10 things you need to know today: April 8, 2015

1. South Carolina officer charged with murder in man's death after traffic stop

A white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., was charged with murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting a black man in the back as he ran away after a traffic stop. The officer, Michael Slager, had pulled over the man, Walter L. Scott, for having a broken taillight on Saturday. A foot chase allegedly ensued, and after using a Taser against Scott, Slager said he feared for his life and shot Scott eight times. A film taken by a bystander shows Slager drawing his gun and opening fire once Scott is about 15 to 20 feet away.

The New York Times

2. Rahm Emanuel wins reelection in Chicago mayoral runoff

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel won reelection on Tuesday, defeating Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. Emanuel, who served as chief of staff for President Obama, had 56 percent of the vote to Garcia's 44 percent with nearly 99 percent of the vote counted. Garcia conceded defeat but said the hard-fought race sent Emanuel a message that voters are tired of street violence and want a city that "works for everyone." Emanuel thanked Chicagoans for a "second term and a second chance," vowing to be a "better mayor."

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CNN

3. UConn beats Notre Dame for third consecutive NCAA women's basketball title

The University of Connecticut women's basketball team defeated Notre Dame 63-53 on Tuesday to win its third straight national championship. The title is the 10th overall for coach Geno Auriemma, equaling late UCLA coach John Wooden's record for the most college basketball titles ever. The Huskies' unmatched defense held Notre Dame to 33 percent shooting from the floor, the team's second worst performance of the season. UConn senior Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis single-handedly disrupted two Notre Dame rallies with seven-point runs.

ESPN

4. Rand Paul announces a White House bid to "take our country back"

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) launched a campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, vowing to take the country back from a "Washington machine that gobbles up our freedoms and invades every nook and cranny of our lives." The libertarian Tea Party hero portrayed himself as an anti-establishment hero, and vowed to fight to end NSA surveillance and require a balanced budget. "Both parties and the entire political system are to blame," he said.

Reuters

5. Shell to buy BG Group for $69.6 billion

Petroleum giant Royal Dutch Shell said Wednesday that it would buy oil and gas explorer BG Group for $69.6 billion in cash and stock. The deal marked the latest sign of the industry's reaction to a 50 percent drop in oil prices since last summer. Shell will be paying a 50 percent premium on BG shares, which started trading 42 percent higher on the news. The combined company will be the world's largest producer of liquefied natural gas.

The Wall Street Journal BBC News

6. Kansas governor signs bill banning "dismemberment abortion"

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) on Tuesday signed legislation making his state the first to ban a common second-trimester abortion procedure called dilation and evacuation. The new law, drafted by the National Right to Life Committee, redefines the method as "dismemberment abortion." "This is a horrific procedure," Brownback spokesman Eileen Hawley said. "He hopes the nation follows suit." Abortion rights groups argue the method is often the safest for women, and say they are considering challenging the law in court.

The Associated Press

7. Job openings rise to highest level since 2001

U.S. job openings increased in February by 168,000 to 5.13 million — the most in 14 years, according to a Labor Department report released Tuesday. Analysts said the figure suggested that hiring was holding strong despite a slowdown in March and a cooling economy, as companies. Firings dropped to the lowest level since late 2013. "It's one of the signs the labor market is strong," said RBC Capital Markets senior U.S. economist Jacob Oubina.

Bloomberg

8. Researchers say brontosaurus deserves a spot on the dinosaur family tree

The brontosaurus was a distinct type of dinosaur, after all, according to a new paper published in the journal PeerJ. The long-necked "thunder lizard" was discovered in 1879 by Charles Marsh, shortly after he also found the first partial Apatosaurus skeleton. Later findings suggested the two were one and the same, so the Apatosaurus, which Marsh found first, was declared the name of the species. The researchers in the new study, however, found enough differences to set the two apart.

PeerJ The Washington Post

9. Tiger Woods ends hiatus

Tiger Woods returns to tournament play for the 79th Masters, which begins Thursday, after a two-month hiatus to work on his sputtering game. Woods is a four-time Masters champion, but hasn't won the storied championship in 10 years, and hasn't won any major tournament since 2008. Woods dropped off the PGA Tour to focus on practice after shooting an 82 — the highest round of his pro career — and said he got back into good form by practicing from sunrise to sunset. "I worked my ass off," he said Tuesday.

USA Today

10. Actor who played Dukes of Hazzard sheriff dies at age 88

James Best, the actor who played Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard, died this week after a brief illness. He was 88. Coltrane said he had a blast playing the bumbling country lawman who constantly chased Bo and Luke Duke around Hazzard County on the iconic TV series, which aired from 1979 to 1985. "I acted the part as good as I could," Best told The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer in 2009. "Rosco — let's face it — was a charmer."

USA Today