Morning Must Reads: August 15

Tensions Cool in Ferguson

A change in police leadership and tactics created a calmer atmosphere after days of violent protests in Ferguson, Mo., a de-escalation of the crisis that followed the fatal police shooting last weekend of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown

Robin, Parkinson’s and Depression

Williams was privately battling the early stages of Parkinson’s, his widow has revealed, on top of his more public struggles with anxiety and depression

Iraqi Prime Minister Steps Down

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki bowed to intensifying pressure and gave up his post after eight years in power to the man nominated to replace him

Russians Pay the Price for Putin’s Ukraine Adventure

Russians have started asking whether they are ready to make sacrifices for President Vladimir Putin in light of a food ban on some Western products, hinting that the Ukraine crisis may finally be hitting close to home

Your Next Blood Test Could Cost $10,000

That’s how much one California hospital charges for a routine cholesterol test, while others charged as little as $10 for the exact same assay. The thousand-fold difference demonstrates just how seemingly random health care pricing can be

Barry Diller Wants to Save Ask.fm

In purchasing Ask.fm, which is used by 120 million people worldwide, the Internet mogul is betting he can clean up the Latvia-based social network, presently best known for its connection in media reports to more than a dozen teenager suicides over the past two years

Sony Will Amend Seth Rogen’s The Interview

Executives at Sony Pictures appear to have yielded in the face of increasing anger from Pyongyang over an upcoming Seth Rogen comedy, which follows two American tabloid journalists recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un

Baseball Has a New Commissioner

Rob Manfred was chosen to be the new Major League Baseball commissioner by the league’s owners on Thursday, replacing Bud Selig. Manfred, who has been working in baseball since 1988, will be the 10th MLB commissioner

Rand Paul: We Must Demilitarize the Police

Anyone who thinks race does not skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention, Sen. Rand Paul writes for TIME, amid violence in Ferguson, Mo. over the police shooting death of Michael Brown

Ukraine Inspects Russian ‘Aid’ Convoy

Ukrainian officials have begun inspecting a Russian convoy that Moscow says is bringing aid but Kiev suspects is carrying military equipment. The inspections come after journalists witnessed 23 Russian armored personnel carriers and trucks crossing into Ukraine

Mike Birbiglia Joins Cast of Orange Is the New Black

The actor will join the cast of the critically acclaimed Netflix show about a women’s prison. His role is still under wraps, but most men on the Emmy-nominated show play love interests, relatives of the prisoners or prison guards, so perhaps he’ll be a sleepwalking guard?

Coca-Cola Gets Its Claws Into Monster

Coke and Monster Beverage Corp., known for Monster Energy drinks, will enter a long-term partnership — one that Coke, which has purchased a 16.7% equity stake in the company for a $2.15 billion cash payment, hopes will buoy its business

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We will hold an #AskTIME subscriber Q&A this Friday, August 15, at 1 p.m., with TIME correspondent Elizabeth Dias, who has been covering Pope Francis, spirituality, and all manner of other religion and politics news around the country. She co-wrote TIME’s 2013 Person of the Year story on Pope Francis. You can read her recent stories here.

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