10 things you need to know today: September 18, 2015

A child cries as migrants try to board a bus on Croatia&#039;s border with Serbia.

(Image credit: AP Photo/Manu Brabo)

Jump to category:

1. Fed keeps interest rates unchanged
2. Croatia, overwhelmed with migrants, closes border crossings
3. Showdown over abortion threatens budget talks
4. GOP debate sets audience record for CNN
5. Democrats block third GOP bid to reject Iran nuclear deal
6. Chile earthquake death toll rises to 10
7. GM reaches settlement over failure to reveal deadly defect
8. Sanders pushes ban on private prisons
9. Trump declines to correct man saying Obama is a foreign-born Muslim
10. FIFA suspends secretary general

published 18 September 2015

1. Fed keeps interest rates unchanged

The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that it was holding off on raising its benchmark interest rate, which it has held near zero since 2006. At the end of a two-day meeting, Fed policymakers said they were waiting a bit longer to get a better idea of how tighter lending conditions would affect the economy as a global slowdown threatens to "restrain economic activity somewhat" in the U.S. The decision did not surprise experts, although some had expected the Fed to go ahead with a slight hike.

Migrants continued rushing into Croatia on Friday, even though the country closed most border crossings with Serbia after 11,000 people rushed in the day before. Many of the new arrivals broke through police to get into Croatia, seeking a new path to Western Europe after Hungary closed its border to contain a wave of migrants and refugees fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries. Croatia has been trying to move migrants arriving via Serbia to refugee centers where they can apply for asylum, but most want to keep going to Germany or other countries in Western Europe.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Republicans advanced two abortion-related measures on Thursday, intensifying a fight over the issue that is threatening to disrupt budget talks and potentially force a government shutdown at the end of the month. Senate Republicans said they were taking up legislation seeking to ban all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and House Republicans advanced a bill that would block federal funding for Planned Parenthood. While the showdown looms, some congressional leaders have started discussing fallbacks to keep the federal government funded temporarily.

Nearly 23 million people watched the second primetime GOP presidential debate on Wednesday night, making it the most viewed program ever for host network CNN. The news channel said Thursday that the debate smashed a record of 16.8 million viewers set by a Larry King Live episode in which Al Gore and Ross Perot debated NAFTA. CNN's old record for a primary debate was 8.3 million viewers, set by a 2008 Democratic forum. This year's first primetime GOP debate, hosted by Fox News, had 24 million viewers.

Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked the third and final GOP attempt to block the Iran nuclear deal. In a 56-42 vote, Republicans fell short of the 60 votes needed to move the legislation forward. There are no more Senate votes on the matter scheduled for this week, which virtually assures that Republicans will not be able to meet a deadline for rejecting the Iran deal, which is arguably President Obama's greatest foreign policy victory in his two terms in office.

The death toll from the powerful 8.3-magnitude earthquake that struck off Chile's coast rose to 10 on Thursday, with one person still missing. About one million people were evacuated from the Coquimbo region before a 16-foot tsunami created by the quake came ashore. Authorities credited advance planning and a quick response for the limited damages. "The response to this earthquake has been very efficient," President Michelle Bachelet said.

General Motors announced Thursday that it had settled a federal criminal investigation and hundreds of private lawsuits over its decade-long failure to disclose a safety defect linked to at least 124 deaths in older small cars. GM agreed to pay $900 million for failing to tell regulators about the faulty ignition switch. The automaker also agreed to set aside $575 million to settle private lawsuits filed by about 1,380 people. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) criticized the deal, saying in a joint statement that it "fails to require adequate and explicit admission of criminal culpability from G.M."

Democratic presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday introduced bills seeking to ban private prisons, or, as he called it, the "private, for-profit prison racket." The "Justice is not for Sale Act" calls for ending federal private prison contracts within two years. In 2013, about 8 percent of the 1.7 million federal and state prisoners were in facilities run by for-profit companies. Sanders said the criminal justice system should be in the hands of "those who answer to voters, not those who answer to investors."

Donald Trump declined to correct a supporter who said in a Thursday town hall in New Hampshire that President Obama — a Christian born in Hawaii — is a Muslim who's "not even an American." The man told Trump that Muslims were a problem, and asked when the U.S. was going to shut down terrorist training camps "where they want to kill us." Trump, who once fueled the birther movement but has distanced himself from it since launching his bid for the GOP presidential nomination, did not directly address the man's claim that there were terrorist camps on U.S. soil. Instead, he replied, "You know, a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening. We're going to be looking at that and many other things."

FIFA indefinitely suspended Secretary General Jerome Valcke on Thursday, hours after a World Cup partner said he was selling black market tickets to the 2014 tournament at three times their face value. Soccer's international governing body also announced an investigation into Valcke, who has served in the role under President Sepp Blatter for eight years. The new allegations came as FIFA already faces a broad corruption scandal that has resulted in U.S. indictments against several top-ranking officials.

Explore More

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.