10 things you need to know today: January 3, 2015

(Image credit: (Alex Wong/Getty Images))

Jump to category:

1. U.S. hits North Korea with new sanctions in response to Sony hack
2. Alleged plotter of 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings dies before trial
3. Ship abandoned by crew and filled with hundreds of migrants towed to Italy
4. California begins issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants
5. Iran denies deal with U.S. to ship enriched uranium to Russia
6. New York City records lowest number of traffic fatalities in 100 years
7. Judge denies motion to delay Boston Marathon bombing trial
8. FCC announces it will vote on net neutrality in February
9. New study finds primary cause of cancer is 'bad luck'
10. Cape Town police searching for parents of nearly 70 children lost at beaches

last updated 13 January 2015

1. U.S. hits North Korea with new sanctions in response to Sony hack

President Barack Obama followed through Friday on his promise to respond to North Korea's cyberattack on Sony Corp. Obama signed an executive order that allows the Treasury Department to block 10 North Korean individuals, along with three state agencies, from using the U.S. financial system. Under the sanctions, U.S. citizens are also barred from conducting business with the targeted individuals and state bodies. "(Friday's) actions are the first aspect of our response," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.

Abu Anas al-Libi, 50, died on Friday at a New York hospital "due to sudden complications arising out of his long-standing medical problems." Al-Libi allegedly played a major role in orchestrating the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. The al Qaeda-backed attacks on the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, 12 of whom were Americans. U.S. commandos arrested al-Libi at his Tripoli property in October 2013. He was brought to New York to stand trial, but he reportedly suffered from liver disease, which stemmed from hepatitis C.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

A Sierra Leone-flagged ship carrying nearly 400 migrants was towed toward the southern Italian coast after being abandoned by its crew on Friday. The Ezadeen was the second vessel in four days to be deserted by its crew in rough seas. In both cases, Italian officials have had to respond in order to prevent loss of life. The Ezadeen was without power and about 40 nautical miles off Italy's coast when it was discovered; many of the migrants on board are thought to be Syrians.

California DMV offices began taking applications for driver's licenses from illegal immigrants on Friday. Applicants must submit proof of identity and state residency, and they must also pass a written test to acquire a permit, after which they have to complete a road test in order to receive a license. The licenses will read "federal limits apply," and they will not be considered valid forms of federal identification. The state DMV estimates that 1.4 million people will apply to the program in its first three years. California is the 10th state to issue licenses to illegal immigrants.

Saying there had been "no agreement on any nuclear topic," Iran's foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham denied on Saturday reports that the country had reached a new agreement with the United States. "Such news is spread out of political motives and its goal is to tarnish the climate of the talks and make it more complicated to reach a settlement," she said. Iran and "P5+1" — United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany — resume low-level talks on Jan. 15.

About 250 people died from traffic fatalities in New York City in 2014, a 100-year low. New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio had promised he would put the "full weight of city government" into lowering the number of traffic fatalities, and he has since developed Vision Zero, which backs new traffic safety laws such as reducing the default speed limit to 25 miles per hour, from 30. While the overall number of traffic-related deaths decreased, the numbers varied by mode of transport; the number of cyclist-related traffic fatalities actually increased from 12 to 20 deaths in 2014.

A federal judge denied a motion to delay jury selection for the trial of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Friday. Tsarnaev's defense attorneys had requested on Wednesday that the trial be delayed and the venue changed, because "every member of the jury pool is, in effect, an actual victim of the charged offenses." Tsarnaev is accused of working with his brother, Tamerlan, who was killed in a police shootout, to set off a pair of bombs at the 2013 marathon finish line. The attack killed three and injured more than 260 people.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Communications Commission confirmed on Friday that the FCC will vote on proposed net neutrality rules in February. Telecom regulator Tom Wheeler reportedly told colleagues in December that he would release an internal draft proposal outlining the new rules for broadband providers such as Verizon and Comcast early in January 2015. The details of those rules remain murky, but the regulations initially proposed by Wheeler have reportedly become much stricter over the course of the agency's deliberations.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University studied 31 types of cancer in an effort to determine their causes. Nine of the study's cancers were linked to genetic traits or lifestyle choices; the remaining 22, however, were simply "bad luck," according to the scientists — a mistake in cell division that's entirely out of an individual's control. The researchers suggest that doctors shift their emphasis away from preventative measures and toward "finding ways to detect such cancers at early, curable stages."

On New Year's Day, 200,000 people headed for the beaches of Cape Town, South Africa, but about 500 children were separated from their parents over the course of the day. According to local officials, more than 70 had still not been claimed by the next morning. The children, most of whom are between the ages of 3 and 7, were housed overnight at various police stations around the city. Authorities are using the media to beg parents to come retrieve their children.

Explore More

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.