SNAP Benefits Shutdown, Trump In Japan, Hurricane Melissa

About this episode

More than 40 million Americans will soon be without federal food assistance because SNAP benefits are set to expire on November 1 as the government shutdown drags on. President Trump signs a trade deal in Japan to secure rare earth minerals, a key bargaining chip ahead of his meeting with China's president later this week. And Hurricane Melissa bring over 170 mile per hour winds as it barrels towards Jamaica, and threatening other island nations in the Caribbean.<br/><br/><em>Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? <a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/news"target="_blank" >Subscribe</a> to the Up First newsletter.</em><br><p class="readrate">Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Dana Farrington, Padma Rama, Tara Neil, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle .<p class="readrate"><p class="readrate">It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Christopher Thomas<p class="readrate"><p class="readrate">We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.<br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>