The 10 Most Important Things In The World Right Now

DINA SPECTOR

AUG. 18, 2014

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Barack Obama and his daughter Malia board Air Force One as he leaves his Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts vacation to return to Washington August 17, 2014

Welcome back from the weekend! It’s chilly in London but it’s all sunshine in New York. And now, here’s what people will be chatting about on Monday. 

1. Riots in Ferguson, Missouri, have reached a new level of violence after police imposed a curfew.The chaos began five nights ago after an officer shot and killed an unarmed teenager. The results of a preliminary autopsy report released by The New York Times shows that 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot at least six times.

2. Iraqi Kurdish fighters with the help of U.S. forces made a big push Sunday night to take back Mosul dam from IS militants. Barack Obama said he supports strikes on the country’s largest dam as a measure to ensure the Iraqi government can continue to provide “critical services” to civilians. 

3. Ten tourists swam more than six hours to a nearby island after their boat sank off Indonesia. Others made it to safety on a lifeboat. Two of the 25 passengers are still missing. 

4. Thirty-five people, including young children, were found inside a shipping container that landed at a dockyard in England. The stowaways were Sikhs from Afghanistan, police said. An investigation is underway after one man died. 

5. There is exactly one month to go until Scotland votes in the independence referendum. On that day, voters in Scotland over the age of 16 will answer one “yes” or “no” question: Should Scotland be an independent country?

6. German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with Ukrainian, Russian, and French officials in Berlin on Sunday to discuss bringing an end to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.The foreign minister said the talks were difficult but some progress had been made, the BBC reports. 

7. U.S. banks are thinking about moving their business to Ireland if the U.K. leaves the European Union. The Financial Times reports: “Ireland’s attractions for US banks include its low corporate tax rate, English speaking population, English-style legal system and eurozone membership.”

8. “The Ice Bucket Challenge” has raised more than $13 million for ALS since July 29, The New York Times reports. In the challenge, a person dumps a bucket of ice water on their head, posts the video to Facebook or Instagram, and then challenges three others to do the same. Bill Gates did it and you should too. 

9. China said Monday that Mercedes-Benz was found guilty of price manipulation, Xinhua news agency reports, according to Reuters. The carmaker was being investigated for using its “leading position to control the prices of its spare parts, repair and maintenance services,” an anti-trust regulator told Xinhua.

10. President Barack Obama cut his vacation to Martha’s Vineyard short and returned to Washington early Monday to discuss the situations in Iraq and Ferguson, Missouri. “Part of the decision to head back to Washington appears aimed at countering criticism that Obama is spending two weeks on a resort island in the midst of so many foreign and domestic crises,” the Associated Press said. 

And finally…

According to new research published Sunday, a drug tested on five men and seven women showed promising results for reversing the effects of baldness associated with the autoimmune disease alopecia.