Briefing

'We should not consider the two incidents as the same ... Fukushima is not a Chernobyl.'

1. HIROSHI HORIIKE, professor of nuclear engineering at Osaka University, after Japan increased the severity level of the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant to the maximum of seven, on par with the Chernobyl disaster

'I miss being anonymous ... I miss Saturday morning, rolling out of bed, not shaving, getting into my car with my girls ... taking walks. I can't take a walk.'

2. BARACK OBAMA, speaking at the White House with a group of editors and publishers; the President also noted that playing golf is "the only excuse I have to get outside for four hours at a stretch"

'This is just a polar bear--a special polar bear, but a polar bear all the same.'

3. BERNHARD BLASZKIEWITZ, director of the Berlin Zoo, responding to protests of plans to display recently deceased bear Knut in a museum; of the emotional outcry, he said, "That's O.K. for humans, but ... it is not O.K. for animals"

'I can't remain silent toward the campaigns of falsehood, slander and defamation and the continuous attempts to ruin my and my family's reputation and integrity.'

4. HOSNI MUBARAK, former Egyptian President, in a speech--his first since his ouster--aired by satellite channel al-Arabiya on April 10, days before he was hospitalized and placed under detention

'You're diddling your secretary while you're giving a speech on moral values? Come on. Get off of it.'

5. ALAN SIMPSON, former Republican Senator from Wyoming, criticizing some members of his party; he also said, "I'm not sticking with people who are homophobic, antiwomen"

102.3

Height in feet (31.2 m) of the world's tallest Lego tower; built in Brazil, it tops the record set in Chile last year by 9.84 in. (25 cm)

27%

Percentage of press releases issued by U.S. Senators from 2005 to 2007 that consisted of partisan taunting, according to an analysis led by Harvard professor Gary King

330 MILLION

Approximate number of cases of wine bought in the U.S. in 2010, making it for the first time the world's largest wine-consuming nation; the French drank 321 million cases

59%

Percentage of Brits in a survey conducted for the Sunday Times of London who would prefer that Prince William succeed Queen Elizabeth as monarch; his father Prince Charles is next in line

Sources: AP; Houston Chronicle; Independent; Los Angeles Times; MSNBC