Chapter 1: What recent legal decisions affect SNAP food aid during the government shutdown?
Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. A federal appeals court late Sunday night upheld a judge's order that directs the Trump administration to fully fund this month's SNAP food aid benefits during the federal government shutdown. The program serves 42 million Americans. The Supreme Court had halted the judge's order on Friday until the appeals court could issue its decision.
The Senate voted late Sunday night to advance legislation that would end the federal government shutdown. Seven Democrats and an Independent voted with Republicans in favor of the measure. The deal would fund the government until the end of January and some elements, including SNAP food payments, until the end of the fiscal year.
The GOP also agreed informally to hold a vote on affordable health care reform sometime in December. Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine says they got the best deal they could.
We were in a situation where SNAP recipients were suffering, and there was no guarantee we would ever get to an ACA solution. Now we've got robust SNAP funding and a guaranteed vote, not a guaranteed outcome, but a guaranteed vote on ACA tax credits.
A vote on final legislation could take place this week. Russia says it currently has no intention of resuming nuclear testing, but acknowledged it's studying the possibility, and Paris Charles Mainz reports.
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 Mainz, NPR News, Moscow.
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Chapter 2: How is the federal government addressing the shutdown and its impact on funding?
Investors will be reconvening Monday after a tough week on Wall Street. Normally, they would be anticipating the next inflation report that was scheduled this week, but the federal government shutdown has delayed all economic data. NPR's Rafael Nam has more.
The Labor Department did release the inflation data for September last month, but that was only because the Social Security Administration needed the numbers to help determine its cost-of-living adjustment for seniors next year. But there will likely be no exception anymore until the shutdown ends, and that means investors will not be getting the latest inflation report this week.
But there will be earnings from companies as usual this time of year, including from Disney and Paramount Skydance, which completed their merger earlier this year.
Rafael Nam, NPR News. Stocks in Asia were up on Monday with a big boost from the technology sector there. South Korea's Kospi led the games, finishing up 3.5%. Tokyo's Nikkei, meanwhile, closed up 1.2%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.8%. You're listening to NPR News. Jackson, Mississippi was the site this weekend of the 82nd National Folk Festival.
It's the state's first time hosting this country's oldest celebration of traditional arts. Mississippi Public Broadcasting's Shamir Muhammad talked to an artist about the unique culture he's representing at the events.
The National Folk Festival has been featured in nearly 30 communities around the country, but it's the first time the festival is being hosted in the Deep South. Mississippi Delta blues musician and artist James Johnson goes by the name Super Chicken. He makes guitars from items such as electric fans and cigar boxes, as well as an instrument called the diddly bow.
Diddly bow is one of the Delta's first blues instruments, derived from an African instrument called the kora.
Artists performed bluegrass, West African balafon, salsa, Irish music, and D.C. go-go. Jackson will continue to host the festival through 2027. For NPR News, I'm Shamir Mohamed in Jackson, Mississippi.
Former pro basketball player Lenny Wilkins has died at the age of 88. Wilkins was inducted three times into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. He played in the pros as a point guard, then coached 2,487 NBA games. That remains as a record. He was also inducted as a part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team, and he coached the Olympic team to a gold medal in Atlanta in 1996.
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