Life from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Skivone.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was heading to South America this week as the Trump administration
“embraces a new group of right-wing leaders and pushes to expand U.S. influence across”
the region. NPR's Michelle Kellman reports on what's on his agenda. The State Department says Rubio will travel to Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru to talk about enhanced cooperation in the fight against what it calls "narco-terrorism." The Trump administration has killed at least 227 people in the past year in strikes on
what it alleges our drug boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Critics say these strikes are illegal and have not had an impact on the drug trade, but Rubio may not face much pushback on this trip as new right-wing governments promised to work with the Trump administration. The State Department says Rubio will also discuss trade and support for recovery efforts
from a recent earthquake in Columbia.
Michelle Kellman and B.R. News, the State Department. Diesel is selling at near-record highs and this comes at a terrible time for farmers.
“At Frank Moore, a submembers station KCUR, in Kansas City reports, corn and soybean farmers”
are starting to harvest while some wheat farmers are getting ready to plant. Big farming operations by diesel by the tanker truckload. The people who run those farms tend to support President Donald Trump, but the spike in diesel prices, thanks to Trump's war with Iran, are straining that relationship. "Well, I'm a Republican, and I'm a farmer, and I am pissed."
Vance Enky is about to start planting wheat on his farming western Kansas. "We'll probably use about 5,000 gallons to put in the crop. It's just a rapidly escalating cost so you can't do anything about it. You just eat it." Enky figures the 60% jump in diesel prices could cost him up to $50,000 this year.
Frontier News on Frank Morris in Kansas City. Consumers with buy now pay later debt may now find it harder to get relief from that debt.
And P.R. Stephen Bassaha reports, these installment programs covered about $70 billion last
year. Buy now, pay later. Let's consume our split payments on everything from furniture to clothes. The credit counts in company money management international says it's seeing more clients with buy now pay later debt.
Ted Rosman is the group's consumer finance analyst. He says these newer buy now pay later companies are not as willing to offer debt relief. Like credit card lenders are often willing to work with us. We can negotiate something like an 8% rate over 4 or 5 years. The buy now pay later companies are often not willing to make the same accommodations.
Buy now pay later does have lower delinquency rates than credit cards. But Rosman worries with the growing debt those delinquencies could rise. Steve Amazaha and P.R. News. This is N.P.R. News. Ukraine's president for Lotta Mirza Lensky says he expects Russia's war against Ukraine
to continue this after meeting with President Trump's emissary Steve Woodcoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who arrived in Kiev Sunday, they had previously met a mosque with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Zelensky says he discussed a winter aid package for Ukraine. This long weekend marks the unofficial end of summer and the official start of school and
P.R.s. Jannaki Meta has this snapshot from Los Angeles. At mutual terrain of street elementary kindergartners are starting the year with some big feelings.
“That's why Emissary Terena has a long standing tradition of older and wiser fifth graders”
welcoming new kindergartners telemetry school. Fifth graders like Gerald Gomez Reina, who says part of his job is to help the new students with the transition by accessing emotional tools like breathing and quiet safe place and garbage can with garbage can. And he said the idea is to make sure kindergartners start the year off hand-in-hand with
a built-in friend, Jnaki Meta and P.R. News Los Angeles. New Mexico Governor Michelle Luhan Grisham has something to say about President Trump's social media suggestion that her state be renamed New America. New Mexico's name is in Duffford debate she declared what is up for debate is who's showing up for working families.
I'm Louise Kivone and P.R. News Washington. Billionaire Mark Cuban has stared into the belly of the beast of America's health care system. "I mean it's so bad you can go through a long list of really quality hospitals and they don't know their costs." So can Medicare for all be a solution?
We take a hard look at the cost of the program along with U.S. health care itself. Find this and hear more stories from the indicator from Planet Money on the NPR app.
