10 things you need to know today: December 5, 2014

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1. House GOP slams Obama over immigration in symbolic vote
2. Garner protests sweep the U.S.
3. UAE authorities arrest suspect in American teacher's murder
4. Islanders evacuate as Typhoon Hagupit nears Philippines
5. Justice Department finds pattern of excessive force by Cleveland police
6. Legislators find no clear evidence against Christie in Bridgegate
7. Court rejects bid to win human rights for chimpanzees
8. Fatal shooting of unarmed black man by Phoenix officer sparks protest
9. Navy officials revoke Cosby's honorary title
10. NASA launches next-generation Orion spacecraft

last updated 13 January 2015

1. House GOP slams Obama over immigration in symbolic vote

House Republicans on Thursday passed a bill chastising President Obama for his executive order potentially shielding more than four million undocumented immigrants from deportation. The legislation, drafted by Florida Tea Party star Rep. Ted Yoho, was symbolic, as the Democrat-controlled Senate will ignore it. But House leaders reportedly hoped the 219 to 197 vote would soothe conservatives enough that they won't block a spending bill over the issue next week, and force a government shutdown.

Protests spread from New York across the nation on Thursday in a second day of public outrage over a grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer for the chokehold death of an unarmed black man, Eric Garner. Protesters shut down highways in Chicago and New York, where thousands chanted, "Black lives matter," and "Hands up, don't shoot," a reference to the shooting death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri, officer, who was cleared by a different grand jury last week.

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Police in the United Arab Emirates announced Thursday that they had arrested an Emirati woman for the stabbing death of an American teacher, Ibolya Ryan, at an Abu Dhabi shopping mall. Police also charged the woman, described as being in her late 30s but not publicly identified, with planting a makeshift bomb outside the home of an Egyptian-American doctor shortly after Ryan's murder. Authorities said the victims appeared to have been targeted simply because of their nationality.

Tens of thousands of people evacuated coastal villages in the central Philippines on Friday as typhoon Hagupit approached with 120 mile-per-hour winds. The storm, moving slowly through the Pacific, was expected to make landfall Saturday on some of the islands hardest hit by last year's Haiyan, one of the most powerful super typhoons ever to strike land. That storm left 7,000 dead or missing, and more than four million homeless.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced Thursday that an 18-month review of the Cleveland Police Department found a pattern of "unreasonable and unnecessary use of force," particularly toward minorities. The investigation by the Justice Department's civil rights division is similar to one launched in Ferguson, Missouri, where a white officer shot and killed unarmed black teen Michael Brown. The Cleveland study was released just two weeks after officers there shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was carrying a toy gun.

A draft report by a New Jersey legislative committee said there was "no conclusive evidence" that Gov. Chris Christie (R) knew in advance about allegedly politically motivated 2013 lane closings on the George Washington Bridge. Still, Christie "knew more than he was publicly saying" after the scandal erupted last year, said Assemblyman John Wisniewski, a Democrat and co-chairman of committee. Several Christie aides and appointees declined to speak with investigators.

A court ruled Thursday that chimpanzees do not have the same rights as humans, so a New York man does not have to free his chimp, Tommy. The judges said a person is defined in legal theory as having both rights and duties, and chimpanzees do not qualify because they can't be held accountable for their actions. The animal's owner, Patrick Lavery, expressed relief. The organization that demanded Tommy's freedom — the Nonhuman Rights Project — said it would appeal to the state's highest court.

About 100 people marched to Phoenix police headquarters on Thursday to protest the shooting of an unarmed black man, Rumain Brisbon, by a white police officer. The department defended the officer, saying he was investigating reports of a drug deal and fired in fear for his own life during a struggle. Ann Hart, chairwoman of the African American Police Advisory Board for South Phoenix, said the shooting, coming after the deaths of Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York, reinforces "the impression it's open season for killing black men."

The Navy is revoking Bill Cosby's title of honorary chief petty officer in the latest backlash as sexual assault allegations pile up against the 77-year-old comedian. In a statement released Thursday, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Master Chief Petty Officer Michael Stevens said the accusations against Cosby were "in conflict with the Navy's core values of honor, courage and commitment." Cosby's lawyer said Thursday that a woman who has filed a lawsuit accusing Cosby of molesting her decades ago when she was 15 tried to extort $250,000 from him.

NASA launched its Orion spacecraft on a critical four-and-a-half-hour test flight on Friday morning. The uncrewed spacecraft, sitting on top of a Delta rocket, took 17 minutes to reach orbit after leaving Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and will travel twice around the Earth before splashing down in the Pacific. NASA called the launch "history in the making," because Orion is intended fly astronauts into space as early as 2021, first to an asteroid and, in the 2030s, to Mars.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.