Transcript

10.18.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of The Washington Post four October eighteenth.
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As a reminder, radiois a reading service intended for people
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who are blind or have other disabilities that make it
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difficult to read printed material. Your reader for today is
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Chris Greco. Today's front page headlines from the Washington Post
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are Trump floats a Ukraine armistice, GOP seeks to rebrand
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no King's marches. Epstein, linked to Prince Andrew, gives up
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his Duke of York title. Free but traumatized Israeli hostages
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begin their recovery. Files revealed doubts at FDA the device
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can protect brain. Trump's tariffs bring India's garment industry to
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its knees. The first article from the front page of
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today's edition is titled Trump floats a Ukraine armistice. The
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President said he wants both sides to stop where they are.
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Zelensky signaled openness to such a ceasefire as a starting
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point to talks by Michael Bimbaum and Isaac Amsdorff. President
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Donald Trump on Friday called for Russia and Ukraine to
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stop fighting at their current positions to settle the bitter
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war between the two nations. A proposal the Ukrainian President,
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Voldemir Zelinsky said he accepted as a starting point for
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further talks. The proposal was made during a West Wing
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meeting between the two leaders, where Trump sought to replicate
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his success earlier this month in halting the fighting between
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Israel and Hamas. It was the latest effort by the
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U S President to cast himself as a global peacemaker,
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but his chances of success were far from clear as
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he gears up to meet with Russian President of Vladimir
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Putin in coming weeks. Peutinas said in the past that
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he wants parts of Ukraine that his troops do not
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currently occupy as the price for peace. Tromp, who spoke
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by phone to Peutin on Thursday, said he had delivered
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the same message to both leaders. Enough blood has been shed,
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with property lines being defined by war and guts. Trump
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set on social media after Friday's meeting, they should stop
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where they are. Zelensky framed Trump's proposal as a first
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step for broader negotiations and said the bigger question lay
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with Peudin, whom he accused of not wanting peace. We
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have to stop where we are. He is right the
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President is right, Zelensky told reporters outside the White House
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after the meeting, and then to speak, he added, suggesting
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that stopping on the current lines of contact could be
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a ceasefire on the road to a just and lasting peace.
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Halting the war is about Peutin, because we didn't start
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this war, he said. Trump is freshly determined to deliver
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his campaign promise to end the war in Ukraine. Riding
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high after striking the Gaza ceasefire, Zelensky came to Washington
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seeking a long range juice missile that could strike Moscow
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and beyond. Trump sounded receptive to the proposal earlier this
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week after a series of calls with the Ukrainian leader,
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his tone changed after speaking with Putin on Thursday. The
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latest whip saw in months of diplomacy that have seen
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Trump's mood shift from sympathy to frustration with each side.
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A Putin adviser, Yuri Yushakov, said Putin warned Trump that
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giving Ukraine long range Tomahawk missiles would damage US Russia
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relations without changing the situation on the battlefield. I would
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much rather have them not need tomahawks. I would much
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rather have the war be over. Trump said for a
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private lunch, we want tomahawks. Also, we don't want to
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be giving away things that are needed to protect our country. Still,
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Zelensky hinted that his real objective on Friday was to
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increase pressure on Putin, which the mere discussion of tomahawks
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appeared to have already accomplished. We want peace, Peutin doesn't want.
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That's why we need pressure on him, Zelensky told reporters
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in the cabinet room before the lunch. We understand what
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we need to push Putin to the negotiation table. It
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was not immediately clear how Pewtin would react to Trump's proposal.
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As recently as August, he was demanding Ukrainian territory that
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extends far beyond his current control, and some Russia experts
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say he is still seeking a broader subjugation of the country.
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Yushikov made no mention of a ceasefire along the current
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front lines during a briefing with reporters after Thursday's call
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with Trump, saying instead that Russia had the upper hand
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on the front lines. Russian armed forces fully controlled the
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strategic condition of long the entire line of contact, he said.
