Good morning! Here's what people will be talking about on Wednesday.
1. The Israeli Defense Force hit at least 160 terror sites on the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip overnight.Operation Protective Edge continues into its second day to stop rocket fire from entering Israel. (Continue reading at The Jerusalem Post)
2. National Institutes of Health employees recently discovered old vials of the small pox virus in a storage room. The Centers for Disease Control, one of only two places around the globe allowed to house the smallpox virus, oversaw the destruction of the samples. (Continue reading at CNN)
3. Brazil suffered a crushing 7-1 loss to Germany in the World Cup semifinal match."I feel immensely for all of us. Supporters and for our soccer players," Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. "As all Brazilians, I am very, very sad with the defeat." (Read more at The Wall Street Journal)
4. U.S. prosecutors may still be building a case against Bernie Madoff's son, Andrew Madoff, for his involvement in a massive ponzi scheme."Speculation about whether the sons knew of their father's decades-long, worldwide fraud has persisted since its collapse," Reuters says. (Continue reading at Reuters)
5. Venezuela's soaring inflation has caused profits to vanish for many foreign companies. (Continue reading at The New York Times) The move will hurt Mexicans most, as cash transfers to Mexico are the largest portion of remittances.
6. UK Climate experts says two million households don't realize they're living on floodplains, while tens of thousands of other homes are still being built on floodplains. These homes are at risk of serious flooding, considered one of the greatest threats climate change. (Continue read at The Telegraph).
7. NASA and Boeing have signed a $2.8 billion deal to build the largest and most powerful rocket ever. The Space Launch System should pave the way to send humans to mars. (Read more at The Hindu)
8. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a speech that Iran needs to enrich more uranium. Khamenei says this is necessary in order to meet the country's long-term energy needs. (Continue reading at The Guardian).
9. Early results from the Indonesian presidential election shows that Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, the governor of Jakarta, is in the lead with 52% of the vote. The official results will be announced in two weeks when all the votes are counted. (Continue reading at The Associated Press)
10.J.K Rowling published a new story on her Pottermore website, giving fans the first update of what happens to the Harry Potter characters since the last book was published in 2007. Rowling still maintains she has no plans to write another novel. (Continue reading at Vox).
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