10 Things to Know for Today: 12-27

12/27/2013

In this Friday, Dec. 6, 2013 photo, an Indian salesman stands by a counter at a gold jewelry shop in Mumbai, India. Gold is India’s second-biggest import behind oil, and purchases have soared in recent years as rising incomes from a decade of economic growth sent Indian consumers on a buying streak. The problem is that the greater buying of the precious metal has dealt a blow to India’s economy by increasing the flow of money out of country compared to inflows. As a result, the current account deficit rose to a historic high of 4.8 percent of India’s gross domestic product in the fiscal year that ended in March. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

1. OBAMA SETS HIS SIGHTS ON 2014

Having signed bipartisan budget deal and defense bill that cracks down on sexual assault, raising the debt ceiling and health care law showdowns are next.

2. BOMBING IN BEIRUT KILLS EX-FINANCE MINISTER

Mohammed Chatah, who had served in former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s cabinet, died along with four others.

3. FOUR DEAD IN SOUTHERN LOUISIANA PARISHES

Louisiana authorities say a man killed his ex-wife’s mother and the head of a hospital where he’d worked before fatally shooting himself, and his wife was also found dead of unknown causes.

4. NEWTOWN REPORT TO BE RELEASED

Connecticut authorities plan to make state police documents from the investigation into last year’s Sandy Hook school massacre available Friday afternoon.

5. AMERICAN ABDUCTED IN PAKISTAN CALLS FOR HELP

A 72-year-old development worker who was kidnapped in Pakistan by al-Qaida more than two years ago appealed to President Obama in a video released to negotiate his release.

6. WHERE AUTHORITIES SAY THE LATEST “KNOCKOUT GAME"-STYLE ATTACK HAS HAPPENED

A white Houston-area man is charged with sucker-punching an elderly black man in Katy, Texas and filming it on video.

7. MORE SNOW, ICE SLOW RESTORATION OF POWER

After a weekend ice storm turned out the lights from Michigan to Maine and into Canada, many still wonder when they will get their electricity back.

8. WHAT YOU CAN FIND AT THE NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT LOST-AND-FOUND

The lost-and-found office’s supervisor says people often lose false teeth, along with the more common wallets and smartphones, on buses and trains. NYC LOST AND FOUND

9. WHICH INDIAN BRIDAL NECESSITY IS GETTING HIT BY IMPORT TAXES

Brides in India customarily wear as much gold jewelry as their family can afford, but new taxes mean they’re getting less for their money.

10. SPEEDSKATER OVERCOMES EXCRUCIATING CONDITION TO MAKE OLYMPIC TEAM BID

Rebekah Bradford’s pulmonary embolism could have been fatal, but she’s now competing at the U.S. team trials in Utah. BRADFORD’S ORDEAL