This 17-year-old didn’t need to take an SAT to get into college — or even a high school diploma. Malvika Raj Joshi of Mumbai, who long abandoned formal schooling, landed a scholarship to Massachusetts Institute of Technology after her outstanding performance at an annual computer programming competition, according to First Post.Joshi medaled her way to MIT after receiving two silver and one bronze in International Olympiad of Informatics, which caught the eye of the Boston university — despite her not being enrolled in a high school.

The decision to leave the traditional education system was made by her mother Supriya, who believed her daughter’s so-called merit was more significant than her grades. “Malvika was doing well in school but somehow I felt that my children need to be happy. Happiness is more important than conventional knowledge,” Supriya said. Others applauded the Cambridge school for recognizing Joshi’s skills.(nypost.com)…[+]

EL CAJON, Calif. — On Sunday, Nadim Fawzi Jouriyeh participated in a ceremony in Amman, Jordan, to mark the United States hitting its target of taking in 10,000 Syrian refugees in a year-old resettlement program. On Wednesday, the 47-year-old former construction worker and his family were walking grocery aisles, stocking up on roasted chicken, milk and lemons for their new home outside San Diego. It didn’t take long for Jouriyeh, his 42-year-old wife and four children, ages 8 to 14, to feel welcome.It didn’t take long for Jouriyeh, his 42-year-old wife and four children, ages 8 to 14, to feel welcome.“America is a beautiful country,” he said through an Arabic translator at the office of the International Rescue Committee in El Cajon, a San Diego suburb that has been a magnet for Iraqis and, more recently, Syrians who are fleeing war. “The way they treat people and the people of America are very nice … When you go down the streets, everyone smiles at you. Even if they don’t know you, they just smile at you.”(nypost.com)…[+]

Mexico’s president rebuked Donald Trump as a threat to his country just hours after painting a positive picture of talks the two held on Wednesday to try to defuse tensions over the U.S. presidential hopeful’s anti-Mexican campaign rhetoric.

President Enrique Pena Nieto had on Wednesday afternoon hailed as “open and constructive” the impromptu meeting he held with Trump, who later referred to the Mexican leader as his friend and a “wonderful” president. But in a late evening television interview, an angry-looking Pena Nieto sought to defend himself against a broad swathe of criticism for his decision to invite the Republican candidate despite his repeated verbal attacks on Mexico.(nypost.com)…[+]