Threats: Russia is stepping up threats to use military force in Ukraine according to comments by the foreign minister in a television interview. “Russian citizens being attacked is an attack against the Russian Federation,” said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Ukraine has threatened to use force to move pro-Russian occupiers out of government buildings in at least 10 Eastern Ukraine buildings. Russia makes claims about attacks on Russians, but mostly what they are talking about is Russian-speaking Ukrainian citizens, which Russia apparently claims as its own.

  Lavrov compared the situation to 2008 when the government in Georgia sent troops to re-take territory from pro-Russians in South Ossetia. Russia pummeled Georgia in a brief war that followed.

In Kiev yesterday Vice President Joe Biden said the US would never recognize Russia’s “illegal occupation” of Crimea and that “no nation has the right to simply grab land from another.” Russia’s Lavrov renewed his claim that the current government in Kiev is the puppet of the US. “There is no reason not to believe that the Americans are running the show,” Lavrov said.

Ferry: Recovery crews say many of the bodies of high school students drowned in last week’s ferry accident had broken fingers, evidence of desperate attempts to escape the sinking ship. They had been told to stay in place until it was too late to get out. The number of confirmed dead is 150 and rising as divers find more bodies.

Everest Walkout: Nepalese Sherpa guides are quitting this year’s Everest expeditions to honor the 16 fellow Sherpas lost in last week’s avalanche. “We had a long meeting this afternoon and we decided to stop our climbing this year to honor our fallen brothers,” guide Tulsi Gurung told Agence France Presse. “All Sherpas are united in this,” he said.

The Everest climbing expeditions from around the world would not be possible without the Sherpas who carry the heavy supplies and set the ropes and ladders to ease the way for clients who pay tens of thousands of dollars. The Sherpa walkout could bring an early end to this year’s summit season, which usually happens in mid-May. About 400 climbers and an equal number of Sherpas are believed to be on the mountain.

The Sherpas have also demanded a $100,000 death benefit for the families of lost guides. The Nepalese government, which makes millions of dollars a year on climbing fees, offered $400 for funeral expenses.

Khaki Crime: Two former lacrosse-playing prep school graduates from the Philadelphia area have been arrested and accuse of running a drug ring that attempted to take over the high school and college drug trade in the wealthy Main Line. Neil Scott, 25, and Timothy Brooks, 18, both graduates of the Haverford School, and both college dropouts are accused of running drugs to five high schools and three colleges. Police said they seized marijuana, cocaine, Ecstasy and several weapons including a loaded assault rifle.

Capital is the New Sexy: The latest number one seller on Amazon.Com has no shades of gray, but plenty of black and white. Thomas Piketty’s 700-page Capital in the Twenty-First Century is completely sold out. The book, translated from French, argues that the outcome of unregulated capitalism is usually income inequality, a growing problem in the world right now. Piketty says we are sliding toward a world that looks more like the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

No word yet on a movie deal.

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