NEWS   FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2015   NEWS

Ted Cruz On Gov’t Shutdown: Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid Are ‘De Facto’ Leaders Of Congress
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz cued up the GOP’s opening bid Thursday to avert a government shutdown by accusing his own party’s leaders of surrendering before the fight, saying they’ve allowed President Obama and his Democratic allies to pull the strings in Washington despite a “tidal wave” of Republican success in the 2014 mid-terms. Mr. Cruz, Texas Republican and 2016 presidential contender, accused Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John A. Boehner of assuming that Democratic leaders, like the “Terminator,” will never stop and never blink. In essence, he said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Reid are still the “de facto” leaders of Congress, even though the GOP retook the Congress one year after he pushed a failed bid to defund Obamacare as part of a 2013 spending showdown, leading to a 16-day government shutdown. Washington Times
VOA VIEW: McConnell nd Boehner are weak Republican leaders.

For Some, "Big Time Net Loss" After Attending Trump University
At a speech in South Carolina Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump brought up one of his former ventures: Trump University. It's been the subject of increased scrutiny ever since New York's attorney general sued Trump in 2013, saying the school was a scam. While a number of students said they were satisfied with the value of their Trump University investment, 150 filed affidavits with an attorney general, and two class-action lawsuits were filed by students demanding their money back. The lawsuits are still ongoing and just last week, a judge decertified part of one class-action suit relating to Trump University, handing Trump a partial victory. CBS

FBI Arrests Chinese Millionaire Once Tied To Clinton $$ Scandal
The FBI has arrested a politically prominent Chinese millionaire, the alleged secret source of foreign money in a campaign finance scandal during the Clinton administration, on charges he lied about why he brought more than $4.5 million in cash into the United States over the last two years. Ng Lap Seng was arrested in New York last weekend by FBI agents working with federal prosecutors assigned to the public corruption squad in the Southern District of New York, according to federal authorities. His arrest came on the same day the Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Seattle for a state visit to the United States. ABC

Oh Canada! Four In 10 Americans Want Wall On Northern Border
Failed Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker may feel some vindication in this number: 41 percent of Americans say that if a wall is built along the Mexican border, one should also be erected on the Canadian one. And yes, the same percentage favors a wall erected along the nation's southern border. Read the questions and methodology here. The latest Bloomberg Politics poll also shows that immigration, a flashpoint in the 2016 presidential campaign thanks in large point to the incendiary rhetoric of Republican front-runner Donald Trump, is an issue that stirs strong emotions among Americans, some of them contradictory. While four in ten Americans favor border walls, overwhelming majorities also express positive feelings about immigration: 80 percent agree the U.S. economy has thrived historically because of new arrivals and 70 percent expressed approval for the efforts of Pope Francis to encourage nations to be more welcoming of immigrants. Bloomberg

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Obama’s Personal Ties With Xi Yield Mixed Policy Results
President Barack Obama has invested more time building personal ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping than with most other world leaders. But as Xi arrives in Washington late Thursday for a state visit, it's clear that Obama's overtures have produced decidedly mixed results. During intimate walks and hours of private discussions around the world, Obama and Xi forged a historic breakthrough to combat climate change and collaborated on efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program. But there's been little progress on a pair of vexing security issues that will be at the forefront of their latest round of discussions: China's cyberspying in the U.S. and its disputed territorial claims in the Asian Pacific. Las Vegas Sun

U.S. Business Spending Slips, New Home Sales Rise In August
U.S. business investment fell slightly in August, excluding spending on aircraft and defense equipment, but new home sales rose, suggesting that global economic headwinds were doing little to impede U.S. growth. The U.S. economy is on track to grow 1.4 percent in the third quarter, the Atlanta Federal Reserve's GDPNow forecast model showed on Thursday. The Commerce Department said capital goods orders excluding military wares and aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, dropped 0.2 percent last month, a slightly bigger fall than analysts polled by Reuters had expected. However, August's decline followed a gain in July that was the largest in over a year and which had boosted optimism that many American companies were unfazed by weak overseas markets. Reuters

