--:-- Giles Snyder: This message comes from NPR sponsor Odoo. Some describe Odoo like a magic beanstalk because it scales with you and is magically affordable. Odoo, exactly what a business needs. Sign up at odoo.com. That's O-D-O-O dot com.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Giles Snyder.
--:-- [Music continues in the background]
--:-- Rose Gilbert: Investigators in Tennessee are working to determine what caused yesterday's explosion that leveled a munitions plant southwest of Nashville in rural Tennessee. Officials say the blast could be felt for miles.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Rose Gilbert of member station WPLN spoke to people who live near the plant.
--:-- Rose Gilbert: It's also worth noting that residents say that they regularly do test explosions out here. So feeling the ground rattle a little isn't unusual, but this was on a whole different scale.
--:-- Giles Snyder: The plant is owned by Accurate Energetic Systems, which processes explosives and ammunition for the military. At least 18 people remain missing.
--:-- Anas Baba: As U.S. brokered ceasefire took effect Friday, Israeli troops began pulling out from parts of Gaza.
--:-- Giles Snyder: And NPR's Anas Baba reports that huge crowds of displaced Palestinians are streaming back to places that used to be Israeli military zones.
--:-- Anas Baba: I walk through Gaza City now and it feels like I'm witnessing a place being born again on every corner there is reunion silent embraces dust faces pressed together the joy of surviving here doesn't erase the grief yes there is entire blocks now look like an open graves only debris but Gazans here they don't wait for permission to live they carry hope like oxygen Gaza is not only rubble. Gaza is resilience. And what I see today is people writing themselves back into existence.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Anas Baba on NPR News, Gaza City.
--:-- [Music continues in the background]
--:-- Amy Held: The scope of the Trump administration's move to fire thousands of federal workers amid the ongoing government shutdown is coming into focus.
--:-- Giles Snyder: In a court filing, the Office of Management and Budget said well over 4,000 would be fired. That number came in response to a lawsuit challenging the shutdown layoffs.
--:-- Amy Held: Meanwhile, other federal workers are going without pay, and that includes members of the U.S. military, the National Guard, and Defense Department employees. They'll miss their first paycheck this coming Wednesday.
--:-- Giles Snyder: NPR's Amy Held reports that now more military members need help to feed their families.
--:-- Amy Held: Even when they're getting paid, more than a quarter of active-duty military families require food assistance according to the Armed Services YMCA. They operate food distribution sites across nine states. One in Kilnean Texas last week saw a 34 percent increase in demand.
--:-- Heather Campbell: The shutdown has made an already tenuous situation worse.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Heather Campbell is a military spouse who lost her own job at a military-based food bank.
--:-- Heather Campbell: She tells ABC News military families are often single income with little financial cushion. All of those things together create a really, really scary picture for the nutrition of our military families and their readiness to show up and do the jobs they're asked to do.
--:-- Amy Held: The Armed Services YMCA is adding more food distribution sites through the shutdown.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Amy Held, NPR News.
--:-- [Music continues in the background]
--:-- Sally Kornbooth: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is refusing to accept a federal funding deal with the White House.
--:-- Giles Snyder: MIT President Sally Kornbooth has written an open letter saying the proposal would restrict MIT's independence and freedom of expression.
--:-- Sally Kornbooth: MIT was among nine universities that received a White House memo last week detailing policies they should follow in exchange for preferential access to federal funding.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Fears of an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China weighed on the stock market this week.
--:-- Scott Horsley: NPR's Scott Horsley reports that all of the major stock indexes fell between 2 and 3.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Investors had begun to shrug off the trade tensions between the U and China even though double tariffs remain in place.
--:-- Scott Horsley: But late this week came a reminder that the world's two biggest economies are not on a friendly footing.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Beijing imposed new export restrictions on vital rare earth materials, and President Trump reacted angrily, threatening to impose a new 100% tariff on imports from China next month.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Trump also threatened to cancel an upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
--:-- Giles Snyder: The reaction from investors was swift and sour.
--:-- Scott Horsley: For the week, the S&P 500 index fell 2.4 percent, the Nasdaq dropped 2.5 percent, and the Dow tumbled nearly 2.75 percent.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
--:-- [Music continues in the background]
--:-- Giles Snyder: Las Vegas Aces are WNBA champions again.
--:-- Giles Snyder: The Aces won their third WNBA title in four seasons last night, completing a sweep of Phoenix in four games.
--:-- Giles Snyder: Asia Wilson named the finals most valuable player for the second time.
--:-- Giles Snyder: I'm Giles Snyder. This is NPR News.
--:-- Giles Snyder: This message comes from the Council for Interior Design Qualification. Safety matters. That's why NCIDQ certified interior designers meet rigorous standards to protect health, safety, and welfare. Learn more at cidq.org slash NPR.
