JQJO — Your world, one story at a time · Page 1194

CNN’s Dana Bash confronted House Speaker Mike Johnson over the shutdown’s looming hit to food assistance, asking why he’d reject a partial funding deal to reopen Agriculture. Johnson dismissed it as a stunt, blamed Democratic leaders for prolonging “pain,” and insisted only fully reopening the government is acceptable. The shutdown followed Republicans voting down a Democratic bill on Oct. 1; SNAP benefits could lapse Saturday for more than 20 million households. Johnson disputed using contingency funds as unauthorized by Congress. Meanwhile, Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration over benefits denied to 22 million households.

Three billionaires—Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Samsung's Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai's Chung Eui-sun—stunned patrons at Seoul’s Kkanbu Chicken by paying for everyone’s meal, handing out snacks and toasting with beer and soju ahead of the APEC summit in Gyeongju. The next day, Huang met South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung and said Nvidia will supply more than 260,000 GPUs to South Korean companies, collaborating with Samsung, Hyundai, Naver and SK on physical AI, including AI-driven autonomous vehicles. The outing unfolded as regional leaders, including China’s Xi Jinping, gathered and as access to cutting-edge AI chips was among the issues.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says more than 580,000 bottles of prazosin hydrochloride have been voluntarily recalled nationwide over possible nitrosamine impurities considered potentially cancer causing. New Jersey-based Teva Pharmaceuticals USA and distributor Amerisource Health Services initiated the recall of multiple capsule strengths earlier this month. The FDA assigned the affected lots a Class II risk, noting that prazosin relaxes blood vessels to lower blood pressure and is sometimes used for PTSD-related nightmares and sleep disturbances.

China has named Zhang Lu, Wu Fei and Zhang Hongzhang as the crew for the Shenzhou 21 mission to the Tiangong space station, set to launch Friday, Oct. 31 at 11:44 a.m. EDT on a Long March 2F from Jiuquan. Commander Zhang Lu, 48, previously flew on Shenzhou 15. Zhang Hongzhang, 39, and Wu, 32—the youngest in China’s astronaut corps—will make their first spaceflights. The trio plans about six months aboard Tiangong, conducting experiments, spacewalks, outreach and cargo operations. For the first time, four black mice will also fly to the station for reproduction studies in low Earth orbit.

Children whose mothers had Covid-19 during pregnancy were more likely to receive neurodevelopmental diagnoses by age 3, a Massachusetts General Hospital study of more than 18,000 births found. Risk was 1.3 times higher after adjustments, with over 16% affected versus under 10% among unexposed pregnancies. The link was stronger in boys and when infection occurred in the third trimester. Common diagnoses included speech and motor delays and autism; autism rates were 2.7% versus 1.1%. Conducted largely in an unvaccinated cohort, the study appears in Obstetrics and Gynecology and urges prevention and early evaluation.

Donald Trump struck a triumphant note after his first meeting with Xi Jinping since returning to office in January, even as it suggested he had to give as much as he got. Speaking Thursday aboard Air Force One, the US president said the leaders had settled one of their thorniest disputes: access to China's rare earths, a major source of Beijing's leverage. He said there is no roadblock on rare earth and hoped the issue would disappear from our vocabulary for a little while.

Apple’s iPhone generated $49.02 billion, narrowly missing the $49.33 billion Wall Street forecast. The stock fell 3% after the report before climbing 5% after hours. Executives said capex will rise in the holiday quarter to back expanding AI work, with CFO Kevan Parekh noting continued investment in the product roadmap. Tim Cook expects China revenue to return to growth after a supply‑driven 4% yearly decline and said an overhauled Siri should launch next year. Guidance calls for 10–12% revenue growth and double‑digit iPhone sales, potentially making the holiday period Apple’s best quarter ever.

Amazon cut 14,000 jobs this week, with CEO Andy Jassy saying the move was driven by culture rather than costs or AI. He outlined a push to raise performance standards, enforce discipline, and strip away layers that have slowed decisions as the company seeks to move faster amid an AI transformation. The reduction, announced by senior vice president Beth Galetti, is Amazon’s largest since 27,000 roles were eliminated in late 2022. Amazon also said last quarter’s layoffs carried an estimated $1.8 billion in severance costs.

Lawyers for former FBI Director James Comey asked to review a grand jury transcript and audio, citing “irregularities” they say warrant tossing an indictment pushed by President Donald Trump. They also seek dismissal of the false statement case as vindictive and challenge the legality of hastily appointed prosecutor Lindsey Halligan, pointing to her inexperience, an after hours vote with only 14 grand juror votes, and her erroneous signing of two indictments, one with a rejected charge. Separate filings say the indictment is unclear and that Comey’s 2020 answers to Sen. Ted Cruz were ambiguous yet literally true.

Federal authorities are probing an ICE-involved shooting in Ontario, the second in a little more than a week amid enforcement operations. ICE says officers conducting a 6:30 a.m. vehicle stop on Vineyard Avenue fired after an unrelated driver reversed toward them; the driver fled. Family identified him as Carlos Jimenez, 24, a U.S. citizen, later hospitalized with a shoulder wound and taken into custody. A neighbor heard two or three shots and screeching tires. Advocates decried fear from unmarked, armed agents. Ontario police assisted afterward; DHS and the FBI are investigating. Rep. Norma Torres demanded transparency.