U.S. Insurance Mega Mergers Could Hurt Care
The American Psychiatric Association warned U.S. antitrust regulators this month that two proposed health insurance deals could worsen access to mental health care services, adding to public opposition from several prominent doctors groups. Anthem Inc would become the largest U.S. health insurer through a proposed $47 billion acquisition of Cigna Corp, announced in late July. Earlier that month, Aetna Inc said it would buy Humana Inc and become the largest provider of Medicare plans for older people. The American Medical Association, the American Hospital Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians have already appealed to regulators to look at the possible impact on competition. Antitrust concerns have kept investors and other experts skeptical about the likelihood the deals will make it past the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust reviews. Reuters

NOAA: Hurricane Drought Hits Record 119 Months
As of today, no major hurricanes, defined as Category 3 or above, have struck the continental U.S. in a record-breaking 119 months, according to hurricane data kept by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Hurricane Research Division (HRC) dating back to 1851. Last year, President Obama warned that hurricanes will become “more common and more devastating” because of climate change. But Obama is now the longest serving president (since the 1851 start of NOAA's data) not to see a major hurricane strike the U.S. during his time in office. He is also the first president since Benjamin Harris was in office 122 years ago to have no major hurricane strike during his term. The last major hurricane to make landfall on the U.S. mainland was Hurricane Wilma, which came ashore on October 24, 2005. CNS News
VOA VIEW: Obama continues his off predictions.

U.S. Army Orders More Body Armor From BAE Systems
The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a $45 million contract for the production of 90,000 lightweight torso and side armor units for soldiers, the company announced on Thursday. The armor plate inserts are designed to give soldiers protection while also decreasing their carrying load. The contract was awarded through the Soldier Protection System Vital Torso Protection program, which seeks to continue making armor lighter. Robert Monks, BAE Systems' director of Warfighter Protection Programs, is confident the armor will provide the protection and maneuverability infantry units need. UPI

Fiorina Hitches Iowa Chances To Untested Strategy
Walk into businessman Donald Trump's campaign office in West Des Moines, and there's usually an Iowan there asking for one of the presidential candidate's famous hats, or hoping to score enough T-shirts to outfit the whole family with "Make A
merica Great Again" slogans. Campaign aides for Trump, the front-runner in the GOP race in Iowa, have a stack of thousands of "caucus cards" with names and addresses of Iowa voters that they're typing into a database to use for their get-out-the-vote push for the first-in-the-nation presidential vote on Feb. 1. In some Iowans' eyes, businesswoman Carly Fiorina bested Trump in the recent prime-time GOP debate. But when they try to leverage their excitement for her into helping her cause in the caucuses, they find she has no Iowa office and a skeleton campaign operation here. USA Today
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Afghanistan Vows To Stop 'Inhuman' Child Sex Abuse
The Afghan government said it has "undertaken serious measures" to prevent "abominable" child sexual abuse following a report alleging the practice was rife among the country's armed forces and militias. The New York Times reported that U.S. personnel stationed in the country had been instructed by their superiors not to intervene in sexual abuse of boys by Afghan police and militia chiefs. The paper said the practice of abusing young boys — known as "bacha bazi," which translates as "boy play" — has long been a problem in the country, particularly among the security forces. The Afghan presidential palace said in a statement Wednesday that the government had "undertaken serious measures to enforce the law and prevent this iniquitous, inhuman and irreligious act." MSNBC

Hundreds Attend World Meeting's Only Panel On Homosexuality
Searching their souls with visible pain and some discord, more than 750 attendees at the World Meeting of Families listened Thursday to a candid discussion on the collision of homosexuality and Catholic doctrine. They came to hear Ron Belgau, a celibate gay Catholic who teaches ethics at St. Louis University, and his mother, Beverley, who spoke intimately about the impact of her son's coming out at age 21 in 1992. Highlighting the challenges the church faces at a time of same-sex marriage, Ron Belgau quoted from an online post by a 17-year-old Catholic who recently realized he was gay. To the standing-room-only crowd at the Convention Center, Belgau read the words aloud: "The church has a lot to say about what I'm not supposed to do," the teen wrote. Philadelphia Inquirer

