10 things you need to know today: August 15, 2016

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1. Usain Bolt wins third straight 100-meter gold
2. Louisiana rescuers use helicopters to reach motorists stranded by floods
3. Wisconsin governor activates National Guard as Milwaukee unrest continues
4. Suspect arrested in killing of New York imam and his assistant
5. Trump to unveil plan for fighting 'radical Islamic terrorism'
6. Boko Haram video purports to show missing Nigerian schoolgirls
7. Simone Biles wins third gymnastics gold in Rio
8. Ledger reportedly shows payments from ousted Ukraine party to Trump campaign chair
9. Marion Christopher Barry dies at 36
10. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte and three teammates robbed in Rio

published 15 August 2016

1. Usain Bolt wins third straight 100-meter gold

Usain Bolt made history on Sunday by becoming the first person to win the gold medal in the 100-meter dash at three straight Olympics. The superstar Jamaican sprinter reclaimed his title as the world's fastest human with a time of 9.81 seconds. Bolt got off to a slow start and overtook Justin Gatlin of the U.S. in the last 40 meters. Gatlin, who once served a suspension for doping and was booed before the race, won silver in 9.89 seconds, and Andre De Grasse of Canada took the bronze in 9.91 seconds. Bolt also is favored to win his third consecutive gold in the 200 meters, and another in the 4x100 relay.

Louisiana State Police helicopters airlifted food and water to more than 1,000 motorists trapped by floodwaters along Interstate 12 on Sunday. Gov. John Bel Edwards said that more than 20,000 other people have been evacuated since flooding began in southeastern Louisiana, killing at least five people. Ten thousand are living in shelters. President Obama declared a state of emergency at Edwards' request, clearing the way for affected areas to receive federal emergency money. White House Deputy Press Secretary Jen Friedman said Obama's "prayers are with the people of Louisiana, and that his Administration will continue to support the state's ongoing recovery."

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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Sunday activated National Guard troops to help restore order in Milwaukee, where violent protests erupted Saturday night after police fatally shot an African-American man fleeing a traffic stop. Police said the man, identified as Sylville Smith, was carrying a handgun, and was shot after turning toward the officer. Police Chief Edward Flynn declined to immediately identify the officer who shot Smith, other than to say that the officer was African-American. One person was shot and an officer was injured Sunday in a second night of protests.

New York City police arrested a suspect Sunday night in connection with the murder of a Queens imam, Maulana Akonjee, and his assistant, Thara Uddin as they walked to their mosque. Police did not immediately charge or identify the 35-year-old suspect. A video of the shooting surfaced Sunday, showing the imam and his assistant walking in traditional Muslim clothing when a man rushed up behind them and fired. The victims fell to the sidewalk, face first, and the killer jumped into an old-model Chevy Trailblazer and fled.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump plans to outline his plan for fighting "radical Islamic terrorism" in a speech in Ohio on Monday. Aides said Trump would declare an end to nation-building as part of the battle against terrorism, which he considers as serious as the Cold War. Trump is expected to detail plans for battling the Islamic State and for preventing terrorist attacks in the U.S., including a revised version of his proposed ban on Muslim travelers. The new policy would require the U.S. to stop issuing visas in areas with a history of exporting terrorism, or where applicants can't be adequately screened. Trump also is expected to propose an ideological test for applicants.

Boko Haram released a video on Sunday that purportedly shows some of the schoolgirls the Nigerian Islamist terrorist organization abducted from Chibok, Nigeria, in April of 2014. Only a few of the 276 kidnapped teenagers have managed to escape — 215 are still missing. The video shows about 50 girls in headscarves, and claims they will be released to their families in exchange for jailed Boko Haram fighters. "We are not happy living here," says one girl on camera. "I'm begging our parents to meet the government to release their people so that we can be released."

Superstar gymnast Simone Biles won the women's vault on Sunday, picking up her third gold medal of the Rio Olympics. Biles, 19, became the first American to win the event, and to snag three golds in gymnastics at one Olympics. She outscored her nearest rival, silver medal winner Maria Paseka of Russia, by 0.7 points, a wide margin in gymnastics. Plus, Biles has the chance to win two more medals, on Monday's balance beam competition, and in floor exercises on Tuesday.

The New York Times on Sunday night published an article detailing alleged consulting work Donald Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, did for the Moscow-allied former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych. Secret records from Yanukovych's once-ruling party show $12.7 million in cash payments marked for Manafort from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine's newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Officials say they don't know whether Manafort received the cash, and Manafort's lawyer says he didn't. Yanukovych fled to Russia after an uprising in 2014.

Marion Christopher Barry, son of late Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, died early Sunday of an apparent drug overdose. He was 36. The younger Barry, who was 9 when his father was videotaped smoking crack in an FBI sting, had struggled with substance abuse problems. He ran unsuccessfully for the Ward 8 council seat after the death of his father. Friends said Barry was at a personal crossroads coming off the campaign loss, the death of his father and a close friend, and the pressures of building up his construction business.

Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte and three other U.S. swimmers were robbed at gunpoint by attackers posing as Brazilian police. Lochte's mother, Ileana Lochte, said her son had confirmed that he had been held up. U.S. Olympic officials announced the incident early Sunday, but the International Olympic Committee followed up with a statement saying that the report was "absolutely not true." Lochte's mother said the robbers got away with her son's wallet. Crime was cited as a concern during preparations for the Rio Games.

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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.