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Putin's call with Trump on Thursday, was the latest instance
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of the Russian leaders staving off, or at least delaying
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harsher measures from Trump by enticing him with face time
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or trade opportunities. They last met in August and Alaska,
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where Putin demanded that Ukraine hand over even more of
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its territory as the price for peace. Trump aired his
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frustration with Peutin in public appearances, but never followed through
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on a May threat to stiffen sanctions on the country
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unless it agreed to a thirty day cease fire. Unlike
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nearly every other country in the world, Russia has suffered
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no new tariff. Says Trump has erected high trade barriers
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to lure manufacturing back to the United States and as
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a kuzuel to get other nations to do his bidding.
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Russia has long used its oil and gas industry as
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a lure for American investors. He brushed off a question
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on Friday about whether Pewton could be playing him for time.
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I've been played all my life by the best of them,
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Trump said, I'm pretty good at this stuff. I think
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he wants to make a deal. Some experts said that
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peace will require more than a demand by Trump to
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halt the fighting. If Trump wants a clean cease fire,
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he will have to convince Peutin, not Zelenski. The Ukrainians
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want the war to end, but the Russians still feel
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they are fighting to win, said Eric Sierramella, a Russia
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expert who worked on the National Security Council during Trump's
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first term is now a senior Fellow at the Carnegie
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Endowment for International Peace. Trump's policy unpredictability has gotten the
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attention of both leaders, but now is the time to
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make a serious commitment to arm, train, and support Ukraine.
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That will convince Putin that there is a little upside
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to continuing the war. Zelensky and Putin have competed to
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tug Trump firmly onto their side of the war, each
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seeing a U. S President susceptible to persuasion and flattery.
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For Zelensky, the working lunch on Friday was the latest
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encounter of fraud relationship between the two leaders, whose first
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Oval Office meeting this year led Trump to expel Zelensky
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from the White House and Vice President j. D Vance
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to deride the Ukrainian leader as ungrateful. This time, Zolensky
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spent Thursday night at Blairhouse, the White House's official way
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station for guests of honor. Unlike during his previous trips
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to Washington, this year, Trump greeted Zelensky warmly and praised
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him as a very strong leader. In exchange for American missile,
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Selensky said the Ukrainians could share their advances in drone warfare.
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Zelensky has also tried to use trade, specifically access to
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his country's rare earth minerals, to court Trump. After initial
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tension about US demands placed on Kiya, the two sides
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agreed to a deal that Trump portrayed as a victory
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for US investors, though experts said most benefits would probably
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come in peacetime. In his latest push, Zelensky met Thursday
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with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and US energy companies about
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expanding US access to European gas markets by storing American
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liquefied natural gas in Ukrainian facilities. Hours before Friday's meetings,
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Zelensky posted on social media that Peutan's call changed nothing,
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pointing to overnight drone strikes in his hometown of creevy Rie.
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Russia is still terrorizing life in Ukraine, Selensky wrote on
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x Ukraine's Foreign minister Andrei Siebaha said the discussion of
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tomahawks had already succeeded in bringing Putin back to the table.
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The powerful missiles could disable oil refineries and further disrupt
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rushes already damaged energy infrastructure, but their potential for immediate
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and decisive impact is unclear, since the Pentagon has limited
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land based launchers and Ukrainians would need time in time
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intentsive training to operate the system. Some European officials say
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tomahawks are less important on the battlefield and more important
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is a symbol of Washington's willingness to increase pressure on
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the Kremlin. Ukraine's most aggressive European leaders, European backers have
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been seeking tough US sanctions against Russia's energy buyers. Europe
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is also discussing whether to use about three hundred billion
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dollars in foreign Russian sovereign assets to finance Ukraine's war effort.
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Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine in February
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twenty twenty two, igniting the biggest conflict in Europe since
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World War II. During the campaign, Trump privately said he
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would end the war by urging Ukraine to make some
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territorial concessions. His statement after Friday's meeting did not specify
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whether an armistice at current battle lines would be permanent
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or temporary ceasefire. Such ambiguity helped Trump broke her a
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ceasefire in the two year old war in Gaza, achieving
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the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for the withdrawal
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of their forces from Gaza. But more fundamental conflicts remained unresolved,
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as Amas has refused to disarm and spent the week
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since the ceasefire reasserting control of the territory in executing opponents.
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I thought this would be very quick, Trump told reporters
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in the Oval Office on Thursday, speaking of the war
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in Ukraine. Who would think I did Middle East before
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I did this. The next article from the front page
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of today's edition is titled GOP tries to brand anti
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Trump No King's protests as un American ahead of the
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more than two thousand, six hundred round p planned for
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Saturday across the United States, Republican officials cast the protests
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to the president's policies as hate America. Rallies I Amy B.
