Ferry Disaster: As hopes dim for finding survivors of the sunken South Korean ferry, the ship’s captain and two crewmembers were arrested. One of them was the third mate who was steering the ship through a treacherous stretch for the first time. Thirty-two people are confirmed dead and 270 are missing. Officials say the recovery operation could take months.

  In a compounding of the tragedy, the vice-principal of the South Korean High School that sent its students on the ill-fated ferry trip, was found hanging from a tree on a hill near the school, an apparent suicide. Kang Min-kyu, 52, of Danwon High School, had survived Wednesday’s ferry sinking. A note found in his wallet said, “It’s too much, being alive alone while more than 200 of my students are missing.”

Oil Slick: The Obama administration announced yesterday it will delay a decision on whether to build the politically fraught Keystone XL oil pipeline, possibly until after mid-term elections in November. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused Obama of bowing to “radical activists” from the environmental movement. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement, “This job-creating project has cleared every environmental hurdle and overwhelmingly passed the test of public opinion.” The 1700-mile pipeline would carry Canadian tar sands oil from Alberta to the Gulf.

Everest: At the time yesterday’s fatal avalanche struck, NBC News was preparing for a live special in which a wing suit jumper would fly off Mt. Everest. The network noted on its website that, “We are grateful and relieved that the seven NBC News staffers on site are all accounted for and unharmed.” The network did not say that some of the Sherpa guides who were killed were working for the NBC effort. Thirteen Sherpas are confirmed dead.

World: Nearly a fifth of China’s ground is contaminated, much of it with nickel, cadmium and arsenic, according to a Chinese government report. China’s rapid and often reckless industrialization is being blamed. The study sampled soil from two-thirds of China’s land mass and the report concludes, “Pollution is severe in three major industrial zones, the Yangtze River Delta in east China, the Pearl River Delta in south China and the northeast corner that used to be a heavy industrial hub.”

Whale Tale: Japan said it will kill fewer whales in the Pacific this season and will only observe whales in the Antarctic after a UN order to stop killing whales in the Southern Ocean. Japan for many years has taken advantage of a loophole in the international whaling ban to kill whales for purposes of “research.” But whale ends up on Japanese menus more than it does in research papers.

My Lady: After seven days of often tearful and emotional testimony by the defendant, the Oscar Pistorius murder trial is on hiatus until May 5. Pistorius took a beating from prosecutor Gerrie Nel who accused the amputee runner of knowing his girlfriend, not an intruder, was locked in the bathroom. “She was locked into the bathroom and you armed yourself with the sole purpose of shooting and killing her, ” Nel said.

Pistorius denied that and said he was reacting to a noise. “I didn’t think about pulling the trigger, as soon as I heard the noise, before I could think about it, I pulled the trigger.” He fired four times.

Class Clowns: Proving that sometimes educators can be the stupidest people on earth, New Jersey’s Bergen County Community College suspended one of its professors for posting a picture of his young daughter wearing a t-shirt bearing the quote “I will take what is mine with fire and blood.” The school considered the quote to be a threat. It comes from a character in the hugely popular HBO series “Game of Thrones.”

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