10 Things to Know: This Week's Takeaways

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Published May 31, 2014 4:15AM (EDT)

President Barack Obama hands out diploma to class valedictorian Erin Maudlin from Albuquerque, N.M., during the commencement ceremony for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point's Class of 2014, in West Point, N.Y., Wednesday, May 28, 2014. Obama talked about his Afghanistan plan and answered critics who say he has surrendered America's global leadership. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (AP)
President Barack Obama hands out diploma to class valedictorian Erin Maudlin from Albuquerque, N.M., during the commencement ceremony for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point's Class of 2014, in West Point, N.Y., Wednesday, May 28, 2014. Obama talked about his Afghanistan plan and answered critics who say he has surrendered America's global leadership. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (AP)

Looking back at the stories to remember from the past week:

1. VETERANS ADMINISTRATION CHIEF RESIGNS AMID VETS' HEALTH CARE PROBLEMS

Faced with growing evidence that patient delays were covered up, Veterans Administration Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned Friday and apologized for a "lack of integrity" in the VA health care system. President Barack Obama accepted the resignation, saying the retired four-star general was becoming a distraction as the administration moves to address the widespread problems.

2. BILLIONAIRE CANDY MAGNATE ELECTED PRESIDENT IN DEEPLY DIVIDED UKRAINE

Petro Poroshenko won by a big enough margin Sunday to avoid a runoff, and he takes office June 7. He favors strong ties with Europe but also wants to mend relations with Russia. Ukrainian officials hope the election will ease the violence in the country, beset by separatists in eastern regions and a military offensive against them.

3. OBAMA CHARTS END TO US WAR IN AFGHANISTAN BY 2016

The president announced plans Tuesday for keeping nearly 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after this year but withdrawing virtually all by the conclusion of his presidency. The drawdown would bring America's military engagement to an end while seeking to protect the gains made in a war begun a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

4. POET AND AUTHOR MAYA ANGELOU DIES AT 86

Angelou, who died Wednesday, was one of the first black women to enjoy mainstream literary success. The childhood victim of rape wrote a million-selling memoir, and was also an actress, singer and dancer in the 1950s and 1960s. She befriended Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and recited the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history.

5. STUDENTS RETURN TO CLASS AFTER CALIFORNIA RAMPAGE THAT KILLED SIX

Some were eager to resume their routines at the University of California, Santa Barbara, on Wednesday. Three students were stabbed to death, three were fatally shot, and 13 others were wounded in the attack by Elliot Rodger, a community college student who had posted an Internet video outlining his plan to slaughter as many people as possible.

6. IN MIDEAST, POPE PRESSES CALL FOR PEACE BETWEEN ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS

Pope Francis boosted Palestinian aspirations by praying Sunday at Israel's security barrier surrounding Bethlehem. The next day, he honored Holocaust victims by meeting several survivors and prayed at the Western Wall with a rabbi and a Muslim. He also invited the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to the Vatican to pray for peace.

7. EGYPT'S EX-MILITARY CHIEF ELECTED PRESIDENT; TURNOUT WEAKER THAN HE WANTED

Former military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi won more than 92 percent of the votes, his campaign said Thursday. Even though voting was extended for a third day, he did not get the overwhelming turnout he wanted to bestow legitimacy on his ouster last year of President Mohammed Morsi.

8. APPLE ADDS HIP-HOP FLAIR WITH $3 BILLION PURCHASE OF BEATS ELECTRONICS

Wednesday's announcement that Apple was acquiring the headphone and music streaming specialist also gives the company the swagger of rapper Dr. Dre and recording impresario Jimmy Iovine. It's the most expensive acquisition in Apple's 38-year history, a price the company is paying to counter a threat posed to its iTunes store.

9. FORMER MICROSOFT CHIEF AGREES TO RECORD $2B DEAL TO BUY LA CLIPPLERS

Shelly Sterling reached an agreement late Thursday to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer for $2 billion in what would be a record deal if approved by the NBA. The league said it needed more information before calling off a June 3 hearing to consider the charge against her husband, Donald Sterling, for damaging the league with his racist comments.

10. IN THRILLING FINISH, RYAN HUNTER-REAY WINS INDIANAPOLIS 500

Hunter-Reay, making his seventh try Sunday, beat Helio Castroneves by 0.060 seconds after a daredevil pass in the second-closest finish in Indy 500 history. Marco Andretti finished third and Carlos Munoz was fourth as Andretti Autosport had three cars in the top four, as well as the winner.


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