The 10 most important things in the world right now

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Russia world swimming

AP Photo/Denis Tyrin

Bronze medalist Artem Silchenko of Russia competes during the men's 27 meter high dive final at the Swimming World Championships in Kazan, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015.

Hello! Here's what you need to know for Friday.

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1. Hundreds of thousands of Russians are petitioning against President Vladimir Putin's decree to destroy food from the US, EU, Canada, Australia, and Norway, which took effect on Thursday and resulted in tons of Western cheese, pork, peaches, and tomatoes being bulldozed.

2. The 10 leading US Republican presidential candidates participated in the first presidential debate of the 2016 campaign Thursday night, hosted by Fox news.

3. France is widening its search for plane debris around Reunion island after a plane part that washed ashore last week on the French Indian Ocean island was identified as almost certainly being part of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

4. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi on Thursday celebrated the completion of the $8 billion (£5.1 billion) Suez Canal expansion, which will allow two-way traffic and reduce transit time by up to 7 hours.

5. Top US Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer has come out against the Iran nuclear deal, a blow to President Barack Obama that could lead other Democrats to follow in opposition.

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6. The United Nations Security Council is likely to vote on Friday on a resolution to identify those behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria, which the US and Russia agreed to back earlier this week.

7. North Korea is creating its own time zone, "Pyongyang time," and will move its clocks back 30 minutes effective August 15. North Korea is currently nine hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, in the same time zone as Japan and South Korea.

8. Wildfires in California have charred over 250 square miles of land over the last two months as the state suffers from the worst drought in 1,200 years.

9. After 16 years, Jon Stewart on Thursday evening hosted his last episode of "The Daily Show," and managed to raise more $2.2 million (£1.4 million) for autism.

10. DNA tests show that human skeletal remain found in the Alps last September belong to two Japanese climbers who vanished 45 years ago.

And finally ...

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