March 11th, 2014
06:26 AM ET

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March 11th, 2014
03:01 AM ET

Five Things to Know for Your New Day – Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The search for a missing Malaysia Airlines flight enters a fourth day, Edward Snowden has no regrets over leaking classified documents, and Colorado rakes in $2 million in taxes in the first month of legalized pot sales.

It's Tuesday, and here are the 5 things to know for your New Day.

1. MISSING MALAYSIA AIRLINES PLANE

Still looking: Four days after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went off the grid, there are still far more questions than answers. Authorities expanded the search area today, with nine aircraft and 24 vessels specifically deployed to find the missing Boeing 777 or at least some clue of where it went down. The plane disappeared somewhere between Malaysia and Vietnam. Since then, teams of searchers from Vietnam, China, Singapore, Indonesia, the United States, Thailand, Australia, the Philippines and New Zealand have been working alongside Malaysians to scour the Gulf of Thailand, part of the South China Sea.

2. MILITARY SEXUAL ASSAULT BILL

Modest reforms: A bill working its way through Congress would strengthen prosecution of sexual assaults in the military. The U.S. Senate yesterday approved the package on a 97-to-0 vote. It now goes to the House for consideration. The package continues major reforms that became law last year that include: removing the authority of commanders to overturn convictions; providing attorneys to victims; making it a crime to retaliate against a victim; and requiring a dishonorable discharge for anyone convicted of sexual assault. Sen. Claire McCaskill says the U.S. military has "one of the most victim-friendly justice systems in the world."

3. EDWARD SNOWDEN

SXSW headliner: Edward Snowden called on a tech conference audience to help "fix" the U.S. government's surveillance of its citizens. The fugitive National Security Agency leaker spoke yesterday over a heavily encrypted feed to an audience of thousands at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. Snowden said he had no regrets about his decision to leak the NSA documents. He said it was the right thing to do.

4. OSCAR PISTORIUS TRIAL

Sick in court: "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius is back in a South African court after an emotional day of testimony. The Olympian broke down and threw up in court yesterday as he heard a pathologist testify about girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp's injuries after he shot her dead on Valentine's Day last year. Pistorius admits he shot Steenkamp, 29, but says it was a tragic case of mistaken identity. He says he thought she was an intruder who had broken into his home.

5. COLORADO POT TAXES

A budding business: The decision to legalize marijuana is off to a profitable start in Colorado, which raked in $2 million in taxes for January, the first month recreational pot sales were allowed. On January 1, Colorado became the first state to permit the sale of marijuana to anyone age 21 or older.

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When combined with taxes and fees from medicinal marijuana, the state brought in $3.5 million in January from pot sales. It's hardly a business that's going up in smoke.

Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a couple of others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.

- Hockey emergency: Dallas Stars forward Rich Peverley is in stable condition after collapsing on the bench at last night's NHL game against Columbus. Peverley has an irregular heartbeat that can keep blood from getting to where it needs to go, particularly the brain. Doctors revived him before he was taken to a hospital. The team says Peverley wanted to go back into the game. It caused quite a stir at the time.

- Well, this is awkward: Who thinks of these things? A filmmaker asks 20 strangers to kiss on camera after just meeting. There were some initial butterflies, but it's kind of cute in a strange, voyeuristic way.

- Lego, Lego, Lego! First it was "The Lego Movie." Now it's the Lego keyboard. When will the madness end?

- The '80s, oh how we miss thee: Actor Kevin Bacon speaks on behalf of '80s awareness.

- Unconditional love: A London animal home reminds us that love sometimes comes with a wagging tail and four furry feet.

There you go. All you need to know to get an early start to your morning.
Be sure to tune in to "New Day," from 6 to 9 a.m. ET, join us at NewDayCNN.com and go and have a GREAT NEW DAY!

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