10 things you need to know today: October 7, 2015

(Image credit: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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1. Pentagon admits deadly Afghan hospital strike was U.S. mistake
2. 6,000 federal prisoners to be released early
3. Smugglers in Moldova reportedly tried to sell nuclear material to extremists
4. U.S. and Russia to discuss Syria as tensions rise
5. Texas executes inmate for deadly $8 robbery
6. Former U.N. leader faces bribery charges
7. More victims found as South Carolina flood dangers continue
8. Microsoft goes after Apple with its first full-fledged laptop
9. Three scientists win Nobel Prize for Chemistry
10. California bans paparazzi drones

last updated 7 October 2015

1. Pentagon admits deadly Afghan hospital strike was U.S. mistake

The U.S. military on Tuesday took responsibility for an airstrike that killed 22 people at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan. Gen. John F. Campbell, the top American commander in the country, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the attack, which a U.S. official previously said was requested by Afghan forces, was a mistake resulting from "a U.S. decision made within the U.S. chain of command." Doctors Without Borders is demanding an independent investigation, calling the strike a possible "war crime."

The Justice Department plans to release about 6,000 inmates in the largest one-time early release ever conducted in federal prisons, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. The move, scheduled for Oct. 30 to Nov. 2, is the first part of a push to ease overcrowding and reduce sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. Two-thirds will enter halfway houses or home confinement before getting supervised release. Eventually, 46,000 of the nation's 100,000 federal drug offenders could qualify for early release.

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Smugglers in Moldova have tried at least four times in the last five years to sell radioactive material, including bomb-grade uranium, to extremists, according to an Associated Press investigation. In one case, a smuggler told a police informant: "You can make a dirty bomb, which would be perfect for the Islamic State." The FBI worked in partnership with a small group of Moldovan investigators to conduct the stings using wiretaps and informants and police posing as gangsters.

Russia and the U.S. agreed Tuesday to try to restart talks on avoiding conflicts between their warplanes over Syria. The news came as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg rejected Russia's claim that one of its fighter jets that violated the air space of Turkey, a NATO member, over the weekend only did so for a few seconds because of bad weather. NATO has scheduled a Thursday meeting to discuss Moscow's military escalation. Russia and Syria launched their first joint attack on rebels Wednesday.

Texas executed its 11th inmate of the year on Tuesday night, killing 35-year-old Juan Garcia by lethal injection. Garcia admitted to killing Mexican immigrant Hugh Solano in Houston during a botched 1998 robbery that netted him just $8. Garcia, who was then 18, insisted it was an accident during a fight for the gun. Solano's widow asked the judge not to sentence him to death, saying she forgave him. She and her daughter were at the execution. Garcia apologized to them in Spanish, saying, "I hope this brings you closure."

Prosecutors on Tuesday accused former United Nations General Assembly president John Ashe of taking more than $1 million in bribes, saying he "sold himself and the global institution he led." Ashe, the former U.N. ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda, is accused of accepting money to help Chinese business executives get contracts, and using the money to pay for everything from Rolex watches to a private basketball court. A defense lawyer said he expected Ashe to be vindicated.

The death toll from historic flooding in South Carolina rose to 14 on Tuesday, including eight drownings and six traffic deaths. Flood dangers continued, but shifted from the middle of the state to the Lowcountry on the coast, as water from three days of once-in-a-millennium rainfall flowed toward the sea. Hundreds of roads remained closed, including a 75-mile stretch of Interstate 95. "South Carolina has once again proven we are strong and resilient," Gov. Nikki Haley (R) said. "(But) we are still in prayer mode."

Microsoft on Tuesday stepped up its effort to compete against Apple as a hardware maker with the introduction of its Surface Pro 4 tablet-hybrid and the Surface Book, billed as Microsoft's first full-fledged laptop. Microsoft claims the new Surface Pro is 50 percent faster than Apple's MacBook Air, and the Surface Book is twice as fast as the MacBook Pro. The Surface Book, which features a removable tablet-screen, also will challenge other companies rolling out their own Windows 10 notebooks.

Three scientists — American Paul Modrich, U.S.-Turkish researcher Aziz Sancar, and Sweden's Tomas Lindahl, based in Britain — won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry on Tuesday. Their work mapped how cells repair damaged DNA, providing "fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement. The winners' research findings have helped in the development of new cancer treatments, the academy said.

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed legislation aiming to stop paparazzi from flying camera-equipped drones over private property. The new law makes it a "physical invasion of privacy" to send a drone over private land. Assemblyman Ian Calderon, a Democrat, wrote the legislation because, he said, "paparazzi have used drones for years to invade the privacy and capture pictures of public persons in their most private of activities — despite existing law."

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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.