Ukraine: Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Obama on the phone yesterday to talk about a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis. It’s too soon to know whether Putin has blinked in the international standoff. Diplomats will meet to talk about it. Putin’s call followed the delivery of a diplomatic proposal by Secy. of State John Kerry. The White House said it wants Russia to pull its troops out of the Crimean peninsula and to stop threatening greater Ukraine. Russian soldiers and armor are massed on the Eastern Ukraine border in a position to invade, but Russian denies any aggressive intent.

  President Obama was in Saudi Arabia when Putin called. He had just finished a two-hour dinner with King Abdullah to discuss Iran, Syria and other issues.

Flight 370: A Chinese patrol ship has arrived in the search area, raising hopes of identifying debris spotted from the air. Several other ships are expected to arrive late today in the search zone 1,000 miles east of Perth, Australia.

Nation: The Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey resigned yesterday after reading a report on the George Washington Bridge scandal. The $8.2 billion authority runs the bridges, tunnels, and airports in the New York/New Jersey area. Chairman David Samson had refused to be interviewed for the report commissioned by NJ Gov. Chris Christie. Samson has never been accused of involvement in the scheme to close bridge lanes causing a massive traffic jam in Ft. Lee, NJ, last September, but Christie said, “He is 74 years old and he is tired.”

Shaker: A 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck southeast of Los Angeles last night, breaking windows and water mains, and knocking stuff off shelves. Live on the air when it happened, Dodger announcer Vin Scully said, “A little tremor here in the ballpark. I’m not sure if the folks felt it, but we certainly felt it here in press-box row. A tremor and only that, thank goodness.”

U-Turn: General Motors broadened its ignition switch recall to include 824,000 Chevy Cobalts and other cars made in 2008 and later. That makes for more than 2.4 million GM cars recalled since February.

World: Italy’s new penny-pinching Prime Minister Matteo Renzi put 151 government cars up for auction on eBay. They aren’t the kind driven by your local meter reader. The list includes dozens of BMWs, Alfa Romeos, and Lancias. Actually, by Italian government standards, those are the economy cars. The auction also includes nine high-powered Maseratis owned by the Defense Ministry, and a couple of Jaguars.

>Same-sex marriage became legal at midnight in England and Wales.

The Sports Page: March Madness is down to the final eight basketball teams. President Obama’s picks for the final four are still alive.

Major League Baseball is close to finalizing new penalties for use of performing enhancing drugs. First offense, an 80 game suspension, up from 50; second offense, an entire season on the bench, 162 games, up from 100.

Lowercase: A 14-year-old boy from Pittsburgh says the state and federal governments could save $234 million a year on printing costs if they just changed their typeface on printed documents from Times New Roman to Garamond, which has thinner type using less ink and space on the paper. Suvir Mirchandani first discovered the cost savings when he found that his local school district could save $21,000 a year by making the type switch. He sent his findings to the US Government Printing Office but he hasn’t heard back, not even in Times New Roman.

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