--:-- Host: We all wonder about life's big questions. Why are we here? What are we to do? And how to make sense of it all?
--:-- Host: On Ye Gods with Scott Carter, I talk with politicos, priests, actors, and atheists on how they wrestle with life's mysteries. Their stories will spark reflection, challenge assumptions, and maybe even bring you some clarity on your own journey.
--:-- Host: Listen to Ye Gods, part of the NPR network, wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- [Music transitions to news theme]
--:-- Janine Herbst: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst.
--:-- Janine Herbst: The White House says layoffs of federal workers have started. It's something President Trump threatened to do if the federal government shutdown continued.
--:-- Janine Herbst: White House Budget Director Russ Vogt first announced it on social media, and a spokesperson tells NPR the reductions in force will be, quote, substantial, but didn't say how many people or which agencies are being affected.
--:-- Janine Herbst: This as hundreds of thousands of federal employees are currently on furlough, as the government shut down, now on its 10th day, with no end in sight.
--:-- Janine Herbst: In Tennessee, officials say several people are dead, others are unaccounted for, after an explosion at Accurate Energy Systems.
--:-- Janine Herbst: That's a military explosives manufacturing plant in Buxnort, about an hour southwest of Nashville.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Officials say the blast involved one entire building at the plant that makes products for the military aerospace avalanche control mining and blasting.
--:-- Janine Herbst: The cause is under investigation.
--:-- Janine Herbst: President Trump says he no longer sees a point in meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping after China introduced new restrictions on exports of rare earth materials and related technology.
--:-- Janine Herbst: As MPR's Deepa Shivaram reports, the two were supposed to meet in South Korea later this month.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Trump says the meeting was set to take place during the APEC summit in Korea in a few weeks.
--:-- Janine Herbst: It would have been the first in-person meeting between Trump and Xi in Trump's second term.
--:-- Janine Herbst: But in a post-to-truth social, Trump accuses Xi of surprising him and other world leaders with the announcement of the export restrictions.
--:-- Janine Herbst: It's a move seen as an effort by China to boost its leverage in trade talks with the U.S.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Trump says the U.S. is considering how to respond to China, and that one option might be a, quote, massive increase in tariffs on Chinese products coming into the U.S.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Deepa Shiveram, NPR News, the White House.
--:-- Janine Herbst: First Lady Melania Trump says eight Ukrainian children held in Russia have been reunited with their families after negotiations with Russian President Putin.
--:-- Janine Herbst: NPR's Joanna Kikisis reports.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Speaking to reporters in Washington, the First Lady said the negotiations began after she wrote a letter to Putin which President Trump handed when the two men met in Alaska this summer.
--:-- Janine Herbst: And since then President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication regarding the welfare of these children.
--:-- Janine Herbst: She said there are plans to bring back more Ukrainian children.
--:-- Janine Herbst: In a social media post, President Trump thanked Putin for praising his peace efforts.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Last month, an investigation by Yale University researchers showed that Ukrainian children in Russia are stripped of their identity, re-educated as Russian, and trained in military tactics.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Joannica Kisses, NPR News, Kyiv.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Wall Street is sharply lower on word that President Trump says China is becoming hostile over rare earth metals.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Dow is down 584 points.
--:-- Janine Herbst: You're listening to NPR News from Washington.
--:-- Janine Herbst: MIT is the first university to turn down the Trump administration's offer to get priority access for federal funding in exchange for signing an agreement to support President Trump's higher education agenda.
--:-- Janine Herbst: The proposal sent to nine schools requiring them to cap international student enrollment, freeze tuition for five years, adhere to the administration's definition of gender, and prohibit anything that would, quote, belittle conservative ideas.
--:-- Janine Herbst: MIT says it already met or exceeded many of the standards in the proposals but that it won't restrict free expression.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Julia Carneiro has more.
--:-- Julia Carneiro: Oh my God. Well, I have no words. This was the moment Maria Corina Machado received the news, waking up to a phone call in the middle of the night.
--:-- Julia Carneiro: And honor, and I know it's a recognition to our people, to the Venezuelan people.
--:-- Julia Carneiro: Machado is a leading figure opposing Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro.
--:-- Julia Carneiro: She was barred from running for president in 2024.
--:-- Julia Carneiro: After that election, Maduro claimed victory without detailing the vote count.
--:-- Julia Carneiro: Since then, Machado has lived in hiding in Venezuela.
--:-- Julia Carneiro: World leaders praised her courage and commitment to human rights.
--:-- Julia Carneiro: But the White House offered no congratulations, saying the Nobel Committee had placed politics over peace in failing to award the prize to President Trump.
--:-- Julia Carneiro: For NPR News, I'm Julia Carneiro.
--:-- Janine Herbst: And on Wall Street, the Dow is down 571 points, NASDAQ down 576. That's down 2.5 percent.
--:-- Janine Herbst: This is NPR News.
--:-- Janine Herbst: Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org.
--:-- Janine Herbst: That's plus.npr.org.
