Chapter 1: What is the current status of the government shutdown?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Today is day 40 of the government shutdown, the longest ever. The Senate is working through the weekend to attempt to craft a bipartisan solution to the deadlock. NPR's Ava Pukach reports.
Hundreds of flights have been canceled after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a reduction of flights in the airspace for safety precautions amid staffing issues. Air traffic controllers are among the federal employees working without pay while the shutdown drags on. SNAP recipients remain in limbo.
The Supreme Court granted the Trump administration a temporary stay on a court order to fully fund the federal nutrition program while a lower court order plays out. Some states had already issued full payments to SNAP recipients on Friday. The Supreme Court order means other states could be prevented from initiating payments.
Eva Pukach, NPR News. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy tells CNN holiday travel will be affected.
It's only going to get worse. I look to the two weeks before Thanksgiving. You're going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle.
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Chapter 2: How is the government shutdown affecting air travel?
We have a number of people who want to get home for the holidays. They want to see their family. They want to celebrate this great American holiday. Listen, many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane.
Flights are being canceled or delayed by a shortage of air traffic controllers who are required to work but aren't getting paid. Russia says it currently has no intention of resuming nuclear testing, but acknowledged it's studying the possibility. NPR's Charles Maines reports from Moscow.
The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to explore the possibility of nuclear testing, but would do so only if the U.S. resumes its own nuclear arms tests. President Trump has threatened to do just that, in an apparent response to Russia's recent testing of two nuclear-capable delivery systems that experts note did not include atomic warheads.
Meanwhile, Moscow says it's still waiting for a U.S. response to a proposal to de facto extend the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty when it sunsets in February of next year. Putin has proposed both sides continue to observe limits imposed by the treaty for an additional 12 months to give time for negotiators to hash out a new agreement. Charles Baines, NPR News, Moscow.
The head of the British military, Sir Richard Knighton, says Belgium's NATO's allies are helping the country bolster its defenses after several drone incursions believed to have been carried out by Russia.
I spoke to my Belgian opposite number in the week and he asked if we would be prepared to support them. And the Defence Secretary and I agreed at the end of last week that we would deploy our people, our equipment to Belgium to help them. It is important to be clear, though, that we don't know and the Belgians don't yet know the source of those drones.
But we will help them by providing our kit and capability, which has already started to deploy to help to Belgium.
Knighton was interviewed on the BBC. This is NPR News in Washington. Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick says he's donating $1 million from his campaign funds to bring Turning Point USA chapters to all Texas colleges and high schools. Texas Public Radio's Jerry Clayton has more.
Turning Point USA is the group founded by Charlie Kirk, who was killed at a college campus rally in Utah. Patrick said the idea came during a conversation with Turning Point leaders. In a statement, he also praised young conservatives for, quote, challenging leftist echo chambers and said campuses should foster debate, not indoctrination.
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