Pope Francis Talks To Congress, Visits New York
THE PUPILS OF an elementary school in East Harlem have been practicing singing "The Prayer of St. Francis" in anticipation of today's visit to their school by Pope Francis. It's a little tricky because the youngsters have to sing the song from memory. Not to worry, said Joanne Walsh, the principal of their school, Our Lady Queen of Angels: "They'll sing from their hearts." In Philadelphia, where Pope Francis will visit this weekend, efforts were made to avert a possible calamity when His Holiness uses the lectern from which Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address to speak at Independence Hall. Philadelphia Inquirer

Looks Like America Agrees With Ben Carson’s Anti-Muslim Stance
Ben Carson is a hell of a lot craftier than he looks. Still polling behind the slipping Donald Trump in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and closely eating surging Carly Fiorina’s exhaust in the latest CNN/ORC poll, the mealy-mouthed retired pediatric neurosurgeon, 64, has been reluctant to say boo to a goose — or to slam Trump for his demonstrably dumb claim that vaccines cause autism in children. So Carson lobbed the political equivalent of a Hail Mary pass in a cynical ploy to get himself noticed. And it seems to be working, big time. He lit into an issue that, fair or not, unites many Americans, not all of them Republicans: the belief that an adherent of the Islamic faith should not be elected president. NY Post
VOA VIEW: This slanted story is a perfect example of public distrust of the media.

Donald Trump Sets His Sights On Marco Rubio: He’s Just A ‘Kid’
Donald Trump belittled GOP presidential rival Marco Rubio as “a kid” on Thursday, boasting that he’s better versed on Syria than the Florida senator, who sits on both the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations committees. “I know more about Syria than Marco Rubio knows about Syria,” Trump said on CNN. “Marco Rubio .?.?. he’s like a kid. He shouldn’t even be running in this race, as far as I’m concerned. He’s a kid.” Trump, 69, who has mocked GOP rival Jeb Bush as “low energy” and Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton as “shrill,” called Rubio, 44, a legislative lightweight. NY Post

Rubio Proposes Employer Tax Credit For Paid Family Leave
Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio wants to give a tax break to employers who give their workers paid family leave. The Florida senator says he will introduce his plan Friday morning when he speaks before the Values Voter Summit in Washington. He is among several GOP presidential hopefuls scheduled to address the summit, an annual gathering of social conservatives. Under his proposal, Rubio would give businesses a 25 percent tax credit for providing at least four weeks of paid family leave. It would be limited to 12 weeks of leave and $4,000 per employee. Tampa Tribune

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Pope To Congress: Golden Rule Reminds Us Of Responsibility To Defend Life At Every Stage Of Development
In his speech to a joint session of Congress, Pope Francis cited the Golden Rule in telling the lawmakers that they have a responsibility to defend human life at all stages of development. The remarks received a sustained standing ovation in the chamber. “Let us remember the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’” the pope said. “This rule points us in a clear direction: Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated,” he said.  “Let’s us seek for others the same possibilities that we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow as we would like to be helped ourselves. CNS News

Obama, Hosting Xi, Plans Climate Change Announcement
President Obama hosted Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for a private dinner Thursday as they and their aides prepared for meetings designed to deal with cyber security and a new agreement to cooperate on combating climate change. Though Obama aides trumpeted a climate change deal to be announced Friday, Obama and Xi are   likely to have tense talks over allegations of cyber theft and a Chinese military buildup in the South Chinese Sea. The low-key dinner at Blair House, across the street from the White House, preceded Xi's official state visit  Friday. The presidents broke bread in the shadow of rising tensions between the United States and China. USA Today

Biden Hailed By Gay Rights Group, But Clinton Has Head Start
Not yet a presidential candidate, Vice President Joe Biden will have a prime perch to appeal to LGBT voters when he headlines a glitzy national gala. Yet it may be too late to win over influential gay Democrats already committed to Hillary Rodham Clinton should he join the 2016 Democratic contest. At the Human Rights Campaign's sold-out soirée Oct. 3 in Washington, it's Biden who will get top billing. In a way, Clinton will be his warm-up act; she'll speak to the group's board and staff in the morning, but won't be on stage for the star-studded dinner. Gay and lesbian voters and their allies represent a natural base of support for Biden, who won accolades from the community by backing gay marriage ahead of the 2012 election and became the highest elected official to support what was then a highly charged political issue. Houston Chronicle

Carly Fiorina Tops Hillary Clinton In Head-To-Head Matchup
Carly Fiorina tops Hillary Rodham Clinton in a head-to-head general election matchup, according to the latest Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday morning that also found the former Hewlett-Packard CEO easily outperformed GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump in last week’s debate. Still, Mr. Trump continues to lead the Republican pack with 25 percent support, followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 17 percent and Ms. Fiorina at 12 percent. Two Floridians, former Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, are next with 10 percent and 9 percent support, respectively. Washington Times
VOA VIEW: Carson went up as a result of his Muslim position.

