Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor, Johnston.
Stocks on Wall Street opened higher this morning as gasoline and diesel prices jump, and
“PR Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones industrial average rose by about 314 points in early”
trading. The US and Iran are trading attacks around the Strait of Hormuz once again, adding to jitters in world energy markets. The benchmark price of crude oil in the US is close to $90 a barrel, while the international standard is a few dollars higher than that.
Retail gasoline prices in the US jump 2.5 cents overnight to an average of $4.12 cents a gallon. Triple A says diesel prices jump by a nickel-agallant to an average of 5.68. Chevron hopes to more than double its production of oil in Venezuela.
The US energy giant is part of a joint venture that plans to invest more than 7 billion dollars
in Venezuela's oil rich or a no-co-built over the next five years. Asian stocks were lower overnight. Scott Horsley and Pairney was Washington. The US Postal Service says it's reviewing a whistleblowers concerns about a new technical
“system that's developing for mail-in ballots in the midterm elections.”
As MPR's Hansi Lowlong reports that new technology is facing lawsuits. The US Postal Service built the new online portal after President Trump issued an order calling for USPS to deliver mail-in ballots only to people on voter lists that the states would have to turn over to the mailing agency. We should note USPS is a financial support of NPR.
And an anonymous government official is claiming that system has not been properly tested and it could lead to eligible voters not getting ballots in time or at all.
David Klegerman of the nonprofit whistleblower aid is representing the official.
The entire IT system has been built in a matter of weeks when it should be built in maybe a year or more. In fact, when they've tested this IT system, it's crashed. A federal judge has blocked USPS from requiring states to use the online portal for their mail-in ballots.
USPS is appealing that ruling and says it plans to roll out the portal soon so election officials can try it out.
“The House has voted to extend federal spending at current levels through mid-December.”
The move will overt a government shutdown ahead of the November mid-terms and PR Sam Greenglass reports President Trump is expected to sign the measure. The extension avoids the political peril of a prolonged shutdown ahead of the mid-terms. The Senate already passed the measure in August and the House has now followed with a bipartisan vote 370 to 48.
Congress failed to prevent two record-long shutdowns in the last year, as lawmakers came
to impasses over expiring House subsidies and proposals to limit the tactics of immigration agents. In the end, Democrats extracted few concessions and Congress eventually passed funding agreements set to expire at the end of this month. Talks to fund the government again for a full fiscal year broke down this summer.
Now that funding fight has been punted to the end of the year. Sam Greenglass and PR News On Wall Street, the Dow was up 297 points the Nasdaq up 14. This is NPR News. The State Department says about 75 Americans remain missing a week after catastrophic flooding
and landslides devastated parts of Nepal and Tibet. Among them are 22 Americans with an organization that teaches yoga and meditation. They had reached an immigration center near the Nepalese border just minutes before a wall of water mud and debris swept through the area. The COVID-19 flu and RSV vaccines continue to be very safe and effective according to new
independent studies. Based on the results, several major medical groups are issuing new guidelines urging Americans to continue getting the shots and PR's Rob Stein reports. The analyses were conducted by the University of Minnesota's Vaccine Integrity Project, which was created to counter questions raised by the Trump administration about the shots
and the federal government's failure to issue updated guidelines for the COVID, flu and RSV vaccines. Based on the results, groups representing family doctors, pediatricians, obstetricians and other specialists recommend the shots for more people than the federal government, including healthy adults, young children, and pregnant people.
Rob Stein and PR News ProGoffer, Tiger Woods, had his driver's license suspended for five years after reaching a plea deal this morning in his Florida DUI case. Police say Woods was speeding on a residential road when he clipped a truck and rolled onto its side.
He had previously pleaded not guilty to the DUI and refusal charges. This is NPR News in Washington. This week on Sharkwave, you are what you eat, may not be afraid you associate with your mental health. What?
One in three people have insulin resistance in our country and if you have insulin resistance, you are double the likelihood of developing major depression. We explore the link between your body and your brain.
