--:-- Giles Snyder: This message comes from Capital One with the Venture X Card. Earn unlimited double miles, a $300 annual Capital One travel credit, and access to airport lounges. Capital One. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. Details at CapitalOne.com.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder.
--:-- Giles Snyder: President Trump is blaming Democrats for layoffs amid the ongoing government shutdown, saying they started this thing and called the job cuts Democrat-oriented.
--:-- Giles Snyder: In court filings and a lawsuit by labor unions, the White House said more than 4,000 federal employees have received layoff notices.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Democrats say they won't cave to pressure tactics.
--:-- Giles Snyder: The ongoing shutdown has led to staffing shortages in air traffic control towers.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Airports across the country experienced scores of delays this week.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is threatening to fire air traffic controllers who don't show up for work.
--:-- Joel Rose: In an interview on the Fox Business Channel, Secretary Duffy said there's been a noticeable uptick in the number of air traffic controllers calling out sick.
--:-- Joel Rose: Duffy said it's a small fraction of controllers who are creating a massive disruption and suggested the government could fire those, quote, problem children.
--:-- Joel Rose: And if we have some on our staff that aren't dedicated like we need, we going to let them go.
--:-- Joel Rose: Nearly 11 certified air traffic controllers are required to work during the government shutdown but don't get paid until it ends.
--:-- Joel Rose: Thousands of flights have been delayed this week as the Federal Aviation Administration limits the number of planes in the air in order to keep the skies safe.
--:-- Joel Rose: Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington.
--:-- Giles Snyder: With the ceasefire in Gaza holding, rescue workers have been retrieving bodies from the rubble after Israeli troops pulled back from some areas.
--:-- Giles Snyder: An estimated 200,000 Palestinians have already returned to neighborhoods in the north, with many homes destroyed by two years of war.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Tess Ingram from UNICEF told the BBC the aid agency has 1,300 trucks ready outside Gaza and waiting for the crossings to open.
--:-- Giles Snyder: We are really focused on meeting children's basic needs for survival because the stakes remain so high.
--:-- Giles Snyder: And that means nutrition supplies, it means safe drinking water, it means shelter, blankets and warm clothes with winter coming.
--:-- Giles Snyder: President Trump expected to visit the region on Monday.
--:-- Giles Snyder: He's to address Israel's parliament and to meet with leaders in Cairo.
--:-- Giles Snyder: The president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has written a letter telling the Trump administration that it won't be signing on to what the White House called a compact to get preferential treatment for federal funding.
--:-- Alyssa Nadwarni: The letter from MIT President Sally Kornbluth says the compact quote includes principles with which we disagree.
--:-- Alyssa Nadwarni: MIT was one of nine universities asked by the Department of Education to sign the agreement to ensure access to federal funding and grants.
--:-- Alyssa Nadwarni: The compact requires schools to agree to a list of demands, including a five-year tuition rate freeze, limits on international students, and prohibiting the use of race or sex as admissions factors.
--:-- Alyssa Nadwarni: Kornbluth writes the university believes that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone and therefore, quote, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
--:-- Alyssa Nadwarni: The university is the first school to respond publicly to the administration's compact.
--:-- Alyssa Nadwarni: Alyssa Nadwarni, NPR News.
--:-- Giles Snyder: And you're listening to NPR News.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Voters in New Orleans heading to the polls today to elect a new mayor as NPR's Matt Bloom reports.
--:-- Matt Bloom: New Orleans has drawn the national spotlight this year for a number of issues, including a major jailbreak, and is one of several Democratic-run cities where President Trump has said he wants to deploy National Guard troops to fight crime.
--:-- Matt Bloom: The city's current Democratic mayor, LaToya Cantrell, is term-limited and also faces federal corruption charges.
--:-- Matt Bloom: More than 10 candidates are vying for her seat and most are running on promises to restore stability to city politics.
--:-- Matt Bloom: It's one of several major cities including New York and Detroit that will elect a new mayor this fall.
--:-- Giles Snyder: North Korea rolled out its latest military hardware at a parade in Pyongyang.
--:-- Anthony Kuhn: NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports that North Korea is celebrating the 80th anniversary, the founding of its ruling Workers' Party.
--:-- Anthony Kuhn: Trucks rolled through Kim Il-sung Square Friday night carrying hypersonic and cruise missiles, and the new Hwasong-20, an intercontinental ballistic missile intended to be capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
--:-- Anthony Kuhn: Leader Kim Jong-un had special praise for a unit of troops in the parade that had returned after fighting against Ukraine and Russia.
--:-- Anthony Kuhn: Last month in Beijing, Kim watched a military parade with the leaders of China and Russia.
--:-- Anthony Kuhn: This time, it was Kim's turn to host the parade, with officials from China, Russia, and Vietnam as his guests.
--:-- Anthony Kuhn: Some analysts are hopeful that Kim's increasingly confident diplomacy could eventually lead to a resumption of dialogue with the U.S.
--:-- Anthony Kuhn: Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Akita, Japan.
--:-- Giles Snyder: And I'm Giles Snyder.
--:-- Giles Snyder: This is NPR News.
