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

Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx will reportedly be tapped by Obama as the next secretary of the Department of Transportation.

(Image credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

1. CHARLOTTE MAYOR TO GET TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY NOD

President Obama plans to nominate Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx on Monday to replace Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Foxx was the first Democrat in 22 years to win the mayor's office in his city, a swing-state hub that hosted last year's Democratic convention. Foxx has been hailed as one of his party's rising stars, and, as an African-American, he will help address complaints over what some have called a lack of diversity in Obama's second-term cabinet. [Politico]

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For days, commentators have speculated about the identity of "Misha," an Armenian Muslim convert who allegedly tutored Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in radical Islamic beliefs. On Sunday, The New York Review of Books published a blog post by Christian Caryl identifying Misha as Mikhail Allakhverdov, who admitted to knowing Tsarnaev but denied any role in the attack. "I wasn't his teacher," Allakhverdov said. "If I had been his teacher, I would have made sure he never did anything like this." [New York Review of Books]

Four people were injured in an Albuquerque, N.M., church on Sunday when a young man jumped out of a pew and stabbed the choir's lead singer in the middle of a song. A teenager in the congregation described the assailant as "kind of twitchy, sketchy looking," and said that "he said, like, 'False preacher!' I don't know why." Several members of the church subdued the man, and several apparently suffered minor injuries in the scuffle. [Los Angeles Times]

Italy's borrowing costs fell to a two-and-a-half-year low in an auction of 10-year bonds on Monday, as markets reacted positively to the swearing in of Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Sunday. Letta's majority Democratic Party ended two months of uncertainty following an inconclusive election by forming a coalition with former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom party, a longtime rival. Letta, who vows to restore confidence in Italy's institutions, is seeking a vote of confidence from parliament on Monday. [Bloomberg, Reuters]

Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi escaped unhurt from a bomb attack on his convoy in Damascus on Monday. The blast destroyed several cars and ignited a fire. The attack was the latest in a series of assassination attempts on high-ranking members of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. It took place in an affluent neighborhood that is home to embassies and government officials, exposing Assad's vulnerability to rebel attacks in the seat of his power. [Associated Press]

Iraq yanked the broadcasting licenses of Al Jazeera and nine other TV channels on Sunday, accusing them of inciting sectarian violence. The move was widely perceived as a crackdown on dissent by the Shiite Muslim-led government — nine of the channels are financed by Sunnis. The ban temporarily bars the companies' journalists from operating within Iraq, but they'll remain on the air, as the outlets are all satellite channels based abroad. [New York Times]

Construction crews are raising the final two pieces of the 408-foot spire on top of One World Trade Center on Monday. The installation will bring the structure to its full height of 1,776 feet, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The centerpiece of the 16-acre World Trade Center site became New York City's tallest building a year ago, when it reached 1,271 feet above street level — 21 feet higher than the Empire State Building's observation deck. [CNN]

Former basketball superstar and Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan married former model Yvette Prieto in Palm Beach, Fla., over the weekend, his manager said Sunday. Nearly 300 guests, including Tiger Woods and many other athletes and entertainers, attended the ceremony. The reception, which was held at the Bear's Club, a luxurious private golf club designed by Jack Nicklaus, included fireworks and performances by Robin Thicke and Grammy Award winner Usher. [Associated Press]

Rocky Balboa is headed to Broadway. The musical adaptation of the Oscar-winning Sylvester Stallone film was written by Tony Award winner Thomas Meehan (The Producers, Hairspray) and features music by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens (Ragtime). It's expected to debut in New York in February, but the show has already had a successful run in Hamburg, Germany, under the name Rocky: Das Musical. [Hollywood Reporter, Philadelphia Inquirer]

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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