Flight 370: Authorities say the two men who boarded the missing Malaysian Airlines jet with stolen passports are unlikely to have links to terrorism. One was a 19-year-old Iranian flying to Germany to meet his mother, they said.

  Searchers still have found no remains of the jet missing since Saturday. The Malaysian air force says the plane turned west off its course before disappearing from radar. As many as 40 ships and 34 aircraft from nine countries joined the search. No wreckage has been found and military satellites revealed no evidence of a mid-air explosion. There’s even doubt that an oil slick found in the ocean came from the Boeing 777 carrying 239 people from Kula Lumpur to Beijing.

Ukraine: Secy. of State John Kerry has refused to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin until the Russian leader agrees to have serious discussions about the issues in Ukraine and Crimea. And Kerry said that if the Crimean secession vote goes ahead on Sunday, there will be little to talk about.

In military developments, NATO announced it will deploy airborne warning and control planes to monitor the situation in Ukraine.

The  NY Times reports that the wealthy men of Russia, the oligarchs, are quietly afraid of what will happen if things go sour and they end up blocked from the Western financial system. Putin, when he returned to power in 2012, warned the money guys that their Western interests made them vulnerable to exactly the kind of sanctions that might be imposed now in the wake of the Crimea invasion. Russia has integrated into the world financial system in the last 20 years, but the Russian rich might be about to get sent to the freezer.

Nation: The Senate yesterday overwhelmingly passed a bill to change the way the military deals with cases of sexual assault. In a 97-0 vote, the Senate’s bill would eliminate the so-called “good soldier” defense in which the accused can use an exemplary military record to cast doubt on whether a crime had even been committed. The Senate bill does not go as far as the bill that failed in the House last week, which would have removed sexual assault and harassment complaints from the military chain of command.

Meanwhile, the sexual assault trial of Army Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair was delayed yesterday after the presiding judge saw e-mails suggesting that the Pentagon had unduly interfered in the case to make an example out of Sinclair.

To Your Health: Researchers at Georgetown University say in a study that the amount and type of fats in the blood are an indicator of whether a person will develop Alzheimer’s disease within three years. The ability to diagnose long before onset gives a better chance for treatment, but also opens the personal and ethical dilemma about whether people would want to know.

On Ice: A National Hockey League game between Dallas and Columbus was stopped last night after a Dallas player suffered a cardiac event while sitting on the bench. Players from both sides shouted and banged their sticks on the boards to get the attention of the referees. Thirty-one year old Rich Peverley collapsed and had to be shocked to bring his heart back to rhythm. Peverley missed the pre-season after having a procedure to correct arrhythmia in his heart. He missed a game last week feeling poorly. Peverley was revived, but the entire Dallas team looked stunned and told Columbus they preferred not to finish the game last night.

Banana Republic: The Irish fruit company Fyffes and the US Chiquita announced a merger to create the world’s largest banana company. The global fruit trade is dominated now by four companies; Chiquita, Dole, Del Monte and Fyffes. The new company will be called ChiquitaFyffes, which is fine, but good luck to the advertisers getting a dancing banana to sing that.

Funny or Die: President Obama appeared with Zach Galifianakis on his Internet talk spoof “Between Two Ferns.” The President was hawking healthcare for young people but first had to spar with “The Hangover” star. “What is it like to be the last black president?” Galifianakis asked. The President answered, “What’s it like for this to be the last time you ever talk to a president?”

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