Shea Stephens

citizens won't wrap up as quickly.

As Cynthia Abrams from member station WPLN reports, many households are struggling.

due to a pause on federal aid for utility payments.

With the government shutdown likely coming to a close, thousands are still grappling with its effects.

Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Elise Gregg spoke with one furloughed federal worker who's been using her free time in order to volunteer.

U.S.

futures are flat in after-hours trading on Wall Street.

This is NPR.

The USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group are now in the Caribbean.

The Navy aircraft carrier group arrived from the Mediterranean and is the Pentagon's latest escalation of U.S.

military might near South America.

The move follows a series of deadly U.S.

military strikes on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September.

NASA says it will try again on Wednesday to launch a pair of spacecrafts to explore the atmosphere and weather conditions on Mars.

Details from FPR's Joe Palka.

China's space agency says it's enacted emergency plans to ensure the orderly return of three astronauts from its space station.

The trio were supposed to hand over operations to another crew on November 5th,

but plans were changed amid suspicions that the return vehicle was hit by space debris.

Their return is now postponed indefinitely, pending an impact analysis and a decision on how to bring the astronauts back to Earth.

This is NPR News.