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NPR Announcer
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Louise Schiavone
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. President Trump and China's top leader Xi Jinping will meet in South Korea on Thursday local time. They are expected to talk about further controls on fentanyl as well as ways to de escalate a trade war impacting American soybean farmers, technology companies that use rare earth materials and more. NPR's Emily Feng reports.
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Emily Feng
After attending the APEC summit in South Korea, Trump will head to the city of Busan to meet Xi Jinping. It's the first time the two men will meet face to face since Trump returned to office. And while trade talks last weekend between the two countries have defrayed the threat of higher tariffs and more export controls on rare earth, minerals and metals, the two men will need to cool down a relationship that has become exponentially more tense since Trump's first term. The US And China, for example, have butted heads politically, not just over trade, but also military dominance in the Pacific region. Emily Fang, NPR News.
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Louise Schiavone
Day 29 of a federal government shutdown with more than a million federal workers furloughed and otherwise now going without a paycheck from members stationed WAMU in Washington. Jenny Abamu reports on a food distribution center in the Maryland suburb of County.
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Jenny Abamu
By 10am, over 130 families had driven through the food line. They pull up in their cars, show their IDs, and boxes of fresh produce and bread are loaded into their trunks. Last Wednesday, more than 300 families received boxes at the site. Clara Henderson is an accepted federal employee, meaning she still has to go to work even though she's not getting paid.
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Clara Henderson
How am I going to pay my bills? I mean, you know, I'm good for this month, but we got next month. And it's like the little money that I have, I'm just pinching off of it, trying to do what I can to make ends meet. But I mean, it's just, it's awful. It's awful.
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Jenny Abamu
Montgomery county is home to over 50,000 federal workers. For NPR News, I'm Jenny Abemu.
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Louise Schiavone
And Bethesda policymakers at the Federal Reserve voted to cut its benchmark rate by a quarter Percentage Point today. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
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Scott Horsley
The rate cut, which was widely expected, is designed as support the US Job market, which has shown signs of weakness in recent months. Hiring slowed sharply over the summer and some big companies have announced large scale layoffs in recent days. While the unemployment rate is still low by historical standards, it has been inching up in recent months. It's hard to know for sure just how soft the job market is, though the regular monthly job tallies from the Labor Department have been suspended as a result of the government shutdown. The government did issue a monthly report on inflation for September showing prices are still climbing faster than the Fed would like central banks as it remains committed to bringing inflation back down to its target of 2%. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
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Louise Schiavone
The Dow closed down slightly today. The NASDAQ gained 130 points. This is NPR News. Posting on his social media platform, President Trump today says that he has given South Korea permission to build a nuclear powered submarine. The announcement follows trade negotiations between the United States and South Korea as Trump prepares to meet next with China's president. One of the leading artificial intelligence chatbots on the market, Character AI, says it will sharply restrict how minors will be allowed to interact with it. The move is the latest step by an AI company to try to make chatbots safer for kids under 18. NPR's John Ruich reports.
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John Ruich
Character AI lets users create and chat online with virtual characters. Last year, the family of a 14 year old who died by suicide after using the platform sued the company. Other AI companies, including industry leader OpenAI, have come under scrutiny for what some see as lax safeguards for miners. Character AI has already rolled out a series of measures to strengthen guardrails. Now it says it'll introduce an age assurance function to target age appropriate experiences. And starting in late November, it will bar miners from having open ended chats on the platform. The company also says it's launching an independent nonprofit focused on next generation AI safety. It says it's making these changes in light of an evolving landscape and questions from regulators. John Ruich, NPR News.
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Louise Schiavone
Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica today after making landfall as a powerful Category 5 storm. The National Hurricane center has it now Moving at Category 1 strength with maximum sustained winds of 90 miles an hour after dumping torrential rains over Cuba now headed toward Bermuda. I'm Luis Schiavone, NPR News, Washington.
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NPR Announcer
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