10 things you need to know today: August 12, 2013

1. HOLDER CURTAILS USE OF STIFF MANDATORY DRUG SENTENCES

Attorney General Eric Holder plans to announce Monday that federal prosecutors will stop charging low-level drug offenders with crimes carrying stiff mandatory sentences. Holder intends to say in a speech that, in a bid to ease prison overcrowding, he is telling prosecutors to reserve charges with harsh punishment for seasoned criminals and cartel members. "Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long and for no good law enforcement reason," Holder plans to say. [Washington Post]

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2. ISRAEL NAMES PALESTINIAN PRISONERS TO BE RELEASED

Israel on Monday published a list of 26 Palestinian prisoners it plans to release in the first stage of a deal brokered by the U.S. to revive peace talks. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded the release of these and dozens of men, some of whom have spent more than two decades in prison on charges including murder, as a condition for resuming talks on establishing a Palestinian state. A meeting for negotiators is scheduled for Wednesday. [Reuters]

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3. POLICE FIND MISSING RHODE ISLAND TODDLER

Rhode Island police recovered 2-year-old Isaiah Perez safely on Sunday, and arrested two men for his alleged abduction. The suspects were also charged with the murder of two people whose bodies were found in the Johnston, R.I., home where the boy had gone missing earlier in the day, triggering a nationwide Amber Alert. A police officer reportedly found the toddler "in good health," wandering through a neighborhood in Providence. [USA Today]

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4. EGYPTIANS BRACE FOR CRACKDOWN ON PRO-MORSI SIT-INS

Supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi vowed to continue two sit-ins on Monday despite the threat of a police crackdown. The military-appointed interim government has said for a week that it would use all force necessary to put a stop to the protests that have persisted since the army toppled Morsi six weeks ago. Police appeared early Monday to have postponed a plan to disperse the thousands participating in the sit-ins. [New York Times]

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5. BAE HOSPITALIZED IN NORTH KOREA

Kenneth Bae, an American citizen sentenced to 15 years in a North Korean labor camp, has been transferred to a hospital after his detention triggered a sharp decline in his health, his sister told CNN on Sunday. Bae, a tour company owner, was convicted of encouraging North Koreans to topple their secretive communist government. U.S. officials have repeatedly called for his release. [CNN]

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6. SNOWDEN'S FATHER PLANS TO VISIT HIM IN RUSSIA

Lon Snowden, father of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, said Sunday that he had obtained documents permitting him to visit his son in Russia. The elder Snowden says he has not spoken with the former security contractor since he fled the U.S. to avoid facing espionage charges. Lon Snowden said he planned to talk with his son about how to fight the charges. "As a father, I want my son to come home if I believe that the justice system... is going to be applied correctly," he said. [Associated Press]

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7. DEADLY TYPHOON HAMMERS THE PHILIPPINES

Typhoon Utor battered the northern Philippines on Monday with winds gusting to 130 miles per hour, killing at least one person in a landslide, and leaving 45 fishermen missing. The storm, with sustained winds of 109 miles per hour, was believed to be the strongest to hit shore anywhere in the world so far this year. [Associated Press]

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8. RODEO CLOWN'S ANTI-OBAMA STUNT DRAWS CRITICISM

A rodeo clown at the Missouri State Fair is facing harsh criticism after donning a President Obama mask and trying to get a bull to chase him, saying, "We're going to smoke Obama, man." A local political blog, PoliticMo, identified the clown as Mark Ficken, president of the Missouri Cowboy Rodeo Association and Boonville school superintendent. Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican, condemned the stunt. "We are better than this," he tweeted. [New York Daily News]

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9. VILLA NEAR DISNEY WORLD CLAIMED BY SINKHOLE

A section of a resort villa near Disney World in Orlando collapsed into a sinkhole early Monday. The three-story building has 24 apartments, but there were no injuries, as everyone had been evacuated before the structure began slipping into the 60-foot-wide, 15-foot-deep crater that had opened in the ground at the Summer Bay Resort. [CNN]

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10. DUFNER WINS PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Jason Dufner claimed his first major title with a victory in the PGA Championship on Sunday, shooting a two-under-par 68 to come from one shot behind and beat Jim Furyk, who shot a final-round 71. "This is a big step in my career," said Dufner, 36. Tiger Woods finished the tournament tied for 40th, at four over par. [Los Angeles Times]