10 things you need to know today: September 30, 2014

1. Afghan government signs security pact with the U.S.

Afghanistan's new government signed a long-delayed security agreement with the U.S. on Tuesday, a day after the inauguration of President Ashraf Ghani. His predecessor, Hamid Karzai, had refused to sign, partly over his anger over civilian deaths. The deal will allow 9,800 U.S. troops to stay behind after foreign forces leave on Dec. 31. Ghani called on the Taliban to join peace talks, saying Afghans are "tired of this war."

Reuters

2. Hong Kong demonstrators defy China crackdown

Pro-democracy protesters returned to the streets of Hong Kong on Tuesday, escalating their fight for free elections in the former British colony now controlled by China. Tens of thousands of demonstrators blocked some of the international financial center's busiest streets on Monday, with many of the protesters holding umbrellas to deflect tear gas fired by police. Hong Kong's Beijing-appointed leader, Leung Chun-ying, told protesters to end their so-called umbrella revolution "immediately."

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USA Today The New York Times

3. Scientists link wild weather to man-made climate change

Man-made climate change increased the odds of nine weather extremes that hit across the world last year, including a heat wave in Australia, intense rain in parts of the U.S., and possibly California's devastating ongoing drought. Two teams of scientists found no link to California's water and air temperatures, but another found that rain-blocking high-pressure patterns were three times more likely with man-made global warming than without. "There's definitely a climate change signal," lead author Daniel Swain said.

San Jose Mercury News The Associated Press

4. Court halts Catalonia independence referendum

Spain's constitutional court on Monday halted preparations for an independence vote set for November in the powerful Catalonia region. The central government is arguing that the vote would be illegal. The country's 1979 constitution says all Spaniards must have a vote on all issues of sovereignty, and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said holding the referendum only in Catalonia would be "a grave attack on the rights of all Spaniards." The court's unanimous decision to hear the case means it could be months or even years before the vote can proceed.

The Associated Press

5. Police link suspect in Virginia student's disappearance to a similar case

The arrest of suspect Jesse Matthew in connection with the disappearance of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham has yielded what police are calling a "significant break" in the 2009 death of another young woman in the same town, Charlottesville, Virginia. Police said Monday there was a "new forensic link" between the Graham case and the murder of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington, 20, after she left a Metallica concert.

CNN

6. Judge holds Argentina in contempt for ignoring orders on paying creditors

A U.S. judge in Manhattan ruled Argentina to be in contempt of court for ignoring his injunction against repaying only the bondholders it chooses. The judge, Thomas P. Griesa, warned that he could impose sanctions if the cash-strapped South American nation does not start following his instructions as the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner contends with hedge funds seeking $1.5 billion in payments on bonds Argentina let go into default in 2001.

The New York Times

7. Armed intruder got farther into White House than first reported

The man who hopped a White House fence and ran inside carrying a folding knife got farther into the building than initially reported, according to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), whose House subcommittee on national security oversight will address the breach in a Tuesday hearing. The intruder — Iraq war veteran Omar Gonzalez, 42 — was not tackled just inside the door, but dashed through the entrance hall and the East Room of the presidential residence before he was stopped, Chaffetz said.

Reuters

8. Walmart says Tracy Morgan and friends were not wearing seat belts in crash

Walmart filed court papers on Monday saying that actor and comedian Tracy Morgan and others in his limousine were not wearing seatbelts when a Walmart truck driver plowed into them on the New Jersey Turnpike in June, suggesting they were partly to blame for their injuries. Morgan's colleague James McNair was killed in the crash, which occurred as the entertainers were driving home after a show in Delaware. Morgan's lawyer called the company's response to the victims' lawsuit "appalling."

The Associated Press

9. Search crews stay away as Japan volcano rumbles again

New tremors raised the threat of another volcanic eruption on Japan's Mount Ontake on Tuesday, forcing hundreds of military searchers to abandon plans to resume the search for at least 24 people still missing after Japan's worst volcanic eruption in decades. Rescue and recovery crews already have recovered 12 bodies from areas below the 10,062-foot peak that were covered with ash and rocks after the Saturday eruption.

BBC News

10. Global wildlife species have declined by half in four decades

The world has lost half its wildlife species in the last 40 years, the World Wildlife Fund said Tuesday, citing the London Zoological Society's latest Living Planet Index. Mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and ocean fish have declined by 52 percent, on average, and freshwater species have suffered an even more catastrophic fall of 76 percent. One big reason is habitat loss. West African elephants, for example, are down to six to seven percent of their historical range.

NBC News