10 things you need to know today: July 7, 2015

(Image credit: Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)

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1. European leaders set to meet over Greece
2. Bill Cosby admitted in 2005 to obtaining drugs to give to women he wanted to have sex with
3. South Carolina Senate will likely vote to remove Confederate flag from statehouse grounds
4. Greece swears in new finance minister
5. World powers, Iran hit deadline in nuclear deal
6. Boston Marathon bomber files for a new trial
7. Obama says fighting ISIS will be a 'generational struggle'
8. 1 dead, 4 injured after ice caves collapse in Washington
9. World Boxing Organization strips Floyd Mayweather of welterweight belt
10. Women's World Cup finals set a ratings record in the U.S.

published 7 July 2015

1. European leaders set to meet over Greece

Eurozone leaders gathered in Brussels on Tuesday to decide how to respond to a Greek referendum that overwhelmingly rejected austerity on Sunday. With the country's banks expected to run out of cash over the next few days, there are signs the Greek government is preparing a more conciliatory bailout proposal. European leaders are reportedly divided, with Germany advocating a hardline approach to Greece's debt and France pushing for reconciliation.

In a previously sealed document from a 2005 deposition, comedian Bill Cosby admitted to acquiring Quaaludes, which he said he intended to give to younger women he wanted to have sex with. The admission came under oath, as part of a lawsuit filed by a former Temple University employee against Cosby, who has been accused of sexual assault by more than three dozen women. The Associated Press went to court in a successful petition for the release of the documents, which were publicly released Monday afternoon.

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The South Carolina Senate is expected to vote Tuesday to remove the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds. The bill passed a preliminary vote 37-3 Monday. It'll then go to the House, where it would need to pass with a two-thirds majority before Gov. Nikki Haley (R) can sign. South Carolinians pushed for removal of the flag, considered by many to be a racist symbol, after a white gunman killed nine African-Americans in a historically black Charleston church last month.

Euclid Tsakalotos was sworn in as Greece's finance minister Monday after the previous officeholder, Yanis Varoufakis, abruptly resigned earlier that morning. Tsakalotos was Greece's chief negotiator with creditors and is said to be adept at the finer points of eurozone etiquette. That's a departure from Varoufakis, who said when resigning, "I shall wear the creditors' loathing with pride." Greece overwhelmingly voted Sunday to reject a bailout deal with its creditors, handing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras a decisive victory and strengthening his position in negotiations.

Tuesday marks a self-imposed deadline for an agreement between Iran and world powers that would see the country curbing its nuclear program in exchange for a lifting of economic sanctions. There are still a few sticking points in the Vienna negotiations, officials said Monday, like Iran pushing for sanctions to be lifted on its ballistic missile program. Negotiators already missed a June 30 deadline for the deal, which has been in the works for more than a year.

Less than two weeks after Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was formally sentenced to death for his role in the April 2013 bombing, he filed a preliminary motion for a new trial. Tsarnaev's lawyers are requesting a new trial for both his conviction and death sentence, saying it is required "in the interests of justice." The motion is considered a placeholder for a more detailed one his lawyers will file next month, before Tsarnaev's post-trial action deadline of August 17.

President Obama said Monday the fight against the Islamic State is going to be a "generational struggle" that ultimately won't be "won or lost by the United States alone," but rather the "countries and communities that terrorists like [ISIS] target." Obama spoke at the Pentagon following a briefing on the U.S. campaign against ISIS. "Ideologies are not defeated by guns. They're defeated with better ideas — a more attractive and more compelling vision."

One person was killed and four others were injured after ice caves in Washington's Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest partially collapsed on Monday. It was the second day in a row the ice caves collapsed. No one was hurt during Sunday’s incident. Authorities say the caves are dangerous, especially when temperatures rise. Washington is experiencing a heat wave, and on Monday, temperatures in the area reached 80 degrees.

The World Boxing Organization stripped Floyd Mayweather of the welterweight world title he won after defeating Manny Pacquiao in May because he missed a deadline to pay a $200,000 sanctioning fee. The WBO requires that boxers pay 3 percent of their purse to fight for a world title, up to a maximum of $200,000. Mayweather earned a reported $220 million from the fight. The WBO is expected to name American Timothy Bradley, who beat fellow American Jessie Vargas for the WBO interim welterweight belt on June 27, the new champion.

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.