Dorothy Abernathy, regional media director of The Associated Press, shares 10 things you need to know Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2106. Look for full stories on these late-breaking news items and much more in West Virginia newspapers.
The Islamic State group claims responsibility for the truck attack that left 12 dead and 48 injured in Berlin.
2. AT LEAST 29 DIE IN MEXICO FIREWORKS BLAST
Another 72 people are injured in the rolling explosions and fire that tore through the sprawling outdoor marketplace outside Mexico City.
3. WHO BROUGHT TRUMP, THE BUSH WORLD TOGETHER
The Bush family and its Republican allies are finding common cause with the president-elect over his pick to lead the State Department, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson.
4. NORTH CAROLINA LAWMAKERS TO WEIGH ‘BATHROOM BILL’ REPEAL
The law is best known for requiring transgender people to use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate in many public buildings.
5. LAST ALEPPO EVACUATION FACES DELAYS
A watchdog says 60 buses are waiting to leave east Aleppo with some 3,000 evacuees, in a final step by the rebels to surrender their toehold in the war-torn city to the government.
6. U.S. SCIENTISTS POINT TO NEW CLASS OF DEADLY DRUGS
Officials say the fentanyl-like substances are pouring in primarily from China, but Beijing maintains that assertion has not been substantiated.
7. AT SOARING RATE, NEPALIS SEEKING JOBS ABROAD COME HOME DEAD
Over 5,000 workers from this small country have died working overseas since 2008 — more than the number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq War, The AP finds.
8. WHERE CRAFTSMEN TAKE ON CHINESE KNOCKOFFS
Souvenir shops in Bethlehem, the biblical town revered as Jesus’ birthplace, are trying to stock their shelves almost exclusively with locally made products instead of cheaper imported wares.
9. WHY DEATH SENTENCES DECLINE SHARPLY IN THE U.S.
The growing reluctance of juries to sentence defendants to death is one of several factors contributing to the overall drop in executions.
10. WHICH BUSINESS LOOKS TO DOMINATE IN BRAZIL
Uber sees tremendous potential in Latin America’s most populous nation, but pushes to regulate and even ban the company make its future uncertain.