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Wang and Katie Trant I had of thousands of anti
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authoritarian No King's protests planned for Saturday across the United States,
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Republicans are trying to brand the demonstrations as Hate America rallies,
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ramping up their rhetoric about the millions of people expected
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to peacefully protest Donald Trump and his administration's policies, as
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they did in June. For more than a week, House
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Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, and other GOP leaders
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have cast the No King's rallies as Unamerican, using increasingly
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hyperbolic language. Johnson and other members of House GOP leadership,
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including Majority Leader Steve Scalise Louisiana, Majority Whip Tom Emmer Minnesota,
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and Republican Conference Chair Lisa C. McLain Michigan, have all
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described the protest as events for people who hate the country,
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with Johnson and ambergoing as far to suggest the protests
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are meant to appease a terrorist wing of the Democratic Party.
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We call it the Hate America rally that happened Saturday.
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Let's see who shows up for that, Johnson said Wednesday
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at a news conference with other House GOP leaders. I
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bet you'll see hamas supporters I bet you'll see Antifa types.
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I bet you'll see the Marxists on full display, the
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people who don't want to stand and defend the foundational
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truths of this republic. Democrats and organizers of the more
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than twenty six hundred events scheduled for Saturday have said
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their outraged by the characterization, defending the protests as peaceful
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and pointing out that there were relatively few disruptions at
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the rallies in June. They also warned of attempts to
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stifle First Amendment rights. Speaker Johnson said this is a
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hate America rally because people are coming out expressing their
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concerns about massive cuts to health care and the movement
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towards authoritarianism. It's not a hate America rally. It's a
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Love America rally, Senator Bertie Sanders, independent Vermont, said Wednesday
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at a town hall on CNM with Representative Alexandria Occassio Cortes,
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Democrat of New York. In a video posted Wednesday, Senator
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Chris Murphy said, Democrat of New York, accused Republicans of
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trying to suppress rally turnout by amping up their rhetoric
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and trying to brand protesters as terrorists. Murphy, who was
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scheduled to speak at the DC No King's rally on Saturday,
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urged people to show up in big numbers to demonstrate
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peacefully but forcefully. If you offer any criticism of this government,
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then you hate America. That's ridiculous, aut American, and unpatriotic,
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Murphy said. The fact is our country is founded on
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the idea that everyone has a constitutionally protected right to
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speak up and protest your government, especially when you think
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they have become lawless and corrupt. The number of No
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King's events on Saturday is expected to exceed the number
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of similar demonstrations that took place June fourteenth, which happened
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to be Trump's birthday. Major events are planned outside the
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US Capitol in DC, as well as in Boston, New York,
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and Chicago. Or Anger has boiled in recent weeks over
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the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown that's yielded clashes between
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officials and protesters. Ezra Levin, a co founded cow founder
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of the liberal grassroots movement Indivisible that has co organized
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the kings at rallies, said that rscps had skyrocketed this
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week to greater numbers than the protests in June, which
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he set at least five million people take to the streets.
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He credited the increased interest in part to the Republican's
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rhetoric about the rallies. I did not pay a dollar
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for this free publicity. It's incredible, eleven told The Washington
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Post in an interview Thursday. They fear mass, peaceful protests,
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and that's true of any authoritarian regime. Tensions have only
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increased since June's demonstrations. The federal government is in its
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third week of being shut down, and Trump is fighting
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in court to lay off thousands of workers federal workers.
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Democrats and Republicans are deadlocked over extending health care subsidies
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that otherwise will expire at the end of the year,
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with neither side appearing willing to budge. Republicans have sought
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to tie the No King's rallies to the shutdown. Johnson
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used an October seventh news conference to cast the Democrats
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as beholden to the protesters planning the seed that a
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shutdown compromise would not be reached until after the rallies
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had taken place. At a Wie House event Wednesday, Trump
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himself suggested the same. I hear very few people are
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going to be there, by the way, but they have
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their day coming up, and they want to have their
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day in the sun, Trump said, referring to the coming protests.
