US Accuses Russia, End of the Drumline

Ukraine: The US says Russia has been firing artillery across the Ukraine border to support pro-Russian rebels and that Russia is moving to ship heavier weapons to the rebels. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, “We have new evidence that the Russians intend to deliver heavier and more powerful multiple rocket launchers to the separatist forces in Ukraine, and have evidence that Russia is firing artillery from within Russia to attack Ukrainian military positions.”Harf said she could not tell reporters what that information was based upon.

Gaza: The death toll has passed 800, most of them civilians, as Secy. of State John Kerry attends meetings in Cairo to push for a ceasefire. Israel says it’s uncertain whether it was their fire that killed more than a dozen people yesterday at a UN school used as a shelter.

Street violence flared in the West Bank overnight as more than 10,000 protesters marched to condemn Israel’s punishing assault on Gaza. Palestinians have become enraged about the number of people getting killed as Israel searches and destroys a network of tunnels used to infiltrate Hamas fighters into Israel.

Lost and Found: The wreckage of the missing Air Algérie jet with 116 people on board was found in Mali near the border of Burkina Faso. The jet was flying from Burkina Faso to Algeria when it went down in heavy rain.

In Print: Iran has detained Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, a 38-year-old dual Iran-US citizen, and his Iranian wife Yeganeh Salehi, who works for an English language paper in the United Arab Emirates. The Post says two freelance photographers also were taken into custody Tuesday night. Iran confirmed the arrests but did not give a reason.

Drummed Out: Ohio State University fired the director of its famed marching band after an investigation that revealed a pattern of sexualized hazing among members of the band. The University said the Buckeye band director Jonathan Waters either knew about it or should have known. Band members were given raunchy nicknames, forced to strip to their underwear, and subjected to sexual history surveys. The band that calls itself “The Best Damn Band in the Land” is famous for marching in formations that become a moving dinosaur, superheroes, and even a moonwalking Michael Jackson.

Spell Check: Montana Sen. John Walsh has been accused of plagiarizing a paper he wrote while he was a student at the Army War College. The NY Times laid out the passages that appeared to be lifted from other works or improperly attributed. Walsh, a former Army officer, at first said he was suffering post-deployment stress at the time, then said he merely made mistakes. The War College is investigating and could yank Walsh’s degree.

The Obit Page: Robert Newhouse, the workhorse Dallas running back who threw a surprise touchdown pass in the 1978 Super Bowl, has died at age 64. Dallas was leading Denver 20-10 with seven minutes on the clock when Newhouse faked a run and passed to Golden Richards, who ran it in. The 27-10 victory was the second Super Bowl win for Dallas. As a running back, Newhouse spent his career grinding out yardage. His thighs measured 44 inches.

The Star is Gone: “A Most Wanted Man,” the last movie completed by the late actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman, opens this weekend. Hoffman plays a sorrowful German intelligence agent in the hunt for a Chechen who has illegally entered the country in the movie adaptation of the John le Carré novel. Hoffman, who died of a drug overdose in February, is getting good reviews he will never read. NY Times critic Manohla Dargis wrote, “Mr. Hoffman’s performance is so finely etched — and the story so irresistible — that the film becomes, almost inescapably, something of a last testament.”

Dinnertime: McDonald’s has stopped selling Chicken McNuggets in Hong Kong because their Chinese supplier was sending them re-processed expired meat. We’re confused. Isn’t that what Chicken McNuggets are always made from?

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It's Been Said

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