10 things you need to know today: June 11, 2015

(Image credit: AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

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1. EPA moves toward regulating greenhouse gas emissions from planes
2. Hunt for New York escaped murderers widens
3. Florida governor signs abortion waiting-period bill
4. Pope Francis creates tribunal on bishops' handling of sexual abuse
5. Ex-cop's attorney says stress, not race, was behind Texas pool party response
6. American killed in Syria fighting with Kurds against ISIS
7. FIFA puts off 2026 World Cup bidding
8. Phone records show Amtrak engineer was not using cellphone ahead of crash
9. Herrera named next U.S. poet laureate
10. Blackhawks beat Lightning to even up Stanley Cup Final

published 11 June 2015

1. EPA moves toward regulating greenhouse gas emissions from planes

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday took the first step toward limiting carbon emissions from airliners and other commercial planes. The EPA proposed an "endangerment finding" stating that greenhouse gas emissions from plane engines contribute to climate change, and calling for regulations to reduce them. The agency launched 60 days of public comment on the proposal ahead of an Aug. 11 hearing. The rules would not take effect until 2018 at the earliest.

Law enforcement officials expanded the hunt for two escaped murderers to Vermont on Wednesday. The inmates, David Sweat and Richard Matt, escaped from a maximum-security prison in New York, where guards noticed they were missing on Saturday. Investigators have interviewed several corrections officers and contract employees at the prison. One of them, training supervisor Joyce Mitchell, is suspected of helping the inmates and possibly planning to drive their getaway car, before having a panic attack and backing out.

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Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) on Wednesday signed a bill requiring women to make two clinic visits and wait 24 hours before getting an abortion. Opponents said the bill would unnecessarily burden women with added stress and expense. The bill's Republican sponsor, state Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, said it is "just common courtesy to have a face-to-face conversation with your doctor about such an important decision." The bill was amended to let doctors waive the wait for victims of rape, incest, domestic violence, or human trafficking.

Pope Francis has created a tribunal to address accusations against bishops for failing to protect children from sexual abuse, the Vatican announced Wednesday. The tribunal will hear cases in which bishops have been accused of covering up or otherwise mishandling allegations of abuse against Catholic clerics. The church already has "judicial procedures" for judging accused priests, but the tribunal will be the first to hold bishops accountable for abuse committed by people under their control.

An attorney for Eric Casebolt said Wednesday that the former McKinney, Texas, police officer was not targeting minorities when he threw a black teenage girl to the ground and drew his gun outside a pool party. The lawyer, Jane Bishkin, said Casebolt "allowed his emotions to get the better of him" after responding to two suicide calls earlier in the day, and that he was sorry. An attorney for the 15-year-old Casebolt subdued said she appreciated the apology but that stress was no excuse for Casebolt's actions.

An American man, Keith Broomfield, has been killed in Syria while fighting with Kurdish forces against ISIS. Broomfield's mother, Donna, said he had "turned his life over to the Lord" and decided it was "God's will" that he join the battle. "I didn't want him to go but I didn't have a choice in the matter," she said. The State Department confirmed the 36-year-old's death. Numerous Americans reportedly have joined the Kurdish forces, but Broomfield was the first to die.

Soccer's global governing body, FIFA, put the selection of a host for the 2026 World Cup on hold Wednesday. The move came as FIFA prepares to elect a new president after its longtime leader, Sepp Blatter, announced his resignation after the eruption of a corruption scandal. "Today there is no leadership at FIFA, so it's normal that it's been suspended," said European soccer federation head Michel Platini, a potential candidate to replace Blatter.

Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian was not using his cellphone ahead of a May 12 crash in Philadelphia that left eight people dead and more than 200 injured, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday. Phone records helped investigators rule out the theory that Bostian might have been distracted by his phone when the train went into a curve at more than twice the speed limit. Bostian suffered a concussion and "has absolutely no recollection whatsoever of the events." his lawyer, Robert Goggin, has said.

The Library of Congress on Wednesday named Juan Felipe Herrera as the nation's next poet laureate. Herrera, professor emeritus of creative writing at the University of California at Riverside, will be the first Latino to receive the honor. Herrera, 66, is Mexican-American, the son of migrant farm workers. "Yes, I am the first Latino poet laureate in the United States," he said, "but I'm also here for everyone and from everyone. My voice is made by everyone's voices."

The Chicago Blackhawks tied the Stanley Cup Final at two games apiece on Wednesday with a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Blackhawks' Brandon Saad backhanded the go-ahead goal through the legs of rookie Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy in the third period. The first four games in the best-of-seven series all have been decided by one goal. The last time that happened in the finals was in 1968. Game 4 was played in Chicago, but the series now moves to Tampa for Game 5 on Saturday.

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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.