--:-- Rachel Martin: I'm Rachel Martin. If you're tired of small talk, check out the Wild Card Podcast. I invite influential thinkers to open up about the big topics we all think about, but rarely talk about. Tune in this fall to hear Mel Robbins, Malala Yousafzai, and Brene Brown talk about everything from grief and God to ambition and forgiveness. Watch or listen on the NPR app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling requiring full snap benefits be paid for November. NPR's Tobias Smith reports a hearing is set for this afternoon.
--:-- Tobias Smith: The Trump administration's bid for help from the Supreme Court comes after a federal appeals court last night refused a similar request. At issue is an order from a federal judge in Rhode Island requiring payment of full SNAP benefits instead of the 65 percent the administration wants to pay.
--:-- Tobias Smith: Meantime, a group of states who already paid some full benefits got a federal judge in Boston to temporarily stop the Trump administration from penalizing them. Administration officials say those states may have to pay the government back for any payments over 65 percent and they could lose some federal funding.
--:-- Tobias Smith: The states insist they were in compliance with administrative guidance and court orders when making those payments.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: NPR News, I'm Windsor Johnston.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: Hamas has handed over the body of an Israeli soldier that had been held in Gaza since 2014. NPR's Lauren Frere reports the move may indicate progress toward phase two of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the militant group.
--:-- Lauren Frere: Phase one was halting violence, exchanging bodies and boosting humanitarian aid to Gaza. Phase two is disarming Hamas, deploying international troops and governing post-war.
--:-- Lauren Frere: Hamas' handover of the remains of Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed in a previous Gaza war, could impact phase two negotiations over some 200 Hamas fighters. They're believed to be holed up in Rafa in southern Gaza. Israel's been demanding they surrender or be killed.
--:-- Lauren Frere: The U.S. floated the idea of freeing them if they agree to disarm and in exchange for Goldin's body.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: Lauren Fryer, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: The annual United Nations climate meeting, also known as COP30, has officially kicked off in Brazil. NPR Rebecca Herscher reports one goal of the meeting is to accelerate progress on climate change.
--:-- Rebecca Herscher: In recent years wind and solar power has expanded dramatically. It's now the cheapest source of electricity in most of the world and that's helping to slow the rate of global warming.
--:-- Rebecca Herscher: But it's not enough to avoid catastrophic amounts of warming in the coming decades, says United Nations Climate Chief Simon Steele. We must move much, much faster on both reductions of emissions and strengthening resilience.
--:-- Rebecca Herscher: Delegates from more than 190 nations are participating in this year's meeting. The United States is not among them.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: You're listening to NPR News from Washington.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: The Food and Drug Administration is removing stringent warnings about risks from hormone therapy products used to ease symptoms of menopause and perimenopause. NPR's Sydney Lupkin has more on the change in the agency's stance.
--:-- Sydney Lupkin: Black box warnings on hormone therapies are the FDA's strongest. They're used to inform doctors and patients that a drug can cause serious or life-threatening side effects.
--:-- Sydney Lupkin: The warnings had been on hormone therapies for more than 20 years and said the drugs increased the risk of certain cancers, strokes, and heart attacks. Now the FDA is removing the warnings saying those risks were overstated.
--:-- Sydney Lupkin: It's a change many doctors have urged the FDA to make, but they say the agency didn't follow its usual procedure for doing so. The FDA convened a special expert panel in July instead of using an existing advisory committee, which follows a stricter process for reviewing evidence and making recommendations.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: Several public universities in Massachusetts have reported a decline in international student enrollment this fall. University of Massachusetts, Boston, international enrollment fell about 17% compared with last year. Officials point to recent visa restrictions and global uncertainty as key factors.
--:-- Windsor Johnston: Stocks on Wall Street are trading higher at this hour. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 241 points. The Nasdaq Composite trading sharply higher, up 463. The S&P up 86 points. I'm Windsor Johnston, NPR News in Washington.
--:-- Rachel Martin: On NPR's Wildcard podcast, Padma Lakshmi says she feels better at 55 than 25. I wouldn't go back to my 20s for all the money in the world. I really wouldn't. I was so hard on myself about every little thing or every imperfection.
--:-- Rachel Martin: Watch or listen to that Wildcard conversation on the NPR app or on YouTube at NPR Wildcard.
