Dorothy Abernathy, The Associated Press bureau chief for West Virginia and Virginia, shares the 10 things you need to know Wednesday, May 13, 2015. Look for full stories on these late-breaking news items, upcoming events and stories in West Virginia newspapers:
1. INVESTIGATION STARTS AFTER AMTRAK TRAIN DERAILS IN PHILADELPHIA, KILLING AT LEAST 5
More than 140 people are taken to hospitals, and six are critically injured by the derailment whose scene Mayor Michael Nutter describes as “an absolute disastrous mess.”
2. NEPAL OFFICIALS TELL PEOPLE TO EVACUATE DAMAGED BUILDINGS
Most people, though, flee into the open the day before, and spend the night in tents or under plastic tarps.
3. WHAT FAILED SENATE TRADE VOTE SHOWS
The outcome lays bare the strained relations between Obama and Democrats on Capitol Hill.
4. WHY IRAN WARNS SAUDI ARABIA, U.S.
A senior Iranian official tells the Saudi-led coalition targeting Yemeni rebels that blocking an Iranian aid ship bound for Yemen will “spark a fire,” as a five-day cease-fire appears to hold.
5. WISCONSIN’S CAPITAL FACES TEST AFTER SHOOTING DECISION
A prosecutor’s announcement not to charge a white officer who killed an unarmed biracial man raises concerns that things could turn violent in Madison.
6. WHO IS REPORTEDLY EXECUTED IN NORTH KOREA
The North Korean defense chief is killed by anti-aircraft gunfire at a shooting range for sleeping during a meeting and talking back to Kim Jong Un, South Korea’s spy agency tells lawmakers.
7. TSARNAEV’S LAWYERS TO MAKE FINAL CASE FOR LIFE, DEATH
The jury is expected to begin its deliberations late Wednesday after it hears closing arguments and instructions from the judge.
8. HOLY LAND CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE SAINTHOOD OF ARAB NUNS
Mariam Bawardy and Marie Alphonsine Ghattas, who lived in Ottoman-ruled Palestine in the 19th century, will be the first from the region to receive sainthood since the early days of Christianity.
9. PLAN OK’D TO DRILL INTO BP’S ILL-FATED MACONDO RESERVOIR
Drilling is set to resume near the site of the well blowout that killed 11 workers and caused the nation’s largest offshore oil spill five years ago off the coast of Louisiana.
10. BROWN IS THE NEW GREEN
Pressed by the four-year dry spell and water cuts, some of the finest courses in California are taking such steps as tearing out the grass in places where it won’t affect the game.