Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton.
Chapter 2: What happened at Brown University on Saturday?
A man suspected of killing two students and wounding nine others at Brown University Saturday has been found dead inside a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, roughly an hour and a half from the school. Authorities say the suspect died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Fred Dox is the FBI special agent in charge in Boston.
Even though the suspect was found dead tonight, our work is not done. There are many questions that need to be answered. There's a lot of evidence that needs to be processed. And most importantly, the victims and their families deserve special care and consideration.
Officials identified the alleged shooter as Claudio Neves Valente. He was a 48-year-old Portuguese national and was a student at Brown. The parent company of President Trump's Truth social media platform has merged with a fusion power company in a $6 billion deal. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, it marks a major bet on clean energy by the Trump operation.
It was a surprise and somewhat head-scratching announcement. Trump's social media and crypto company will now become one of the first ever publicly traded fusion firms. Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, has seen its stock drop nearly 70% this year as the social media platform struggles to find its footing. So now the company is making a huge pivot to nuclear energy.
Backers say the Trump company is expected to start building the world's first fusion power plant that can produce energy at the scale of a utility operator. Meanwhile, many in Silicon Valley, including OpenAI's Sam Altman, are big investors in nuclear. Tech leaders hope it can be a source of clean energy that can help power the intensive energy demands of AI data centers. Bobby Allen, NPR News.
The House of Representatives has passed a bill to make it easier to build new projects in America, including energy projects. NPR's Camilla Dominovsky reports the bill would still need to pass the Senate to become law, but it's a big step for a topic that's been hotly debated in Congress for years.
Permitting reform sounds kind of dry. But if you've ever seen a community fight over a proposed pipeline or a solar farm or a data center, then you know that permitting inspires passion. And it can halt projects in their tracks. Democrats want to make it easier to build wind and solar. Republicans want to make it easier to build pipelines and power plants.
That's hypothetically the opening for a bipartisan deal, but many efforts have failed. The latest attempt at permitting reform, the SPEED Act, delighted the oil industry and frustrated renewable groups. It managed to pass the House. The debate now heads to the Senate. Camilla Dominovsky, NPR News.
President Trump signed an executive order to ease federal restrictions on marijuana, but did not fully decriminalize it. The move reclassifies marijuana from a Schedule 1 drug to a Schedule 3, expanding research and medical use. But Trump says the order does not sanction marijuana as a recreational drug. U.S. stocks rose today. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.
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