Study Tests Success Rates Of Common Fertility Drugs
Betsy Kilmartin and her husband tried to conceive a child for nine months with no success. They saw a doctor to find out what could be causing the problem and found out there wasn't any specific biological cause -- it was what's considered unexplained infertility. "It's hard, you're on an emotional roller coaster," Kilmartin told CBS News. She used the drug clomiphene, or Clomid, to stimulate egg production and increase her chances of pregnancy. A new study shows the drug, which has become one of the standard treatments for unexplained infertility, may be the best option for couples like the Kilmartins. CBS

EPA To Change Diesel Tests To Thwart VW-Like Cheating
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans sweeping changes to the way it tests for diesel emissions after getting duped by clandestine software in Volkswagen cars for seven years. Chris Grundler, head of the EPA's office of transportation and air quality, indicated the agency would add on-road testing to its regimen. VW's sophisticated software allowed its cars to pass tests in the lab and then spew pollution into the atmosphere while on the highway. The revelations meant unwanted scrutiny for the EPA. Its testing procedures have been criticized for being predictable and outdated, making it relatively easy for VW to cheat. What's more, the EPA did not initially uncover the problem; researchers at West Virginia University did, using on-road testing. Houston Chronicle

Hungary Close To Completing Fence On Croatian Border
Hungary announced Friday that it has nearly completed a fence being built on the border with Croatia, as the central European nation takes another step to slam the door on the flow of migrants seeking refuge in other parts of Europe. Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said on state radio that Hungary doesn't want to close the border, but wants "to protect the border of the European Union." He said the possibility of legal entry would be left open. The prospect of another fence blocking the flow of migrants seeking refuge in northern Europe will insert more confusion intoan already chaotic situation in the Balkans. Some 59,000 asylum-seekers have entered Croatia since Hungary shut its border with Serbia Sept. 15. Atlanta Journa

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Will Volkswagen's Penalty Be High Enough?
By now, consumers around the world are familiar with the revelation this week that Volkswagen -- the largest automaker and one of the 15 largest companies in the world -- has admitted to orchestrating a massive, nearly decadelong deception involving the emissions of its so-called "clean diesel" cars. The facts are staggering: Volkswagen has confirmed that upward of 11 million vehicles worldwide were deliberately programmed to falsify their output of harmful pollutants under official test conditions. While many of these models were aggressively marketed as representing the perfect marriage of high performance and environmental responsibility, Volkswagen's customers are waking up to the news that they have been callously cheated on by the company they once trusted. CNN

Rubio Calls Trump 'Touchy And Insecure'
Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio jabbed billionaire businessman Donald Trump as "touchy and insecure" on Thursday, joining the chorus of Trump critics who have intensified pressure on the GOP front-runner in recent weeks. The Florida senator also challenged Trump's command of the issues during an interview with Kentucky Sports Radio, the most widely listened-to sports talk show in the state. Before Thursday, Rubio was among the few Republican White House hopefuls who largely avoided engaging with Trump. A day earlier, Trump had called Rubio a "lightweight" while campaigning in South Carolina and criticized his lack of foreign policy experience. The former reality television star has lashed out at several Republican rivals in a campaign consumed by personal attacks at times. ABC

Yellen Says Fed Still Expects To Increase Interest Rates In 2015
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the U.S. central bank is on track to raise interest rates this year, even as she acknowledged that economic “surprises” could lead them to change that plan. “I anticipate that it will likely be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate sometime later this year and to continue boosting short-term rates at a gradual pace thereafter as the labor market improves further and inflation moves back to our 2 percent objective,” she said during a speech Thursday in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her comments come a week after the Federal Open Market Committee left its benchmark federal funds target near zero, saying “recent global economic and financial developments” might dampen growth and inflation in the U.S. Concerns over a slowdown in China following a surprise Aug. 11 devaluation of the yuan triggered turmoil in financial markets and raised questions about the outlook for the global economy. Bloomberg

