The 10 Most Important Things In The World Right Now
1. President Barack Obama said the U.S. is "prepared to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza," the BBC reports. Israel's Gaza offensive, Operation Protective Edge, is now in its fourth day as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to step up naval and air strikes on Hamas-controlled territories.
2. The CIA station chief in Berlin was asked to leave Germany following the exposure of two German officials suspected of spying for the U.S.
3. A Mississippi toddler who was thought to have been cured of HIV with an aggressive drug treatment at birth now shows signs of the virus in her blood, health officials said Thursday. The news is a major blow to to hopes for developing treatments that prevent AIDS.
4. Reports that the parent company of the second-largest bank in the country, Banco Espirito Santo, was struggling to make debt payments sent markets tumbling. "The event has hit European financials like a torpedo and has revived investors' darkest nightmares about Europe, Peter Garnry, the head of equity strategy a Saxo Bank, told The Times.
5. Amazon has asked the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for permission to start testing its drones for delivering packages to customers at rapid speed. The FAA currently bans the use of unmanned aircraft for commercial purposes.
6. CNBC's host of "The Profit," Marcus Lemonis, and a group of investors said they have plans to revive Crumbs Bake Shop. The announcement comes less than a week after the ailing cupcake chain said it was closing all of its shops nationwide due to financial troubles.
7. The Obama administration said that U.S. border control agencies would run out money by August or September if congress did not pass a $3.7 billion funding request.
9. China's central bank is investigating a state media report alleging that the Bank of China helped clients launder money to overseas accounts. The media outlet claims that the bank "circumvented the rules by helping customers transfer unlimited amounts of yuan overseas," says Bloomberg, even though the country's "foreign-exchange rules cap the maximum amount of yuan that individuals are allowed to convert into other currencies at $50,000 each year and ban them from transferring yuan abroad directly."
10. Eight children and three others were killed in a school bus crash in China's southern Hunan province. The tragedy in rural China is "the latest in a string of traffic accidents that have fueled public anger over unsafe transport for school children," says Reuters.
And finally...
The world's tallest water slide called "Verruckt" (meaning "insane" in German) is now open for business at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City. Any takers?