SEATTLE — Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s recently elected president, traveled to the United Nations two years ago and made an impressive entrance on the international stage. The Jewish Forward’s assistant managing editor, Larry Cohler-Esses, took advantage of this amazing opportunity and called the Iranian U.N. mission to request an interview with Iran’s leader. MORE

For much of the American mainstream, Mike Huckabee’s far-right views on practically every issue put him on the fringes of modern political thought. But just beyond his often radical ideology, there’s a deeper problem: the Republican presidential candidate just doesn’t seem to understand American civics very well. MORE

A woman said this week that she feels like Office Depot “discriminated against” her after the nationwide office supplies chain refused to make copies of a pro-life prayer she ordered last month. MORE

Homosexual activists are sending sadistic threats to Kim Davis, saying that they will capture her husband, tie him up and force him to watch them rape her. They also said that they will burn her house as they sleep and burn them to death. Here is the video with the full story and commentary: MORE

Ben Sturner, CEO of sports marketing company Leverage Agency, stepped outside onto the terrace of his apartment in Long Island City, Queens, Thursday morning, part of his daily routine to check the weather. He has an unobstructed view of the World Trade Center and the Manhattan skyline from across the East River.

It was just after 7 a.m., and, “I see this rainbow, and it’s coming from the World Trade Center and it’s the most gorgeous rainbow I’ve ever seen,” he told NBC 4 New York over the phone. “I took out my phone and started snapping photos.”  MORE

MILWAUKEE — Cities across the nation are seeing a startling rise in murders after years of declines, and few places have witnessed a shift as precipitous as this city. With the summer not yet over, 104 people have been killed this year — after 86 homicides in all of 2014. MORE

Four McDowell County magistrates recused themselves from performing the ceremonies, WLOS-TV in Asheville reported Thursday. Magistrates from neighboring Rutherford County are substituting.

Supervising Judge Randy Poole said that, by law, the McDowell magistrates cannot perform any kind of marriages for six months if they refuse to wed gay couples. MORE

In 2013, the US military lifted its ban on women serving in combat. Shortly after, the Marine Corps began what it calls an “unprecedented research effort” to understand the impact of gender integration on its combat forces. That took the form of a year-long experiment called the Ground Combat Element Integrated Task Force, in which 400 Marines—100 of them female—trained for combat together and then undertook a simulated deployment, with every facet of their experience measured and scrutinized. MORE

Just ahead of the fourteenth anniversary of al Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks on the U.S., the leader of the terrorist group took aim in an angry speech at a mortal enemy — but not American “crusaders” this time. Rather, the object of his tirade was the leader of ISIS in a declaration of war that will “irreconcilably” divide the two terror groups in a way the U.S. may be able to exploit, experts say. MORE

Various news sites and social media rumor mills have been spreading a photo of a haredi woman standing grim faced in front of Pope Francis, and telling a story to go along with it. Sopposedly, the woman – Rivka Ravitz, Bureau Chief of President Reuven Rivlin – refused to bow to the pope, because of the cross that was hanging from his neck. MORE

WASHINGTON — President Obama, under increasing pressure to demonstrate that the United States is joining European nations in the effort to resettle Syrian refugees, has told his administration to take in at least 10,000 displaced Syrians over the next year. MORE

You might not make it to heaven in the afterlife, but you sure can go as far as the moon. Celestial funerals are now a possibility, thanks to San Francisco startup Elysium Space. For a ginormous fee of about $12,000, the company will privately transport your cremated remains to the moon! MORE

More than 100,000 people have been evacuated and thousands of properties destroyed, after rare torrential rains saw a major river burst its banks north of Tokyo in Japan on Thursday.

A further 800,000 people across eastern Japan have been advised to evacuate after officials issued pre-dawn warnings of unusually harsh rainfall to 5 million people. MORE

Donald Trump is all ready stimulating the Los Angeles economy.  The Donald Trump pinata’s are selling faster then burrito’s  The can’t what to take a swing at Donald, And he’s coming here next week, Ha. MORE

After nearly a quarter-century of efforts in California to afford terminally ill patients the right to end their lives with a doctor’s help, state lawmakers and the governor may be on the verge of granting the dying that authority. MORE