10 things you need to know today: June 10, 2015

1. Aggressive Texas cop shown in pool-party video quits

McKinney, Texas, police Cpl. Eric Casebolt, whose aggressive response to a pool-party disturbance ignited protests, has voluntarily resigned, McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley said Tuesday. Casebolt was under public pressure to quit and had received death threats since the video surfaced showing him pulling his gun, and slamming a black 15-year-old girl clad in a swimsuit to the ground. Conley said the other 11 officers there did an "excellent" job, but Casebolt was "out of control" and his actions "indefensible."

The Dallas Morning News Reuters

2. Hastert pleads not guilty

Former House speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges that he paid hush money to cover up past misconduct, then lied about it to the FBI. Hastert allegedly made $3.5 million in payments structured to skirt banking disclosure rules. Law enforcement sources have reportedly said the allegations involve attempts to conceal the sexual abuse of a student at a high school where Hastert taught and coached wrestling before his election to Congress.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Chicago Tribune

3. Court upholds Texas abortion restrictions

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld key parts of a Texas law that will force most of the state's abortion clinics to close. The law, passed two years ago, banned nearly all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, required abortion-inducing drugs to be administered in front of a doctor, and required all doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. The provisions will force all but eight clinics in Texas to close.

Los Angeles Times

4. Obama reportedly sending up to 500 more military trainers to Iraq

President Obama is preparing to send 400 to 500 more U.S. soldiers to Iraq to train local forces fighting Islamic State militants. The troops would add to 3,080 American service members already in the country. They would be assigned to a new training base in Anbar province. ISIS forces seized Ramadi, the provincial capital, in May, along with new territory in Syria. Obama said this week the U.S. needed a "complete strategy" to help Iraq regain the lost ground.

BBC News The Washington Post

5. FDA advisory panel recommends new drug against heart disease

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Tuesday recommended approval of a powerful new drug to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attacks. The effectiveness of the medicines — Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' alirocumab, and Amgen's evolocumab — will remain uncertain until the completion of large clinical trials in 2017. If approved, they will be the first major new weapon rolled out in years to fight heart disease — the nation's biggest killer.

The New York Times

6. Pressure builds for employers to raise wages

Job openings outnumbered new hires in April for the first time ever, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. There were 4.89 million private-industry jobs to be filled, and only 4.67 million workers hired. With vacancies on the rise and employers finding it harder to find enough workers, companies will be under pressure to raise wages, analysts said. "It signals a tightening labor market," said Neil Dutta, head of U.S. economics at Renaissance Macro Research LLC in New York.

Bloomberg

7. Court delays release of Angola 3 inmate

A court on Tuesday temporarily blocked the release of Albert Woodfox, the longest-serving U.S. prisoner in solitary confinement, to give the state of Louisiana time to appeal a federal judge's order to release him. Woodfox has been in solitary confinement for 43 years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola. Woodfox is the last imprisoned member of the "Angola Three," a group accused of killing a guard. He was convicted twice, but both convictions were overturned. Woodfox says the charge was payback for his role in organizing a Black Panthers chapter.

Los Angeles Times The Times-Picayune

8. Ex-FIFA VP Jack Warner slams the U.S. over corruption scandal

Fallen former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner on Tuesday accused the U.S. of cracking down on alleged corruption at soccer's global governing body to get revenge for losing out on hosting the 2022 World Cup. Warner maintains his innocence and says he could not get a fair trial in the U.S., which is trying to get Trinidad to extradite him. Warner's comments came a day after a BBC News report said that he was under investigation for the disappearance of nearly $1 million his organization pledged for victims of Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake.

The Sydney Morning Herald BBC News

9. Giants rookie Chris Heston throws no-hitter

San Francisco Giants rookie Chris Heston pitched a no-hitter against the New York Mets on Tuesday night. It was just the 13th start in the 27-year-old right-hander's big league career. It was the first no-hitter in Major League Baseball since Washington's Jordan Zimmermann threw one on the last day of the 2014 season. The Giants won their game 5-0.

ESPN

10. Cavaliers win Game 3 to lead NBA Finals 2-1

LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 96-91 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. James had 40 points. "LeBron's making some crazy plays," said the Warriors' Steph Curry, the league's MVP. Curry scored 27 points, just three of them in the first half and 17 in the fourth quarter, when the Warriors came back to within one point late in the game after trailing by as much as 20 late in the third quarter. The Cavaliers now lead the best-of-seven-series 2-1.

The Huffington Post The New York Times