10 things you need to know today: May 8, 2015

Cameron takes an understated victory lap.

(Image credit: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

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1. David Cameron's Conservatives shock rivals in British elections
2. Justice Department says it will investigate Baltimore's police
3. Court calls NSA collection of phone records illegal
4. Senate approves bill that would give Congress input on an Iran nuclear deal
5. Ebola returns to doctor declared cured last year
6. Stephen Colbert helps fund grants for South Carolina teachers
7. Senior leader of al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate reportedly killed in drone strike
8. Russian spacecraft crashes back to Earth
9. Alex Rodriguez passes Willie Mays on the all-time home-run list
10. Tom Brady says "deflategate" does not diminish Patriots' accomplishments

published 8 May 2015

1. David Cameron's Conservatives shock rivals in British elections

Britain's Conservative party won an unexpectedly decisive victory in Thursday's parliamentary elections, giving Prime Minister David Cameron another five years in office. The Conservatives on Friday were projected to win a majority in Parliament's 650-member lower house and govern alone for the first time since 1992. The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Ed Miliband, resigned. Cameron's win means the U.K. will face a vote on whether to stay in the European Union.

The Justice Department will investigate Baltimore police tactics, law enforcement sources said Thursday. A day earlier, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake asked the Justice Department to launch a review of the city's Police Department. Six officers are facing criminal charges over the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, a young black man who suffered a fatal spinal injury in police custody last month. Gray's death sparked days of unrest. Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said he is "willing to do anything it takes" to regain the public's trust.

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A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that the National Security Agency's warrantless collection of millions of Americans' phone records is not authorized under the Patriot Act and is therefore illegal. The program "exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized," the Second Circuit Court of Appeals wrote. The White House and defenders of the controversial program claimed Section 215 of the Patriot Act allowed for warrantless phone monitoring.

The Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would give Congress the right to review any nuclear deal negotiated with Iran. The bipartisan compromise passed 98-to-1 after GOP leaders blocked efforts by some conservatives to amend it. The House is likely to approve its version next week. The deal would give Congress 30 days to review the final deal. The White House at first opposed the bill, but reversed course after Democrats secured changes making it more palatable to the Obama administration.

A doctor declared cured of Ebola last year nearly lost his vision less than two months later when the virus was found to be lingering in his left eye, according to a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The patient, Dr. Ian Crozier, first fell sick when working as a World Health Organization volunteer in an Ebola treatment ward in Sierra Leone. He was released from Atlanta's Emory University Hospital in October, but returned in December with fading eyesight and pain. His vision has improved with renewed treatment.

Comedian Stephen Colbert promised Thursday to fund all existing grant requests made by South Carolina public school teachers on the education crowdfunding site DonorsChoose.org. Colbert made the commitment in partnership with The Morgridge Family Foundation's Share Fair Nation and ScanSource. Colbert and his allies will pay a total of $800,000 to fund nearly 1,000 projects proposed by more than 800 teachers at 375 schools. "Enjoy your learning, South Carolina," Colbert said.

A senior commander of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Nasr Ibn Ali al-Ansi, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen, a spokesman for the terrorist organization said in a video posted online. Al-Ansi appeared in a video in January claiming that the group was responsible for the attack on the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, in which 12 cartoonists and other magazine staffers were killed in revenge for the magazine's caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

Russia's Progress spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere on Friday after going out of control while carrying supplies to the International Space Station. The unmanned cargo craft was believed to have been burned up nearly completely from the friction of reentry. The ship was launched on April 28, and returned to Earth over the Pacific Ocean. The space station is not in danger of running out of supplies. Another supply ship is scheduled to be launched — by the U.S. company SpaceX — in June.

New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez hit his 661st home run on Thursday to pass the legendary Willie Mays and take sole possession of fourth place on Major League Baseball's all-time home-run list. Rodriguez was suspended for 2014 season over his use of performance-enhancing drugs. He said it was "a little awkward" to hear fans' cheers. "I thought the reaction was incredible," he said, "and it was very humbling." The next slugger for Rodriguez to catch is Babe Ruth, who hit 714 career home runs.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said the so-called deflategate scandal had "absolutely not" taken anything away from his team's victory in the Super Bowl. He said the Patriots "earned and achieved everything we got this year." Brady said he needed more time before commenting directly on a damning report released a day earlier that said he probably had been aware that game balls were being under-inflated during the rainy AFC championship game in January. Under-inflated balls can be easier to throw and catch in bad weather.

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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.