10 things you need to know today: August 9, 2014

Iraq
(Image credit: (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Staff Sgt. Vernon Young Jr.))

1. Obama addresses Iraq airstrikes as ISIS advances

President Barack Obama used his weekly Saturday address to describe the United States' military airstrikes and humanitarian airdrops in Iraq. "The United States can't just look away," he said, when "countless innocent people are facing a massacre." Obama authorized the use of airstrikes against ISIS targets on Thursday, and the U.S. has since sent two rounds aimed at stopping the militants' march toward Erbil, Iraq's Kurdish capital. The Sunni insurgents have continued their advance, though, forcing thousands of Iraqis to flee into the nearby mountains, reliant on aid drops for fresh water and food.

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Sarah Eberspacher

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.