10 things you need to know today: April 13, 2016

Paul Ryan will not take part in GOP race.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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1. Paul Ryan rules out accepting GOP nomination
2. Sen. Jeff Merkley becomes first senator to endorse Bernie Sanders
3. North Carolina governor issues order in response to backlash over anti-LGBT law
4. Panamanian prosecutors raid offices of Panama Papers law firm
5. Gay couple loses in China's first gay-marriage court case
6. Paid hackers reportedly helped the FBI crack iPhone security
7. Uber says it gave regulators data on 12 million users and drivers
8. Kasich says there is 'zero chance' he'll be Trump's running mate
9. Panel recommends changes at jail where Sandra Bland died
10. Republicans revise bill on helping Puerto Rico

published 13 April 2016

1. Paul Ryan rules out accepting GOP nomination

House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday ruled out entering the battle for the Republican presidential nomination, saying, "Count me out." Some Republicans have called for Ryan, the party's 2012 vice-presidential candidate, to step in to offer a more mainstream alternative to Donald Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz if no candidate reaches the convention with enough delegates to win the nomination without a floor fight. Ryan said the nominee should be chosen from among the candidates who ran in the primaries. "I will not be nominated," he said.

On Wednesday, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) became the first sitting senator to endorse Bernie Sanders for president. Forty of Merkley's Democratic colleagues have already backed Hillary Clinton, but "after considering the biggest challenges facing our nation and the future I want for my children and our country," Merkley wrote in The New York Times, "I stand with Bernie Sanders for president." He was careful not to dismiss Clinton, whom he said "has a remarkable record" and "would be a strong and capable president." But, he added, "Bernie Sanders is boldly and fiercely addressing the biggest challenges facing our country." Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and Angus King (I-Maine) are still uncommitted.

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North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) on Tuesday signed an executive order expanding the state's employment policy to include protections for gay and transgender people. The move was a response to a backlash against a controversial new law banning local anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people. McCrory left intact a provision requiring transgender people to use public bathrooms corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate. State Attorney General Roy Cooper (D), who is running for McCrory's job, called the executive order "a day late and a veto short."

Panamanian authorities on Tuesday raided the offices of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal. Police surrounded the offices while organized crime prosecutors were looking for evidence of money laundering, terrorism financing, and other "illicit activities." An analysis of a massive leak of Mossack Fonseca documents showed how offshore accounts and shell companies helped wealthy people evade taxes and sanctions. The law firm said it "continues to cooperate with authorities."

A Chinese judge on Wednesday ruled against a gay couple's request to marry in the country's first same-sex marriage court case. The couple, Sun Wenlin and Hu Mingliang, tried to register their union in June 2015 but a civil affairs bureau in the southern China city of Changsha turned them down, so they filed a lawsuit. The judge held a hearing Wednesday and promptly ruled that same-sex couples can't marry, citing China's marriage law and several regulations mentioning "a man and a woman." Sun and Hu plan to appeal.

The FBI paid hackers to help it break into a San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone, people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. The professional hackers discovered at least one software flaw, which was used to create hardware the FBI used to crack the phone's four-digit security code without activating a security feature that erases all data on a device after 10 incorrect guesses at the code. After getting into the phone, the Justice Department dropped a court case aiming to force Apple to help access the phone.

Uber on Tuesday released its first transparency report, saying it had provided information on more than 12 million riders and drivers to government regulators between July and December 2015. The ride-sharing company also said it had given state and federal law enforcement agencies information on 469 users. Many of the police cases involved fraud or stolen credit cards. The company said it had not received any requests for information in national security cases.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, one of the three remaining Republican presidential candidates, said Tuesday there was "zero chance" he would be frontrunner Donald Trump's running mate. Earlier, Trump floated the possibility that he would ask Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, or Kasich to run for vice president on his ticket if he gets the nomination. Kasich dismissed the idea, saying, "Look, I am running for president of the United States, and that's it."

An independent review panel on Tuesday recommended major reforms in the treatment and medical screening of inmates at the Texas jail where Sandra Bland, a 28-year-old black woman, was found dead three days after her arrest in a tense traffic stop. The committee charged with investigating Waller County jail said in a report that the screening done now "is not an accurate or efficient process." The panel also recommended building a new jail, equipping officers with body cameras, and other reforms. Bland's death was ruled a suicide.

House Republicans on Tuesday released a new compromise draft bill designed to help rescue Puerto Rico's economy by setting up a tough financial control board for the U.S. island territory. Puerto Rico's governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, has warned that the territory is facing a humanitarian crisis as it struggles with $70 billion in debts. Democrats rejected the last draft of the bill, saying the control board was too powerful, but Republicans say the new version has a less "colonialist" approach.

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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.