QUICK HITS

1 Russia ends rescue effort for 13 missing miners:

Authorities in Russia’s Far East called off a two-week rescue effort to reach 13 workers trapped deep underground in a collapsed gold mine and declared them dead. The miners got trapped on March 18 at a depth of about 400 feet when part of the mine collapsed in the Zeysk district of the Amur region, about 3,000 miles east of Moscow. Officials have not said what caused the accident.

2 White House Easter egg roll draws huge crowd:

Thunder and lightning delayed the start of the Easter egg roll at the White House for 90 minutes, but the event eventually kicked off Monday under gray skies, with many youngsters wearing ponchos or colorful jackets against light rain. More than 40,000 people — 10,000 more than last year — were expected to participate in the event, attempting to coax hard-boiled eggs across the lawn to a finish line. The egg roll is an annual tradition first held in 1878.

3 U.S. traffic deaths drop, but still kill almost 41,000:

U.S. traffic deaths fell 3.6% last year, but, still, almost 41,000 people were killed on the nation’s roadways, according to full-year estimates by safety regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was the second year in a row that fatalities decreased. The agency also released final numbers for 2022 on Monday, saying 42,514 people died in crashes that year. NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said traffic deaths declined in the fourth quarter of last year, marking the seventh consecutive quarterly drop, a mark that started with the second quarter of 2022.

4 South Korea won’t back down against doctors’ strike:

South Korea’s president vowed not to back down in the face of protests by doctors seeking to derail his plan to drastically increase medical school admissions, as he called their walkouts “an illegal collective action” that poses “a grave threat to our society.”About 12,000 medical interns and residents in South Korea have been on strike for six weeks, causing hundreds of canceled surgeries and other treatments at university hospitals. Officials say they want to raise the yearly medical school cap by 2,000 from the current 3,058 to deal with the country’s rapidly aging population; doctors counter that schools can’t handle such an abrupt increase in students.

5 India predicts searing heat this spring:

India forecasts hotterthan-usual temperatures over the coming months, raising the risk of water shortages, crop damages and higher coal use to avoid power blackouts in the planet’s most populous nation. Heat waves are expected for 10 to 20 days in different areas during the threemonth period ending June 30, against a normal of four to eight days.