10 things you need to know today: October 27, 2016

Bill and Chelsea Clinton chat during a presidential debate

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

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1. Hacked emails show Clinton aides fretted over foundation donors
2. Series of earthquakes rattle central Italy
3. Pentagon stops effort to make California veterans repay bonuses
4. Chaffetz says he still won't endorse Trump, but will vote for him
5. Democrats accuse GOP of violating anti-voter-intimidation agreement
6. U.S. abstains in U.N. vote on embargo against Cuba
7. University of Wisconsin student charged in series of sexual assaults
8. Twitter confirms layoffs, says it's cutting workforce by 9 percent
9. New study shows HIV epidemic started years before 'Patient Zero'
10. Cubs beat Indians 5-1, tying World Series at 1-1

published 27 October 2016

1. Hacked emails show Clinton aides fretted over foundation donors

Hacked emails released by WikiLeaks indicate that Hillary Clinton's top aides exchanged concerns in the years before she announced her 2016 presidential bid that foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation and Bill Clinton's own money-making ventures could create problems for her. One top aide to Mr. Clinton, Douglas Band, said in an email released Wednesday that the former president had received personal income and "many expensive gifts" from some foundation donors. Chelsea Clinton hired an auditor to look at the foundation and accused some of her father's aides of "hustling" to win clients for their own businesses during foundation events.

Two earthquakes struck central Italy on Wednesday, sparking panic near parts of the mountains of the Umbria and Marche regions where a stronger quake killed nearly 300 people in August. "It was a very strong earthquake, apocalyptic," Marco Rinaldi, mayor of the small town of Ussita, told the ANSA news agency. "People are screaming on the street and now we are without lights." Numerous houses and other buildings collapsed, and at least two people were injured in the first temblor. The first earthquake was magnitude 5.4, the second was 6.1. There also were at least two weaker aftershocks.

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Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced Wednesday that he had ordered the Pentagon to "suspend all efforts" to get California National Guard members and veterans to pay back bonuses they were mistakenly given a decade ago. Thousands of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan were informed recently that they would have to give back the money, in some cases more than $15,000, after an audit revealed recruiters had improperly offered the money to people who didn't fall into categories eligible for the bonuses. Lawmakers from across the political spectrum had called for a halt to efforts to make the soldiers and veterans pay. Carter said no more money would be collected until a better system was established to help soldiers seek relief.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who publicly rescinded his endorsement of Donald Trump over a 2005 Access Hollywood tape in which Trump bragged about groping women, said Wednesday that he would vote for the Republican presidential nominee after all. Chaffetz had said that the comments in the hot-mic tape were "some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments" imaginable, but Wednesday he tweeted that he would not "support" Trump but would cast his ballot for him because his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, is "that bad." Statistics expert Nate Silver said Trump has been picking up support as some Republicans are "returning home after a disastrous series of weeks for Trump," although Clinton also is gaining votes as undecided voters make their decision with Election Day approaching.

The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday asked a federal judge in New Jersey to stop the Republican Party from supporting Donald Trump's call to recruit poll-watchers due to Trump's claim that the presidential election is being "rigged" against him. Democrats say the GOP poll-watchers will intimidate voters in violation of a long-standing consent decree restricting the GOP from questioning voters at polls and discouraging them from voting. A GOP spokesman, Lindsay Walters, said the party abides by the consent decree and does not collaborate on efforts to "prevent or remedy vote fraud" with the Trump campaign or anybody else. "The filing is completely meritless," Walters said.

The United States on Wednesday abstained for the first time in an annual General Assembly vote condemning the American trade embargo against Cuba. The U.S. previously always voted "no" in the symbolic votes against the half-century-old embargo. The change marked the latest step in the Obama administration's efforts to restore relations with the communist-run Caribbean island, a former Cold War-era foe. The rapprochement began two years ago. The U.S. and Cuba reopened embassies in each other's capitals last year.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison student, Alec Cook, is being charged in a string of sexual assaults, the Dane County District Attorney's office said Wednesday. After Cook, 20, was accused of sexually assaulting three women, numerous other alleged victims came forward with new allegations. Cook was arrested after a fellow student accused him of strangling and assaulting her at his apartment on Oct. 12. Madison police said they knew of at least four women who have come forward to report assaults. All are students at the university.

Twitter announced Thursday that it was cutting 9 percent of its global workforce as its revenue growth slows. The microblogging service reported that it gained sligtly more users than expected, with its average monthly active users rising from 313 million in the second quarter to 317 million in the third, as Twitter battled competition from rivals such as Instagram and Snapchat. Analysts had expected 316.3 million users, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount. Twitter's revenue increased by 8 percent to $616 million, beating its forecast of $590 million to $610 million.

A new genetic study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday confirmed that the global AIDS epidemic started in New York around 1970, definitively clearing the name of a gay French Canadian flight attendant named Gaétan Dugas who was long vilified as "Patient Zero." Dugas, who died in 1984, was first named in a study by Centers for Disease Control researchers who investigated the mysterious outbreak in 1982. They spoke to Dugas after three men from three different counties said they had had sex with him. His cooperation helped the scientists link HIV with sex, but a misunderstanding with journalists and the public fueled the belief that he was the one who brought HIV to the U.S.

The Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians 5-1 on Wednesday night to even the best-of-seven World Series at 1-1. Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, a 2015 Cy Young Award winner who pitched a no-hitter earlier this season, held the Indians hitless into the sixth inning before giving up two hits and a run. Anthony Rizzo kicked things off for the Cubs at the top of the first inning with an RBI double, and Kyle Schwarber got the first of his two RBIs hitting Rizzo home in the third. After two games in Cleveland, the Series now moves to the Cubs' home turf, Wrigley Field, for Game 3 on Friday night.

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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.