Syrian conflict — The Syrian regime has carried out indiscriminate and sometimes deliberate airstrikes against civilians that have killed at least 4,300 people since last summer and that amount to war crimes, an international human rights group said Thursday. Human Rights Watch said Syrian fighter jets have deliberately targeted bakeries, breadlines and hospitals in the country’s northern region.

EPA nominee — Gina McCarthy, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Thursday pledged a “common-sense” approach to battling climate change and touted a career that included working for five Republican governors in an effort to counter GOP criticism of the agency she hopes to lead.

$5.3 million letter — A letter that scientist Francis Crick wrote to his son about his Nobel Prize-winning DNA discovery was sold to anonymous buyer at a New York City auction on Wednesday for a record-breaking $5.3 million. The price was a record for a letter sold at auction, according to Christie’s, eclipsing an Abraham Lincoln letter that sold in April 2008 for $3.4 million including commission.

Texas stabbing — Officials say a man accused of stabbing more than a dozen people at a Houston-area college told investigators that he had fantasized about cannibalism and about cutting off people’s faces and wearing them as masks. According to a search warrant affidavit made public Thursday, Dylan Quick told an investigator that about week before the attack at Lone Star College in Cypress he had researched mass stabbings on his home computer.

Spring storm — A strong spring storm that socked the Midwest with ice and heavy, wet snow made its way east, raking the South with tornadoes Thursday, with three deaths blamed on the rough weather and thousands of people without power.

Venezuela campaign — Venezuela’s fast and bitter presidential campaign ended Thursday night as interim President Nicolas Maduro and Miranda Gov. Henrique Capriles drew big crowds and vowed to win Sunday’s election. The 10-day campaign was full of acrimony and accusations, as personal attacks took precedence over policy discussions. The winner will finish out the term Hugo Chavez, who died March 5 after an 18-month battle with cancer.

Thatcher funeral — Invitations to Margaret Thatcher’s funeral are going out to more than 2,000 celebrities, dignitaries, colleagues and friends of the late British leader — from former U.S. presidents to “Dynasty” star Joan Collins and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Invitations were being printed Thursday and will be mailed out today, the government said. Thatcher, who died Monday at the age of 87, will be given a funeral with military honors at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday.

Budget cuts — It took a few weeks, but the so-called sequester is about to hit the White House. The president’s staff will start implementing furloughs for 468 employees next month as part of the across-the-board budget cuts implemented March 1. Each employee must take three to 10 days of unpaid leave during a three-to seven-month period, according to the White House. Notices also have been sent to employees at the Office of the Vice President, the Office of Management and Budget and the Council on Environmental Quality, the White House said.

Trayvon Martin — On the one-year anniversary of her son’s arrest, George Zimmerman’s mother released a letter to the public bemoaning the justice system and criticizing the media for perpetuating a “false narrative.” Zimmerman was taken into custody April 11 last year and charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. His family went into hiding after the story broke.

Guantanamo controversy — The military justice system at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which has been dogged by charges of secret monitoring of proceedings and defense communications, became embroiled in a fresh controversy Thursday when it was revealed that hundreds of thousands of defense emails were turned over to the prosecution. The breach prompted Col. Karen Mayberry, the chief military defense counsel, to order all defense lawyers with cases at Guantanamo to stop using Defense Department computer networks to transmit privileged or confidential information until the security of such communications is assured.

Turkey plot — Turkish police said Thursday that they found evidence of an al-Qaida-linked plot to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, a synagogue in Istanbul and other targets, during a raid on two houses in February. Turkish news reports said the police had seized nearly 50 pounds of plastic explosives with detonation systems attached, as well as six laptop computers and other evidence. Twelve suspects were arrested during the operation — two Chechens, two Azeris and eight Turks.