10 things you need to know today: July 29, 2016

Hillary Clinton accepts the Democratic nomination for president

(Image credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. Clinton accepts Democratic presidential nomination on convention's final night
2. Two San Diego police officers shot, one dies
3. Syrian group breaks away from al Qaeda
4. Prosecutors drop charges against man accused in Chandra Levy's murder
5. Germany's Angela Merkel stands by open refugee policy after attacks
6. ACLU says Chelsea Manning faces new charges after suicide attempt
7. U.S. military confirms 14 civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria
8. Texas sues Austin over ban on guns at City Hall
9. Bank of Japan's new stimulus falls short of expectations
10. Pope makes historic visit to Auschwitz

published 29 July 2016

1. Clinton accepts Democratic presidential nomination on convention's final night

Hillary Clinton accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday night, telling delegates at the party's convention the nation is facing "a moment of reckoning." Clinton — who was introduced by her daughter, Chelsea — called for uniting against Republican nominee Donald Trump, calling his policies divisive. "Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart, bonds of trust and respect are fraying," she said. "And just as with our founders there are no guarantees. It truly is up to us. We have to decide whether we're going to work together so we can all rise together."

One San Diego police officer was killed and another injured when a gunman opened fire on them late Thursday night. After the shooting, authorities urged people in the surrounding area to stay inside as police helicopters searched for a suspect. Police said they had one person in custody, although they did not immediately identify the suspect. Investigators also did not say what could have been the gunman's motive. The city and others around the country have been on high alert since gunmen ambushed and killed police in Dallas and Baton Rouge.

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The Nusra Front, a branch of al Qaeda in Syria, announced Thursday that it was separating itself from the international terror group. Leader Mohamad al-Golani said Nusra Front is reorganizing under a new name, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, and ending all ties to foreign organizations "to remove the excuse used by the international community — spearheaded by America and Russia — to bombard" areas where it operates. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. would "wait and see" how to react to the change. "We judge a group by what they do, not by what they call themselves," he said.

Prosecutors announced Thursday that they were dropping charges against Ingmar Guandique, the man long accused of killing Capitol Hill intern Chandra Levy in a Washington, D.C., park more than 15 years ago. Guandique, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to 60 years in prison, then granted a new trial after prosecutors acknowledged withholding evidence discrediting their key witness. The U.S. attorney's office said the decision to drop the charges was done "in the interests of justice and based on recent unforeseen developments," without elaborating.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her open-door refugee policy on Thursday against critics who say it is to blame for a string of recent attacks by Islamist extremists. Germany has hit by four deadly attacks in two weeks, three of them allegedly by asylum seekers or refugees. Merkel called the strikes in Germany and others across Europe "shocking, depressing, and terrifying." She vowed to boost security and counterterrorism efforts, but said, "Refusing humanitarian support, that would be something I wouldn't want to do."

Former Army Private Chelsea Manning could face new "administrative" charges and solitary confinement related to a suicide attempt in early July, the American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday. Manning is serving a 35-year sentence in military custody for leaking government secrets to whistleblowing site WikiLeaks. Manning, who changed her name from Bradley after announcing she identified as a woman, has confirmed through lawyers that she was receiving medical treatment following a suicide attempt. Military spokespersons did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Six U.S. airstrikes targeting al Qaeda and the Islamic State killed 14 civilians in Iraq and Syria between July 28 last year and April 29 this year, the U.S. military said Thursday. "We deeply regret the unintentional loss of life and injuries resulting from our airstrikes and express our sympathies to those affected," the U.S. Central Command said. The Pentagon also has opened a formal inquiry into a July 19 airstrike on the village of Tokkhar, Syria, which reportedly killed dozens of civilians.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on Thursday demanding that the mayor and City Council members in Austin, the state capital, end a ban on guns at City Hall. Texas law has long prohibited local gun bans in places where state law permits weapons, but the state could not enforce the rule until a new law was approved last year. Paxton said now he will sue whenever necessary to "make sure that governments do not trample on the Second Amendment rights of Texans." Austin officials said they planned to fight the lawsuit.

The Bank of Japan announced Friday that it was expanding its economic stimulus by doubling its exchange-traded fund (ETF) purchases. The central bank has faced pressure from the Japanese government and investors to take bolder steps to boost the economy. The new measures fell short of expectations, and Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index fell by nearly two percent. The Bank of Japan left a key interest rate unchanged at 0.1 percent. BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said further action was possible depending on conclusions from a review of the impact of current stimulus measures.

Pope Francis on Friday visited Auschwitz to honor the more than one million people, most of them Jews, who died at the notorious German Nazi concentration camp during World War II. The Pope met elderly camp survivors, and walked, silently and alone, through the grounds of the death camp in what was then Nazi-occupied Poland. He is the third pope to visit Auschwitz, but unlike his German and Polish predecessors he is not speaking publicly about what happened there.

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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.