10 things you need to know today: October 3, 2016

Donald Trump at a campaign event in Virginia

(Image credit: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

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1. Giuliani says Trump's tax leak shows his 'genius'
2. Colombians unexpectedly reject FARC peace deal
3. Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba brace for dangerous hurricane
4. India ratifies Paris climate deal
5. Hungarians reject E.U. refugee quotas
6. New Jersey Transit train black box yields no clues
7. Dozens die in panic at Ethiopia demonstration
8. India amnesty program uncovers $9.8 billion in undeclared income
9. Japan's Yoshinori Ohsumi wins Nobel Prize for medicine
10. U.S. wins Ryder Cup for first time since 2008

published 3 October 2016

1. Giuliani says Trump's tax leak shows his 'genius'

Some of Donald Trump's leading supporters pushed back on Sunday against a New York Times report saying he declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax returns that might have let him avoid paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said the Republican presidential nominee had merely made a "perfectly legal application of the tax code," something only a "fool" would have passed up. "He's a genius — absolute genius," Giuliani said on ABC's This Week. The news capped a tough week in which Trump delivered a widely panned debate performance and doubled down on calling a former Miss Universe fat as he slipped in polls.

Colombian voters narrowly rejected a peace deal with the South American country's biggest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia or FARC (its Spanish acronym). The surprise 50.25 percent to 49.75 percent vote threatened to prolong a 52-year armed conflict that leaders of both the government and FARC had declared over after nearly six years of negotiations. Pre-vote polls had pointed to a win for the deal, with the "yes" vote leading by a two-to-one margin. President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC Commander Rodrigo Londono vowed to keep a ceasefire in place and continue the peace effort.

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Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba braced on Monday for a potentially catastrophic hit from Hurricane Matthew, a slow-moving storm bringing torrential rains and top sustained winds of 130 miles per hour. The western tip of Haiti's southern peninsula could get as much as 25 inches of rainfall. "This rainfall will produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the National Weather Service said late Sunday night. "Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion." After slamming the western Caribbean islands, Matthew is forecast to head north through the Bahamas off the U.S. East Coast.

India on Sunday ratified the Paris global climate control agreement, committing the world's third largest greenhouse gas emitter to generating at least 40 percent of its electricity from non-fossil fuels by 2030. The Paris accord, the world's first comprehensive climate agreement, was agreed to by nearly 200 countries last December. It aims to reduce CO2 emissions, widely considered to be a driving force of human-caused climate change, but will only take effect if at least 55 countries producing a combined 55 percent or more of the world's carbon emissions sign on. Next week the European Union is expected to wrap up joint ratification of the pact, which would put the deal over the 55 percent threshold.

Hungarian voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected the European Union's mandatory migrant quotas, the national election office said shortly after polls closed. With nearly all of the ballots counted, 98 percent had voted against the quotas, but the result appeared not to be valid, however, as exit polls indicated that turnout did not reach the required 50 percent. Still, right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the E.U. "cannot force" Hungary to accept migrants after voters so resoundingly opposed the quotas, under which Hungary would receive 1,294 asylum seekers out of 160,000 migrants the E.U. wants to relocate.

A recovered black box recorder from a New Jersey Transit train was not working when the train crashed into the Hoboken station last week, killing one woman and injuring more than 100 other people, National Transportation Safety administration vice chair Bella Dinh-Zarr said Sunday. The train's engineer told investigators that the train was traveling at 10 miles per hour when it entered the station. The engineer said he was fully rested during the trip, but does not remember the impact.

Dozens of people were killed in Ethiopia's Oromia region on Sunday in a panicked stampede sparked when security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters during a religious festival. Opposition leaders estimated the death toll at 100; the regional government said 52 people died. The national government only confirmed immediately that "lives were lost," and said, "Those responsible will face justice." Police said anti-government protesters had thrown rocks and bottles, but some witnesses said the demonstration was entirely peaceful.

The Indian government announced over the weekend that an amnesty program had prompted suspected tax dodgers to disclose $9.8 billion in previously undeclared income. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government sent letters to 700,000 suspected tax evaders promising they would not be prosecuted if they came clean about hidden assets, or "black money," and paid a penalty. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government received 64,275 declarations of previously undisclosed wealth over four months.

Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday for his discovery of how cells break down and recycle their content, a process known as autophagy. His work could lead to a better understanding of diseases like cancer, Parkinson's, and type 2 diabetes. "His discoveries opened the path to understanding ... many physiological processes, such as in the adaptation to starvation or response to infection," the Nobel Assembly at Sweden's Karolinska Institute said. The prize of $933,000 is the first Nobel awarded each year. Ohsumi said he was "extremely honored."

The United States won its first Ryder Cup since 2008 on Sunday, defeating Europe 17-11 — the biggest margin of victory since 1981. The final day of play included intense matches between Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy, and Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. Mickelson and Garcia both shot a 63 with a combined 19 birdies. The Ryder Cup, founded by Samuel Ryder in 1927, is held every two years, and features the best male golfers from the U.S. and Europe in head-to-head match play competition. This year's cup was held at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.

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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.