The 10 Most Important Things In The World Right Now

DINA SPECTOR

AUG. 15, 2014

REUTERS/Ahmed Saad

People hold a portrait of Nuri al-Maliki and signs as they gather in support of him in Baghdad August 13, 2014.

Hello! Here’s what people will be chatting about on Friday. 

1. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has agreed to step down from his post on Thursday, making way for potential successor Haider al-Abadi. The resignation marks the end of Maliki’s eight-year rule. 

2. The World Health Organization said the number of deaths and reported cases from the Ebola outbreak “vastly underestimates” the scale of the crisis. “The outbreak is expected to continue for some time,” WHO said in a statement. 

3. The situation in Ferguson, Missouri — the site of riots for last five days after the fatal shooting on an unarmed teen by an officer — appears to have turned around overnight. A photo of Police Chief Sam Dotson taking a selfie with a demonstrator is going viral on Twitter. 

4. Pope Francis held the first public mass in South Korea on Friday during the second day of his 5-day visit to the country. The first papal visit to the country in 25 years shows the growing influence of Catholicism in the region. 

5. A Russian aid convoy of nearly 300 trucks carrying food, generators, and other supplies, is stuck at the Ukraine border as the two governments argue over proper crossing procedures. The Ukraine government thinks the convoy “could be a cover for a Russian military incursion,” Reuters said, though Moscow denies the claims. 

6. A separate fleet of Russian military trucks did cross the Ukraine border Thursday night, the Telegraph reports. “The convoy, which included at least 23 vehicles, appeared to be waiting until sunset near a refugee camp just outside Donetsk, before moving towards the crossing without turning off headlights or making any other attempt to conceal itself,” the website said. 

7. Robin Williams’ wife revealed on Thursday that the late actor was in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. Williams committed suicide in his California home at age 63. 

8. Louis Suárez can’t play in an official game for Barcelona until October, a court said Thursday. The ruling upholds the Uruguayan striker’s 4-month-ban from soccer after biting an opponent in the World Cup. 

9. Coca-Cola is buying a 17% stake in Monster beverage at a cost of $2.15 billion. Here’s the full statement from Coke. 

10. Harvard scientists have found a way to make more than 1,000 tiny robots work together without a guiding central intelligence. “The beauty of biological systems is that they are elegantly simple and yet, in large numbers, accomplish the seemingly impossible,” Harvard computer scientist Radhika Nagpal told The Wall Street Journal. 

And finally…

Whoops! A promo picture for Downtown Abbey features a major blooper: A plastic water bottle can be seen on the mantelpiece in the background of the show’s characters. The drama is set in the early 1920s, before the water-filled plastic bottles we know today made their entrance. A fan first pointed it out and now it’s an internet sensation. 

@downtonabbey/PA

Downton Abbey promotional picture with a water bottle in the background