5 Things to Know This Morning

— -- Your look at the five biggest and most buzz-worthy stories of the morning.

1. Malaysia Airlines 370 Searchers Treating Debris as Major Lead

Investigators are treating a piece of airplane debris that washed ashore on a small French island near Madagascar as a major lead in the search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370, the Australian deputy prime minister said today.

Warren Truss called finding the flaperon on Reunion Island Wednesday morning the first real evidence that a piece of the plane had been discovered. MH370 vanished on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board, all of whom are presumed dead.

"If it entered the Indian Ocean in the place where a current search operations are being undertaken, [it] could have reached the Reunion Islands in the 16 months since," he said. "It's the first real evidence that there is a possibility that a part of the aircraft may have been found."

2. Officer Charged in Fatal Shooting 'Felt His Life Was in Jeopardy'

A police officer indicted for murder "felt his life was in jeopardy" when he fatally shot a man during a traffic stop in Cincinnati earlier this month, his attorney told ABC News.

An arraignment was scheduled Thursday morning for Ray Tensing, who was indicted on murder and voluntary manslaughter charges in the shooting death of Samuel DuBose. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

"He’s been crucified since this thing first happened by the whole community without knowing what the evidence is," said his attorney, Stewart Matthews.

3. Theater Shooting Survivor Describes Taking Bullet to Protect Friend

A teacher who survived a shooting at a movie theater in Louisiana last week described taking a bullet to protect her friend as she feared the gunman would kill her.

Jena Meaux shed tears at times as she spoke to thousands gathered for a prayer service Wednesday night. She was among nine people wounded when John Houser opened fire at a showing of "Trainwreck" at the Grand 16 Theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana, last week, killing two women before he killed himself.

"We instantly got down on the ground, and that's when I felt a bullet go through the side of my leg and exit the other side of my leg," she told the crowd.

4. Dentist Who Admitted Killing Cecil the Lion Hounded on Social Media

Walter Palmer, the Minnesota dentist who acknowledged hunting and killing Cecil, a beloved lion in Zimbabwe, is now the one being hounded on the Internet by protesters flooding his social media, creating online petitions and mocking him on parody accounts.

Over 273,000 tweets contained the trending hashtag #CeciltheLion on Twitter in the past 24 hours after the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, which is not part of the Zimbabwe government, alleged in a statement on Tuesday that Palmer paid $50,000 for the chance to kill Cecil the lion in early July. ABC News has not been able to independently confirm that figure.

Palmer responded later Tuesday, saying in a statement that he "deeply" regretted the pursuit of the early July hunt in Zimbabwe that "resulted in the taking of this lion." He added that he "had no idea" Cecil the lion was a "known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study. I hired several professional guides and they secured all proper permits. To my knowledge, everything about this trip was legal and properly handled and conducted."

5. Windows 10 Experience Comes to iPhone, Android Devices

Microsoft really wants to make Windows 10 omnipresent in the lives of its users.

With the release of Windows 10 Wednesday, Microsoft is emphasizing a computing experience that can move seamlessly between the PC and almost any smartphone, including iPhone and Android devices.

While Windows 10 stands out for a variety of functionality upgrades and a sharp new browser, the software upgrade released today also includes a phone companion app, allowing users to connect whatever smartphone they own to their Windows 10 PC.