When a Mountain Falls: How Ice and Rock Triggered Nepal’s Catastrophic Flood – and Why Climate Change Is Raising the Risks
A glacial collapse in Nepal on Aug. 26 killed hundreds and left many more missing after falling ice and rock slammed into a river below, triggering flooding that returned days later when a debris-dammed lake burst. Scientists say the two-stage disaster previews what’s ahead as thawing permafrost and retreating glaciers destabilize mountain terrain worldwide. The full accounting of the dead and missing is still underway.
Read the full story →Making the Fed More Accountable to Congress and the Public May Be Just What It Needs to Fend Off Trump’s Threats to Its Independence
Economists are making the case that shielding the Federal Reserve from political pressure — including Trump’s escalating threats to its independence — actually requires making the central bank more transparent and accountable to Congress, not less. Their argument: legitimacy earned through oversight is what lets the Fed resist interference in interest rates and bank regulation. It reframes “independence” as something the Fed has to keep earning rather than simply claim.
Read the full story →Syracuse University Seeks to Prevent Campus Rape Victim From Obtaining Police Records
A ProPublica investigation into a wave of sexual assaults at Syracuse University in the 1980s found the school worked to suppress coverage at the time — and the university is now fighting to keep a more recent assault survivor from obtaining her own police records. The gap between Syracuse’s public promises of support and its legal maneuvering is the story here. It raises fresh questions about how much has actually changed.
Read the full story →$50B Rural Health Transformation Program Needs More Transparency, Groups Say
A year into a $50 billion federal push to modernize rural healthcare, watchdogs say the program still isn’t transparent enough to catch fraud or prove it’s working. Policy experts warn that without better reporting, taxpayers and rural communities won’t know whether the money is reaching the hospitals and clinics it’s meant to save — a live concern as rural hospital closures continue nationwide.
Read the full story →In Other News
- Idaho Law Protects Faith Healers. It Wasn’t Always That Way. — How legal exemptions for faith healing took root in Idaho, and why reform efforts have stalled.
- They Rebuilt After Texas’ Devastating Floods. Then Their Home Flooded Again. — One family’s second flood in as many years raises hard questions about where it’s safe to rebuild.
- His Research on Pregnant Opioid Users Was Widely Celebrated. Auditors and Experts Found Major Flaws. — A once-celebrated study on opioid use in pregnancy is turning up serious methodological problems, auditors say.
- High Fertility Costs Push Americans Abroad for IVF Treatment — Sticker shock at home is sending more hopeful parents overseas for cheaper IVF care.
- A State Gave Sheriffs 20% of Its Opioid Settlement Cash. We Followed the Money. — Tracking where one state’s opioid settlement dollars actually went raises questions about intended use.
- Drought Could Be Making Antibiotic Resistance Worse, Scientists Say — New research links dry conditions to the spread of drug-resistant bacteria.
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Everything VIRA Broadcasting published today
 Health and wellness Idaho Law Protects Faith Healers. It Wasn’t Always That Way. | ||
 Health and wellness High Fertility Costs Push Americans Abroad for IVF Treatment | ||
 Health and wellness $50B Rural Health Transformation Program Needs More Transparency, Groups Say | ||
 Health and wellness Drought Could Be Making Antibiotic Resistance Worse, Scientists Say |
 Book Reviews Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden |  Book Reviews Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir |  Book Reviews Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst |