Korva Coleman

The Boston Bruins have taken the lead in the NHL's Stanley Cup championships, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 Monday night in Boston. Interestingly, last night wasn't a tense, drawn-out reprise of Games 1 and 2 and did not require an overtime.

After four years on the job, the nation's top doctor is leaving. U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin announced late Wednesay that she plans to step down next month.

Yes, the NBA finals are well underway, and yes it's mid-June, but tonight marks Game 1 of the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup championship. A strike-shortened season pushed the finals later into the spring than usual.

Speaking to a huge group of children Friday at the Vatican, Pope Francis pushed aside a set of prepared remarks to talk directly to them and answer some of their questions.

One of his frank responses to a girl named Teresa was this: "Anyone who wants to be Pope doesn't care much for themselves, God doesn't bless them. I didn't want to be Pope," reports Reuters.

At least 16 people are dead after several days of flooding in Austria, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Historic cities are underwater, and flood victims are perching on rooftops for safety. It's been a rainy spring in the region, and heavy storms last weekend forced many rivers and streams over their banks.

And more rain is forecast for this weekend in parts of central Europe.

If it seems as though lottery jackpots keep growing in size, you're right — the multistate Powerball lottery has ballooned to its third-largest size in history, and one or several lucky people could win Wednesday night's drawing.

At this writing, the Powerball is worth an estimated $360 million, with a $229.2 million cash value. The Associated Press says not only is this one of the biggest Powerball jackpots ever, it's the seventh-largest prize ever awarded in any lottery.

As Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe focuses on boosting his country's bottom line, a lingerie company is hoping to give Japan a different type of lift.

The "Branomics Bra" from Triumph International is a play on Abe's economic policy known as "Abenomics." The company says the garment has a "growth strategy" to help bust Japan's persistent inflation problem, according to Reuters.

Arbor Day celebrations have come and gone, but winter weather is gripping the Plains and Upper Midwest. The storm that dumped snow in the Rockies a day earlier is threatening to blanket parts of the region with up to 8 inches of snow on Thursday.

The National Weather Service warns: "Significant accumulations of snow continue to be reported across portions of southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa, with over 15 inches already in Dodge Center, (Minn.)."

Galactic poet?

Here's how to become famous.

Send your work to Mars!

NASA is raising awareness for its upcoming launch of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft with its Going to Mars project. The MAVEN spacecraft is scheduled for launch this November, to study the Red Planet's upper atmosphere; the craft will examine why Mars lost its atmosphere, and how that catastrophe affected the history of water there.

Update at 4:55 P.M ET: The Associated Press reports that Cheyenne, Wyo. has now received at least 15 inches of snow.

There's word that a Scottish cruise line has taken out an insurance policy in case of a beastly disaster. Jacobite Cruises is now insured against damage from the Loch Ness Monster.

"We see it as keeping in line with good business practice," Freda Newton, managing director of Jacobite Cruises, tells The Scottish Sun. "There is so much going on — people have tried to hunt the Loch Ness Monster, people have tried to capture it. We just don't know what could happen. It's prudent."

The Sun reports:

A young girl raped this month in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has died, according to several news reports. The 4-year-old child had been lured with chocolate by her alleged attacker, who later dumped her at a farm, as NPR's Julie McCarthy has reported.

The New York Times' India Ink blog says the girl's parents found her April 18, the day after the attack, and that she had been in a coma since. She sustained extensive brain and vaginal injuries.

Remember that cherry red Chevy Malibu convertible that John Travolta drives in Pulp Fiction? You know the one that he crashes, trying to get help after Uma Thurman overdoses? Did you know it's been missing for 19 years because it was stolen? Well, it's not missing anymore.

Bangladeshi authorities have arrested at least seven people in connection with this week's deadly building collapse outside Dhaka, the capital. Several garment factories, shops and a bank were housed inside.

It's not been a full month since Roger Ebert passed away, but his annual Ebertfest continued this month in Illinois with screenings, lectures and guest visits by artists.

The big hit was actress Tilda Swinton, who closed out last Friday night with this touching tribute to the longtime movie critic: a conga line.

Crew members from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., were out practicing on the Hudson River this week when they were surprised by a gigantic head floating toward them.

A few days after Rehtaeh Parsons' mother turned off the hospital life support systems and allowed her daughter to die, computer activists claiming to be affiliated with the hacker group Anonymous are threatening to reveal the identities of Parsons' alleged rapists.

Former Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks is jailed in San Bernadino County, Calif., following a high-speed freeway chase with Barstow police and members of the California Highway Patrol. Just hours earlier, Brooks had been kicked out of the lower house of the Nevada State Legislature for making threats and behaving erratically.

Barstow Police Chief Albert Ramirez said the incident began when Brooks summoned a tow truck because of a flat tire, and then had a disagreement with the driver.

It's Good Friday, one of the holiest days of the Christian year, when tradition holds that Jesus was crucified and died.

Oklahoma's health department is contacting some 7,000 patients of Tulsa-area dentist Dr. W. Scott Harrington to warn them they may have been exposed to "blood-borne viruses."

Officials are urging former patients to get screened for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV after an investigation of Harrington's office found rusty instruments in use and evidence of unsanitary practices. The dentist had clinics in Tulsa and Owasso.