• Hearing Aids May Slow Mental Decline In Hard-of-Hearing Elderly, New Research Shows

  Seniors with hearing loss who use hearing aids may experience cognitive decline at a rate more like their peers without hearing trouble, according to a French study that followed thousands of seniors for 25 years.

  

• U.N. Expects Europe's Refugee Flow To Top 1 Million In 2015 As 5,000 Enter Per Day

  Refugees and migrants are likely to keep coming to Europe at a rate of up to 5,000 per day via Turkey this winter, the United Nations said on Thursday, meaning that more than a million people will have fled to the continent this year.

  

• China, Vietnam Pledge to Manage Maritime Differences After Lengthy Discussion

  Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vietnam's top leaders agreed on Thursday to manage disputes over the South China Sea amid strained ties made more uncertain by an upcoming reshuffle of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party.

  

• Syrian Rebels Seize Key Town In West In Blow To Government

  Syrian insurgents captured a town on a major highway in the west of the country on Thursday and fought fierce battles with pro-government militias around it, rebels and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

  

• U.S. Reform Jews Poised to Adopt Sweeping Transgender Rights Policy

  Temples and synagogues affiliated with the nation's largest Jewish movement could adopt gender-neutral bathrooms and their rabbis would be encouraged to give sermons on transgender topics, under a groundbreaking resolution expected to pass at a conference of Reform Jews on Thursday.