10 things you need to know today: May 30, 2016

(Image credit: Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. Libertarian Party picks Gary Johnson as its presidential candidate
2. Iraqi forces launch assault on ISIS-held Fallujah
3. Obama leads Memorial Day events to honor 'fallen heroes'
4. Family of driver killed in U.S. airstrike on Taliban leader files complaint
5. Killing of gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo sparks outrage
6. Opposition negotiator quits, citing Syrian peace talks' failure
7. Death toll rises to 6 in weekend Texas floods
8. Bleaching may have killed a third of coral in Northern Great Barrier Reef
9. Mexican soccer star Alan Pulido rescued hours after kidnapping
10. Rookie Alexander Rossi wins Indianapolis 500

last updated 30 May 2016

1. Libertarian Party picks Gary Johnson as its presidential candidate

Libertarians picked former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson as their presidential candidate on Sunday. The former Republican, who also ran as the Libertarian candidate in 2012, slammed Donald Trump, saying the presumptive GOP nominee's call to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants and other immigration policies are "just racist." Johnson got his desired running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld. Libertarians are betting they will win more votes than ever in this election, given the unfavorable ratings of both Trump and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Iraqi troops entered the city of Fallujah under international-coalition air cover on Monday in a push to retake the city from the Islamic State, according to media reports. The city is among ISIS's last strongholds in Iraq. Meanwhile, the Islamist extremist group claimed responsibility for two bombings that killed at least 24 people in Baghdad, Iraq's capital. In one of the attacks, a suicide car-bomber crashed a vehicle packed with explosives into a checkpoint, killing seven civilians and three police officers.

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President Obama will participate in several Memorial Day events on Monday in honor of men and women who died serving in the U.S. military. First, Obama will host a breakfast for members of military and veterans groups at the White House. Later, he will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in an event at Arlington National Cemetery. "The debt we owe our fallen heroes is one we can never truly repay," Obama said in his weekly address.

The brother of a taxi driver who died in the U.S. drone strike that killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in Pakistan has filed a murder complaint against American officials. Mullah Mansour hired the driver, Muhammad Azam, in a Pakistani border town. Pakistani officials said the driver had no ties to Islamist militants. His brother, Muhammad Qasim, said he was innocent, and the sole breadwinner for a family with four children. "I want justice and demand action against the U.S. authorities," he said in the document.

Zookeepers in Cincinnati shot and killed a 450-pound endangered gorilla to rescue a 4-year-old boy who fell into its enclosure. Witnesses said the 17-year-old male Western lowland silverback gorilla, named Harambe, at times appeared to be protecting the boy, gently touching his hand and standing over him. Then, the animal abruptly dragged the boy into a cave. Protesters criticized the boy's mother and slammed zoo officials for killing the gorilla. Zoo officials said they had no choice because the life of the boy — who is doing fine — was in "imminent danger."

The mainstream Syrian opposition's chief negotiator, Mohammed Alloush, resigned on Sunday over the lack of progress in Geneva peace talks. Alloush, who represented the Jaish al Islam rebel faction in the Saudi-based High Negotiations Committee, said the United Nations-backed talks were a "waste of time" because they had not resulted in the release of thousands of prisoners or improved conditions in besieged rebel-held areas. The Syrian government calls the HNC a tool of foreign powers out to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

Authorities found two bodies along swollen streams in central Texas on Sunday, bringing the death toll from Memorial Day weekend floods in the state to six. One of the latest victims — Florida Molima, 23 — had been riding in a car that was swept off a flooded street. The driver escaped and another passenger was rescued from a tree. Torrential rains forced the evacuation of two prisons in southeast Texas, and also caused flooding in several other states. An 11-year-old boy was reported missing in Kansas.

Mass bleaching caused by global warming and El Niño has killed 35 percent of the coral in the northern and central parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef in just the past few months, scientists said Monday. The southern section of the 1,400-mile reef has seen only minor damage. Warming waters have been causing bleaching in reefs around the world for two years, but the damage in the Great Barrier Reef off Australia's east coast has occurred over just two months. Bleached coral that hasn't died can recover if the water temperature drops.

Mexican police rescued international soccer star Alan Pulido hours after he was kidnapped in northeast Mexico. Pulido, 25, appeared at a brief news conference on Monday and told reporters he was "very well." He had a bandage on his right hand. Pulido, a striker who has played for Mexico's national team several times, was leaving a party with his girlfriend on Saturday night in Ciudad Victoria in Tamaulipas state when their car was surrounded by several trucks. Pulido was taken away, and his girlfriend was left unharmed.

IndyCar rookie Alexander Rossi won the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. The 24-year-old Californian, running on fumes, coasted to the finish line ahead of Carlos Munoz, Josef Newgarden, and Tony Kanaan. Rossi had very little experience driving on oval tracks, having raced for several years in Formula One. "I have no idea how we pulled that off," he said after the win. "I'm at a loss for words. It will change my life for sure."

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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.