10 things you need to know today: April 18, 2015

1. ISIS claims responsibility for deadly suicide bombing in Afghanistan

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that the Islamic State claimed its militants were behind a series of attacks on the city of Jalalabad that killed at least 33 people and injured more than 100 on Saturday. Several explosions occurred near the New Kabul Bank branch, as government workers lined up to collect their paychecks. Officials said all of the victims were civilians. If confirmed as an ISIS operation, it would be the first major attack by the group in Afghanistan.

The New York Times Al Jazeera English

2. Oklahoma adds nitrogen gas to list of state execution methods

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed a bill on Friday adding nitrogen gas to the state's list of execution methods. The measure says nitrogen gas can be used if lethal injection is held unconstitutional or the necessary drugs are deemed unavailable. The bill comes in the wake of the botched 2014 execution of Clayton Lockett, which was deemed a "procedural disaster" by an appeals court after the state used a new, untested three-drug compound. Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian, who sponsored the legislation, said death by nitrogen-induced hypoxia is "painless," and "a far better alternative to the electric chair."

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Tulsa World

3. U.N., Oxfam reports: At least 120,000 displaced due to Yemen conflict

A new report from the United Nations on Friday says at least 120,000 people have been displaced due to ongoing violence in Yemen (an Oxfam report put the minimum number closer to 121,000). The number of displaced persons has escalated since Saudi-led airstrikes began against the Houthi rebels more than three weeks ago. Iran submitted a four-point peace plan to the U.N. on Friday, but other international diplomats have dismissed the country's claims of brokering peace, saying Iran, which has backed the Houthi rebels in the conflict, is not a neutral party.

NPR Reuters

4. Ebola-stricken West African nations request debt cancelation, billions in aid

Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia asked international donors on Friday for $5-6 billion in aid over two years, and to cancel existing debts, as they struggle to rebuild their economies following a devastating Ebola outbreak. "Our social services are ruined, our economies have halted," Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma said. Leaders from the three countries shared their reconstruction outlines with heads of the World Bank, the United Nations, and the International Monetary Fund. While the international community has already provided healthcare support and pledged $5.6 billion in aid, Koroma said much more is still needed.

Reuters

5. Iraqi officials report government troops have killed Saddam deputy

Iraqi forces have killed Ezzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the former deputy of Saddam Hussein, government officials reported on Friday. Al-Douri has been declared dead or captured before, but Iraqi officials released images of a body with red hair like al-Douri's, and said they have begun DNA tests to confirm the death. Depicted as the "king of clubs" in a U.S.-issued deck of playing cards used to help troops identify key regime fugitives, al-Douri most recently allied with the Islamic State. Officials said they believe al-Douri was killed during a joint operation between Iraqi troops and Shiite militias near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, which Iraq took back from ISIS earlier in April.

The Associated Press

6. Bloomberg trading terminals go offline, roil bond markets

For at least two-and-a-half hours early Friday morning, right as European markets were opening, Bloomberg's ubiquitous data terminals went dark. More than 315,000 traders and other financial professionals use the Bloomberg terminals to get market data and news, and to chat with fellow traders. The outage appeared to be worldwide. While any major impact was tempered by the fact that most firms have other ways of accessing market information, such as competing terminals from Thompson Reuters, many traders aren't used to relying on the Reuters boxes, and one expert said the malfunction showed that Bloomberg's "disaster-recovery protocol in place…is insufficient."

The Associated Press The New York Times

7. Missouri National Guard referred to Ferguson protesters as 'enemy forces'

CNN announced on Friday that it has obtained documents from the Missouri National Guard that reveal the Guard referred to protestors in Ferguson, Missouri, as "adversaries," and even "enemy forces." The files CNN acquired reveal that the Guard subsequently changed all mentions of "enemy" to "criminal element," in a move to improve public relations following the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August 2014. "It's disturbing when you have what amounts to American soldiers viewing American citizens somehow as the enemy," Antonio French, a St. Louis alderman who vocally supported the protests, said.

CNN USA Today

8. Health officials declare California measles outbreak over

Health officials in California announced on Friday that the measles outbreak which began at Disneyland is official over. The outbreak, which started at the theme park in December, infected 131 people in California, eventually spreading to seven other states, as well as to Mexico and Canada. Many of the people infected were not vaccinated against the disease, and while health officials were "pleased" to declare one outbreak over, they warned that a reintroduction could occur and that the best defense is vaccination.

Los Angeles Times

9. U.S. support for death penalty hits 40-year low

A new poll from the Pew Research Center found that only 56 percent of U.S. citizens support the death penalty, marking its lowest support figure in 40 years. Pew notes that during the 1980s and 1990s, more than 70 percent of Americans favored the death penalty. The study, which surveyed 1,500 U.S. adults by phone, found that Democrats are largely responsible for the decline. Forty percent of Democrats said they supported the death penalty, compared to 71 percent in 1996. Republican support decreased by only 10 percent from 1996, from 87 percent to 77 percent.

Pew Research Center

10. Univision program Sabado Gigante to end 53-year run in September

Sabado Gigante, a variety show that has aired for 53 years — and the last 30 on Spanish-language station Univision — will end on September 19, the broadcaster announced on Friday. Starring Mario Kreutzberger (Don Francisco, as he is know on the show), Sabado Gigante has long been one of the most-watched shows among Hispanics. It aired for 24 years on Chile's Channel 13, then moved to Univision.

Variety