Midday Roundup: New stats show fewer births out of wedlock

More married mommies. The rate of births among unmarried women is on the decline, according to data released Wednesday by the National Center for Health Statistics. The data from 2013 shows non-marital births and birthrates have decreased 7 percent and 14 percent, respectively, since peaking in the late 2000s. The drop was evident in all age groups except women 35 and older, more of whom are having more babies outside of marriage of than in previous years.

Mountain refuge. The United States is assessing how to best assist thousands of Iraqis trapped atop a mountain. The Yazidi population fled there under threat of genocide by the terrorist group ISIS. A team of U.S. military personnel that visited the site on Wednesday said the humanitarian situation among the refugees is not as dire as originally thought, thanks in part to airdrops of aid by the United States and its allies. The Pentagon and the British government both say full-scale rescue mission is unnecessary at this time.

Waterlogged. Record-breaking rains flooded the Northeast and New England on Wednesday. Flash floods caused the water to rise above a foot in just a few hours in Suffolk County, New York. The Long Island town of Islip received 13.2 inches of rain—more than the average rainfall for an entire summer in that city. In nearby West Babylon, firefighters rescued motorists stranded in high waters, with drivers having to climb out of their car windows to escape the rising flood. Once rainfall totals are made official, Wednesday could be the rainiest day in the history of the state of New York.

Rocky road. A shaky truce continues in Gaza between Israeli troops and Hamas as peace talks go on between the two sides in Cairo. It’s the longest cease-fire yet since the war broke out last month in the Gaza Strip. The fighting has so far killed more than 1,900 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to Palestinian and United Nations officials. Israel has lost 67 people, all but three of them soldiers. Palestinian negotiators in Cairo expressed optimism that a deal to create a sustainable roadmap to recovery for the war-torn territory could soon be achieved.

Discount hideout. When a 14-year-old Texas boy decided to run away, he chose a destination that had everything he could want: Walmart. For several days, the boy hid behind large boxes of merchandise, ate food from the store, and changed clothes frequently so he wouldn’t be detected, according to local news reports. Ultimately, his discarded trash led employees at the Corsicana, Texas, store to discover him.

The Associated Press and WORLD Radio’s Kent Covington contributed to this report.