Top Stories: Still No Sign Of Missing Jet; Merkel Presses Putin To Back Down

NPR | By Mark Memmott

Published March 13, 2014 at 8:36 AM EDT

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- Officials Dispute Report That Malaysian Jet Kept Flying For Hours

-- Death Toll From NYC Explosion Stands At Seven, May Go Higher

-- 'Bodies Went Flying' As Car Tore Through Crowd At SXSW

-- Book News: Former Factory Worker Wins $100,000 Poetry Prize

Other stories in the news:

-- "Merkel Joins Obama In Pressuring Russia To Back Down On Crimea." (Bloomberg Businessweek)

-- "Delhi Gang Rape: Death Penalty For Four Men Upheld." (BBC News)

-- "Israel-Gaza Cross-Border Attacks Escalate." (Time)

-- "One Year Later, 'A Pope For All' Keeps Catholics Guessing." (Parallels)

-- At Oscar Pistorius Murder Trial, Photos Show "Trail Of Blood." (The Associated Press)

Mark Memmott

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.

See stories by Mark Memmott