10 things you need to know today: May 29, 2013

A worker walks by as smoke billows from a train derailment that caused a major explosion in Baltimore on May 28.

(Image credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

1. MICHELE BACHMANN SAYS SHE WON'T SEEK RE-ELECTION

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who made a failed bid for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, announced Wednesday that she wouldn't run for re-election next year. Bachmann vaulted onto the national stage with support from hard-line conservatives who liked her strong anti-abortion position and Tea Party views. But after her bid for the White House bid fizzled, she narrowly won a fourth term in Congress, and her former presidential campaign is facing a fundraising inquiry. [New York Times]

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A U.S. drone strike killed seven people — including the Pakistani Taliban's No. 2 — Wednesday morning in the North Waziristan tribal region, according to Pakistani security officials. The area is an al Qaeda hotbed. If confirmed, the strike would be the first in Pakistan since mid-April, before the country's historic May 11 election. President Obama last week promised to begin limiting the controversial strikes, a sore spot with Pakistan's government. [Reuters, Washington Post]

Working mothers are the main breadwinners in a record 40 percent of U.S. households with children, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Wednesday. The statistic signals a big shift for American families — in 1960, the figure was just 11 percent. Most of these women are single moms, but an increasing number are married women making more than their husbands. The trend was driven by long-term demographic changes and quickened as men lost jobs in the Great Recession. [Associated Press]

A CSX freight train carrying chemicals near Baltimore hit a tractor-trailer truck at a crossing Tuesday, derailing about 15 cars and causing a powerful explosion. "It shook my house pretty violently and knocked things off the shelves," said one man living a half-mile away. The blast ignited a fire that sent up a cloud of smoke visible for miles. Authorities assured people living in the area that no toxic inhalants were burning. The truck's driver was hospitalized in serious condition. [CBS News]

Federal prosecutors charged seven people Tuesday with running a $6 billion online money-laundering operation for criminals around the world. The suspects worked with Liberty Reserve, a currency transfer and payment processing company based in Costa Rica. Prosecutors said Liberty Reserve processed 55 million illicit transactions for a million users — 200,000 of them in the U.S — over seven years. One prosecutor said this may be the biggest U.S. money-laundering case ever. [Associated Press]

A new SARS-like virus that is spreading in humans has now infected 49 people, the World Health Organization said Wednesday. So far, 27 of the people infected with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have died. The latest three deaths were reported Wednesday by Saudi Arabia's health ministry. WHO's general director, Margaret Chan, warned this week that the virus is "a threat to the entire world," and can't be fought by any individual affected country. [CNN]

A Florida judge ruled Tuesday that lawyers for George Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder for shooting Trayvon Martin last year, can't bring up the slain teen's history of fighting and marijuana use when the trial begins on June 10. Defense lawyers for Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, argued that the information supports Zimmerman's claim that he shot Martin in self-defense. Prosecutors said it had nothing to do with the shooting. [New York Times]

Harvard College Dean Evelynn M. Hammonds announced Tuesday that she would step down on July 1. Hammonds came under fire in March for a search of resident deans' email accounts that was intended to trace leaked information about a cheating scandal involving more than 100 students. The college's student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, had published an editorial calling for Hammonds to resign. Hammonds said she was quitting to return to teaching and research, not because of the scandal. [NBC News]

An Arizona mother of seven, Yanira Maldonado, will appear before a judge in Mexico on Wednesday for the conclusion of a hearing to decide whether she'll go free or face trial on drug-smuggling charges. Maldonado was arrested as she returned from a family funeral by bus, after authorities at a military checkpoint said they found 12 pounds of marijuana under her seat. Maldonado's family — backed up by a Mexican state official — said she had been framed by someone seeking a bribe. [CNN]

A Chinese woman identified as the mother of a newborn rescued from a four-inch-wide sewer pipe told police the baby fell into a toilet by accident. The 22-year-old woman, who kept her pregnancy secret, said she gave birth unexpectedly in the bathroom, and the baby slipped into the toilet as she cleaned up. Police said they believe the woman, who was the one who called rescuers, and wouldn't file charges. The rescue got widespread coverage in China. Well-wishers donated diapers and offered to adopt the boy. [Huffington Post]

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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