The regional bureau of The Associated Press, shares 10 things you need to know Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. Look for full stories on these late-breaking news items and much more in West Virginia newspapers.
1. DETAILS EMERGE FROM SCHOOL SHOOTING
A timeline released by Florida authorities shows that the 19-year-old former student who confessed to a deadly high school shooting was only in the building for six minutes.
2. DID FBI MISS A WARNING BEFORE THE MASS SHOOTING
Last fall, a Mississippi bail bondsman and video blogger noticed a comment on one of his YouTube videos that said, “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.” The commenter’s username was “Nikolas Cruz.”
3. SENATE REJECTS IMMIGRATION BILLS
The Senate has left hundreds of thousands of “Dreamer” immigrants in limbo, rejecting rival plans that would have spared them from deportation.
4. CIVILIANS HAVE NO PLACE TO RUN AS TURKEY OFFENSIVE DRAGS ON
Nearly a month into Turkey’s offensive in Afrin, hundreds of thousands of Syrians are hiding from bombs and airstrikes in caves and basements, trapped in the Kurdish enclave.
5. WHERE THE 2014 CHAMPION FINISHED IN THE OLYMPIC SLALOM
Mikaela Shiffrin finished fourth behind gold medalist Frida Hansdotter of Sweden after feeling some nerves and skiing too conservatively.
6. HOW TRUMP IS RESPONDING TO FLORIDA SHOOTING
President Donald Trump promises to tackle school safety and ‘the difficult issue of mental health’ in response to deadly shooting in Florida.
7. WHICH CANDIDATE HOPES TO DEFEAT MILLIONAIRES IN ILLINOIS
A former math professor is campaigning as a middle-class candidate in an Illinois governor’s race that includes a couple millionaires and a billionaire.
8. INDEPENDENTS POISED TO SHAKE UP MEXICO’S PRESIDENTIAL RACE
Three political party outsiders in Mexico appear destined for the July 1 ballot as the first independent candidates to seek the country’s presidency.
9. WHAT’S STIRRING EUTHANASIA FEARS IN BELGIUM
The death of a dementia patient who never formally asked to die, has again raised concerns about weak oversight in a country with some of the world’s most liberal euthanasia laws.
10. ANCIENT BEARD TRADITIONS SHAPE THE FACE OF MODERN JERUSALEM
For men of all faiths in the holy city, a beard can be an important statement of religious devotion, connecting past generations to God through the tangled strands of history.