Syrian state media says drone destroyed over Damascus countryside

CAIRO (Reuters) – Syrian state media reported that a drone was destroyed on Thursday over a village in the Damascus countryside.

No other details were immediately available.

Somalia: About 5,000 Sufi fighters join army

For 10 years, Sufi fighters have fought al-Shabab and managed to retake the group’s strongholds in the windswept plains of central Somalia.

In central Somalia, about 5,000 Sufi fighters are signing up to join the national army.

In a surprise move two months ago, the group decided to have its fighters integrated.

So far, they are the only local group to go up against al-Shabab fighters and win.

Sufism is a mystical branch of Islam and has been widely practised in Somalia before the advent of Salafism in the country following the civil war that broke out in 1991.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow reports from Dusamareb.

Philly Fed Index Drops Less Than Expected In September

A report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday showed a modest slowdown in the pace of growth in regional manufacturing activity in the month of September.

The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity fell to 12.0 in September from 16.8 in August, although a positive reading still indicates growth in regional manufacturing activity. The index had been expected to drop to 11.0.

The drop by the headline index reflected a slowdown in the pace of growth in new orders, as the new orders index edged down to 24.8 in September from 25.8 in August.

On the other hand, the report said the shipments index jumped to 26.4 in September from 19.0 in the previous month.

The number of employees index also surged up to 15.8 in September from 3.6 in August, indicating a notable acceleration in the pace of job growth.

The prices index also showed significant increases, with the prices paid index spiking to 33.0 in September from 12.8 in August and the prices received index surging up to 20.8 from 13.0.

Looking ahead, the Philly Fed said the survey’s future general activity index moderated but continues to suggest growth over the next six months.

The diffusion index for future general activity tumbled to 20.8 in September from 32.6 in August, as the future new orders index and the future shipments index both decreased.

However, firms remained optimistic about future hiring, with the future employment index climbing to 30.6 in September from 25.0 in August.

Walt Disney, Apple Inc. share losses lead the way, but Dow flat

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is nearly flat Thursday afternoon with shares of Walt Disney and Apple Inc. facing the biggest declines for the price-weighted average. The Dow DJIA, -0.08% was most recently trading 2 points (0.0%) lower, as shares of Walt Disney DIS, -2.07% and Apple Inc. AAPL, -0.88% account for -11% of the blue-chip gauge’s intraday losses. Walt Disney’s shares have declined $2.69 (2.0%) while those of Apple Inc. have fallen $1.64 (0.7%), combining for a roughly 29-point drag on the Dow. Exxon Mobil XOM, -0.58%, Home Depot HD, -0.88%, and Boeing BA, -0.89% are also contributing significantly to the decline. A $1 move in any one of the 30 components of the index results in a 6.78-point swing.

Editor’s Note: This story was auto-generated by Automated Insights using data from Dow Jones and FactSet. See our market data terms of use.

Tesla’s Model 3 earns insurance industry’s top safety rating

Tesla’s Model 3 electric sedan has earned the top safety rating from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), becoming the first Tesla to do so.

The IIHS has given the Model 3 its highest rating, top safety pick+. It said the Model 3 earned good ratings across the board for crashworthiness.

The car’s structure held up well in the driver-side small overlap front test, IIHS said.

Last month, Tesla said it was launching an insurance service designed to give drivers in California, its biggest market, lower rates because of safety features on its electric vehicles.

Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk has been one of the strongest proponents of the idea that car insurance rates should plummet as driver-assist and self-driving technology become standard.

The company’s cars generally rank among the most expensive vehicles to insure due to their high repair costs for components and sensor equipment, according to safety researchers and insurance providers.

Twitter Users Roast Trump For Tweeting He Would Never Say ‘Inappropriate’ Things

Self-proclaimed “stable genius” Donald Trump made an unforced error on Twitter Thursday when he denied The Washington Post’s report that he made an “inappropriate” comment to a foreign leader during a phone call.

The two-tweet denial started with the president claiming that the Post story was ― you guessed it ― “fake news.”

But it was the second tweet that turned into comedy gold after Trump made the mistake of asking a question he really didn’t want the answer to.

As you probably guessed, that loaded question set the president up for merciless mockery from skeptical Twitter users.

Of course, people also pointed out there is a lots of evidence of Trump being “dumb enough” to “say something inappropriate with a foreign leader,” as his leaked phone calls with Australia’s then-prime minister and Mexico’s then-president show.

He’s also said inappropriate things about world leaders. For instance, there was the time he seemed to mock the accent of Chinese President Xi Jinping. He also called Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen “nasty” just because she didn’t want to sell Greenland to the U.S.

Twitter users pointed out other inappropriate actions:

And some Twitter users advised the president there was a simple and probably unlikely solution to proving his point.