HERE ARE THE TOP STORIES
Nebraska has become the first conservative state in more than 40 years to abolish the death penalty.
In a legislative vote to override the governor's veto, the state joins 18 other states and the District of Columbia in banning capital punishment. The bill replaces the death penalty with life imprisonment. The vote makes Nebraska the “first traditionally conservative state to eliminate the punishment since North Dakota in 1973,” according to the Associated Press.
And a little extra.
The death penalty is still legal across most of the U.S. NPR has a great graphic showing where and how states can execute convicts. While lethal injection is the most common method, some states allow execution by hanging or firing squad.
While support for the death penalty in the U.S. is at a 40-year-low, “the longer history of public opinion on the death penalty is much more unstable,” NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben writes in this piece exploring four potential explanations for the swings in Americans’ opinions: fear, violence, wrongful convictions, and the cost.
Around the world, over two-thirds of countries have ended the death penalty and an average of three countries a year have abolished it since 1990, according to Amnesty International.
FIFA’s corruption scandal is heating up and president Sepp Blatter isn’t out of the woods yet.
“The 79-year-old Blatter has captained soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, since 1998, [and is up for re-election on Friday] despite his organization being dogged by corruption allegations for years,” BuzzFeed News’ David Mack writes in this profile of Blatter. “Despite his past tendencies to shake off controversy, the Department of Justice investigation represents the biggest threat to Blatter’s tenure as president, one that could also shake the very foundations of FIFA,” Mack writes.
Blatter chaired an emergency meeting today about the growing corruption scandal. He’s now under immense pressure to both call off the presidential vote and to resign from the post he has held for the past 17 years.
For more from BuzzFeed News, here are the FIFA officials who have been formally charged with corruption, how the U.S. Justice Department says the alleged FIFA bribery schemes worked, and the rules deciding if FIFA officials will be extradited to the U.S. CNN also has a good breakdown on what we can expect to happen next.
And a little extra.
“On the surface, it's just another white collar crime story: rich, powerful men making themselves richer and more powerful. But a closer look suggests that there is a lot of real-world suffering and misery happening as a direct result of FIFA executive malfeasance,” the Washington Post’s Christopher Ingraham writes in this piece showing the human toll of FIFA’s corruption, particularly in Qatar, which is hosting the 2022 World Cup.
“If current trends continue, the International Trade Union Confederation estimates that 4,000 workers will die in Qatar by the time the World Cup is actually held in 2022,” Ingraham writes.
WE’RE KEEPING AN EYE ON
More candidates are jumping into the 2016 U.S. presidential race.
Today, former New York Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, released a campaign video announcing his bid. And yesterday former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a socially conservative Republican who had a surprisingly strong performance when he ran for president in 2012, announced he’s running again. He narrowly edged out eventual GOP nominee Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucuses in 2012 and stayed in the race long enough to win 10 other states.
“But unlike last time, when conservative dissatisfaction with Mitt Romney and a dearth of candidates viewed as sufficiently socially conservative propelled Santorum, he will face a much stronger field, populated by sitting or newly former senators and governors competing in the same space,” BuzzFeed News Politics Editor Katherine Miller writes.
What’s next?
Other candidates might join the race this week and next. Democrat and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley might jump into the race this weekend. And, according to Politico, Republicans Lindsey Graham and Rick Perry will announce their intentions to run next week.
Anyone who’s in will join eight already-announced candidates on the Republican side and two on the Democratic side. Want to keep track? This graphic is helpful.
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?
Malaysia is investigating policemen suspected of involvement in migrant death camps.
The country is investigating the policemen over possible links in “a network of people-smuggling camps and mass graves hidden in the jungle,” Beh Lih Yi writes in The Guardian. Earlier this week, Malaysia said it found 28 camps in the north of the country near the Thai border and 139 grave sites around the area.
On Friday, representatives from Southeast Asian nations and other countries will meet in Bangkok to discuss solutions to the region’s migrant crisis. “According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an estimated 25,000 Southeast Asian migrants took to the seas in the first three months of 2015,” CNN’s Euan McKirdy writes.
El Niño came for Texas, and it may be coming for California, too.
Over the weekend, torrential rainfall and flooding destroyed roads in Oklahoma and Texas and have killed more than 30 people. Several meteorologists from the National Weather Service who spoke with BuzzFeed News said the severity of the recent storm systems appeared to have been amplified by a developing El Niño, a rare weather phenomenon that results in astonishingly powerful storms. But whether that offers any hope for El Niño events to alleviate drought may be limited.
Separately, the floods in Houston “should be no surprise” due to the city’s topography and infrastructure development, writes AP’s Michael Graczyk. “Houston is the No. 1 city in America to be injured and die in a flood,” Sam Brody, director of Texas A&M University's Center for Beaches and Shores, tells Graczyk.
Quick things to know:
The Pentagon accidentally shipped live anthrax and up to 26 people are possibly exposed. (BuzzFeed News)
Cuba and the United States are expected to formally announce the re-opening of embassies in Havana and D.C. (ABC News)
A New York judge heard arguments on granting chimpanzees human rights. A decision is expected later this summer. (Wired)
A tale in skepticism and junk science: A journalist explains how he fooled millions of people into thinking chocolate helps weight loss. If it’s too good to be true…well. (io9)
These women are getting people to strip off to change our perception of beauty. (BuzzFeed News)
McDonald’s will toast its buns longer for hotter burgers, as part of a turnaround effort. (BuzzFeed News)
What happens when online friendships are more honest than offline ones? (Pacific Standard)
And we continue on the emoji beat: Why the world needs these feminist emoji. (Quartz)
Happy Thursday
The Guardian has a fun story on life after winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee. “It’s one of the most unique, odd clubs you can be in,” said Dan Greenblatt, winner of the 1984 Bee. “Competitive spelling is a very American contest; Americans particularly enjoy watching winners win and losers lose,” said Rebecca Sealfon, from New York City, who won in 1997. The Spelling Bee finals take place tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. And here’s a viewing guide from Grantland. ~Spelling is a sport for the mind~
