G Minus One: The G-8 conference of the world’s largest economies is now the G-7. The US and its allies met yesterday and kicked Russia out of the Group of 8 diplomatic conference. Russia had been a member for 15 years. The move came as punishment for Russia’s annexation of Crimea and lingering threats to the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Russia was scheduled to host the next G-8 this June in Sochi, the site of the Winter Olympics.

  The group now includes the US, Britain, France, Italy, West Germany, Japan, and Canada. A G-8 statement said, “We remain ready to intensify actions including coordinated sectoral sanctions that will have an increasingly significant impact on the Russian economy, if Russia continues to escalate this situation.”

The Plane, The Plane: Hundreds of family members protested in Beijing, rejecting Malaysia’s conclusion that Flight 370 went down in the Indian Ocean. They carried signs saying “We want our families” and “We want the truth.” It was a rare street demonstration in China. Some families also said they were rudely notified by text message that the jet was officially declared down in the Southern Indian Ocean.

The jet’s actual flight path was calculated by a groundbreaking process in which British investigators and the satellite company Inmarsat measured the Doppler effect, the fading of the radio signal coming from the plane hitting a satellite. The continuing search for debris was hampered today by bad weather.

Mudslide: As many as 176 people are now unaccounted for in Saturday’s massive mudslide in Oso, Wash. Fourteen people are confirmed dead in the slide that wiped out dozens of homes. Authorities say they hope the number of  missing persons will decline as they get a better accounting.

Nation: Five former employees of Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, including his longtime secretary, were convicted of fraud yesterday in a New York federal court. Also convicted were Madoff’s director of investment operations, his account manger, and two computer programmers. The defense argued that all five were in the dark about the true nature of Madoff’s financial pyramid scheme.

>A sailor was shot dead and a civilian was killed by security last night in an incident aboard the guided missile cruiser Mahan docked in Norfolk, Va. The Navy has not released more details.

>The Georgia legislature passed the most pro-gun law in the country that will allow guns in bars, schools, restaurants, churches, and airports. It’s been described as the most extreme pro-gun legislation in the country. The bill was opposed by restaurants, churches, and the Transportation Security Administration. Polls say a majority of Georgia voters were against it, but the state’s Republican governor is expected to sign it.

Blade Runner: Several text messages released in the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius show strain in his romance with model Reeva Steenkamp. Hundreds of messages were normal, and affectionate, but one message from Steenkamp said,  “I’m scared of you sometimes and how you snap at me.” The prosecution rested today.

Nooz Nooz: ABC News President Ben Sherwood has been named to run Disney/ABC television entertainment, replacing Anne Sweeney who recently announced she’s leaving. Sherwood, who’s been in and out of television news over the years, has been president of ABC News just over three years. It makes perfect sense that running the news division is now the stepping stone to heading the sitcom division.

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