10 things you need to know today: August 13, 2012

The Spice Girls perform during the closing ceremony of the London Olympics.

(Image credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

1. EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT FORCES OUT MILITARY CHIEFS

On Sunday, Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi ousted the country's top two military chiefs — Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the defense minister and top military chief, and his deputy, army Chief of Staff Sami Anan — in what is seen as a bold move to wrest power from the armed forces and isolate key holdovers from imprisoned former leader Hosni Mubarak's regime. Morsi then appointed Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sissi as defense minister and commander of the armed forces. The president also announced that he had suspended a constitutional amendment the generals had passed on the eve of Morsi's election giving themselves vast powers and weakening the presidency. Morsi ran for the presidency as a candidate for the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group, which now, with these sweeping changes, has "full control of state institutions," says Zeinab Abul-Magd, a history professor at the American University in Cairo. [Washington Post]

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In an arguably hipster take on the closing ceremony tradition, the London Olympics wrapped up with an anything-but-fusty tribute to Britain's pop music, one of the nation's most influential exports. With the field of Olympic Stadium transformed into a gigantic Union Jack, musical acts arrived by car, motorcycle, taxi, semi-trailer, and — in the case of Freddie Mercury and John Lennon — video transmissions from the past. From millennial acts like Jessie J. and One Direction to more established artists such as Annie Lennox and the (reunited) Spice Girls, "Britain bid a lyrical farewell to the Olympics... with a bit of self-deprecation, an exhibition of national pride, and a genuine desire to show the world a good time." [Chicago Tribune]

As Mitt Romney continues a bus tour in Florida, his newly tapped vice presidential contender Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will be meeting voters Monday at the Iowa State Fair — just as President Obama begins his own bus tour there. Ryan's first solo campaign event "may help determine whether conservative excitement for the Wisconsin congressman — and his controversial budget plans — will overshadow Romney's own economic message," which Democrats are hoping for. [Associated Press]

Members of Iran's parliament who represent areas affected by two large earthquakes in the northwest of the country, which killed some 300 people and injured thousands on Saturday, are complaining about the lackluster disaster relief the government has provided. Lawmakers said that not enough tents were provided to those affected, and residents were skeptical after search and rescue operations were called off less than 24 hours after the quakes, with villagers expressing disbelief that authorities could have reached some of the most remote affected villages in that span of time. [Reuters]

A new study in the journal Pediatrics finds that children gained less weight in fifth through eighth grades if they lived in states with strong, consistent laws — versus no laws — governing the kinds of snacks available in schools. The study isn't proof that the laws influenced kids' weight, but obesity researchers are optimistic that such laws are "likely to have an impact." Laws about snacks in schools have caused heated debate about what some call "a nanny state" in which the government has too much say about people's personal choices. [Associated Press]

In an upcoming report to be published in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers suggest that parasites — like tapeworms, which cause malaria and funguses — could become more virulent because of climate change. In the experiment, the scientists exposed Cuban tree frogs in 80 laboratory incubators to varying temperatures and infections of a fungus. They found that frogs suffer more infections from a fungus when exposed to unexpected swings in temperatures. The larger implication is that global warming could eventually worsen human suffering by spreading the range of some diseases. [Reuters]

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