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

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  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.

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