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--:-- Host: Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman.
--:-- Dale Willman: Stocks fell sharply Friday after President Trump threatened to impose even steeper tariffs on imports from China. That caused the Dow to drop 878 points or almost 2 percent.
--:-- Dale Willman: Then after the markets closed, he followed through on the threat, announcing a new additional 100 percent tariff.
--:-- Scott Horsley: NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
--:-- Scott Horsley: President Trump posted his threat on social media after China imposed new restrictions on exports of rare earth materials. Trump described that as a hostile act that could clog commercial flows around the world.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Trump said he'd been planning to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this month at an Asia Pacific summit in South Korea, but he warned that meeting could be scrapped now.
--:-- Scott Horsley: In addition to a 100 percent increase in tariffs next month, Trump warned he could hit back at China with export restrictions of his own.
--:-- Scott Horsley: The tit-for-tat comes after a period when investors had been growing more sanguine that U trade tensions might not be as disruptive as initially feared.
--:-- Dale Willman: Scott Horsley, MPR News, Washington.
--:-- Dale Willman: Tens of thousands of Palestinians are moving back to northern Gaza after the start Friday of the latest ceasefire in the fighting there. They're finding burned out homes and destroyed businesses because much of the area was destroyed by Israeli strikes.
--:-- Dale Willman: President Trump says it's time for peace to come. They're all tired of fighting and this really gives the whole Middle East, this is beyond Gaza. Gaza is very important, but this is beyond Gaza. This is peace in the Middle East, and it is a beautiful thing.
--:-- Dale Willman: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, is hinting that Israel may renew its offensive if Hamas does not give up its weapons.
--:-- Dale Willman: Authorities say 19 people are missing and feared dead after an explosion at a munitions plant in Tennessee.
--:-- Caroline Eggers: Caroline Eggers of Member Station WPLN spoke with Tennessee State Representative Jody Barrett about the effect on the community.
--:-- Jody Barrett: Barrett says his community has faced multiple disasters in his lifetime. A gas pipeline explosion, a deadly flood, and now a factory explosion.
--:-- Jody Barrett: This county has dealt with a lot of tragic loss like this, more than their fair share.
--:-- Jody Barrett: Four years ago, the community was struck by Tennessee's heaviest recorded single-day rainfall. A flood killed 20 people in the town of Waverly, just a short distance from the explosives plant.
--:-- Jody Barrett: He says the sheriff and deputies responding to this latest incident also managed the flood and are Probably still struggling with some of the PTSD of dealing with pulling bodies out of trees.
--:-- Jody Barrett: Barrett says the explosion will leave another mark on the community.
--:-- Caroline Eggers: For NPR News, I'm Caroline Eggers in Nashville.
--:-- Dale Willman: The Trump administration has begun mass firings of federal employees. A court filing says notices were sent to some 4,200 people on Friday.
--:-- Dale Willman: Among the hardest-hit departments are the Health and Human Services, Education, and Treasury departments.
--:-- Dale Willman: Democrats are blasting the move, and unions representing federal employees have taken the issue to court.
--:-- Dale Willman: The White House describes the firings as substantial.
--:-- Dale Willman: You're listening to NPR News.
--:-- Dale Willman: The West African nation of Burkina Faso says it's refused a proposal from the Trump administration to accept deportees from the U.S.
--:-- Dale Willman: That country was asked to take non-citizens that were expelled from the U.S. in addition to some of its own citizens.
--:-- Dale Willman: The U.S. Embassy there has now suspended most visa services.
--:-- Dale Willman: The country's foreign minister says that may be a pressure tactic by Washington.
--:-- Dale Willman: Singer and bassist John Lodge of the Moody Blues has died.
--:-- Dale Willman: His family announced his death on social media Friday, but they did not give a cause.
--:-- Dale Willman: He was 82 years old.
--:-- Elizabeth Blair: NPR Elizabeth Blair has this appreciation.
--:-- Elizabeth Blair: John Lodge wrote some of the Moody Blues biggest hits Ride ride where she soar Take this place on this trip just for me.
--:-- Elizabeth Blair: Lodge was born in 1943 in Birmingham, England.
--:-- Elizabeth Blair: He got hooked on American musicians like Little Richard and Buddy Holly.
--:-- Elizabeth Blair: He and his friend Ray Thomas were in a band called El Riot and the Rebels before later joining the Moody Blues.
--:-- Elizabeth Blair: The Moody Blues sold some 70 million albums worldwide.
--:-- Elizabeth Blair: The statement from his family says that John Lodge was never happier than being on stage.
--:-- Dale Willman: The Las Vegas Aces won their third WNBA championship in four years Friday night with a 97-86 win over the Phoenix Mercury.
--:-- Dale Willman: Asia Wilson scored 31 points in the win.
--:-- Dale Willman: The Aces needed just four games to end the first best-of-seven finals in league history.
--:-- Dale Willman: The Aces scored 54 points in the first half.
--:-- Dale Willman: I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.