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But Democrats should really make a deal. The rallies will
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also come amid the Trump administration's expanded use of the
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military to fight crime and democratic run cities, and the
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White House is increasingly incendiary rhetoric against the left. In
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his speech to top military leadersonco last month, Trump repeatedly
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insisted the United States was under invasion from within by
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the radical left and that the military should be able
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to take them out. In a Fox News interview Thursday,
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White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt baselessly said the Democratic
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Party's main constituency is made up of hamas, terrorists, illegal aliens,
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and violent criminals. Organizers of the No Kings rallies include
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established activist groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union,
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alongside grassroots groups that have formed since the twenty twenty
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four election, such as the five zero five zero one Movement, Indivisible,
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and Jewish Voices for Peace. Also involved in organizing the
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rally or on a list of left wing organization mentioned
15:46
by the White House in connection to political protests that
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could be investigated, According to a Reuter's report, a White
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House official quoted anonymously by Reuters said that the groups
15:57
were not necessarily targets to the president's directive for the
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nextitional Joint Terrorism Task Force to focus on anti Americanism,
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and that left wing groups are free to protest within
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the bounds of the law. Levin told the Post that
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Indivisible had never organized or called for violence, and that
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any law enforcement investigation into the group would be an
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example of the administration weaponizing the tools of the executive
16:20
branch to go after those exercising their First Amendment rights.
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He said the Trump administration is focused on stopping the
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scourge of left wing violence plaguing American communities. White House
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spokesman Abigail Jackson told the Post left wing protesters can
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be clowned themselves by lawfully protesting the alternate reality lately
16:40
of ben but violence for breaking the laws will not
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be tolerated. To help maintain peaceful protests, Levin said Indivisible
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has trained tens of thousands of people on safety and
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de escalation rather than violence. Predicted by Republicans. Levin said
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observers on Saturday should expect to see strategic frivolity Chester's
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dancing while holding witty signs and wearing the kind of
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light hearted, ridiculing costumes that have been symbolic of anti
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ice protests in Portland, Oregon. A statement on the No
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King's website emphasizes that all events are a commitment to
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non violent action and that weapons of any kind should
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not be brought to the rallies. We expect all participants
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to seek to de escalate any potential confrontation with those
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who disagree with our values, and to act lawfully at
17:26
these events. The next article from the front page of
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the day's edition is entitled Epstein Linked Prince Andrew gives
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up his Duke of York title. In a new book,
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one of Epstein's victims wrote a lured account of what
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she said was sexual abuse by Prince Andrew, a younger
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brother of King Charles the Third, by Carla Adam. Prince
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Andrew has agreed to relinquish his Duke of York title
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after talks with his brother, King Charles the Third, a
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stunning development following years of allegations linked to his association
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with Jeffrey Epstein that have cast a grim shadow over
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Britain's royal family. In discussion with the King and my
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immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations
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about me distract from the work of His Majesty and
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the Royal Family, Prince Andrews said in a statement released
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Friday Friday night by Buckingham Palace. The decision comes after
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excerpts were made public from a forthcoming memoir by Virginia
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Gwyfre Giffurrey, the American woman who says she was forced
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to have sexual encounters with Andrew as a teenager after
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being trafficked by Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender
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who died in prison in twenty nineteen. According to excerpts
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from the book that were published by The Guardian, Andrew
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told Giffrerey that his daughters were just a little younger
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than you on the evening of their first alleged sexual encounter.
