--:-- Host: This message comes from Total Wine and More. November is all about gathering. Total Wine and More has wines, beers, and spirits for special moments. Find what you love and love what you find. Spirits not sold in Virginia and North Carolina. Drink responsibly. Be 21.
--:-- Host: Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Federal aviation officials are easing restrictions, allowing more flights as more air traffic controllers return to work. NPR's Joel Rose reports it's the latest sign that commercial aviation is gradually returning to normal after the government shutdown.
--:-- Joel Rose: The reductions in air traffic at dozens of major airports will be lowered from 6 percent to 3 percent of flights through the weekend. The Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration say that reflects improvements in staffing levels at air traffic facilities.
--:-- Joel Rose: The FAA said the restrictions were necessary to keep the airspace safe as the agency grappled with widespread staffing shortages of air traffic controllers during the government shutdown. But with the shutdown over, air traffic controllers have finally received some of the back pay they earned, and most are now back to work.
--:-- Joel Rose: Airlines say they're confident they can ramp up quickly and should be able to return to their full schedules before Thanksgiving holiday travel begins.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Joel Rose NPR News Washington.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Kentucky hemp farmers say a new federal limit on THC products would be disastrous for their livelihoods. Shepard Snyder with member station WEKU reports the provision is part of the spending bill President Trump signed into law this week.
--:-- Shepard Snyder: The provision limits the amount of THC in sellable hemp to just 0.4 milligrams per container. Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell added the provision, saying it's meant to close a legal loophole and keep mind-altering substances out of the hands of children.
--:-- Shepard Snyder: But Abram Phillips, who runs a hemp farm out of northern Kentucky, says imposing such a limit would kneecap their profits. At that point, your consumers don't care because that's not what they want. So why would they buy something they don't want? If we don't have consumers, we have no market.
--:-- Shepard Snyder: The provision passed despite opposition from fellow Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. The ban would go into effect a year from now.
--:-- Ryland Barton: For NPR News, I'm Shepard Snyder in Lexington, Kentucky.
--:-- Ryland Barton: The Food and Drug Administration is requiring tough new warnings about the safety of a controversial gene therapy for muscular dystrophy. NPR's Rob Stein has more.
--:-- Rob Stein: The FDA is requiring the drug company Sarepta to include a black box warning, the agency's strictest on the company's gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
--:-- Rob Stein: The FDA is also restricting use of the gene therapy to patients who are at least four years old and can still walk. The FDA action comes in response to reports of liver failure in some patients who received the gene therapy.
--:-- Rob Stein: The treatment is the only gene therapy approved for the devastating muscle disorder. It has long been controversial because of questions about how well it works and how safe it is.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Rob Stein, NPR News.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Researchers at an artificial intelligence firm say they found the first reported case of foreign hackers using AI to automate portions of cyber attacks. Anthropix says it identified a Chinese hacking operation that used its own AI program to direct some of the work.
--:-- Ryland Barton: The company says the hacking campaign had limited success before it was spotted in September.
--:-- Ryland Barton: This is NPR News from Washington.
--:-- Ryland Barton: The White House is preparing to host Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next week. It's the first time bin Salman has been to Washington since he was connected to the murder of journalist Jamal Khasoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi government.
--:-- Ryland Barton: President Trump will host him in the Oval Office for a bilateral meeting.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Three Chinese astronauts are back on Earth after being stuck in space for more than a week. Their return vessel had been struck by space debris, damaging it. NPR's Emily Fang reports.
--:-- Emily Fang: After six months on a tiny space station the three astronauts of China Tiangong Space Station were supposed to land back in Inner Mongolia at the start of this month.
--:-- Emily Fang: Instead space debris cracked the window of their return vessel the Shenzhou 20. Debris can travel at thousands of miles an hour in the vacuum of space, and even tiny particles can cause big damage to instruments and spacecraft.
--:-- Emily Fang: Adding to their troubles, a new rotation of three astronauts had already come up to relieve the initial crew. So China's space agency said the stuck astronauts landed safely back on Earth using the new rotation spacecraft, the Shenzhou 21.
--:-- Emily Fang: The three astronauts that just landed back on Earth spent a total of 204 days in space, China's record since they started their space program in 2003.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Emily Fang, NPR News.
--:-- Ryland Barton: Luis Rubiales, the disgraced former head of Spanish soccer, was pelted by eggs as he presented his memoir. Rubiales was convicted of sexual assault after forcibly kissing a player after the team's victory at the 2023 Women's World Cup.
--:-- Ryland Barton: The egg thrower was Rubiales' uncle.
--:-- Ryland Barton: This is NPR News from Washington.
