10 things you need to know today: February 16, 2015
- 1. Egypt bombs ISIS in Libya after beheadings of Coptic Christians
- 2. Rebels reject Ukraine ceasefire in contested town
- 3. Two charged with helping Copenhagen gunman
- 4. Northeast hit with fourth blizzard in under a month
- 5. FAA rules out drone deliveries, for now
- 6. Jewish graves desecrated at French cemetery
- 7. Teenage female suicide bomber kills 16 in Nigeria
- 8. Hackers steal $1 billion from 100 banks
- 9. Jeff Gordon takes pole position in what could be his last Daytona 500
- 10. Fifty Shades of Grey sets holiday debut record
1. Egypt bombs ISIS in Libya after beheadings of Coptic Christians
Egypt launched airstrikes against Islamic State camps in Libya on Monday after the Islamist terrorist group released a video showing the apparent beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians kidnapped in Libya several weeks ago. The hostages, wearing orange jumpsuits, were paraded single file along a beach believed to be near Tripoli, then were made to kneel and beheaded one by one. The video bore the logo of ISIS' publishing arm, Al Hayat.
2. Rebels reject Ukraine ceasefire in contested town
Ukrainian separatist rebels declared Sunday that a new ceasefire did not apply in the town of Debaltseve, where much of the recent fighting has been concentrated. The truce took effect just hours earlier, and fighting stopped across most of eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the deal negotiated in talks with Russia, Germany, and France included Debaltseve. France and Germany said the deal was "generally" being observed and called for "quickly" resolving any "local incidents."
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3. Two charged with helping Copenhagen gunman
Danish authorities have arrested two people for allegedly helping the gunman who killed two people and wounded five in two Copenhagen attacks over the weekend, police said Monday. The suspect was shot and killed after he opened fire on officers staking out a location in the city. Police did not immediately release the suspect's identity, but said he was a Danish-born 22-year-old man with a criminal record. He was known to intelligence officials, and might have been inspired by the Islamic State, officials said.
4. Northeast hit with fourth blizzard in under a month
The fourth major snowstorm in less than a month slammed into the Northeast on Sunday, with blizzard warnings in effect along the coast from Rhode Island to Maine through Monday. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights, and crews struggled to keep major thoroughfares cleared even though some areas still had more than six feet of snow from the other storms. "It's historic," attorney Frank Libby said on a deserted Boston street. "It's biblical."
5. FAA rules out drone deliveries, for now
Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael Huerta unveiled long-awaited regulations on commercial drones Sunday, saying the government would not allow flights of commercial drones outside the sight of an operator, at least for now. For safety reasons, unmanned aircraft also will not be allowed near crowds. The rule means Amazon, Alibaba, and other e-commerce giants won't be able to realize dreams of drone deliveries in the U.S. any time soon. Some businesses, including Realtors, TV producers, farmers, and bridge inspectors, could fly drones.
6. Jewish graves desecrated at French cemetery
Hundreds of tombstones at Jewish graves were desecrated — some painted with swastikas and Nazi slogans — in a cemetery in Sarre-Union, France, near the German border. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said via Twitter that authorities would make every effort to catch those behind this "ignoble and anti-Semitic act, an insult to memory." France has been hit with a series of anti-Semitic attacks recently, including the attack at a Paris kosher market after the January Charlie Hebdo massacre.
7. Teenage female suicide bomber kills 16 in Nigeria
A teenage girl detonated a suicide bomb at a crowded bus station in northeast Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least 16 people. Thirty others were wounded. Most of the victims were children who had been selling peanuts or begging. No group has claimed responsibility. The bombing, however, was similar to attacks carried out by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, which has been blamed for 10,000 deaths in a year of violence aimed at imposing Islamic Sharia law.
8. Hackers steal $1 billion from 100 banks
Hackers have stolen $1 billion from more than 100 banks and other financial institutions in 30 countries, the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab said in a report released Sunday. Kaspersky said the thieves installed spying software on bank computers, and learned how to secretly transfer money into accounts they set up for the plot. They also had ATM machines pump out cash at specific times. They took $2.5 million to $10 million from each bank, Kaspersky said, "making this by far the most successful criminal cyber campaign we have ever seen," Kaspersky said.
9. Jeff Gordon takes pole position in what could be his last Daytona 500
Jeff Gordon on Sunday won the pole position in next week's Daytona 500. Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champ Jimmy Johnson won the second position. Gordon last month announced that this is his last full season, so next Sunday could be his last start in "The Great American Race." For the first time in decades, drivers had to qualify in "knockout rounds," in which they ran their qualifying lap together instead of one at a time. The controversial format resulted in wrecks and complaints.
10. Fifty Shades of Grey sets holiday debut record
Fifty Shades of Grey broke the box-office record for the biggest release on Valentine's Day and Presidents Day weekends. The film adaptation of E.L. James' erotic novel raked in $81.7 million through Sunday, putting it on track to make $90.7 million in the U.S. and Canada through the Monday opening weekend. So far, this is the second biggest February debut ever, behind 2004's The Passion of the Christ, which made $83.9 million in its first weekend.
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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