10 things you need to know today: January 3, 2016

Iranians protest outside the Saudi embassy in Tehran

(Image credit: Mohammadreza Nadimi/ISNA/Associated Press)

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1. Militia occupies Oregon wildlife refuge
2. Trump not concerned about appearance in terrorist video
3. Iranians protest Saudi execution, torch Tehran embassy
4. Mother of Tamir Rice: 'I'm mad as hell'
5. Hillary Clinton keeps outraising Bernie Sanders
6. Flood death toll in South rises to 31
7. Former Arkansas Gov. Dale Bumpers dies at 90
8. India searches for gunmen behind air force base attack
9. Chris Brown accused of battery in Las Vegas
10. Jason Wingreen, who voiced Boba Fett, dies at 95

published 3 January 2016

1. Militia occupies Oregon wildlife refuge

Armed militiamen took over a federal wildlife refuge building in Oregon on Saturday to protest the prosecution of two local ranchers and, more broadly, the federal government's land use. The number of people occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge after a protest for the Hammonds in nearby Burns — and what weapons they have — is unknown. Two sons of Cliven Bundy, an anti-government rancher, are among them.

In a Face the Nation interview airing Sunday, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump defended his comments calling for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the U.S.," which have been used in a terrorist recruitment video for Al-Shabab, a Somali-based group affiliated with al Qaeda. "What am I going to do?" Trump said. "I have to say what I have to say. And you [know] what I have to say? There's a problem."

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Iranian demonstrators torched the Saudi embassy in Tehran on Saturday in protest of the nearby country's execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a Shiite cleric central to the Arab Spring movement. "The hands of divine vengeance will surely snatch — by their necks — those cruel individuals who took his life," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote on his website Sunday. Nimr's death came as part of a mass execution in Saudi Arabia. Most of the other 47 people killed had been convicted on terrorism charges.

The mother of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old Cleveland boy who was fatally shot by a police officer in 2014, spoke to MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry on Saturday about the grand jury's December decision to not criminally charge Timothy Loehmann or his partner. "I'm mad as hell," Samaria Rice said, adding more about how learning of the decision — and hearing public officials try to disparage her son's character — has been hard on her. "It's excruciating pain."

Bernie Sanders raised $33 million in the last quarter of 2015, his presidential campaign announced Saturday. Operatives for frontrunner Hillary Clinton had speculated that Sanders may outraise his main Democratic opponent over that period due to complacency over her polling lead, but on Friday her campaign said they brought in $55 million during the last quarter. Overall, the Vermont senator trailed Clinton in 2015, raising $73 million to her $112 million.

Former Arkansas Gov. and U.S. Sen. Dale Bumpers (D) died due to natural causes Friday. He was 90. After leaving the Senate, the close friend of then-President Bill Clinton returned to defend him in his impeachment trial. Bumpers spoke before the Senate, who would go onto acquit Clinton on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice related to the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. "I loved learning from him and laughing with him," Clinton said in a statement. "I will miss him very much."

After reportedly securing an air force base bordering Pakistan on Saturday, Indian officials said more gunfire broke out Sunday morning. Security forces said they were hunting for two gunmen potentially still inside the base, as well as explosives. At least 10 people have reportedly died in the attack so far, including suspected gunmen and Indian soldiers. Though it's not clear who is behind the attack, Indian officials have said they suspect Pakistani attackers, a claim the neighboring nation has denied.

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.