10.20 | The long run

Lindsay Mast (0:05)

Good morning. Who should decide which scientific research gets taxpayer funding? Those who receive it or those who dole it out?

Amber Lockridge (0:12)

Those choices can have long-term consequences that the public might not understand in a way that a scientist would.

Nick Eicher (0:20)

Also today, President Trump puts new Russia sanctions on hold. And why doing hard things can give our work meaning. Later, Americans have broad freedom to home school, but what happens when families try it overseas?

Kevin Bowden (0:33)

The home school freedoms that we have in the US are really unprecedented around the world.

Nick Eicher (0:38)

And Cal Thomas on the Paris riots.

Lindsay Mast (0:47)

It's Tuesday, October 20th. This is The World and Everything In It from listener-supported World Radio. I'm Lindsay Mast.

Nick Eicher (0:54)

And I'm Nick Eicher. Good morning.

Lindsay Mast (0:58)

Up next, Kent Covington with Today's News.

Kent Covington (1:01)

Authorities in France ordered curfews Monday night, trying to stop more riots and looting.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecournou said the curfews are meant to protect people and property. Paris police ordered overnight restrictions in two areas. Several other cities imposed their own curfews on miners being out after dark. Over the weekend, rioters smashed shop windows, set cars on fire, and attacked public buildings across the country. That, after protests over education and public spending, turned violent, with rioters and looters later taking to the streets.

In Washington, President Trump sat down at a table in the White House Rose Garden Monday, pen in hand. With First Lady Melania by his side, he signed an executive order on women's health.

SPEAKER_6 (1:51)

This historic initiative will promote new research and really go after the understudied diseases affecting women and promote innovative technologies to diagnose conditions sooner and improve treatment using the best available science, and we've got that.

Kent Covington (2:09)

The White House wants better answers for women struggling with infertility, chronic pain, and menopause. The effort also covers heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's. It calls for researchers to include more women and girls in clinical trials to better understand how the treatments work for them.

First Lady Melania Trump helped shape the plan.

Melania Trump (2:28)

Our mission must serve women at every stage of life. From young girls just starting out to mature women who deserve to have vitality, dignity, and independence.

Kent Covington (2:44)

The order gives the National Institutes of Health 90 days to create a new Women's Health Division. It will work alongside an office that has focused on women's health since 1990 The order, though, sets no specific funding amount for the research.

Federal agents arrested 11 non-citizens in California on Monday in a crackdown on illegal voting in US elections. World's Harrison Waters has more.

Harrison Waters (3:10)

The Department of Justice says those arrested are among 28 green card holders now charged with election-related crimes. Prosecutors accuse many of fraudulently registering to vote and illegally casting ballots.

The DOJ last week asked California to review its voter rolls for around 20,000 individuals the federal government suspects are non-citizens. And the department wants the state to set aside their mail ballots until they're verified as eligible to vote.

State officials, though, declined to meet the two-day deadline. Critics of the crackdown say non-citizen voter fraud is rare and highly unlikely to decide an election. But DOJ official Trent McCotter said, in his words, every illegal vote cancels out the vote of a lawful American citizen. Reporting for World, I'm Harrison Waters.

Kent Covington (3:59)

More than $700 million dollars meant to fight Ebola in Congo is missing in the financial reports provided by aid groups. That's according to authorities there who say they've launched an investigation and are demanding answers.

Meanwhile, the outbreak is still spreading. It has now reached an eighth province in Congo. Officials report more than 4,500 deaths since May, making it the country's deadliest Ebola outbreak. And Kenya has now confirmed its eighth case, the latest patient-tested positive already in quarantine. Health officials say there is no evidence yet that the virus is spreading there in the wider community.

In Yemen, missiles struck a military training camp on Monday, killing at least 53 government recruits. World's Kristin Flavin has that story.

SPEAKER_9 (4:49)

Local officials say Houthi rebels launched the attack, which wounded another 200 people. Military recruits were reportedly lining up for training when the missiles hit. The Houthis acknowledged attacking the camp. The country's government has promised to respond, and local leaders are asking for better air defense and alert systems. The fighting reignited this year between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Yemen's government backed by Saudi Arabia. That shattered a ceasefire that had largely held since 2022