Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor, Johnston.
Stocks on Wall Street opened higher this morning as diesel prices jumped sharply.
“NPR Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 400 points in early trading.”
The average price of diesel fuel jumped nearly 10 cents a gallon overnight. Triple A says the average cost is now $5.78 a gallon. That's up more than $2 a gallon since the US launched its war against Iran. And just three cents shy of the all-time high. Set back in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Rising diesel prices increased the cost of everything that moves by truck or train. It also raises the cost of operating farm equipment during the busy fall harvest season. Stocking the Campbell's company fell after the soup and snack maker reported drop in sales and profits. Campbell's is also cutting its dividend.
“And the US trade deficit widened in July by 24% as imports rose and exports fell.”
Scott Horsley and Piano is Washington. Israel has demolished another Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian communities have faced increased displacement as MPR's Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv. Israeli authorities on Wednesday demolished a small Palestinian hurting community raising homes to the ground and forcing roughly 70 residents to leave. That's according to an Israeli human rights group which says 66 West Bank Palestinian communities have now been displaced since the October 7th attacks in 2023.
The latest destroyed community was in an area Israel designates as a military firing zone. The Israeli military unit that carried out the displacement says it acted on the orders of Israel's political leadership. Also in the occupied West Bank Israeli forces killed two young Palestinian men. It accused them of throwing cinder blocks at soldiers who were helping take back livestock which Israeli settlers claimed as theirs. Daniel Estrin and PR news Tel Aviv.
“The former leader of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says the Trump administration is no longer trying to dismantle the agency.”
NPR's Rebecca Hirscher spoke with David Richardson in one of his first interviews since leaving the agency late last year.
Richardson took over at FEMA in May 2025. I went there for three things to get FEMA through hurricane season. You know, shut it down or drastically reduce its size and essentially get it ready for rebranding. That's why I went. He was at the agency for about six months and says during that time the Trump administration changed course.
And now the country's top disaster agency is here to stay. FEMA and the White House declined to answer questions from NPR about the administration's goals for the agency. Rebecca Hirscher and PR news. On Wall Street, the Dow was up 314 points the Nasdaq up 184. This is NPR news. Certain rescue operations are continuing more than a week after catastrophic flooding in Nepal and Tibet.
More than 1,200 people are dead and more than 4,200 others are still missing including about 900 workers. Believe trapped in hydro powered tunnels. Thousands of people are living in relief camps while officials say about 20,000 homes will have to be rebuilt. Singapore is launching a new national campaign to support families and stabilize falling birth rates. NPR's Brian Mann reports experts say the island nation's plan includes ideas that it could help families there.
Singapore will provide roughly $55,000 in support for every child with a big cash payment, followed by years of annual payments and credits. Also more access to affordable housing and more paid family leave. Mr. Lawrence Wong says showing up birth rates is necessary for the country's future. Over time, this would have profound consequences for our economy and our ability to keep Singapore going.
Karen Guza is a demographer at the University of North Carolina. I was reading through what Singapore is doing and it's hard not to draw them with MB over it. Singapore's birth rate is much lower than the US, but US birth rates have also fallen below the level needed to maintain the stable population, Brian Mann and PR news. Uber says it's cutting about 3300 jobs and it's largest round of layoffs since the pandemic. The company says it's trying to reduce management layers and free up money for growth, including a major push into robotexies.
I'm Mr. Johnston and PR news in Washington.
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