10 things you need to know today: September 2, 2015

(Image credit: AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

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1. Kentucky clerk continues to deny marriage licenses, defying Supreme Court
2. Obama comes within one Senate vote of clinching Iran nuclear deal
3. Fresh China fears send drag down U.S. stocks... again
4. Pope lets priests absolve women who have had abortions
5. Migrants protest after Hungary closes train stations
6. New debate rules virtually assure Carly Fiorina a spot in the next GOP debate
7. Manhunt underway after killing of Illinois police officer
8. Guatemalan lawmakers strip president of immunity
9. U.S. launches drone campaign against ISIS leaders
10. Judge greenlights Uber class-action suit

published 2 September 2015

1. Kentucky clerk continues to deny marriage licenses, defying Supreme Court

Rowan County, Kentucky, Clerk Kim Davis defied the Supreme Court and refused to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Tuesday. The day after the Supreme Court rejected a Davis' request for a delay, a gay couple — David Moore and David Ermold — made their fourth attempt to get a license, but Davis told them her office was not issuing marriage licenses. Moore asked under whose authority. "Under God's authority," Davis said. Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal judge to hold Davis in contempt of court.

Two more Democratic senators lined up to back the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, putting President Obama one vote away from the support he needs to sustain a veto of a bill aiming to block the landmark agreement. The senators, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Chris Coons of Delaware, made their announcement a week before the Senate is scheduled to begin debate on a Republican resolution against the deal between Tehran and six world powers.

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U.S. stocks plunged on Tuesday after weak manufacturing data from China renewed fears that the world's second largest economy was heading for trouble. The main U.S. indexes — the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq — were all down by nearly 3 percent on the first day of trading in September, on the heels of the Dow's worst month in five years. Stocks in China remained volatile on Wednesday, with the main Shanghai index falling more than 4 percent before closing down by just 0.2 percent.

Pope Francis is granting priests "discretion to absolve the sin of abortion," the Vatican announced Tuesday. The Catholic Church considers abortion a serious sin that merits automatic excommunication. Previously, only missionaries and a diocese's chief confessor could absolve people who had abortions, or provided them. Francis said he was making it easier for women who have abortions to request and receive forgiveness in the upcoming "Jubilee of Mercy" year because he knows their decision was "agonizing and painful."

Hundreds of migrants protested in front of a Budapest railway station on Wednesday as Hungary kept train stations closed for a second day in an attempt to contain a refugee crisis. Hungary's right-wing nationalist government is struggling to handle a wave of migrants arriving from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It started letting migrants onto trains to Germany, without passport controls, then reversed course Tuesday and blocked asylum-seekers from westbound trains.

CNN has revised the rules for the Sept. 16 Republican presidential debate to include all candidates appearing in the top 10 in recent polls, rather than in those conducted all the way back to July. The change amounted to a victory for former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who was denied a spot in the first prime-time debate last month. Fiorina was widely praised for her performance in a separate August debate for low-polling candidates, and has made gains in surveys during the weeks since.

More than 100 police officers, aided by helicopter crews and canine units, conducted a manhunt into early Wednesday for three suspects in the fatal shooting of Fox Lake, Illinois, police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz. The 52-year-old officer, the father of four young boys, was found fatally shot Tuesday morning after reporting that he was running after three men — two white, one black — he had spotted acting suspiciously. Gliniewicz's gun and pepper spray were missing.

Guatemala's legislature lifted President Otto Perez Molina's immunity of office on Tuesday, exposing him to possible prosecution on corruption charges. Perez Molina is under investigation for bribery and customs fraud in connection with a scandal that has upended his administration. Tuesday's vote gives prosecutors the option of filing criminal charges against him as they would against any citizen. Perez Molina's office said he would "be very respectful and submit himself to the rule of law."

The U.S. reportedly has launched a secret campaign to take out Islamic State leaders in Syria using armed drones. The effort by CIA and U.S. Special Operations forces marks an escalation of the CIA's involvement in the conflict. The ISIS figures targeted included Junaid Hussain, a 21-year-old British hacker. Hussain, who was killed in a drone strike last month, was believed to have played a leading role in ISIS's efforts to recruit members online and hack into U.S. military sites.

A San Francisco judge on Tuesday approved the filing of a class-action against Uber by its drivers. The case represents a potential threat to employers that use on-demand workers in the so-called gig economy. The lawsuit was filed by four Uber drivers seeking reimbursement for expenses incurred while driving for the company. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen ruled the plaintiffs can represent other Uber drivers who contend they are employees rather than independent contractors.

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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.