayoral candidate A's campaign.  

Federal prosecutors identified Mayor Gray in court today as mayoral candidate A. Businessman Jeffrey Thompson has pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges, one federal charge and one district charge.  

 

 

Dallas Hockey Star forward Rich Peverley collapsed tonight on the bench at a game against the Columbia Blue Jackets. The game has been called off. A public-address announcement says the 31-year-old Peverley was conscious when he was taken to the hospital.  

 

 

On Wall Street today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 34 points ending at 16,418. The NASDAQ fell 1 point to 4,334. And the S&P fell a fraction ending at 1,877. 

 

 

This is NPR News. 

 

 

Officials are tightening security for this year's Boston marathon with increased surveillance and new restrictions. NPR's Tovia Smith reports that the beefed up security comes a year after two home-made bombs planted near the finishing line killed three people and wounded hundreds.  

Officials allude to the challenge of securing a 26.2-mile course that runs through streets and 8 cities and towns, saying they are working to reduce risk even if it can't be eliminated. Police presence will be doubled, and plain-cloth officers and video surveillance beefed up. Bags and bag-packs are banned from the course. * emergency management director Kurt Schwartz says spectators will have to go through checkpoints at the most congested areas. 

These simple guidelines, if followed, will comfort people, and will help ensure the safety of the event. 

Unregistered runners known as bandits are also banned, with 9,000 extra official runners this year. Authority say the course is at capacity. Tovia Smith NPR News, Boston.

 

 

Snow-melt flooding in the upper midwest is stranding hundreds of rural mountains, Gov. Steve Bullock declared the emergency. In Wyoming, national guard troops are working to protect the residents of Manderson and Greybull from freezing floodwaters. 

 

 

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden says technology companies need to do more to protect individual privacy for those surfing the web. Snowden addressed South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin today via video conference.   

It was once the home of boxer Joe Louis, and members of the singing group, the Supremes. Detroit's Brewster projects are in the final phase of demolition. The home was built in 1935. That's the city's first housing project for Africa-Americans.