Morning Must Reads: August 20

Nobody Wins in Ferguson

Virtually no one connected to the tumult in the St. Louis suburb — whether by proximity, profession or ideology; by happenstance or choice — has escaped the nightly clashes without suffering in ways big or small, writes TIME’s Alex Altman

Exercise Boosts Kids’ Brain Power

A new study finds, for the first time, that children who are more fit have more white matter in their brains — a key factor for attention and memory

Video Claims Journalist Execution

A video posted online Tuesday purportedly shows an Islamist extremist beheading American journalist James Foley, who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012

Patient Tested for Ebola at California Hospital

Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center has not divulged personal details about the patient or whether they had recently been in West Africa, the virus’ epicenter

Mark Wahlberg May Star in BP Oil Spill Movie

The actor is in talks with Lionsgate over a movie to be called Deepwater Horizon—about the deadly marine oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010—that would have him play the part of a manager who seeks to rescue his crew members

Your Twitter Favorite Button Just Got a Lot More Powerful

Twitter has updated its help document with information explaining why mysterious new tweets, in addition to sponsored tweets and ads, now show up in your timeline alongside the regular digest of tweets from accounts that you follow

Hopes of Prolonged Truce Fade as Gaza Conflict Reignites

Fighting continued into Wednesday after rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel, which retaliated with renewed airstrikes; the trade in firepower led to the collapse of talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Cairo

Perry Booked in Politically Charged Abuse-of-Power Case

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has vowed to contest the two felony charges stemming from a threat and ultimate veto of funding to the state’s public integrity unit, surrendered himself to sheriff’s deputies to be fingerprinted and have his mug shot taken

Aid Group Slams Global Response to Ebola Outbreak

Brice de le Vingne, operations director of MSF, has slammed the world’s “lack of willingness and professionalism” to tackle Ebola in West Africa: “We have been screaming for months. Now the situation is even worse,” he says; the World Health Organization reports more than 1,200 people have died

Flash Floods Wreak Havoc in Arizona

Fast and furious rainfall in the Phoenix area damaged houses, left nearly 3,000 homes without power, stranded drivers and forced at least one airborne rescue. The normally arid state experienced up to two inches of rain in the span of an hour

The Real Wolf of Wall Street Is Co-Writing a TV Show

Jordan Belfort, now a motivational speaker and author, is co-writing a show with Rush Hour director Brett Ratner and Australian billionaire James Packer. The upcoming series will be based on the excesses of Wall Street in the 1980s

Hacking Traffic Lights Is Apparently Really Easy

Security researchers at the University of Michigan reveal vulnerabilities in crucial roadway infrastructure, which make traffic control systems susceptible to a system-wide attack that would have been impossible in a precomputerized era

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