Chapter 1: What is the current status of the U.S. government shutdown?
Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. The longest government shutdown in U.S. history is not over yet, but Senate passage Monday night of a short-term funding bill broke a stalemate that's lasted for more than six weeks. Senate Majority Leader John Thune. This has been a very long road, quite literally the longest shutdown in history.
I am very, very happy to be able to say that we are coming to the end. Senator Thune speaking on the floor of the Senate after the Senate voted 60 to 40 to approve a deal, a small group of Democrats and an independent made with Republicans. The House must also pass the legislation before it's sent to President Trump's desk.
Chapter 2: How are food assistance programs affected by the government shutdown?
House Speaker Mike Johnson urging lawmakers to return to Washington, saying the House must vote as quickly as possible. Across the country, more than 40 million people depend on food assistance, and while there could be an end in sight for the government shutdown, SNAP recipients continue to face confusion and delays.
Anna Pope of Member Station KOSU visited a food pantry in Oklahoma, home to one of the highest rates of food insecurity in the nation. Amparo Espinosa has been going to the Mid-Del Food Pantry in Midwest City for about six years. Espinosa likes coming here. The people are nice. But a month ago, she says there wasn't a wait.
Chapter 3: What issues are being raised regarding SNAP during the shutdown?
You could see the need to get food because of what happened with the government. And I think that's very sad that we are suffering the consequences of the people that should take care of us. Last month, many here were getting food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, including Espinosa. This month, Espinosa has not yet received her $21 through SNAP.
She says the program helps her afford certain things, but for others, she knows it is a lifeline. For NPR News, I'm Anna Pope in Midwest City, Oklahoma. The Trump administration is again asking the U.S. Supreme Court to keep full food aid payments on hold. The move is the latest in the legal fight over how SNAP should proceed during the government shutdown.
The justices expected to decide late Tuesday whether to halt lower court orders at the administration fully fund SNAP amid the potential end of the shutdown. Inside one of NASA's centers, employees say there's a campaign of organized chaos and information blackout. Unclear why, but they do know that President Trump targeted for cuts earlier this year. Here's NPR's Katie Riddle.
The Goddard Space Flight Center is in Maryland, and it's been a crown jewel of scholarship and innovation for NASA for years.
Chapter 4: What changes are occurring at NASA amidst the government shutdown?
But this year, say employees, they've seen a sharp change in culture and climate. Information withheld from employees, labs closed without reasons, and buildings suddenly shut down. Casey McGrath is an astrophysicist there. He spoke in his personal capacity. Like the upper management is pushing fast and hard to shut down buildings on campus without actually telling anybody what they're doing.
The White House and NASA both did not respond to requests for comment on this story. Katie Reddell, NPR News. This is NPR. A judge in West Virginia is allowing the continued deployment to Washington, D.C. of more than 300 state National Guard troops.
Chapter 5: How is crime being addressed in Washington D.C. according to recent rulings?
The judge ruled Monday that Governor Patrick Morrissey was within his authority to deploy the Guard in response to President Trump's executive order declaring a crime emergency in the nation's capital. The Justice Department, however, says violent crime in the district is at a 30-year low. Indonesia's new president is declaring the country's former authoritarian leader a national hero.
Human rights advocates are concerned this is an attempt to whitewash Cold War history, as NPR's Katerina Parton reports. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto had close ties to the former leader. He made the announcement from the presidential palace in Jakarta as part of the country's annual National Hero Day.
Former President Suharto led Indonesia for 32 years until 1998, decades defined by authoritarian rule, human rights abuses, and corruption. Suharto is accused of orchestrating an anti-communist purge from 1965 to 1966 that claimed at least half a million lives, marking some of the darkest days in Indonesian history.
The country has never investigated, and no one has ever been held responsible for the killings. Suharto died in 2008. Katarina Barton, NPR News. After nearly 30 years, Canada has lost its measles-free status. International health experts say Canada is no longer free of the disease because of ongoing outbreaks.
Chapter 6: What recent developments have occurred regarding Indonesia's former leader?
Canada has logged more than 5,100 cases this year. I'm Giles Snyder, NPR News.