Mark Memmott

The latest numbers on the toll from the tornadoes that roared through parts of the Southeast on Tuesday and Wednesday are sobering: "at least 342 people died across seven states, including 250 in Alabama," The Associated Press says. Thousands more were injured and thousands more than that are homeless.

The picture seems to have captured the hearts of millions around the world.

As our friend Claire O'Neill over at The Picture Show put it, "the best photo from the royal wedding" was snapped as Prince William and Kate Middleton kissed yesterday on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

While there was a solid-sounding 0.6 percent gain in personal spending in March from February, the Bureau of Economic Analysis says most of that increase was not "real."

That's because higher prices, especially on gasoline and food, were behind most of the rise. Adjusted for inflation, spending grew a much more modest 0.2 percent.