Pope Francis To Address U.N.’s Largest Gathering Of World Leaders
It will be the largest gathering of presidents and prime ministers ever at the United Nations. Some of them will assemble here under one roof for the first time in years, and their job will be to wrestle with global crises that they stubbornly disagree on, including climate change, the war in Syria, and a historic exodus of people fleeing conflict and hunger. But even before they start lecturing one another at the United Nations General Assembly this week, the leaders will come in for a heavy dose of moral flogging by an enormously popular leader known for taking swings at the global elite: Pope Francis. NY Times

European Stocks Rise Ahead Of VW Chief Exec Announcement
European shares rebounded Friday ahead of the announcement of a new CEO at scandal-tainted Volkswagen while also digesting the U.S. Federal Reserve chief's comment that an interest rate hike is likely this year. Asian stocks were mixed. KEEPING SCORE: France's CAC 40 added 2.9 percent in early trading to 4,473.43 and Germany's DAX rose 2.7 percent to 9,680.26. Britain's FTSE 100 added 2.3 percent to 6,096.30. U.S. shares were set to rise. S&P 500 futures gained 1.1 percent to 1,939.90. Dow futures were up 1.1 percent at 16,279.00. AUTO WOES: Jitters over the emissions-rigging scandal at Volkswagen AG appeared to ease amid anticipation that a new CEO might come out of a supervisory board meeting Friday. Martin Winterkorn quit as CEO earlier this week. Volkswagen shares were trading 1.4 percent higher, although it did not recoup all their losses from a nosedive after the scandal surfaced. Charlotte Obsever

Stem Cell Manufacturing Now Ready
As stem cell research continues to progress, the relatively new field of human induced pluripotent stem cells has emerged as a strong contender to provide needed therapies, without the ethical issues raised by using embryonic stem cells. But before people can receive therapies based on these cells, the exciting science must be translating to the more mundane but vital process of manufacturing. The cells must first be differentiated into the kind of cells needed for treatment. And the U.S. Food and Drug Administration must be satisfied the process is safe. The biotech company Lonza says it has accomplished that feat, providing an A to Z manufacturing process that can save time, money, and ensure safety. And Walkersville, MD – based Lonza is providing the information needed to do so free of charge. San Diego Union

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The Real Problem Of Phantom-Flushing Toilets
Sensor-operated toilets, sinks and urinals. You know them, you use them, and if you are a water-conscious Californian, you probably hate them. While consumers are busy investing in low-flow toilets and showerheads at home, malfunctioning automatic plumbing fixtures in offices, malls and other public buildings are busy wasting water. Toilets flush when we don’t need them to flush, and sinks keep running after we’ve left the room. The no-touch plumbing fixtures that were the answer to America’s germaphobe prayers now look like water-wasting villains of California’s nightmare drought scenario. “You can never be more water-efficient than with a manual flush. One person, one flush,” said John Koeller, principal at Maximum Performance Testing, a Yorba Linda-based water-efficiency company. San Diego Union

Tsipras Pledges To Lead Greece Out Of Crisis By 2019
Greece's newly re-elected prime minister is pledging to fast-track negotiations with the country's bailout creditors, with a view to bringing the country out of its debilitating financial crisis by 2019. Alexis Tsipras told his first Cabinet meeting Friday that by the end of his four-year mandate he also hopes to have extracted Greece from strict supervision by creditors. He said his first, urgent priority will be to launch talks on reducing the country's crippling debt burden and boost the country's battered banking system. Tsipras, 41, heads a left-led coalition following last Sunday's election. Kansas CIty Star

Taser Death In Miami Beach Leads To New Policy And Stun Guns
More than two years after a teenage graffiti artist lost a foot race with police, was stunned by a Taser and then died of heart failure, Miami Beach has purchased new and more “advanced” weapons and changed the rules of how the electronic device is deployed. Officers can no longer aim a Taser at the chest area of a suspect, can’t fire if there is no immediate threat or if a suspect is handcuffed, and can’t intimidate or control a crowd with the weapon. If a subject isn’t subdued after three firings, the shooting must stop. The changes come after the death of graffiti artist Israel “Reefa” Hernandez Llach, a series of embarrassing and potentially deadly incidents in Miami Beach that made international headlines, and a review of policing policies by Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement research institute that makes policy recommendations. Miami Herald

