10 things you need to know today: July 12, 2015

Eurozone finance ministers at impasse, Mexican drug lord escapes from prison, and more

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman
(Image credit: Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press)

1. Eurozone finance ministers at impasse over Greece

Eurozone finance ministers have not reached a decision about whether to keep Greece on the currency in meetings this weekend, The New York Times reports. The leaders missed their midnight deadline, and talks continued into Monday morning. A European Union summit involving all 28 countries has been cancelled. Greece submitted a bailout proposal Thursday after the public voted a week ago to reject the last deal from creditors.

2. Diplomats say Iran nuclear deal announcement planned for Monday

Negotiators plan to announce on Monday that a deal has been reached to curb Iran’s atomic program in return for the lifting of sanctions, two diplomats told The Associated Press Sunday. The latest round of talks has passed three deadlines so far. A senior U.S. official would not speculate on the timing of an agreement or announcement, and told AP that "major issues remain to be resolved."

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The Associated Press

3. Top Mexican drug lord 'El Chapo' escapes from prison

Top Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped from a maximum-security prison Saturday night. Authorities organized a manhunt near the prison, about 50 miles west of Mexico City. Guzman also notoriously escaped from prison in 2001, some say in a laundry cart. He was captured in February 2014 in his home state of Sinaloa, which is also the name of his international cartel, believed to control drug crossing points at the U.S.-Mexico border.

ABC News The Associated Press

4. Donald Trump underscores immigration comments at Phoenix rally

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has faced weeks of fallout for his comments about Mexican immigrants and requests from his own party to back off. But that didn't stop him from repeating the sentiments in a Phoenix rally Saturday. "I love the Mexican people," he said to a crowd of 4,000, but added: "They're taking our manufacturing jobs. They're taking our money. They're killing us."

Politico

5. Hillary Clinton's economic platform will revolve around raising middle-class income

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton is expected to outline her economic agenda in a speech Monday. Aides told The Wall Street Journal she's expected to call raising income for all Americans "the defining economic challenge of our time." Specifically, she'll harp on the importance of raising middle-class income in an effort to contrast herself with her Republican counterparts. "She firmly believes that yes, we have to grow, but we have to grow together,” a campaign official who previewed the speech told the Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

6. NAACP ends South Carolina boycott after Confederate flag comes down

The NAACP lifted a 15-year economic boycott of South Carolina at an annual meeting Saturday. The move came a day after South Carolina took down the flag, considered by many a racist symbol, from statehouse grounds. "The Confederate battle flag as a symbolic stain of racism has been dismissed from the state Capitol grounds and may now be deposited to a museum," said David Brooks, president and CEO of the civil rights group. "This flag should be studied and no longer honored."

BuzzFeed News

7. Boston Marathon bomber may face trial for cop murder charges

Convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev already faces the death penalty, but now a district attorney in Massachusetts wants him in court on state charges of, with his late brother Tamerlan, murdering MIT police officer Sean Collier after the bombing. Experts say it's unusual for someone to be tried on state charges once they're on federal death row. But prosecutors argue the severity of the crime merits a trial, which could also serve as an insurance policy should Tsarnaev successfully appeal his bombing conviction.

The Boston Globe

8. Car bomb kills 1 in attack on Egypt's Italian consulate

A car bomb destroyed part of the Italian consulate in Cairo on Saturday, killing one Egyptian. Reports say the bombing, which ISIS allegedly claimed responsibility for, could signal a coming escalation of attacks by militants against foreigners in the country. Eight people were wounded in the bombing on the historic building, which has housed the consulate since World War II.

Reuters Time

9. Cheers actor Roger Rees dies at 71

Welsh actor Roger Rees, who played Robin Colcord on Cheers, died Friday at age 71 after battling cancer, his representative said. Rees won a Tony Award for playing the title character of Charles Dickens' The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Aside from Cheers, his other TV credits include The West Wing, Elementary, and The Good Wife.

The Associated Press

10. Serena Williams beats Garbine Muguruza for 4th straight Grand Slam title

Top-seeded Serena Williams overcame a slow start to beat Garbine Muguruza 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday to earn her sixth Wimbledon title and fourth straight Grand Slam title. Williams also notched the third win in a quest to hold all four major championship titles in the same calendar year, a feat no one has managed since Steffi Graf in 1988.

The Associated Press

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Julie Kliegman

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.