What recent legal actions has the Trump administration taken regarding SNAP benefits?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling requiring full SNAP benefits be paid for November. NPR's Tovia Smith reports a hearing is set for this afternoon.
The Trump administration's bid for help from the Supreme Court comes after a federal appeals court last night refused a similar request. At issue is an order from a federal judge in Rhode Island requiring payment of full SNAP benefits instead of the 65% the administration wants to pay.
Meantime, a group of states who already paid some full benefits got a federal judge in Boston to temporarily stop the Trump administration from penalizing them. Administration officials say those states may have to pay the government back for any payments over 65 percent and they could lose some federal funding.
The states insist they were in compliance with administrative guidance and court orders when making those payments. Tovia Smith, NPR News, Boston.
Hamas has handed over the body of an Israeli soldier that had been held in Gaza since 2014. NPR's Lauren Frere reports the move may indicate progress toward phase two of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the militant group.
Phase one was halting violence, exchanging bodies and boosting humanitarian aid to Gaza. Phase two is disarming Hamas, deploying international troops and governing post-war. Hamas's handover of the remains of Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed in a previous Gaza war, could impact phase two negotiations over some 200 Hamas fighters. They're believed to be holed up in Rafa in southern Gaza.
Israel's been demanding they surrender or be killed. The U.S. floated the idea of freeing them if they agree to disarm and in exchange for Goldin's body. As for an international security force, Turkey has been involved in talks, but an Israeli government spokesperson says there will be no Turkish boots on the ground. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
The annual United Nations Climate Meeting, also known as COP30, has officially kicked off in Brazil. NPR's Rebecca Herscher reports one goal of the meeting is to accelerate progress on climate change.
In recent years, wind and solar power has expanded dramatically. It's now the cheapest source of electricity in most of the world, and that's helping to slow the rate of global warming. But it's not enough to avoid catastrophic amounts of warming in the coming decades, says United Nations Climate Chief Simon Steele.
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