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She was seventeen at the time. He was friendly enough,
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Geoffrey writes, but still entitled his life. He believed having
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sex with me was his birthright. Andrew settled a civil
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lawsuit with Geoffrey in twenty twenty two, but has always
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denied any wrongdoing. Geoffrey died by suicide this year at
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her home in near Gabby, Australia. The British media also
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reported this week that Andrew held meetings in two thousand
19:19
and twenty eighteen in twenty nineteen with Kai Qui, a
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top Chinese official suspected of involvement in a collapsed China
19:27
spy case, reviving questions about Andrew's associations and judgment. Over
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the weekend, The Mail on Sunday also reported that Andrew
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emailed Epstein in February twenty eleven, contradicting the Prince's previous
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claim to the BBC that he had cut ties with
19:43
Epstein in December twenty ten. The Royal family is no
19:48
stranger to scandal affairs, divorces, and more recently, royals fleeing
19:52
to America are almost routine, but the allegations against andrews
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set him apart, and the enduring fixation with Epstein in
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the U S the United States has meant no escape
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for the Prince or for the firm as the Royal
20:05
Family calls itself. In addition to no longer using the
20:08
Duke of York title. Andrew will no longer attend Royal
20:12
family Christmas celebrations. I stand by my decision five years
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ago to stand back from public life, Andrew said in
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his statement. With his Majesty's agreement, we feel I must
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now go a step further. I will therefore no longer
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use my title or the honors which have been conferred
20:29
upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny
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the accusations against me. In her memoir, Geoffrey detailed meeting
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Andrew for the first time in the London home of
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Gislaine Maxwell, Epstein's now imprisoned associate, and asking for a
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photo with the Prince, which she said was taken by
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Epstein with her Kodak fundsaver. Later that night, she wrote,
20:51
after they went dancing at a London night club called Tramp,
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Maxwell told her when we get home, you are to
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do for him what you do for Jeoffrey. Many of
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the harrowing claims in Geoffrey's memoir, according to the published excerpts,
21:04
had already been made by her in depositions and documentaries,
21:09
but they nonetheless landed with force when read together. A
21:12
stark reminder of Andrew's enduring entanglement with the sex trafficking
21:15
scandal and the allegations he preyed on a teenager. Writing
21:20
in The Guardian, columnist Simon Jenkins observed King Charles now
21:24
has a decision to make as to how far he
21:26
can allow his brother's past behavior to tarnish the family's image.
21:31
As monarch, Charles did not have the power to strip
21:33
his brother of his title that require an act of Parliament.
21:37
The last time Parliament stripped per peerages was in nineteen
21:40
seventeen under the Titles Deprivation Act, when British nobles with
21:44
German ties lost their titles during World War One. Andrew
21:49
has lived in royal exile since his car crash twenty
21:52
nineteen interview with BBC's Newsnight, in which he tried unconvincingly
21:56
to explain his association with Epstein, but until he had
22:01
retained his Duke of York title, which his mother, Queen Elizabeth,
22:05
conferred to him at the time of his marriage to
22:07
Sarah Ferguson in nineteen eighty six. The title is one
22:10
that is usually bestowed upon the second son of the
22:12
British monarch. Before Andrew, Elizabeth's father Albert, later King George
22:18
the sixth held the title. He was also the second
22:21
son of a monarch. Ferguson, now Andrew's ex wife, will
22:25
also not use her title Duchess of York as a
22:29
son of a queen, Andrew remains a prince. Public pressure
22:33
for Andrew to relinquish his dukedom had been mounting for years.
22:37
Businesses throughout England, including pubs and theaters called Duke of
22:41
York urged him to give it up, while residents in
22:44
the historic City of York unanimously stripped him of a
22:46
minor title, Honorary Freedom of York. Elizabeth removed Andrew's military
22:53
titles in dozens of royal patronages in twenty twenty two.
22:58
While largely absent from royal duties, Andrew still appears at
23:01
family events, though he remains a controversial presence. A recent
23:05
video clip of him trying to talk to his nephew,
23:07
Prince William, who stared straight ahead, quickly went viral. Andrew
23:12
will continue to live at Royal Lodge, the thirty room
23:15
mansion he shares with Ferguson. Charles reportedly has pressed him
23:20
to relocate to Frogmore Cottage, the former house of Prince Henry,
23:24
Harry and Meghan, and Andrew is understood to hold a
23:26
long term lease on Royal Lodge with the Crown Estate.
23:30
After the recent discussion with Charles. Andrew will also give
23:33
up his membership in the Order of the Garter, the
23:36
most esteemed of Britain's ancient orders of chivalry. His dukedom
23:40
will not be legally revoked, but he has agreed to
23:42
stop using the title, as he did with his Royal
23:45
Highness designation in twenty twenty two. The next article from
23:53
the front page of today's edition is titled free but
23:56
traumatized Israeli hostages begin their recovery. Israeli hospitals are treating
24:02
this the former captives freed this week as part of
24:05
the ceasefire deal according to protocols honed over two years
24:09
of hostage releases by Shira Rubin and Lee Or Soroka.
