10 things you need to know today: August 6, 2016

1. Rio Olympics kick off with a flamboyant Opening Ceremony after early setbacks

The Rio Olympics are here, launching Friday night with a colorful Opening Ceremony featuring fireworks, samba dancers, Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, a bicycle parade, and much more. Perhaps in a nod to the many risks and controversies surrounding the Games, actors Fernanda Montenegro and Judi Dench read a 1945 poem declaring, "It's still a time of feces, bad poems, hallucinations, and waiting." Though Friday's festivities went smoothly, there have already been early setbacks for the Games: The International Olympic Committee banned a third of Russia's athletes due to a widespread doping scandal; Rio officials had to literally cut a gate open Wednesday at the Maracana Stadium after losing the keys; and American interest in this year's Games is at a record low.

CNN The Baltimore Sun

2. Donald Trump finally endorses Paul Ryan, senators after a week's delay

Republican nominee Donald Trump finally endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan at a rally in Ryan's home state of Wisconsin Friday night. Trump also endorsed Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), saying as president he will need "a Republican Senate and a House to accomplish all of the changes that we have to make." Earlier this week, Trump criticized all three high-profile lawmakers, suggesting he felt no obligation to endorse despite leading their party. Meanwhile, Ryan said earlier on Friday his endorsement of Trump is not "a blank check" and "of course" he would take it back should Trump cross an unstated line.

Subscribe to The Week

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

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

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

Sign up

Reuters Politico

3. 13 dead after birthday cake candles set French bar on fire

At least 13 people were killed and six more injured in a fire at a basement bar in Rouen, France, Friday night. Eyewitness accounts say the blaze at Cuba Libre bar began accidentally, reported Laurent Labadie of the local prosecutor's office. "There was no explosion," Labadie said. "Candles on a birthday cake started the fire after the person who carried it tripped on the stairs leading to the basement." Sound insulation materials on the basement walls burned very rapidly, leaving party-goers little time to escape. The identities and ages of the victims are currently unknown.

Associated Press Reuters

4. Chicago police release fragmented video of the death of unarmed teen Paul O'Neal

On Friday, the Chicago Police Department released footage of the killing of Paul O'Neal, an unarmed African-American teenager who was fatally shot by police during and after an attempted escape with a stolen vehicle. The video has immediately raised controversy as it does not include the exact moment of the 18-year-old's death on July 28. Police insist the footage gap occurred because an officer's body camera was not recording, but critics suspicious of what they believe to be a convenient error have called for a special prosecutor to investigate the case.

Reuters NBC News

5. Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump across all four regions of the U.S.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows Hillary Clinton's lead over Donald Trump widening after the Republican nominee's tumultuous week, which saw him attack a Gold Star family and temporarily refuse to endorse key Republicans facing primary races, like House Speaker Paul Ryan. Clinton's national lead over Trump swelled to nine points, with her earning 47 percent to his 38 percent in a head-to-head match-up. More ominous for Trump, however, was Clinton's domination across the map: She led across all four major regions of the country — Northeast, Midwest, South, and West — in the poll, including a notable 3 percent lead in the South.

The Wall Street Journal Twitter

6. U.S. economy smashes expectations, adds 255,000 jobs in July

The U.S. economy added 255,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department reported Friday, smashing economists' expectations of a gain of about 180,000. Also, June's gains were upgraded to 292,000 from 287,000, and May's dismal 11,000-job gain was upped to 24,000. Wages also rose. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9 percent.

MarketWatch

7. Key Syrian city of Manbij almost reclaimed from ISIS

The Islamic State is nearly entirely ousted from Manbij, a strategically important town in Syria, according to a new report from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Syria Democratic Forces, an alliance between Kurdish and Arab fighters, has fought for two months to drive ISIS militants from the city of 100,000, which is located near Syria's northern border with Turkey and close to the Syrian regional capital of Aleppo. ISIS has dominated Manbij for about two years, but the U.S.-backed forces now have "almost complete control."

Reuters CNN

8. Chinese air force flies 'combat patrol' over disputed islands

China announced Saturday its air force has conducted a "combat patrol" flight over contested islands in the South China Sea as a training exercise. This move challenges the decision of an arbitration court at The Hague in July which held that China does not have historic rights to the ocean territory. The Scarborough Shoal, which sparked that suit, is just 124 miles from the Philippines and is claimed by both countries. Another set of small islands, the Spratlys, are claimed by China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Associated Press Reuters

9. Opposition makes historic strides in South Africa elections

Nelson Mandela's African National Congress party has handily won every election in South Africa since 1994, when Mandela led his country out of apartheid. That all changed in local elections Thursday, when the ANC got a mere 54 percent nationally and suffered huge declines in some urban areas. For the first time, the ANC lost control of a majority-black city in Nelson Mandela Bay, and no party is expected to snag an outright win in Johannesburg, South Africa's largest city, or Pretoria, its capital. The ANC has struggled with corruption and incompetence since the end of Mandela's single term as president in 1999, while the opposition Democratic Alliance has worked hard to shed its image as a racially discriminatory party. The DA pulled in 26 percent of the vote this week.

News24 BBC

10. Scientists discover new species of whale

Scientists have discovered a new species of whale that has somehow remained incognito for the past 50 million years. The whale, informally named Karasu, has been the Bigfoot of the sea since a crew of Japanese whalers in the Nemuro Strait 70 years ago reported a fleet of whales that resembled smaller, darker versions of Baird's whale — hence the name Karasu, which translates to "raven" in Japanese. The whale resurfaced (literally) last June on a beach on the Pribilof Islands in Alaska's Bering Sea; a local biologist spotted the remains and called in a team of experts who handed it over to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Southwest Fisheries' Science Center.

National Geographic Time