10 things you need to know today: April 25, 2013

Boots commemorating George W. Bush&#039;s tenure as general managing partner of the Texas Rangers are displayed at his presidential library.

(Image credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

1. DEATH TOLL RISES AFTER BANGLADESH BUILDING COLLAPSE

At least 187 people have been confirmed dead and 1,000 injured after a garment factory building near Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed yesterday. "An unspecified number of victims are still trapped," Mizanur Rahman, a rescue worker with the fire brigade, told Reuters. "We can't be certain of getting them all out alive. We are losing a bit of hope." Dhaka's district police chief Habibur Rahman said the death toll could rise further. Survivors described hearing a deafening crack before the complex housing factories supplying Western clothes retailers crashed down in a matter of seconds. Local residents helped pull survivors from the twisted wreckage of the eight-story Rana Plaza building. [Reuters]

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Explosions and resulting fires on two barges in the Mobile River off the Alabama city's shore injured three people and forced officials to evacuate nearby shipyards and one cruise vessel late Wednesday. Three people with a team servicing the barges were injured and transported to Mobile's University of South Alabama Medical Center, Mobile Fire and Rescue Department spokesman Steve Huffman said. A hospital spokesman said separately that they were all in critical condition. The barges were carrying raw gasoline, Huffman said. Huffman had no information on who owns the barges or their destination. The cause of the explosions remains unknown. [Chicago Tribune]

As Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's father plans to travel from Russia to the U.S. this week, details continue to emerge about the brothers. On Wednesday, officials concluded that the brothers used remote controls from toy cars to set off the bombs that ripped through the Boston Marathon's finish line on April 15. U.S. lawmakers are also asking whether the FBI and the CIA did all they could to prevent the attack. The agencies were queried in 2011 by an overseas government about Tamerlan. An FBI review at the time turned up nothing incriminating about him, while the CIA put his name into a database. Meanwhile, Dzhokhar remains hospitalized, but experts state that the best chance for the 19-year-old to avoid execution may be to cooperate fully with investigators, or convince a jury he was "brainwashed" by his older brother. According to officials, Dzhokhar acknowledged his involvement in the attacks before Miranda rights were read. [Bloomberg, CNN]

The latest casualty of the Syrian war is the minaret of the famed 11th century Umayyad Mosque, a UNESCO world heritage site. The minaret collapsed Wednesday amid fighting between government troops and Syrian rebels in the ancient city of Aleppo. Each side accused the other of being responsible for the damage. "This is like blowing up the Taj Mahal or destroying the Acropolis in Athens. This mosque is a living sanctuary," Helga Seeden, a professor of archaeology at the American University of Beirut, told The Associated Press. The mosque had earlier been damaged during fighting in October 2012. [NPR]

Rhode Island is on its way to becoming the 10th state to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry after a landmark vote in the state's Senate on Wednesday. The Senate passed gay marriage legislation by a comfortable 26-12 margin, following a House vote of approval in January. The bill must now return to the House for a largely procedural vote, likely next week, but celebrations began in earnest on Wednesday. Hundreds of people filled the statehouse with cheers following the vote. Governor Lincoln Chafee expressed excitement at signing the bill into law once it passes the vote. [Huffington Post]

In what appeared to be a new phase in an intensifying conflict that has raised fears of greater bloodshed and a wider sectarian war, Iraqi soldiers opened fire from helicopters on Sunni gunmen hiding in a northern village on Wednesday, officials said. The air attack was among clashes throughout the country between forces of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government and Sunni gunmen that left dozens of people dead and dozens more wounded. The Sunni uprising, having now turned violent, represents a significant challenge to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The deteriorating situation in Iraq highlights the sectarian tensions that have risen across the region, particularly amid the raging civil war in Syria, where a largely Sunni rebellion is seeking to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad. [New York Times]

All five U.S. living presidents are expected to attend the dedication of George W. Bush's presidential library Thursday. The library is located on the Dallas campus of Southern Methodist University. The museum and library showcases his pre-9/11 personal accomplishments, such as No Child Left Behind and tax cuts, as well as 9/11 and its impact on his administration and the world. Bush's approval rating has improved since he left the White House but it's still a markedly low 47 percent, according to the latest ABC/Washington Post poll. A new CNN/ORC poll shows that a growing number of Americans — 42 percent — say Bush's presidency was a success, up 11 percent since he left office in 2009, but 55 percent say it was a failure. [CNN]

A report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine found evidence that the risk of developing heart disease may be caused not just by eating foods like eggs and red meat, but how we digest them. "A simple blood test of a compound that's ultimately made by gut bacteria serves as a very strong and independent predictor of future risk of heart attack, stroke and death," said Dr. Stanley Hazen, of the Cleveland Clinic, who led the study. Foods such as eggs and meat have high amounts of a fatty substance called lecithin. Bacteria in the intestines digest the lecithin, producing a chemical called TMAO. The TMAO enters the blood stream where it can potentially make it more likely for arteries to clog. Researchers followed more than 4,000 patients with suspected heart disease for three years. Those with the highest TMAO levels were two-and-half times more likely to have a major cardiovascular event than those with the lowest levels. [CBS News]

After a three-year hiatus due to production delays, Americans will be getting the new $100 bill in their ATMs on Oct. 8, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday. The new bill will have several features the Fed says should stop counterfeiters while helping retailers identify fakes. They include a blue, 3-D security ribbon embedded with images of bells that change to the number 100 when you tilt the note. There also will be a Liberty Bell embedded in an inkwell on the face of the note. Both are copper colored until you tilt the note, at which point they turn green. The $100 bill, the most widely-counterfeited U.S. note, was last redesigned in 1996. [NBC News]

Microsoft confirmed that the next Xbox will be revealed on May 21. The company sent out invitations to the media on Wednesday morning for a product unveiling, though rumors were already widespread about the next console. The company plans to broadcast the unveiling live on the Xbox, as well as on Spike TV. The Xbox 360 has been the king of consoles in the United States for more than two years, outselling the Nintendo Wii and the Sony PlayStation 3. [CNET]

Terri is a freelance writer at TheWeek.com. She's a graduate of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism and has worked at TIME and Brides. You can follow her on Twitter.

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