10 things you need to know today: January 2, 2015

1. Mario Cuomo dies at age 82

Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo died Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was 82. The liberal Democrat served three terms, and died hours after his eldest son, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was sworn in for his second term. The elder Cuomo served from 1983 through 1994, battling two recessions and repeatedly using his veto to block the restoration of the death penalty. He described America as a "Tale of Two Cities" in a widely praised prime-time 1984 Democratic convention address that fueled calls for him to run for president.

New York Daily News

2. Judge tells Florida counties to start issuing gay marriage licenses

A federal judge ruled Thursday that all county clerks in Florida must start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Jan. 6. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle of Tallahassee had ruled that the state's gay marriage ban was unconstitutional in August, but stayed the decision through Jan. 5 to give Florida officials time to appeal. "The defendants did that," Hinkle wrote. "They lost." The U.S. Supreme Court declined to extend the stay.

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Reuters

3. Search intensifies for AirAsia crash victims

Search teams from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, and the U.S. are helping in an attempt to step up the search for flight recorders and the bodies of passengers from AirAsia Flight 8501 on Friday. Rough weather on Thursday afternoon forced recovery crews to temporarily suspend the search for the main wreckage of the plane, which crashed in the Java Sea on a flight from Indonesia to Singapore on Sunday.

Voice of America The New York Times

4. 2014 was the Syrian civil war's deadliest year yet

More than 76,000 people were killed in Syria in 2014, making it the deadliest year yet in the country's civil war, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday. The dead included 3,501 children. The United Nations estimates that 200,000 people have died in the conflict since the uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.

Agence France Presse

5. Oil hits a five-year low on the first day of trading in 2015

Oil prices fell to below $56 per barrel, the lowest level in more than five years, on Friday, the first trading day of 2015. The decline came due to a continuing glut that has cut prices in half since June. The oversupply has come as Saudi Arabia, the top exporter, and other Persian Gulf countries have decided not to cut production despite rising U.S. shale oil production. Some analysts are predicting prices will bounce up this year as major oil projects are canceled.

Reuters

6. Gambia makes arrests after coup attempt

Authorities in Gambia arrested dozens of civilians and soldiers after a foiled coup attempt, an intelligence official said Thursday. A military official said that three suspects, including the alleged ringleader, were killed. Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 coup, was out of the country during the Tuesday attack on his palace. He denied the attack was an internal attempt to overthrow him, saying it was an invasion by foreign "dissidents."

TIME

7. Italian hostages in Syria say they fear for their lives

Two Italian women kidnapped in Syria last July appeared in a video released Thursday wearing black veils and saying, "We are in big danger and we could be killed." The women — Greta Ramelli, 20, and Vanessa Marzullo, 21 — were working as aid volunteers when they were abducted in the besieged city of Aleppo. They had just arrived in the country days earlier. They are believed to have been captured by an al Qaeda branch, Jabhat al-Nusra, not the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has beheaded five Western hostages.

The Independent

8. Marxist group says it was behind attempted attack in Turkey

An outlawed Turkish Marxist group claimed responsibility on Friday for an attack on an Ottoman-era palace that houses the offices of Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. The offices were used by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when he held the post from 2003 to 2014. Neither was present during the attack. The suspect, identified as Firat Ozcelik, allegedly threw two grenades at a guard post, but they didn't explode. He also had a small gun and an assault rifle.

Agence France Presse

9. GM starts 2015 with another recall

General Motors announced three new recalls on Thursday, a sign that a series of problems with ignition switches is continuing to give the automaker problems in the new year. The latest round of recalls involve 83,572 sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks. The company says the defect — an ignition lock actuator that doesn't meet specifications — has not been linked to any crashes or injuries. GM recalled 2.5 million vehicles over other defects in 2014 after accidents that caused 42 deaths.

The Detroit News

10. Oregon and Ohio State advance to the college football title game

The No. 2 Oregon Ducks smashed No. 3 Florida State's 29-game winning streak on Thursday with a 59-20 Rose Bowl victory in the College Football Playoff semifinals. The game featured a rare matchup of the last two Heisman Trophy winners — quarterbacks Marcus Mariota of Oregon and Jameis Winston of Florida State. In the other semifinal at the Sugar Bowl, No. 4 Ohio State upset No. 1 Alabama. Ohio State and Oregon will play for the national championship in Arlington, Texas, on Jan. 12.

The Wall Street Journal USA Today