10 things you need to know today: May 16, 2016

(Image credit: AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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1. Clinton and Sanders battle for votes ahead of Kentucky, Oregon primaries
2. Obama takes swipes at Trump in Rutgers commencement speech
3. RNC Chair Priebus says third-party conservative bid would be 'suicide'
4. Google could face record $3.4 billion Europe antitrust fine
5. Philippine president-elect vows to bring back public hangings
6. Russian sports minister apologizes for doping scandal
7. First penis transplant performed in U.S.
8. ISIS claims responsibility for latest deadly bombings in Iraq
9. Fake bomb used for security training prompts evacuation of U.K. stadium
10. Serena Williams wins Italian Open

published 16 May 2016

1. Clinton and Sanders battle for votes ahead of Kentucky, Oregon primaries

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are making their last pitches for votes in Kentucky and Oregon before the states hold their Democratic presidential primaries on Tuesday. Clinton said in Kentucky that she would put her husband, former President Bill Clinton, "in charge of revitalizing the economy," and continued her pivot from the primaries to focus on a likely general election matchup against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. Sanders noted that he does better than Trump in nearly every national poll.

President Obama unleashed a thinly veiled barrage of criticism on Donald Trump in a Rutgers University commencement address on Sunday. Obama slammed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's controversial policies, including banning Muslims from entering the U.S. and building a wall along the Mexican border, without mentioning Trump by name. "Let me be as clear as I can be: In politics and in life, ignorance is not a virtue," Obama said. "It's not cool to not know what you're talking about."

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Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus urged party members to rally behind Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Priebus, aiming at anti-Trump conservatives, said that backing a third-party candidate to thwart the presumptive GOP nominee would be a "suicide mission" that would cost the GOP the White House and let Democrats install a liberal majority on the Supreme Court. He also defended Trump against criticism over his failure to release his tax returns, and his treatment of women.

Google could be facing a record $3.4 billion antitrust fine in Europe, Britain's The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported over the weekend. The European Commission is expected to announce the penalty in the coming weeks in response to allegations by the European Union that Google has unfairly promoted its shopping service over those of rivals in internet search results. Sources close to the matter said officials plan to announce the fine as early as June. Neither Google nor the EC had any immediate response.

Rodrigo Duterte, president-elect of the Philippines, said Sunday night that he plans to bring back capital punishment, which the country banned in 2006. Duterte, who won a May 9 landslide on a promise to stamp out crime and corruption, called for public hangings for crimes including murder, rape, drug use, and robbery. The former Davao mayor also repeated a promise to give police "shoot-to-kill" orders for resisting arrest and participating in organized crime. He'll be sworn in June 30.

Russia's Minister of Sport, Vitaly Mutko, apologized on Sunday for a doping scandal that led the International Association of Athletics Federations to suspend Russia's track and field athletes. Mutko said Russia is "ashamed" of the athletes who broke anti-doping rules. The IAAF is considering the athletes' fate, and Mutko pleaded with the organization to let Russia's athletes compete in the Summer Olympics in Brazil. "We will do everything humanly possible to ensure our athletes are a part of clean, fair, and enthralling Games," he said.

A cancer survivor has received the first penis transplant in the U.S. The patient, 64-year-old Thomas Manning, underwent the 15-hour operation at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston last week. Manning, who had a partial penectomy in 2012 due to cancer, spoke out to help fight the stigma of genital cancers and injuries. "Don't hide behind a rock," the bank courier said. Doctors said they were "cautiously optimistic" about the operation's success. "It's uncharted waters for us," said Dr. Curtis L. Cetrulo, a leader of the surgical team.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Sunday for an attack that killed at least 14 people at an Iraq gas plant within 15 miles of Baghdad. Three car bombs struck the plant, then suicide bombers and other Islamist fighters ran in, but security forces supported by two military helicopters held them off. Four other bomb attacks left at least 15 more dead. The spate of bombings was the latest in a series of attacks that have killed more than 100 Iraqis and shaken the government's grip on security.

A fake bomb prompted the evacuation of Manchester United's Old Trafford soccer stadium — the largest in English club soccer — on Sunday. Police determined that the device had been left behind by a private company after a training exercise involving bomb-sniffing dogs. Tens of thousands of people had to leave the stadium after the device was discovered in a restroom. A bomb-disposal team destroyed the device in a controlled explosion. Local mayor and police commissioner Tony Lloyd called for an inquiry into the "fiasco."

Serena Williams beat fellow American Madison Keys 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to win the Italian Open on Sunday. It was Williams' first title in six months, and her fourth Italian Open championship since 2002. Since her last title in August, Williams has lost finals at the U.S. and Australian opens, and Indian Wells. The world No. 1 in women's tennis is scheduled to start defending her French Open title next. That tournament begins next Sunday.

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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.