The 10 Most Important Things In The World Right Now
AP Photo/Harold FilanLegendary actress Lauren Bacall died at age 89. Bacall is pictured here with husband Humphrey Bogart at the Hollywood premiere of "The Desperate Hour" on Oct. 12, 1955.Good morning! Here's what people will be chatting about on Wednesday.
1. The international community is increasing efforts to help thousands of Yazadi refugees trapped on Mount Sinjar in Iraq by ISIS militants. The U.S sent more than 100 military advisors to the northern Iraq region on Tuesday, while Britain has dispatched Chinook helicopters to airlift some refugees.
2. American actress Lauren Bacall died Tuesday at age 89. Bacall got her breakout role at age 19 in the 1944 film "To Have and Have Not," starring alongside legendary actor Humphrey Bogart, whom she later married.
3. Canada said it will donate around 1,000 doses of an experimental Ebola vaccine to the World Health Organization. This comes after the health agency said it is ethical to offer "unproven interventions" as "potential treatment or prevention" of the Ebola virus outbreak.
4. The Ukraine government said it may block a Russian convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the country's eastern region."We will not allow any escort by the emergencies ministry of Russia or by the military (onto Ukrainian territory)," Ukraine deputy head Valery Chaly said, according to Reuters. "Everything will be under the control of the Ukrainian side," he added.
5. Police said they will not release the name of the officer that shot and killed an unarmed teen in a suburb of St. Louis due to concers for the official's safety. Three nights of violent protests and looting in Ferguson, Missouri, have followed the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
6. The Japanese economy shrank 6.8% in the second quarter, the sharpest fall since the 2011 tsunami. The GDP decline is the result of a national sales tax that reduced consumer spending.
7. Police have confirmed that Robin Williams' death was a suicide. The actor hanged himself in his California home. He was found dead on Monday at age 63.
8. Egypt plans to broker a long-term cease-fire between Israel and Hamas as the second 72-hour truce is set to expire on Thursday.
9. A 5.1-magnitude earthquake in Ecuador killed at least two people in the capital city of Quito. The quake set off landslides that blocked roads and trapped several people.
10. An Iranian professor from Stanford University is the first woman to receive the Fields Medal - the "mathematics equivalent to the Nobel prize" according to Reuters - since the award was established in 1936. Prizes were handed out in Seoul on Wednesday by the International Congress of Mathematicians.
And finally...
A China zoo showed off three new panda cubs for the first time. The world's longest-surviving panda triplets were born on July 29 and initially placed in incubators. Check them out. They're super cute.
