10 things you need to know today: October 13, 2019

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1. EU ambassador reportedly to testify that Trump said there was no quid pro quo with Ukraine
2. Hundreds of ISIS supporters reportedly escape camp in northern Syria
3. Louisiana gubernatorial race heads to runoff
4. Dozens killed after Typhoon Hagibis sweeps through Japan
5. Spontaneous Hong Kong protests erupt
6. Texas police officer shoots, kills woman inside home
7. Bill Gates reportedly met with Jeffrey Epstein multiple times after initial convictions
8. Law and Justice Party expected to win Polish parliamentary elections
9. Indigenous groups, government to meet following protests over Ecuador's rising fuel prices
10. Angels employee reportedly provided Tyler Skaggs with opiates

published 13 October 2019

1. EU ambassador reportedly to testify that Trump said there was no quid pro quo with Ukraine

Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, will reportedly testify to Congress next week that President Trump assured him he was not withholding military aid to Ukraine in return for Kyiv investigating former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, a personal familiar with his testimony said. Sondland will reportedly say that a text message he wrote denying a quid pro quo with Ukraine came after he spoke with Trump, who told him there was no such thing. Sondland will reportedly tell Congress he is unsure as to why the aid was held up. At the same, Sondland will reportedly testify that he has no knowledge as to whether Trump may have changed his mind on the matter at some point, though he did believe Trump at the time. Sondland plans to testify Thursday.

Hundreds of people with suspected links to the Islamic State reportedly escaped from a camp for displaced people near a U.S.-coalition base in northern Syria on Sunday amid a Turkish military offensive in the region, Syrian Kurdish officials said. The camp is home to around 12,000 people, including around 1,000 wives and widows of ISIS fighters and their children. The Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria said in a statement that 950 ISIS supporters escaped as clashes broke out between Turkey-backed Syrian fighters and Kurdish forces, though The Associated Press was not immediately able to confirm that number. The remaining inhabitants of the camp are reportedly being evacuated by U.S. forces to another area.

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Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) is headed to a runoff with Republican businessman Eddie Rispone after failing to secure at least 50 percent of the vote which would have given him the victory in Saturday's all party primary. Edwards did receive a plurality, taking in 47 percent of the vote, but it wasn't enough. Rispone beat out fellow Republican candidate, Rep. Ralph Abraham (D-La.), 27 percent to 24 percent, earning a head-to-head contest with Edwards on Nov. 16. The runoff is expected to be tightly contested — Edwards held significant leads over both Rispone and Abraham in most polls, but the two Republicans garnered more than half the vote Saturday, so a lot will depend on which direction Abraham's supporters head. Edwards is considered a conservative Democrat and holds an anti-abortion stance.

As of Sunday afternoon, Typhoon Hagibis had killed at least 33 people and left another 19 missing after it tore through Japan on Saturday and early Sunday with winds around the eye of the storm reaching up to 90 mph. Several cities across the country experienced flooding after levees failed amid record rainfall. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the damage from the storm, which was the largest to make landfall in Japan in decades, was "enormous," as the military was dispatched to help rescue victims. Despite the fallout, many people were well-prepared for Hagibis, and the damage reportedly could have been much worse without the proper planning. Transport services in the typhoon-affected areas are reportedly returning to normal after a near total shutdown Saturday.

Pro-democracy, anti-Beijing protests suddenly erupted in Hong Kong on Sunday for the 19th consecutive weekend. Thousands of protesters defying a ban on face masks reportedly coordinated flash-mob gatherings over social media and encrypted messaging apps, spreading out across at least 10 of the city's 18 districts. The demonstrations, which were less organized than previous rallies, reportedly grew violent, and police said a protester used a sharp object to slash an officer in the neck. The officer was reportedly conscious after suffering the injury and transferred to a hospital, and two people were reportedly arrested at the scene. Protesters also reportedly vandalized targeted shops and threw objects onto railway tracks, as police reportedly attempted to restore order.

A Fort Worth, Texas, police officer shot and killed a 28-year-old woman, identified as Atatiana Koquice Jefferson, inside a home Saturday while searching the residence after a neighbor reported the door was open. Body-camera footage released by Fort Worth Police reveals that the officer, while searching the home, at one point yelled, "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!" before shooting into a window, all within the span of three seconds. Officers reportedly found a firearm in the bedroom, but it is unclear if Jefferson was holding the weapon at the time of the shooting. The neighbor who called a non-emergency police number after seeing the open door, said he's been coping with guilt. "It makes you not want to call the police department," he said.

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Bill Gates has maintained he didn't "have any business relationship or friendship" with the late millionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was arrested for sex trafficking minors earlier this year and later killed himself in a Manhattan prison cell. But The New York Times reports that Gates met with Epstein on numerous occasions since 2011, years after Epstein was first convicted of sex crimes more than a decade ago. Gates reportedly visited Epstein's Manhattan townhouse at least three times. A spokeswoman for Gates said he regrets ever meeting with Epstein, with whom he met multiple times to discuss philanthropy, but added that Gates did not socialize or attend parties with Epstein.

Poland's ruling right-wing Law and Justice Party is favored to come out on top again in the country's parliamentary elections, which are taking place Sunday. The latest polls before voting began showed Law and Justice leading with 42 percent of the vote, 20 points ahead of its closest challenger. Law and Justice is a controversial party — opponents argue it has interfered in the judiciary, suppressed freedom of the press, and ignored Poland's constitution, generally. The party's leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the traditional family unit throughout his campaign while warning of dangers posed by the LGBTQ community. The party is aiming to win a majority of seats, but has at least two possible coalition partners, including a conservative agrarian party and a far-right party that is reportedly openly anti-Semitic.

Following days of violent protests, the United Nations says that representatives from Ecuador's government and the country's indigenous groups will meet Sunday for their first direct talks as protesters demand the return of fuel subsidies which the government scrapped during a push for austerity. Ecuador's President Lenín Moreno imposed a curfew enforced by the military Saturday in Quito, the country's capital, in attempt to quell the unrest over the subsidies. Fuel prices soared after the public spending cuts, which spurred the protests in the streets. The indigenous protesters had previously turned down calls to negotiate with Quito, but reportedly reversed course on the condition that the talks were broadcast and not held behind closed doors.

At least one member of the Los Angeles Angels was reportedly aware of late pitcher Tyler Skaggs' drug usage, ESPN's Outside the Lines reports. Skaggs, who died in July and was found to have oxycodone, fentanyl, and alcohol in his system, reportedly received opiates from Eric Kay, the team's director of communications. Kay told federal investigators that he provided Skaggs with oxycodone and abused it with him over an extended period of time, and that two other Angels officials were aware of the drug use. Kay also reportedly gave investigators the names of other players who he believed were using opiates while playing for Los Angeles.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.