A.M. Links: Official Results Show 96.8 Percent of Crimeans Voting to Secede, White House Launching March Madness-Themed Obamacare Campaign, Mercury is Shrinking

The official results of yesterday’s referendum in

Crimea show 96.8 percent of voters in support of joining
Russia. The local election commission insists it didn’t get a
single complaint about the vote, while the Crimean government has
asked the United
Nations to recognize the peninsula as an independent country.
In response,
Ukraine has called up 40,000 reservists, while
the U.S. and other Western countries have warned Russia against
annexing Crimea.
The
White House is launching an Obamacare campaign tied to March
Madness, which will include coaches and student athletes shilling
for the government insurance program and the March 31 deadline to
enroll.
Rapper Tyler, the Creator was arrested on his way out of

Austin, Texas, for allegedly inciting a riot at the South by
Southwest music festival.
Police clashed with anti-government demonstrators in
Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, yesterday. The death toll
since protests began several months ago has reached 27.
Somalia’s first traffic commissioner in more than 20 years
claims at least half of the drivers and vehicles on the roads in

Mogadishu don’t deserve to be there.
The planet
Mercury is shrinking.