a daily half-hour highlights show. In the United States, NBC Sports acquired the rights to the 2014 and 2016 Paralympics in September 2013. The majority of its coverage was broadcast on NBC Sports Network, and NBC aired highlights of the opening ceremony the following afternoon, and live coverage of the sledge hockey finals. CBC Sports, in conjunction with the Canadian Paralympic Committee, produced and syndicated television and digital coverage of the Games in Canada for CBC Television (30 hours), Ici Radio-Canada Télé (French, 7 hours), Sportsnet, AMI-tv (coverage with open described video), and Yahoo! Sports Canada. Concerns and controversies Although concerns over LGBT rights still had a minor effect on the Games, they were overshadowed by a crisis in the Ukrainian region of Crimea which began during the Olympics, but became more severe immediately prior to the Paralympics. Crimean crisis On 27–28 February 2014 in the aftermath of the Ukrainian revolution, Russian troops seized control of most of the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine located on the northern coast of the Black Sea—roughly from Sochi, including civil buildings, airports, and military bases. On 1 March 2014, the Russian legislature approved the use of the Russian military in Ukraine, and Russian officials stated that their military forces in Crimea were not a breach of existing agreements between Russia and Ukraine. The Ukrainian response has been muted trying to find a diplomatic solution, with no military action on the part of Ukraine's government, which was formed in Kyiv less than a week before the intervention. Russia vowed troops would stay until the political situation was "normalised". A referendum on whether Crimea would separate from Ukraine was held on 16 March 2014—the same day as the closing ceremony of these Games. The effects of these developments led to several notable political actions surrounding the Paralympics. On 2 March 2014, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that British government officials were planning to boycott the 2014 Winter Paralympics in response to the situation in Crimea, while Prince Edward cancelled plans to travel to Sochi for the Games "on the advice of government." On 3 March 2014, United States National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden announced that the United States would not send a presidential delegation to Sochi (which was to be led by Tammy Duckworth) at all, "in addition to other measures we are taking in response to the situation in Ukraine." Neither of the