10 Things to Know for Today: 1-17

1/17/2014

FILE - This Oct. 2, 1978 file photo shows the cast of "Gilligan's Island," from left, Russell Johnson, as the professor; Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III; Natalie Schafer, as Mrs. Howell III; Alan Hale Jr., as the skipper; Bob Denver, as Gilligan; Judith Baldwin replacing original cast member Tina Louise, as Ginger, and Dawn Wells, as Mary Ann, posing during filming of a two-hour reunion show, "The Return from Gilligan's Island," in Los Angeles. Johnson died Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014, at his home in Washington State of natural causes. He was 89. (AP Photo/Wally Fong, File)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:

1. WHO FORCED OBAMA’S HAND ON GOVERNMENT SPYING

Changes to the NSA’s operations would not be happening had Edward Snowden not thrust the secret programs out into the open.

2. BUDGET CLEARS US CONGRESS WITH EASE

Tea party critics chastened by October’s partial shutdown mount only a faint protest to the $1.1 trillion spending plan.

3. EXECUTED OHIO MAN’S FAMILY PLANS LAWSUIT

The condemned inmate took almost 25 minutes to die after the injection of a two-drug cocktail that had never before been used in an execution in the U.S.

4. ISRAELI LAW WOULD CRIMINALIZE USE OF THE WORD ‘NAZI’

The measure has sparked a debate about freedom of speech in a state that was founded out of the ashes of the Holocaust.

5. WHAT’S HINDERING HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS IN SOUTH SUDAN

Wholesale looting of vehicles, equipment and supplies belonging to aid groups is crippling their ability to help.

6. WOMAN TICKETED FOR DRIVING WITH GOOGLE GLASS FOUND NOT GUILTY

A San Diego traffic court rules that her citation — believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S. — requires proof that the device was in operation.

7. PRICE TO BOARD AN AIRLINER KEEPS CLIMBING

Fares have risen nearly 12 percent since their low during the Great Recession in 2009, an AP analysis shows.

8. GAY RIGHTS LAG ACROSS THE GLOBE

At least 76 countries still retain laws criminalizing gay sex, including five where it’s punishable by death.

9. ‘THE PROFESSOR’ FROM ‘GILLIGAN’S ISLAND’ DIES AT 89

Russell Johnson was a little-known character actor when he was cast in the 1960s comedy about seven people marooned on an uncharted Pacific island.

10. HOW BASEBALL IS MODERNIZING

Owners, players and umpires approve a huge expansion of instant replay in hopes of eliminating blown calls.