10 things you need to know today: May 23, 2016

1. Obama fully lifts Vietnam arms embargo

President Obama said Monday in Hanoi that the U.S. was fully lifting a half-century old ban on selling weapons to Vietnam. Obama made the announcement during his first visit to the communist country — 41 years after the end of the Vietnam War — saying the historic move "removes a lingering vestige of the Cold War." Activists had urged the U.S. to continue the embargo to pressure Vietnam on human rights. Others said ending it would help Vietnam counter China's push into the contested South China Sea.

The Washington Post

2. Iraq launches bid to retake Fallujah from ISIS

Iraqi forces launched an offensive to retake the city of Fallujah from the Islamic State, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced Sunday. Ahead of the operation, the government warned residents to leave town or wave the white flag of surrender. "The moment of real victory has come," Abadi said on state TV, and ISIS "has no option but to flee." Fallujah's exiled mayor told The Wall Street Journal that ISIS fighters have been retreating from the outskirts of the city to its center.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Wall Street Journal CNN

3. Pakistan accuses U.S. of violating its sovereignty with airstrikes

Pakistan on Sunday accused the U.S. of violating its sovereignty by killing an Afghan Taliban leader with drone strikes just inside its border. Afghan officials said the attack killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour, although a Pakistani passport found at the site of the Saturday strike bore another name. U.S. officials said the strike involved several armed drones and was authorized by President Obama, who called Mansour's death an "important milestone" for Afghan peace.

Reuters White House

4. Egypt deploys submarine in search for crashed EgyptAir plane's black boxes

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said Sunday that his government was deploying a submarine to help search for the cockpit voice and flight data recorders of EgyptAir Flight 804 in the Mediterranean. The airliner crashed last week en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board. Despite speculation that a terrorist bomb brought down the Airbus A320, El-Sisi said "all scenarios are possible." He spoke a day after the leak of data indicating there was smoke in a lavatory and alarms blaring three minutes before the plane disappeared from radar screens.

The Associated Press

5. Sanders supporters sue to extend voter registration deadline in California

Bernie Sanders supporters have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to extend voter registration in California until the day before the state's June presidential primary. The Democratic Party has opened its primary to voters with no party preference, but there is "mass confusion" about the rules, said William Simpich, an Oakland civil rights attorney who filed the suit. The lawsuit says voters don't understand the rules, which are set by the party and differ from those in other elections.

Los Angeles Times The Hill

6. Write-in votes to decide Austria's presidential runoff

Austria's presidential runoff election was too close to call on Sunday, with far-right politician Norbert Hofer and independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen expected to each have 50 percent after absentee ballots are counted on Monday. After direct ballots were counted, the anti-immigrant Hofer had 51.9 percent of the votes, and Van der Bellen, a Greens politician running as an independent, had 48.1 percent. If elected, Hofer would be the first far-right head of state in the European Union.

BBC News The Associated Press

7. Cruz supporters show strength at Washington GOP convention

Ted Cruz supporters outnumbered Donald Trump partisans at Washington's Republican convention over the weekend, and took 40 of the state's 41 delegates even though Cruz has dropped out of the race for the party's presidential nomination. The display of power won't change the delegate math at the GOP convention in July, however. Whatever their personal preference, the delegates are required to vote according to the results of Washington's GOP primary, which will be held Tuesday.

The Seattle Times The Hill

8. Seven die in North Sumatra volcanic eruption

The death toll from a volcanic eruption in Indonesia rose to seven on Sunday when a victim died in a hospital a day after Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra began blasting volcanic ash up as high as two miles. Two other people remained in intensive care with severe burns. The dead all lived in a village just over three miles from the volcano that was hit with pyroclastic flows, fast-moving torrents of superheated gases, rocks, and ash.

The Jakarta Post CBS News

9. Greek lawmakers approve more austerity measures

The Greek parliament on Sunday approved financial reforms in a bid to satisfy its lenders and secure debt relief and another round of bailout funds. Lawmakers signed off on tax increases and a new privatization fund. The move came two days before a crucial meeting of eurozone finance ministers. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' left-led coalition pushed through the reforms. Opposition politicians accused Tsipras' coalition of ruining the country, and hundreds of people protested the reforms outside parliament.

Reuters Bloomberg

10. Four climbers die on Everest

Four climbers have died in four days on Mount Everest in the first wave of attempts to reach the world's highest peak since a deadly 2014 avalanche and a devastating 2015 earthquake. A crew member, Phurba Sherpa, fell to his death on Thursday while fixing lines for other climbers. The next day Dutch climber Eric Arnold died of an apparent heart attack while returning after a successful summit. On Saturday and Sunday, Maria Strydom of Australia and Subash Paul of India died of altitude sickness. Two other Indian climbers were reported missing.

CNN