10 things you need to know today: May 1, 2014

(Image credit: (AP Photo/Sergei Grits))

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1. NBA takes next step toward forcing Donald Sterling to sell the Clippers
2. Ukraine expels Russia's military attache
3. The backlash grows over Oklahoma's botched execution
4. A third of ObamaCare enrollees had not paid premiums by April 15
5. Explosion at Florida jail kills two
6. Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams arrested in connection with a 1972 killing
7. Mad editor Feldstein dies at 88
8. Investigation reportedly finds Peaches Geldof died of a heroin overdose
9. Embattled Toronto mayor seeks help
10. Note found in Kurt Cobain's wallet mocked wife Courtney Love

last updated 27 January 2015

1. NBA takes next step toward forcing Donald Sterling to sell the Clippers

An advisory committee of the NBA's governing board meets Thursday to analyze the league's options in forcing Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling to sell his team because of recent racist remarks. Two of the NBA's 29 other team owners said they believed there would be enough support for the three-fourths vote required to fully kick Sterling out, an unprecedented move. Luminaries, including Oprah Winfrey, are lining up to bid for the team.

Ukraine's interim government detained a Russian naval attache from Moscow's embassy for "activities incompatible with diplomatic status" — wording that suggests the official had been accused of spying. The move came as pro-Russia separatists extended their control over parts of eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov blamed his security forces' "helplessness and even criminal betrayal."

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Oklahoma authorities launched an internal investigation into this week's bungled lethal injection, which left convicted murderer Clayton Lockett convulsing on a gurney before dying of a heart attack after his execution was ordered halted. The chilling spectacle energized death penalty opponents. Lockett was one of two inmates who had fought in court for information on the drugs the state was planning to use to kill him.

As of April 15, only 67 percent of those who enrolled for insurance on ObamaCare marketplaces had paid their first premiums, according to data collected by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Republicans used the figure to counter White House claims that more than eight million had signed up. "You are not fully enrolled... until you pay your premium," outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius conceded recently.

Two inmates were killed and more than 100 were injured late Wednesday when an apparent gas explosion erupted at a Florida jail, causing part of the building to collapse. The wounded inmates were sent to a hospital. Six hundred uninjured prisoners were moved to other facilities, but no inmates were believed to have escaped, said Kathleen Dough-Castro, the Public Information Officer for Escambia County.

Northern Ireland police arrested Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams on Wednesday on suspicion that he ordered the 1972 murder of Jean McConville. The victim, a 37-year-old widow and mother of 10, was snatched from her apartment west of Belfast and allegedly shot dead by the Irish Republican Army. Adams said before turning himself in to face questioning that he was "innocent of any part" in the killing.

Former Mad magazine editor Al Feldstein, who transformed the satirical publication into an American institution, died this week at his home in Montana. He was 88. Feldstein turned the freckled, gap-toothed Alfred E. Neuman character's "What, Me Worry?" stock phrase into a motto embraced by a generation of fans. He also presided over Mad's heyday, when its defining features such as Spy vs. Spy caught on.

Toxicology reports reportedly indicated that model and TV host Peaches Geldof, daughter of Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof, died of a heroin overdose. The results of the investigation are expected to be made public Thursday at an inquest into the 25-year-old's sudden death in London. Peaches Geldof had reportedly become increasingly obsessed with the death of her mother, Paula Yates, of an accidental heroin overdose in 2000.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said Wednesday that he was stepping away from his own reelection campaign temporarily to get help with his substance abuse problem. "I have a problem with alcohol," Ford said, "and the choices I have made while under the influence. I have struggled with this for some time." Ford has faced harsh and frequently mocking criticism in recent months after reports surfaced that he had been videotaped smoking crack.

CBS News has obtained a note discovered in Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's wallet after he died of a self-inflicted shotgun blast in 1994. The handwritten note, which was placed into evidence after Cobain's body was found in his Seattle home, was written in the form of a bitter wedding vow to Cobain's wife, Courtney Love, whom Cobain refers to as his "lawful shredded wife." The note also says Love would be "siphoning" money for drugs.

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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.