Latest News: Ted Cruz, Confederate Flag, The Real 'Audience' - New York Times

Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The 2016 race is officially on.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, 44, is the first major candidate to formally start a presidential campaign. He tweeted his announcement this morning.

With the early start, he is seeking to take the attention of those in the party’s right wing, Republican insiders say.

• Free-speech case at the Supreme Court.

The justices hear arguments today on whether Texas can refuse to issue a license plate featuring the Confederate flag without violating the free-speech rights of those who want one.

Texas said the flag was offensive. Nine other states let drivers choose novelty license plates featuring the flag.

• Afghan leaders visit Washington.

Secretary of State John Kerry is hosting Afghanistan’s president and the chief executive at Camp David.

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The spring fighting season with the Taliban is about to get underway, and the Afghans are seeking long-term commitments of money and support.

• Tense talks in Berlin.

Greece’s prime minister is meeting Chancellor Angela Merkel today amid growing concerns that Athens is running out of money.

Germany is a critical player in Greece’s attempt to secure a deal on future financing. Ms. Merkel and other European leaders have asked Athens for a new plan for budget cuts and tax hikes.

• Founding father.

Lee Kuan Yew, who transformed tiny Singapore into one of the world’s wealthiest countries, died today at 91.

• Setbacks in Yemen.

The counterterrorism mission in Yemen and the Mideast looks much more difficult this morning, after 125 U.S. Special Operations advisers were evacuated from the increasingly unstable country.

Shiite rebel fighters known as Houthis made key advances over the weekend. They forced the government out in January and have taken over large parts of the country, including the capital.

• United States Inc.

President Obama is promoting investment in the U.S. to executives from around the world at a meeting in Maryland today. The aim is job creation.

MARKETS

• Wall Street stock futures are trending higher. European indexes are lower and Asian shares closed mixed.

• China Tire and Rubber will make a takeover bid for the Italian tire maker Pirelli after agreeing to acquire the stake of its largest shareholder, the companies said.

As part of the deal, the Russian company Rosneft will receive a direct stake in the newly formed Italian company that will hold the Pirelli stock.

• A bill is to be introduced in Congress today that would place limits on how education technology companies can use information about students.

OVER THE WEEKEND

• A machete-wielding man who was shot after attacking security officers at the New Orleans airport died on Saturday.

• Seven siblings, ages 5 to 16, died in a fire that ripped through the home of an Orthodox Jewish family in New York.

• President Obama said he told Israel’s leader that his remarks that there would be no Palestinian state on his watch have hurt the peace process.

• The Tunisian authorities arrested more than 20 people in the investigation into last week’s fatal assault at a museum. A third attacker is still sought.

• Islamic State militants called for attacks in the U.S. on military service members whose purported personal information was posted online.

• Shareholders of the insurance giant A.I.G. won approval of a $970.5 million settlement resolving claims about its subprime mortgage exposure.

• Hainan Airlines made China’s first passenger flight using biofuel made from cooking oil. Biofuels emit much less carbon dioxide than conventional fuels.

• “Insurgent,” the second film in the “Divergent” series, was No. 1 at the box office.

• Catching up on TV: Episode recaps for “The Good Wife,” and “Walking Dead” and the season finale of “Girls.”

NOTEWORTHY

• The teams that are left.

Sixteen men’s basketball teams remain in the N.C.A.A. tournament, which resumes Thursday. The biggest upsets of the weekend were Wichita State over Kansas, Michigan State over Virginia, and North Carolina State over Villanova. Full scoreboard.

The biggest women’s game tonight is undefeated Princeton (30-0) vs. top-seeded Maryland (30-2). Scoreboard.

• Late-night TV diversifies.

He has never worked as a talk-show host, but James Corden, who won a Tony for “One Man, Two Guvnors,” becomes the host of “The Late Late Show” tonight, replacing Craig Ferguson. Mr. Corden is English, while Mr. Ferguson is from Scotland (12:30 a.m. Eastern, CBS).

Lena Dunham interviews Hilary Knight, the 88-year-old artist who drew Eloise, in an HBO minidocumentary, “It’s Me, Hilary,” tonight (9 Eastern, HBO).

And the first scripted series from Yahoo, “Sin City Saints” has plenty of young-male-viewer bait — sports, Las Vegas, Silicon Valley and Malin Akerman — in a comedy. All eight episodes are posted today.

• Risks of our national pastime.

They’re not as common in Major League Baseball as they are in football, but a new study suggests that position players who sustain concussions do not hit as effectively in their first weeks back after their injury.

Opening day is two weeks from today.

BACK STORY

“The Audience,” which opened on Broadway this month starring Helen Mirren, is about the real-life private audience that the British queen has with the prime minister once a week.

The play’s dialogue, though, is imagined: The real-life meetings with Queen Elizabeth take place in a room in Buckingham Palace with no one else there and no records taken. (It is also done by phone, if one or the other is away.)

The audience is merely a courtesy and is not mandated by the British Constitution. The queen is required to remain politically neutral.

In the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher would turn up for the weekly audience 15 minutes early. And instead of admitting her, the queen would keep her prime minister waiting for exactly a quarter of an hour.

She was one of a dozen prime ministers who have served in Elizabeth II’s 63-year reign. The script of “The Audience,” which runs through June, may have to add a 13th if David Cameron loses in parliamentary elections in May.

Victoria Shannon contributed reporting.

Your Morning Briefing is published weekdays at 6 a.m. Eastern and updated on the web all morning.

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