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Chapter 1: What are the latest job growth numbers and their implications?
Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The latest big jobs numbers are far beyond the growth economists expected for the month of May. 172,000 added to payrolls doubled the projections, according to today's labor market report.
However, purchasing power is still tight, and while the unemployment rate remains low at 4.3%, economists such as Diane Swonk note long-term unemployment spanning several months is still a major concern.
We also see new college grads still having a very elevated level of unemployment. In fact,
Chapter 2: How is the SNAP program affecting food assistance in America?
The most recent data we have for April suggests that they're running at an unemployment rate that's consistent with sort of 2013, which was still struggling to emerge from the global financial crisis.
More than 4 million Americans have lost food assistance benefits from the SNAP program since last year. NPR's Maria Godoy reports Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins faced tough questioning on Capitol Hill today.
Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee grilled Rollins about why so many people have lost access to a program that's a key safety net against hunger.
Chapter 3: What recent developments occurred regarding immigration enforcement bills?
Rollins said the drop is due to a better economy and a crackdown on fraud. But Ohio Democratic Representative Chantel Brown pointed to a recent report showing that more than 700,000 children have lost SNAP benefits as a result of President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Madam Secretary, millions of Americans are going hungry, and you're saying it's a success story.
Chapter 4: What happened with the recent drone incidents in Romania?
Rollins countered.
I think that you want more people on government programs.
Committee members also asked Rollins about rising farm input costs and the threat posed by screwworm. Maria Godoy, NPR News.
A $70 billion immigration enforcement bill is a step closer to being enacted.
Chapter 5: How is Russia's economic forum related to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine?
The U.S. Senate passed it overnight. Just a week after a Russian drone crashed into an apartment building in eastern Romania, an armed drone has exploded in a Romanian port. Terry Schultz says there were no injuries or major damage reported.
The Romanian Defense Ministry says the naval drone self-detonated mid-morning after being detected earlier by authorities who closed off the area in the civilian port of Constanta. While Romanian officials have not yet revealed whether the drone was Russian or Ukrainian, they did confirm it was not one of their own and described it as being of the type used in the war in Ukraine.
Romanian President Nicoser Dan was on his way to a European Union summit when the incident occurred, and he wrote on X that, quote, "...such particularly serious situations are the direct consequences of the war of aggression unleashed by Russia against Ukraine."
Chapter 6: What advancements are being made in gene editing technology?
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed that, expressing solidarity with Romania and saying Europe urgently needs more anti-drone capabilities. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. This is NPR News.
Under the threat of more cross-border missile and drone strikes exchanged with Ukraine, Russia is hosting a major economic forum in St. Petersburg. Russian President Vladimir Putin was slated to address the event today. NPR's Charles Maynes reports on how the U.S. has shown up, given President Trump's repeated attempts to mediate negotiations for ending the years-long war in eastern Europe.
The Trump administration is present in a way. I was watching Rodney Cook, who's overseeing Trump's White House ballroom project and currently heads the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, take part in a cultural roundtable. Among all these official delegations from about 130 countries, you'll also find American far-right influencers.
You'll also see representatives from Europe's far-right, including Germany's AFD party.
NPR's Charles Maines reporting. Researchers say a newer kind of gene editing could be safer for editing the DNA in human embryos. NPR's Rob Stein with details.
The researchers used a gene editing technique called base editing to try to edit two genes in early human embryos. In a scientific paper posted online, the researchers report that the approach appears to be more accurate and produce fewer unintended genetic changes than than an older form of gene editing known as CRISPR.
The researchers stress, however, that it still remains far from clear whether base-editing human embryos would be safe. Some scientists hope gene-editing human embryos could someday prevent devastating genetic diseases, but many researchers and bioethicists fear it would be too dangerous and could lead to designer babies. It's NPR.
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