10 things you need to know today: November 11, 2014

1. Obama emphasizes cooperation with China on first stop in Asia tour

On the first leg of a three-country Asia tour, President Obama announced today a trade deal with China that could be worth $1 trillion. In a deal struck by Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC Summit in Beijing, both countries agreed to drop tariffs on technologies ranging from semiconductors to MRI machines. "This is encouraging news for the U.S.-China relationship," U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said.

The Wall Street Journal

2. Hackers get into database with Postal Service employees' personal data

The U.S. Postal Service on Monday told its 800,000 workers that hackers had "potentially compromised" databases containing their names, birthdays, addresses, and Social Security numbers. Cyber security experts said the cyberattack was consistent with the work of Chinese hackers. An attack on White House computers several weeks ago was assumed to have been executed by Russians.

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The New York Times

3. New York City doctor declared free of Ebola

New York doctor Craig Spencer has been cleared to leave Bellevue hospital Tuesday morning after being successfully treated for Ebola. Spencer, 33, was diagnosed with the disease last month several days after returning from Guinea, where he had treated Ebola patients. He was placed under isolation on Oct. 23. Spencer was the first Ebola patient diagnosed in New York, and the last active case in the U.S.

ABC News

4. Obama urges the FCC to adopt the toughest proposed net-neutrality rules

President Obama on Monday urged the Federal Communications Commission to adopt the toughest proposed net-neutrality rules on internet service providers, essentially regulating web traffic like a utility. Tight rules would prevent providers offering an internet fast-lane to those who pay more. "We cannot allow internet service providers to restrict the best access," Obama said. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) criticized the plan by calling it "ObamaCare for the internet."

Los Angeles Times

5. Captain sentenced to 36 years over South Korean ferry disaster

The captain of the South Korean ferry that sank in April, killing more than 300 people, was convicted for gross negligence and sentenced to 36 years in prison on Monday. The captain, Lee Joon-seok, was one of 15 crew members facing trial over the disaster. Lee, who is in his 60s, said he knew he would spend the rest of his life in prison, and apologized for leaving the doomed ship, the Sewol, with passengers still trapped inside.

BBC News

6. Supreme Court delays same-sex marriage in Kansas

The U.S. Supreme Court put same-sex marriages on hold in Kansas on Monday. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, acting alone, gave opponents until 5 p.m. Tuesday to respond after a federal judge last week ordered the state to start granting gay couples marriage licenses. An appeals court in Denver denied a request by the state to put the ruling on hold, and state Attorney General took the case to the Supreme Court late Monday.

NBC News

7. Kaci Hickox officially Ebola-free as quarantine ends

Maine nurse Kaci Hickox was officially declared free of the Ebola virus on Monday at the end of an isolation that lasted 21 days after her last contact with an Ebola patient in West Africa. Hickox, who strongly criticized New Jersey's and Maine's quarantines on returning medical workers, said she and her boyfriend might move out of their Maine town, but she would return to West Africa "in a heartbeat."

The Associated Press

8. Hikers found after going missing overnight in California mountains

Fifteen California hikers were found on a damp slope in the San Gabriel Mountains on Monday after going missing overnight. A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department helicopter spotted them in an area covered with trees. The hikers, equipped with climbing gear and ranging in age from 14 to 36, were hoisted into the helicopter one by one. All of them appeared to be uninjured.

Los Angeles Times

9. Lava scorches its first house in a small Hawaiian town

A slow-moving lava flow consumed its first house in the tiny village of Pahoa on Hawaii's Big Island on Monday. The residents of the house had evacuated long before the molten rock arrived, sending the building up in flames. The lava from the Kilauea volcano started its slow-motion assault in June, when it emerged and began flowing toward dozens of homes in Pahoa.

USA Today

10. Judge orders oil magnate to pay $995 million divorce settlement, one of biggest ever

An Oklahoma judge on Monday ordered Harold Hamm, CEO of oil company Continental Resources, to pay his ex-wife nearly $1 billion in one of America's biggest divorce settlements. The ruling is subject to appeal. If both sides agree to it, it would make Sue Ann Hamm, 58, one of the 100 richest women in the U.S., according to Forbes. Harold Hamm's stake in the company is valued at roughly $13.9 billion.

Reuters