Briefing

THE WEEK

G-8 BECAME G-7

Michigan State

Picked by President Obama to win March Madness

GOOD WEEK

BAD WEEK

Duke

Booted from the tournament by much-lower-ranked Mercer State

18,107

Boxes of Girl Scout cookies that 12-year-old Katie Francis sold in seven weeks, an all-time record

1 trillion

Number of odors the human nose can smell, according to a new study

‘Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors … out of weakness.’

BARACK OBAMA, criticizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea; the remarks came after world leaders met without Vladimir Putin to discuss Russia’s actions

‘No confirmed wreckage, so no real closure.’

SARAH BAJC, whose partner, Philip Wood, was on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which is now believed to have crashed into the Indian Ocean

‘WE’RE STILL HOLDING OUT HOPE.’

TRAVIS HOTS, fire chief in Snohomish County, Washington, on the possibility of finding some of the 170-plus missing mudslide victims alive

‘You don’t talk about the spherical earth with NASA and then say, Let’s give equal time to the flat-earthers. ‘

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON, astrophysicist, after creationist groups demanded airtime on his new space-science program, Cosmos

168,000

Gal. of oil (636,000 L) that spilled into Galveston Bay, Texas, after a cargo-ship collision

‘Technology is a tool, not a teacher.’

HILLARY CLINTON, arguing at a Dallas conference– co-hosted by former Florida governor Jeb Bush–that the U.S. needs to “redefine higher education” to emphasize vocational and technical skills

Sources: Washington Post; Reuters; UPI; Los Angeles Times (2)