Zika vaccines progressing:

NEW YORK — Three experimental Zika vaccines protected monkeys against infection from the virus, an encouraging sign as research moves into studies in people. The success in monkeys, which involved a traditional vaccine and two more cutting-edge ones, “brings us one step closer to a safe and effective Zika vaccine,” said Dr. Dan Barouch of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. “But of course, there’s a lot more work to do.” Barouch and others reported the results in a paper released Thursday by the journal Science.

Resettlement goal on track:

WASHINGTON — After a slow start, it appears increasingly likely that the Obama administration will hit its goal of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States before the end of September. State Department totals show that 2,340 Syrian refugees arrived last month in the United States. That’s more than what occurred during the entire seven months after President Barack Obama directed his team to prepare for 10,000 admissions from the war-torn country. Total admissions for the current budget year now come to about 7,900, and the vast majority of them are Sunni Muslims, records show. If the pace from June and July continues this month, the target should be reached with a couple weeks to spare before Obama heads to the United Nations to urge world leaders to admit more refugees and to increase funding for relief organizations.

Feds indict 46 in mob sweep:

NEW YORK — Declaring that the Mafia is not just the stuff of movie scripts, federal prosecutors charged nearly four dozen people Thursday with being part of an East Coast crime syndicate, including an old-school mobster in New York and a reputed mob chieftain in Philadelphia who has been pursued by the government for decades. The indictment accuses the defendants of extortion, loan-sharking, casino-style gambling, sports gambling, credit card fraud and health care fraud. It said the syndicate operated in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Florida and New Jersey. Among those charged was Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino, the accused head of the Philadelphia mob who has repeatedly beat murder charges in past cases, but served nearly 12 years for racketeering.

Money diverted to Hamas?

JERUSALEM — Israel’s internal security agency said Thursday it has arrested a senior employee of the international aid group World Vision in the Gaza Strip, accusing him of siphoning millions of dollars of the charity’s funds and transferring them to the Islamic militant group Hamas. Mohammed el-Halabi established a “systematic and sophisticated mechanism” to divert up to $50 million over the years to the militant group, said the Shin Bet. World Vision, an international Christian aid group with headquarters in Washington State and the United Kingdom, works in nearly 100 countries. The organization said in a statement on its website that it was “shocked” by the allegations and said it has “no reason to believe” they are true but will “carefully review any evidence presented to us” and “take appropriate action based on that evidence”.

Stabbings not terrorism:

LONDON — A Somali-Norwegian teenager went on a knife rampage through London’s Russell Square, a hub for students and tourists, fatally stabbing a woman from Florida and wounding five other people. Police said Thursday that it wasn’t terrorism — but in a city on edge after a summer of attacks elsewhere in Europe, both authorities and London residents initially responded as if it were. Police flooded the streets with extra officers and mobilized counterterror detectives before saying the shocking burst of violence appeared to have been “triggered by mental-health issues.” Police officers used a stun gun to subdue the 19-year-old suspect at the scene of the stabbings late Wednesday.