…And the World:

We begin today in the Ukraine, where violence in the East has flared up again. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Ukraine is failing to hold up its end of a bargain made in Geneva among the US, EU, Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, The New York Times says the Ukrainian government has photos ties the armed militiamen in Eastern Ukraine to Russia. It comes as President Obama begins to see a better relationship with Vladimir Putin is a lost cause. Vice-President Joe Biden visits Ukraine.

The latest numbers say Dr. Abdullah Abdullah’s lead in the Afghan presidential poll is growing, but still not enough to avoid a runoff.

Prosecutors have charged the South Korean ferry captain whose ship sank possibly killing hundred.  South Korea’s president has condemned the crew called their actions “tantamount to murder.”

Syria will hold a presidential election in June despite being in the midst of civil war.

Opposition leaders and the government of Venezuela reopen talks to end the months of protests.

A row between England and France’s right-wing parties?

The African National Congress in South Africa is pondering a post-Jacob Zuma world while on the provincial level, the party’s opponents are thinking about the prospect of coalition governments depending on how the May 7 elections go.

The Feds:

Still in the international realm, but more about a US shift generally, Obama will be going on a multi-nation tour of Asia to restart his pivot to the East.

NPR looks at a race brewing in a California Asia-majority congressional district between a longtime stalwart and a young upstart.

Former US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has trashed the McCutcheon decision. Stevens was on the bench when McCutcheon’s precedential father of the opinion, Citizens United, was decided and famously read his whole dissent from the bench.

More California Political Potpourri: The state League of Conservation voters have endorsed both State Sen. Ted Lieu and former LA Controller Wendy Gruel for Rep. Henry Waxman’s seat. Waxman announced his retirement earlier this year. Former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, having returned to politics, is a no-show at a forum for LA County Supervisor candidates. Finally the City of Angels is urged to be more judicious in its tax break policy for hotels.

Baltimore’s top prosecutor goes door to door to talk to voters as he gears up for a reelection bid against feisty challengers.

The State of Things:

So far the Boston Marathon went off without a hitch, if under tight security. Rita Jeptoo of Kenya and Meb Keflezighi of the US won the women’s and men’s divisions respectively. Keflezighi is the first American to win the men’s race since 1983. Ernst van Dyk of South Africa and Tatyana McFadden won the men’s and women’s wheelchair divisions. And “Mahty” talks with The Washington Post‘s Wesley Lowery, who in Boston working for The Globe this time last year. But he’s in Boston this weekend.

Former Rep. John Fresolo withdrew from the 16^th Worcester Democratic primary last week, which at first seemed to give Dan Donahue, profiled last year, a free ride at renomination. Now it seems Donahue’s 2013 special primary competitor Josh Perro, may be gunning for a rematch.

The Boston Globe looks at the campaigns of Don Berwick, Juliette Kayyem and Joe Avellone who are struggling to get the same attention as Martha Coakley and Steve Grossman in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Governor Deval Patrick nominates a new Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Amherst and Leverett will consider regulation of drones at their town meetings.

Candidates to fill the remaining year on the School Committee’s vacant seat squared off last week at a forum hosted by Longmeadow Democrats. The office itself is nonpartisan

The Fourth Estatements:

Haaretz reports that even The New York Times struggles with gag orders from Israel. Although top editors at the US’s Paper of record seem unfamiliar with them.

City Slickers:

Opponents of casinos say MGM’s decision to request a delay in it likely award of a casino license  is a sign of diminishing public support and uncertainty around the repeal of the law. Springfield economic development officials disagree. Coincidentally, it comes as Boston mayor begins to show his teeth on the issue in his city.

A company has been hired to clean up the former Chestnut Street School site.

An update on Campanile restoration fundraising. Sorta.

Twitter Chatter:

There is little doubt in our minds that some of the commercialization and saturation of “Boston Strong” is not the best representation of the resolve that Boston and those that participate in its marathon. It is not in T-shirts or slogans, but in the human drama and perseverance in the fact of tragedy and horror. There are innumerable stories of pain, suffering, and recovery in the aftermath, and of course there is the deaths of Martin Richard, Lu Lingzi, Krystle Campbell, and a few days later Sean Collier. Among the stories is that of Patrick Downes and Jessica Kensky, who suffered oddly similar wounds, a lost left leg. Today we award the Tweet Prize to the Boston Globe itself for tweeting a photo of the married couple crossing the finish line. They crossed using hand-driven cycles, their arms locked as they finished. It may not be a popular opinion (we’re with Wes on this one), but survival and resolve is not personified in any few words. It lives in people.