Jobs: New unemployment claims fell to a seven-year low last week, feeding optimism that the economy is coming out of a winter freeze and growing. Unemployment claims dropped by 32,000 to 300,000, much better than expected.

Nyet: Armed men holding a government building in Donetsk, Eastern Ukraine are demanding a vote on joining the Russian Federation. The occupiers strung barbed wire and built up sandbag defenses overnight. The Ukraine government has offered the men amnesty if they give up their weapons and surrender. US Secy. of State John Kerry has accused Russian agents and special forces of being behind the unrest in Ukraine.

Nation: The US says Russia withheld information on Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev that could have moved the FBI to pay him more attention and possibly avert the attack on the marathon race last year. Two years before the bombing Russia had told the FBI that Tsarnaev had become involved with radical Islam but declined requests for more information until after the Marathon incident. Only afterwards did Russia tell about a phone call in which Tsarnaev and his mother discussed “jihad”, which is generally used to mean Islamic war.

>Witnesses said a 16-year-old high school student “with a blank expression” used two kitchen knives to stab and slash 21 fellow students and a security guard yesterday in Murrysville, Pa. All the injured are expected to recover. The young man will be given a psychiatric examination but authorities have already said he will be prosecuted as an adult.

Bug: Major companies are scrambling to plug a leak in their information systems caused by the so-called “Heartbleed Bug” that allows hackers to access customer passwords and information. The bug is in something called OpenSSL, the program that scrambles your information as passes from your computer screen to a company like, say, Amazon. Advice from the targeted companies: change your passwords.

Self Medication: One Florida eye doctor received $21 million in Medicare reimbursements in 2012 alone, according to a report released by the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Salomen Melgen in North Palm Beach tops the list. Much of his billing was for a drug to treat macular degeneration. Number two, Dr. Asad Qamar in Ocala, Fla., $18 million, and number three, a New Jersey pathologist, $12.6 million. Melgen and Qamar have both been under investigation for possible fraud, and both have been major contributors to Democratic political causes.

World: The autopsy on British model and television personality Peaches Geldof is inconclusive, according to authorities. They are waiting for the results of toxicology tests. The 25-year-old Geldof, daughter of concert organizer Bob Geldof, was found dead in her home Monday. She was married with two young children.

Fame and Fortune: The LA Times reports that after 90 years in show business, actor Mickey Rooney died nearly broke and his family is fighting over his body. Court papers list Rooney’s assets at just $18,000. He had earned $12 million before he was 40, a huge sum in those days. At the end, Rooney was living with his stepson. The paper says Rooney was estranged from his eight living children (one died) and was separated from his eighth wife. The paper says Rooney’s wife and her son tried to claim the body at Forest Lawn Cemetery, against the actor’s wishes. He remains unburied until it’s sorted out.

History 101: The new issue of Rolling Stone features comic Julia Louis-Dreyfus with the US Constitution tattooed on her back. It’s signed by John Hancock just over her left kidney. You couldn’t blame John Hancock for autographing the fetching Louis-Dreyfus, but in real life he signed the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.

Hot Fuss: The City of Irwindale, Calif. last night declared the Sriracha hot sauce factory to be a nuisance because of the spicy fumes it spews in the air. The factory was given 90 days to make changes. The city also politely asked, “Would you please pass the hot sauce?”

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