In this Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020, Shiite seminary students attend a lecture at “Hawza” seminary, in the holy shrine of Imam Ali, the son-in-law, and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and the first Imam of the Shiites, in Najaf, Iraq. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, turns 90 this year, and when he recently had surgery it sent chills around the country and beyond. What happens when al-Sistani is gone? Iran is likely to try to exploit the void to gain followers among Iraq’s Shiites. Standing in its way is the Hawza, the centuries-old institution of religious learning which al-Sistani heads and which follows its own tradition-bound rules. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) 
Janet Uhlar sits for a photo at her dining room table with an arrangement of letters and pictures she received through her correspondence with imprisoned Boston organized crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, in Eastham, Mass. Uhlar was one of 12 jurors who found Bulger guilty in a massive racketeering case, including involvement in 11 murders. But now she says she regrets voting to convict Bulger on the murder charges, because she learned he was an unwitting participant in a secret CIA experiment in which he was dosed with LSD on a regular basis for 15 months. (AP Photo/David Goldman) 
In this Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, photo, James Kretschmer holds photographs of himself at age 11 and 12 during an interview in Houston. The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy protection as it faces a barrage of new sex-abuse lawsuits. The filing Tuesday, Feb. 18, in Wilmington, Del., is an attempt to work out a potentially mammoth compensation plan for abuse victims that will allow the 110-year-old organization to carry on. Kretschmer of Houston, among the many men suing for alleged abuse, says he was molested by a Scout leader over several months in the mid-1970s in the Spokane, Washington, area. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) 
A dog is cuddled by its owner in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) 
Democratic presidential candidate, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks as members of the audience are reflected in a television screen during a candidate forum on infrastructure at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) 
Ryan Newman (6) goes airborne after crashing with Corey LaJoie (32) during the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara) 
A relative of Fatima, a 7-year-old girl who was abducted from the entrance of the Enrique C. Rebsamen primary school and later killed, cries during Fatima’s wake at her home in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. The girl’s body was found wrapped in a bag and abandoned in a rural area on Saturday and was identified by genetic testing. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte) 
In this Monday, Feb. 17, 2020, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, patients infected with the coronavirus take rest at a temporary hospital converted from Wuhan Sports Center in Wuhan in central China’s Hubei Province. China reported thousands new virus cases and more deaths in its update Tuesday on a disease outbreak that has caused milder illness in most people, an assessment that promoted guarded optimism from global health authorities. (Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua via AP) 
Commuters, many with masks, walk along a sidewalk Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020, in Tokyo. Shares slipped in Asia on Tuesday as the impact from the virus outbreak that began in China deepened. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) 
People walk on a bridge under an election campaign billboard of Blue and White party shows its party leader Benny Gantz, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
1. BOY SCOUTS FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY Barraged by hundreds of sex-abuse lawsuits, the 110-year-old organization hopes to work out a potentially mammoth victim compensation plan that could total $1 billion.
2. WHO QUALIFIED FOR NEVADA DEBATE Billionaire Mike Bloomberg, marking the first time he’ll stand alongside the Democratic rivals he has so far avoided by bypassing the early voting states.
3. VIRUS CLAIMS LIFE OF HOSPITAL DIRECTOR Liu Zhiming had mobilized all the resources of his hospital in Wuhan city, at the center of the outbreak, as the death toll in mainland China climbs to 1,868.
4. WHERE VIRUS IS HITTING THE WALLET HARD Palestinian markets have long been flooded by low-cost Chinese goods and traders in the West Bank fear that they will have to switch to more expensive alternatives in an already weakened economy.
5. WHITEY BULGER JUROR HAS 2ND THOUGHTS Janet Uhlar says she regrets convicting the Boston crime boss for murder after revelations that he was an unwitting participant in a secret CIA experiment that gave him LSD while he was in prison.
6. AL-SISTANI’S PASSING COULD CREATE VACUUM As the powerful Iraqi cleric ages, Iran is likely to try to exploit the void to gain more followers among Iraq’s Shiites, ambition complicated by Iraq’s wave of protests since October.
7. TRUMP CAMPAIGN ENLISTS KAREN PENCE The vice president’s wife is seen as an asset in one of the areas where they most need help — with suburban woman.
8. THRILLING DAYTONA 500 ENDS WITH HORRIFIC CRASH Denny Hamlin wins his second straight at the famed speedway, surging past Ryan Newman on the final lap of a second overtime shootout, the win coming as Newman’s car flipped in a fiery wreck.
9. NISSAN SHAREHOLDERS VENT OUTRAGE They blame the Japanese automaker’s top management for crashing stock prices, zero dividends and quarterly losses after the scandal-ridden departure of former chairman Carlos Ghosn.
10. TAYLOR SWIFT’S FATHER SAFE AFTER FIGHT WITH BURGLAR The pop star’s father recently tussled with an intruder who broke into his $4 million Florida penthouse, a newspaper is reporting.