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Every night over two anguished years. Amri Meron's wife and
24:20
two young girls gaze at the moon as the children
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said good night to their father, a forty eight year
24:26
old Israeli hostage held by Amas and Gaza since the
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Hamas assault on Southern Israel in October twenty twenty three,
24:34
Mirod had been shackled in a cage, shuffled between subterranean
24:39
tunnels above ground buildings, and although sporadically allowed to listen
24:44
to Arab media, repeatedly denied information about the fate of
24:48
his family. Only after about five months of captivity was
24:51
he was He was transferred to a relatively normal guard,
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who told him that his family is alive, said bo
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asmiran omri brother, speaking by phone from Ichilav Hospital in
25:03
Tel Aviv, where he and the family have camped out
25:06
since Omari's release in Monday. On Monday, now, the goal
25:10
is to strengthen his connection again with his girls, Boas said.
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He added that Miron's youngest daughter, Almah, who was six
25:17
months old when her father was abducted from their homes
25:20
in Kibbutz nahal Oz, did not initially recognize him. Since
25:25
Amaz released the last twenty living Israeli sold hostages on
25:28
Monday and the Israeli military began pulling back in the
25:31
Gaza strip, the former captives and their families are finally
25:34
beginning a process of healing. This is the first breath
25:38
of after nearly two years of suffocation. Her Horn said
25:42
during a news conference on Tuesday. Horn had been abducted
25:46
with his brother Eaten from Kibbutz near Oz, near the
25:48
Gaza border, and then released during a ceasefire earlier this year,
25:52
but his brother had remained behind until this week. Now
25:56
we can recover it together, their mother, Ruth Strum, told
25:59
the Watch Washington Post at Ichilav hospital, where Eaten was
26:02
being treated. Israel's hostage crisis gripped the nation for more
26:07
than two years, and for many Israelis became a symbol
26:10
of their government's failure to thwart Hamas's October seventh assault
26:14
and then negotiate a deal to secure the release of
26:16
the hostages. A vast majority of Israelis wanted Prime Minister
26:20
Benjamin nat Yahoo to put top priority on returning the
26:23
hostages and ending the war. Public opinion polls repeated lee
26:28
showed millions wore yellow ribbon ribbon pins in solidarity. On Monday,
26:35
hundreds of thousands of Israelis gathered in Hostages Square in
26:38
central Tel Aviv, which regularly hosted protests calling for the
26:41
hostages return amid crying and cheering as the first images
26:45
of the host releases were broadcast live. In addition, to
26:49
the living hostages. Hamasos has also released the remains of
26:53
the nine of the twenty eight deceased hostages it said.
26:58
It says it has yet to locate the night eighteen others,
27:00
amid the rubble and the unexploded ordinance that now litter
27:04
the Gaza strip. Amas's unwillingness or inability to do so
27:09
underscores how precarious the ceasefire agreement may be. For its part,
27:13
Israel on Monday released two thousand Palestinian detainees and prisoners,
27:18
including two hundred and fifty serving long sentences. The Israeli
27:22
hostages are readjusting to their new reality, and some have
27:26
sent initial videos thanking friends and fellow Israelis for their support.
27:30
I saw you all downstairs through the van insanity, thirty
27:34
two year old Avantin Orr, a former hostage, said in
27:38
a video addressed to his friends, which was recorded at
27:41
Remin Medical Center and Petah Tikva, where he was receiving treatment.
27:46
I am exhausted, but we will meet soon and fill
27:48
in all the gaps. Or Or was held in total
27:53
isolation in a tunnel for his entire captivity, His father,
27:57
Yaran said in an interview on Wednesday with Conrad, Israel's
28:01
public news broadcaster. Or was abbed, was violently beaten and
28:05
chained to a cage for more than a year after
28:07
trying to escape. He was locked in a cage the
28:10
width of a mattress and one point eight meters tall.
28:12
Iran said around him there regards whose relatives were killed
28:16
by the Israeli military bombings, and I think that it's
28:19
a miracle that they didn't harm him. Amasa's live stream
28:23
of Oar's abduction two years ago, showing a swarm of
28:25
militants pushing Or toward Gaza as another mob bundled his girlfriend,
28:30
Noah Argamani onto a motorcycle as she screamed, don't kill me,
28:34
provided some of the most iconic images of this traumatic day.