China Plans To Launch National Cap-And-Trade System
China is preparing to announce plans to launch a national system to limit greenhouse gases and force industries to purchase pollution credits, Obama administration officials said Thursday. Beijing plans to put the system known as cap-and-trade into place in 2017 as part of measures aimed to address climate change in cooperation with the U.S. and others. A joint statement to be released following Friday's summit between President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping aims to flesh out how their two countries plan to achieve targets for cutting emissions set at a bilateral summit in Beijing last year. SF Gate

Surrender: San Fran's Iconic, Last Gun Shop To Close Over New Regulations
The gun shop has stood in San Francisco's Mission District since the 1950s, but Steven Alcairo, (r.), said it is shutting down. Ever since it was opened in the 1950s by a celebrated Olympic shooter, High Bridge Arms has been a defiant fixture in San Francisco's Mission District, but a coming wave of new firearms restrictions has prompted the last gun shop in the liberal City by the Bay to pack it in. The proposed new city regulations, which could only be aimed at High Bridge Arms, would have required the shop to take and preserve video of all transactions and turn customers' personal data over to police on a weekly basis. General Manager Steven Alcairo said the shop's owners finally threw in the towel after years of what they consider being unfairly targeted with burdensome rules and regulations. Past regulations have required the shop to bar ads and displays from its windows and install cameras and barriers around its exterior. Fox News
VOA VIEW: San Francisco is a city of twisted liberal officials.

Obama To Meet With Putin At UN Next Week
President Obama plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week at the United Nations, a conversation likely to cover Syria and Ukraine -- and their first face-to-face encounter in nearly a year amid strongly troubled relations between the two nations. Putin is to speak Monday at the U.N. General Assembly. The Kremlin says their meeting will take place on the sidelines, though it was unclear whether it would come before or after the speech. The White House confirmed the meeting, saying it was at Putin's request, and indicated it would be used to address Russia's involvement in both Ukraine and Syria. Fox News

How Strong Is The Science Behind The U.S. Dietary Guidelines?
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans influence nearly every aspect of how we eat, from the information on food labels to the ingredients in school lunches to the nutrition advice doctors give. They're updated every five years, and new guidelines are expected this fall, after a report from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. The committee's leader has emphasized the importance of including only the best medical evidence and said all committee members are vetted. But an article published Wednesday in the British Medical Journal said the report used to set the guidelines might be biased and could come from an incomplete survey of the current research. CNN

Horrific Stampede At Hajj In Saudi Arabia Kills 717 Pilgrims
A horrific stampede killed at least 717 pilgrims and injured hundreds more Thursday on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the deadliest tragedy to strike the annual hajj pilgrimage in more than two decades. At least 863 pilgrims were injured in the crush, said the Saudi civil defense directorate, which provided the death toll. The tragedy struck as Muslims around the world marked the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday. It was the second major disaster during this year's hajj season, raising questions about the adequacy of measures put in place by Saudi authorities to ensure the safety of the roughly 2 million Muslims taking part in the pilgrimage. A crane collapse in Mecca nearly two weeks earlier left 111 people dead. Las Vegas Sun

Student Loan Borrowers Use Risky Refinancing For Relief
Federal student loans have long been considered a low-risk bargain for education, with generally low interest rates and a wide variety of repayment options, but private lenders are beginning to shatter that notion. An increasing number of young professionals are refinancing their student debt through private lenders, attracted by markedly lower interest rates that put cash back into the borrower's pocket. Those with good credit and a steady income have been reaping the benefits of refinancing and are willing to lose some of the consumer protections federal loans bring. "We aim to make student loans simple and human, while putting more money back in our borrowers' pockets," said David Klein, CEO and co-founder of CommonBond, one of the major refinancing companies. UPI

