Midday Roundup: B.B. King, the King of Blues, dead at 89

Guitar hero. Blues legend B.B. King died in Las Vegas on Thursday. He was 89. King’s musical career spanned more than a half-century and influenced generations of American guitarists. His love affair with music began in his youth at a Church of God in Christ congregation in the Mississippi Delta. “The sanctified people are the singingest people,” King was known to say. After serving in the Army during World War II, King moved to Memphis, Tenn., and started his secular music career. Daniel Silliman wrote for The Washington Post that King never went back to the church after that. For King, Christianity was about being good, but the blues were about feeling good. “Heaven to me is a beautiful lady and enjoyment with her,” he said. He claimed to have fathered 15 children with 15 different women.

Crash confirmed. The wreckage of a U.S. Marine helicopter that went missing in Nepal earlier this week has been found. The UH-1Y Huey had six Marines and two Nepali service members on board during a Tuesday mission to deliver aid to remote villages devastated by the earthquake in Nepal. Three bodies were found in the wreckage. A U.S. general in Nepal said it’s unlikely anyone survived the crash. The cause of the crash is unknown, but the chopper was found near the epicenter of a second large earthquake that struck the region Tuesday.

Not in my backyard. A zoning dispute involving Planned Parenthood has embroiled a San Antonio neighborhood. The abortion provider wanted to open a large new facility not zoned for an ambulatory surgery center as Texas law requires. Former senior city planner Trenton Robertson signed a letter verifying the improper zoning and subsequently received steep criticism from his colleagues, he testified in a deposition for a lawsuit over the facility. Robertson has since left his job for a position in another city. He told a San Antonio news station his departure was not related to the Planned Parenthood incident.

Moving forward. The House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a bill that gives Congress authority to review any final deal with Iran over its nuclear program. The measure sailed through the Senate last week. Some GOP lawmakers were upset that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, blocked amendments that would have given Congress even stronger oversight over negotiations with Iran. The president has said he will sign the legislation.

European union. The prime minister of Luxembourg is marrying his same-sex partner a year after the country legalized gay marriage. Xavier Bettel is a 42-year-old lawyer who leads the tiny European nation with substantial political clout. This summer, responsibility for the presidency of the European Union will rotate to Luxembourg. Five years ago, Iceland’s prime minister became the first world leader to marry someone of the same gender while in office.

WORLD Radio’s Mary Reichard and The Associated Press contributed to this report.