10 things you need to know today: July 14, 2014

(Image credit: (Getty Images/Pool))

Jump to category:

1. Germany beats Argentina in World Cup final
2. Palestinians flee parts of Gaza
3. House judiciary chair says no impeachment for Obama
4. Samsung cuts off supplier over child labor allegations
5. Orbital launches its second cargo flight to ISS
6. North Korea fires two test missiles ahead of U.S.-South Korea drills
7. Pope Francis says 2 percent of priests are pedophiles
8. Libyan militias battle over Tripoli's airport
9. Conductor Lorin Maazel dies at 84
10. Christopher Walken tapped for NBC's Peter Pan

last updated 13 January 2015

1. Germany beats Argentina in World Cup final

Germany won the World Cup on Sunday, defeating Argentina 1-0 in the final with a goal in extra time. The game appeared headed for a penalty-kick shootout when Germany's Mario Götze caught a cross with his chest and volleyed the ball into the goal in the 113th minute of play. Thirty people were arrested in Buenos Aires when disappointed fans disrupted a celebration of the country's best showing since 1990, when it also lost to Germany in the finals.

About 17,000 Palestinians fled their homes in northern parts of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, entering makeshift shelters after Israel announced it was targeting the area to stop rocket attacks by Hamas militants. Israel sent troops to a suspected rocket-launching site in its first ground assault since it began air strikes began last week. The death toll from the offensive rose to at least 159 over the weekend, according to Gaza health officials.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said on Sunday that his committee, which handles impeachments, has no plan to go after President Obama, despite calls by former GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and other Republicans for Obama's impeachment. Goodlatte said the Constitution is clear on what merits impeachment, and Obama "has not committed the kind of criminal acts that call for that."

Samsung Electronics announced on Monday that it was suspending business with a Chinese supplier over its suspected use of child labor, the first time the world's largest smartphone maker had made such a move. A week earlier U.S.-based China Labor Watch had said it found at least five child workers working for the supplier without contracts, and called Samsung's monitoring of such practices "ineffective."

Orbital Sciences Corp. launched its second cargo flight to the International Space Station on Sunday. Orbital is one of two private contractors — along with Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX — hired by NASA to ferry supplies to the orbiting lab since the agency retired the space shuttle fleet in 2011. Orbital has an eight-flight, $1.9 billion contract. This launch was delayed by more than a month after an engine on its Antares rocket failed a test.

North Korea fired 100 rockets and artillery shells into the sea near its border with South Korea on Monday in an apparent display of anger over looming joint military exercises between South Korea and the U.S. Pyongyang also condemned the annual five-day drills, scheduled to start July 16, and called the arrival of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington in South Korea a "reckless" provocation.

Pope Francis has said that "about 2 percent" of Catholic clergy are pedophiles, according to Italy's La Repubblica newspaper. The pontiff, likening sexual abuse against children to "leprosy" within the Church, promised to confront the problem "with the severity it demands." A Vatican spokesman raised questions about the accuracy of the 2-percent quote, but said the article "captures the spirit of the conversation."

At least seven people were killed in fighting between rival militias seeking control of Libya's main airport on Sunday. All flights were canceled as explosions and anti-aircraft fire erupted on the airport road. It was the heaviest fighting in Tripoli, Libya's capital, in six months. Militias, which helped topple Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, have refused to put down their arms, challenging the government's authority.

Famed conductor Lorin Maazel died on Sunday at age 84 after suffering complications from pneumonia. He had been rehearsing for the Castleton Festival, an annual summer series he founded that takes place on his farm in Virginia. Maazel, once a child prodigy, was known for his high energy, and passion for precision over his 72 years at the podium, which included seven years as head of the New York Philharmonic.

Explore More

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.