Shea Stephens

As NPR's Greg Myhre reports, the Trump administration hopes to avoid some of the pitfalls of past Mideast peace efforts.

Greg Myhre in Tel Aviv.

This is NPR.

President Trump's nominee to oversee the Office of Special Counsel has withdrawn himself from consideration.

30-year-old Paul Ingrassia's decision comes after his racist and anti-Semitic text messages were made public.

Ingrassia is an attorney and a Trump activist.

President Trump is not meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin next week.

The change of plans follows Tuesday's phone call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart.

Details from NPR's Charles Maines in Moscow.

Mexico's state-run oil company Pemex says its crews quickly contained a five-mile-long spill along the Panapec River in east-central Mexico.

The pipeline was damaged by torrential rains that left dozens of people dead and missing earlier this month.

It's unclear when the spill occurred.

Meanwhile, roughly three dozen people are still missing from the storm, and more than 200 communities are no longer accessible by road.

This is NPR News.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stephens.

The government shutdown is now 22 days old with no sign of ending.

Democrats are demanding an extension of health care subsidies, while Republicans are refusing to discuss the matter until after the government reopens.

As the stalemate drags on, food banks like the Share Food program that George Matysik runs in Philadelphia are signaling that they may have to suspend operations.

Made a success, food banks were strained during the pandemic.

But unlike now, there was bipartisan support to keep the programs running.