Protests in Ukraine began four months ago when the former president refused to sign a deal aligning Ukraine with Europe. He wanted to bring Ukraine closer to Russia instead. Those protests eventually led to the government's downfall and to Russia's annexation of the Crimea region. Now Ukraine's acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says signing this agreement with Europe is an important statement.

 

“We will show to the entire world that we are together, that Ukraine shares the European values, and that we can together be successful.”

 

At the same meeting in Brussels, European officials announced that they are expanding the list of sanctions targets -- freezing assets and restricting visas for more people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, London.

 

A federal judge in Detroit has overturned Michigan's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. As WDET's Quinn Klinefelter reports, the judge says the ban violates the guarantee of equal protection for all people.

 

Michigan voters approved a law in 2004 that recognizes marriage only as a union between a man and a woman. Nurses April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse challenged the law and a separate state ban that would prevent them from adopting each other's children. In his recent opinion, Judge Bernard Friedman says state attorneys should not have defined the case as a challenge to the will of the people, and that no court record could ever fully convey the personal sacrifice of plaintiffs who seek to ensure the state may no longer impair the rights of their children. State officials are filing an immediate appeal of the ruling. For NPR News, I'm Quinn Klinefelter in Detroit.   

 

At least four people are known dead after a fire tore through a New Jersey motel early today. Officials say the blaze broke out at the Mariner's Cove Motor Inn in Point Pleasant Beach about 5:30 am, quickly engulfing the two-story wooden structure. Crystal Wardell, along with members of her family, waked to escape.

 

“I was sleeping and my mom was getting ready for work. And she woke me up, saying someone was screaming fire. And when we opened the door, it was just  flames everywhere. The whole motel was engulfed in flames and smoke everywhere.”

 

Eight people were hurt including one woman who holed up in a shower to escape smoke and flames. She was rescued by firefighters. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. The motel was housing people displaced by Superstorm Sandy.

 

Federal appeals court has shut down a challenge the current cap on fees banks can charge businesses for debit card transactions, the US Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia overturning a lower court decision that favored merchants and was viewed as a setback for banks. In a previous ruling a federal judge had struck down the so-called 'swipe fees', saying the body lacked the authority to set a limit. Current cap average is around 24 cents for every transaction before the cap swipes fees or even higher. 

 

A down ended the week for Wall Street. The Dow dropped 28 points to 16,302.

 

You’re listening to NPR News in Washington. 

 

Turkey has banned access to Twitter, causing an international stir. But NPR's Emily Siner reports people there are finding ways to use it anyway.

 

About five million Turkish residents use Twitter, and it turns out it's pretty hard to stop them all. Mike Tigas, a developer at ProPublica, says the process is really simple.

 

“The way that it appears that Turkey has blocked Twitter can be defeated just by changing a couple of settings on your computer.”

 

Protesters are even spray-painting instructions on posters and buildings after the Turkish prime minister said that he wanted to “wipe out” Twitter, but the president of Turkey announced on Twitter that he does not support the ban. Emily Siner, NPR News, Washington. 

 

So long, Dunk City. Hello, Mercer. In the biggest upset so far in this year’s NCAA finals, tiny Mercer, a little-known Atlantic Sun Conference school with fewer than 9,000 students, has knocked off the mighty No.3-ranked Blue Devils by a score of 78-71. Mercer Bears guard Anthony White says it was because everyone on the squad jelled during the game.

 

“I think as have been a veteran team, we’re really composed, and not only as being a veteran team, we also play for each other.”

 

Duke guard Rasheed Sulaimon was struggling to process today’s loss.

 

“I’m just waiting for the moment while I wake up, um, but, you know, that’s life, you know. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way. Sometimes, you know, it doesn’t play out the way you envision it.”

 

14-seed Mercer Bears with a starting lineup of five seniors came back to beat Duke in the final five minutes of today’s game.

 

Crude oil futures prices closed higher today, the price of crude oil up 56 cents a barrel to close at 99.46 a barrel today on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

 

I'm Jack Speer, NPR News in Washington.