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Security Cabinet Relaxes Open-Fire Rules, Stiffens Penalties Against Rock Throwers
The security cabinet approved a short menu of tougher steps against rock and firebomb throwers on Thursday, including the easing of open-fire regulations. The unanimous decision of the 10-member security cabinet was taken after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a number of high-level consultations over the last month with security and legal officials looking for ways to combat the wave of violence in Jerusalem and rock and petrol-bomb attacks on the roads to Jerusalem and beyond the Green Line. Jerusalem Post

US Directs Up To $45 Million To Support Countries Fighting Boko Haram
The White House said on Thursday that it would send up to $45 million in defense services, including military training, to support African countries in their efforts to defeat the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria will receive support that builds on the training and military equipment the United States has already supplied in the fight against the group, White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. Jerusalem Post

Fraud Could Be Costing NHS In England £5.7bn A Year, Says Report
The NHS in England could be losing up to £5.7bn a year to fraud from its £100bn budget, a report suggests. A review - led by former NHS anti-fraud boss Jim Gee - highlighted fraud by pharmacists, dentists, GPs and patients. Among the areas it found to be affected were procurement, prescriptions, registration of patients and payroll. The government said the report was "highly speculative" and "full of inconsistencies". To work out how much fraud is being committed, the review had to rely on estimates as well as detected fraud. It said the level of fraud was likely to be between £3.7bn and £5.7bn a year, out of a budget of more than £110bn. BBC

Ignore Pope On Climate, Says Republican Marsha Blackburn
One of the most influential US energy politicians says she will reject the Pope's plea to tackle climate change. Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, the second-highest ranking member on the House energy committee, says the jury is out on global warming. Pope Francis told a White House audience on Wednesday further action was needed as the problem could "no longer be left to a future generation". He is due to speak more on the subject in an address to Congress on Thursday.
Speaking as part of a forthcoming Radio 4 documentary series "Climate Change - Are we Feeling Lucky?", she asserted that the earth had cooled in the last 13 years by 1F. And she said no evidence would persuade her of man-made warming. She also rejected the theory of evolution. Scientists say her views are "complete nonsense". BBC

Edward Snowden Calls For Global Push To Expand Digital Privacy Laws
Edward Snowden has called for a global push to protect people’s rights to digital privacy, arguing that now the bare facts of mass data surveillance are known it is time to “assert our traditional and digital rights so that we can protect them”. Speaking by video link from Russia where he has been granted asylum, the former National Security Agency contractor and whistleblower said efforts to protect privacy “will continue for many years”, culminating, he hoped, in a world in which governments could be relied upon to defend their citizens’ rights rather than “working against them”. Guardian

Dalai Lama's 'Sexist' Quip Ruffles Equality Activists
Gender equality campaigners have criticised the Dalai Lama for his suggestion that any potential female successor to his role “must be very, very, attractive”. In an interview, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists said there was no reason why a future Dalai Lama could not be a woman – but she would have to be good looking otherwise she would be “not much use”. The 80-year-old’s remarks – which he made in an interview with the BBC reporter Clive Myrie, as he talked of succession, or reincarnation – provoked accusations of sexism that look set to plague the remainder of his tour of the UK, which began on 14 September. Guardian

All Eyes On UN As World Body Prepares To Adopt New Sustainable Development Goals
World leaders, heads of global financial institutions and other dignitaries are heading to New York, where, after months of intense negotiations, the United Nations is set to launch a landmark new framework for sustainable development that will aim to end poverty and build a life of dignity for all, leaving no one behind. The UN’s top development officials are keenly focused and enthusiastically preparing for the moment Friday afternoon when the Organization’s 193 Member States formally adopt the new framework, Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development , composed of 17 goals and 169 targets to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate over the next 15 years. UN News

Syria: UN Health Agency Urges Donors To Assist Countries ‘Doing The Heavy Lifting’
Crippling funding shortfalls are hindering the ability of emergency teams to meet the escalating health needs of the millions of Syrians displaced by civil war and donors need to step up support to countries in the region doing the “heavy lifting,” warned the World Health Organization (WHO). “It is imperative that the health sector in this region is adequately funded to ensure refugee and host population needs are catered to,” said Dr. Nada Al Ward, coordinator of WHO’s Emergency Support Team based in Amman, Jordan. “Migration into Europe may alleviate some of the burden on these countries, but not much.” UN News

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