Dorothy Abernathy, The Associated Press bureau chief for West Virginia and Virginia, shares the 10 things you need to know Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015. Look for full stories on these late-breaking news items, upcoming events and stories in West Virginia newspapers.
1. FEDS FOIL ISLAMIC STATE PLOT
Two men are charged with plotting to help the extremist group while a third is accused of providing funding to it.
2. HOMELAND SECURITY BILL ADVANCES IN SENATE
Two days from a partial agency shutdown, the House can’t decide what to do about funding the agency while senators are set to vote on renewing its budget.
3. ACTIVISTS: NUMBER OF CHRISTIANS ABDUCTED BY IS RISES TO 220
A Syrian human rights monitor says the militants abducted dozens more people from the Assyrian minority in the northeast of the country as they raided 33 villages in recent days.
4. WORLD SEES RISE IN ‘URBAN’ REFUGEES
The image of the asylum-seekers living in desolate camps is challenged by an increasing number of middle-class ones in large cities like Bangkok.
5. HOW THE FCC WANTS TO PROTECT NET NEUTRALITY
New rules would regulate internet service providers to make sure they act in the “public interest.”
6. WHERE IT IS NOW LEGAL TO CHEAT ON YOUR SPOUSE
South Korea has abolished a law that criminalized adultery, sending the stock of a local condom maker soaring.
7. SETTLERS POSE AN ELECTORAL DILEMMA IN ISRAEL
Hundreds of thousands of Jews living in the occupied West Bank are eligible to vote in Israeli elections even though they don’t live within the Jewish state.
8. MORE GROUND THAT HUMANS MUST CEDE TO COMPUTERS
Google scientists have cooked up software that can do better than humans on dozens of Atari video games from the 1980s.
9. WHO TOOK A TUMBLE AT BRITISH MUSIC AWARDS
Madonna says she’s fine after slipping down several stairs while performing at the Brit Awards in London.
10. LATEST INJURY TO DEREK ROSE HITS BULLS HARD
He’ll have surgery on his right knee for the second straight year — on the heels of a season he missed entirely following a torn left ACL.