Morning Must Reads: August 14

4 minute read

Protests Turn Violent in Missouri

Protests in the St. Louis suburb rocked by racial unrest turned violent on Wednesday, with people lobbing Molotov cocktails at police, who deployed smoke bombs and tear gas. The clashes were sparked by the death of an unarmed black teen shot by a white policeman

Robin’s Pain: The Mystery of Suicide

Robin Williams was just one of 39,000 Americans who take their lives each year. A scientific look into what turns the brain into that well of grief

U.S.: Siege of Iraqi Mountain Is Over

The Pentagon attributes the end of the insurgents’ siege to U.S. airstrikes and ground efforts by Kurds. Further intervention by U.S. forces is now less likely

Oxford Dictionaries Adds Hot Mess, YOLO

Oxford Dictionaries has welcomed a new batch of words to their database, validating young people and making life less confusing for old people. This collection is distinct from the Oxford English Dictionary, which requires words to have more historical, significant impact

Temporary Truce Extended in Gaza

Israel and Hamas agreed to extend a temporary cease-fire for five days, permitting the sides to continue to negotiate a substantive deal. Yet even as the extension was announced just minutes before a previous truce was set to expire at midnight, violence spiked

Pope Arrives in South Korea With a Message for All Asia

The visit is the first by a Pope to Asia in 15 years, underscoring the significance to the church of a region where, the Vatican says, Catholicism is growing faster than anywhere else on Earth. The Pope plans to pray for peace for a divided Korean peninsula

Treating Cancer With Bacteria Shows Real Promise

Scientists found that directly injecting Clostridium novyi, a common bacteria species that doesn’t need oxygen to survive, into tumors in both dogs and a single human patient shrunk or eliminated tumors and possibly bolstered the immune system

WHO: More Than 1,000 Killed in Ebola Outbreak

Some 1,069 of the 1,975 people infected with the disease have died, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization. Sierra Leone is home to the majority of the Ebola cases in West Africa, at 783, while Guinea has the highest number of deaths, at 337

Arizona State Has 1st Openly Gay Division I Football Player

Edward Sarafin, a fifth-year student working toward a master’s in biomedical engineering and a linebacker for the Sun Devils, came out in an Arizona-based gay sports magazine but said he came out to teammates last spring so they’d hear it from him, rather than through rumors

Mark Zuckerberg Accepts Ice-Bucket Challenge

The Facebook supremo is the latest celebrity to take on the ALS “Ice-Bucket Challenge,” after being nominated by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. In return, Zuckerberg nominated fellow Facebooker Sheryl Sandberg, as well as Bill Gates and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings

E-Cigs Are Smokers’ Favorite Quitting Tool

Electronic cigarettes are a more popular tool for smokers trying to quit than nicotine gums and patches, according to a new study that shows e-cigs aren’t just shaking up the tobacco market but the pharmaceutical industry as well

The theatrical version comes a decade after the critically acclaimed film about Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie, and is being bankrolled by Harvey Weinstein. The veteran producer’s first major theatrical project opens in March 2015

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