10 things you need to know today: May 28, 2015

(Image credit: (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic))

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1. Nebraska legislators repeal death penalty over governor's veto
2. FIFA bans 11 officials over corruption scandal
3. Santorum launches second presidential bid
4. Pentagon says anthrax inadvertently distributed by Army lab
5. FCC chief proposes subsidized broadband for the poor
6. Hundreds evacuated due to new Texas flood threat
7. Tracy Morgan settles with Walmart over deadly crash
8. Obama's chief Iran negotiator leaving after nuclear-deal deadline
9. Pataki joins crowded race for GOP presidential nomination
10. Golden State beats Houston to win a spot in NBA finals

last updated 28 May 2015

1. Nebraska legislators repeal death penalty over governor's veto

Nebraska lawmakers on Wednesday voted to repeal the state's death penalty law, overriding a veto by Gov. Pete Ricketts (R). The bipartisan 30-to-19 vote was just enough to get past the veto. It made Nebraska the first conservative state in 40 years to abolish capital punishment. The final vote ended a months-long battle in Nebraska's unicameral Legislature. Ricketts, a staunch supporter of capital punishment, had the backing of many law enforcement officials. Eighteen other states and Washington, D.C., also have banned the death penalty.

FIFA on Wednesday banned 11 officials from participating in soccer-related activities after the eruption of a corruption scandal. Nine of the banned FIFA officials were among 14 people named in a racketeering indictment announced by the U.S. Justice Department. Two are vice presidents of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the indicted officials "corrupted the business of worldwide soccer." Swiss authorities have opened a separate investigation into Qatar's 2022 and Russia's 2018 World Cup bids.

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Former senator Rick Santorum formally announced on Wednesday that he is running for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Santorum made his first run for the White House in 2012. He placed second in the primaries behind Mitt Romney, boosted by social conservatives. In his announcement speech in his home state of Pennsylvania, he framed his second bid as a battle for forgotten American workers. "Working families don't need another president tied to big government — or big money," he said.

The Pentagon on Wednesday said that an Army lab in Utah inadvertently sent live anthrax samples to private research labs in nine states, and one in South Korea. "There is no known risk to the general public," Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said, "and there are no suspected or confirmed cases of anthrax infection in potentially exposed lab workers." The lab where the errors were made was participating in efforts to develop a field test to spot biological threats.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler is circulating a plan on Thursday proposing to subsidize high-speed internet access for low-income Americans. The federal government has been helping people pay for telephone service for 30 years, because phones are considered crucial to finding work, getting medical service, and climbing out of poverty. Wheeler's proposal to change the $1.7 billion subsidy program to include broadband reflects the FCC's recognition that high-speed internet service also is now essential.

Hundreds of people were ordered to evacuate areas in Texas threatened with floods on Wednesday due to torrential rains. Residents were told to stay away from more than 200 homes in Parker County, 30 miles west of Fort Worth, as the Brazos River appeared close to overflowing. "The river is coming up fast," Parker County Judge Mark Riley May said. May is already the wettest month in Texas history. Severe storms have killed at least 21 people in Texas and Oklahoma this week. Another 11 remain missing.

Comedian Tracy Morgan has agreed to settle his lawsuit against Walmart over a 2014 crash that left the comedian severely injured, and killed his friend and fellow comedian James "Jimmy Mack" McNair. A Walmart truck slammed into Morgan's limousine on the New Jersey Turnpike. Prosecutors said the driver was sleep-deprived. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Morgan said in a statement that Walmart "did right by me and my family, and for my associates and their families," and that he was "grateful that the case was resolved amicably."

President Obama's chief negotiator with Iran, Wendy Sherman, said Wednesday that she planned to leave the State Department shortly after the June 30 deadline for a nuclear deal with Tehran. Sherman revealed her plans before heading to Vienna and Geneva for a final round of talks on curbing Iran's controversial nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of punishing economic sanctions. "It's been two long years," she said. Secretary of State John Kerry praised Sherman for her "calm in the storm."

Former New York governor George Pataki is expected to announce Thursday that he is joining an increasingly crowded field of candidates for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Pataki is a moderate Republican who considered running in 2000, 2008, and 2012, but didn't. He signaled earlier in the week that he was ready to launch what he conceded was a long-shot bid. "It will be a very stiff climb up a very steep mountain," he told the New York Post, "but that hasn’t stopped me in the past."

The Golden State Warriors advanced to the NBA finals for the first time in 40 years on Wednesday night with a 104-90 victory over the Houston Rockets. The Warriors shook off a slow start to pull ahead for good in the fourth quarter, led by league MVP Stephen Curry's 26 points and Harrison Barnes' 24. The Warriors move on to face LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who advanced a day earlier with four-game sweep of the Atlanta Hawks. The teams will play the first game of the NBA finals on June 4.

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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.