28:39
When Or and Argamani reunited on Monday, Or learned that
28:42
Ragamani had been rescued in a special operations mission in
28:45
June twenty twenty four, along with three other hostages. He
28:49
had almost no access to information and AMAS refused to
28:53
supply his family with signs of life, Argamani said in
28:56
an Instagram post on Monday, two years since terrorists separated
29:01
me from Ahmenshan in front of the eyes of the
29:04
entire world. But both of us, against all odds, are
29:07
back home and reunited, Argamani wrote, alongside a photo of
29:11
the two embracing in the Israeli military helicopter transporting them
29:15
to the hospital. Israel's hospitals are treating the former captives
29:19
according to protocols that have been honed over two years
29:22
of hostage releases. Measures include preparing for the potential of
29:27
refeeding syndrome, which can develop if food is introduced too
29:30
quickly after periods of starvation. This risk seems particularly high
29:34
given the testimony of previously freed hostages that their captors
29:38
fed them excessively in the days before the release, said
29:41
Segull Freshman, head of the Nutrition and diet unit at
29:45
Raban Medical Center, which is caring for five of the
29:48
twenty released hostages. Medical teams also appreciate how important the
29:53
presence of family and friends and signs of comfort are
29:55
to the former hostages. Recovery video of Guy gil Boa Dallal,
30:00
twenty two, gorging on his family's homemade sweets as he
30:04
was driven to a hospital quickly went viral. Alano hell A,
30:07
twenty four year old, a musician who survived in the
30:10
tunnels with a head injury and a shrapnel wound in
30:13
his right eye, sat down to play a piano set
30:15
up in his hospital room. His mother, Idiot, said, in
30:18
a statement on Thursday, after more than seven hundred days
30:22
in the silence of the tunnels, his melody finally echoed
30:25
once again, and it filled all of our hearts, it
30:28
it said. She added that alongside the joy of her
30:31
son's return is the continued grief over those who did
30:34
not survive captivity and whose whereabouts remained unknown. This week
30:39
was a true moment of grace, she said, But even
30:41
in these days of joy, we do not forget our
30:45
brothers and sisters for whom the hostage return agreement came
30:48
too late. The next article from the front page of
30:54
today's edition is titled files revealed Doubts at FDA that
31:00
device can protect brain. NFL players wear it, some coaches
31:07
and parents swear by it, but does the Q Collar
31:10
actually work? By Will Hobson and Daniel Gilbert. One day
31:16
this summer, Pat McAfee, the former NFL punter turned ESPN personality,
31:21
interviewed New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner about his partnership
31:25
with Q Collar, the only medical device cleared by the
31:28
FDA to address football's brain injury crisis. We assumed it
31:32
was bull, McAfee said, until that is. He visited the
31:36
website of Q thirty Innovations, the company behind the QUE collar,
31:40
which tells the device as FDA cleared and proven to
31:42
help protect the brain. The science is real, McAfee said,
31:46
Hopefully this is something that helps the next generation. A
31:51
C shaped piece of springy metal coated in plastic that
31:54
retails for one hundred and ninety nine dollars, the Q
31:56
Coller is designed to apply pressure to the joke regular veins,
32:00
based on the theory that restricting the flow of blood
32:03
from the skull limits how much the brain can jostle,
32:06
like a seatbelt for your brain, as Q thirty puts it.
32:10
Since earning Food and Drug Administration clearance in twenty twenty one,
32:14
Q thirty has sold tens of thousands of Q Callers
32:16
to athletes as young as thirteen, and has gained supporters
32:19
in Congress who are trying to steer the Defense Department
32:22
to consider the devices. But internal FDA documents show that
32:26
some of the agency's reviewers doubted Q collar research showing
32:29
the device offered meaningful protection against brain injury, damage, or disease,
32:35
the agency agreed to clear it. The records show only
32:38
after Q thirty added language to its owner's manual stating
32:41
the device does not prevent concussions and that any claims
32:44
or protects against long term cognitive problems have not been demonstrated.
32:49
This language is nowhere to be found in Q thirty's
32:52
promotional materials, raising concerns among some experts in neuroscience and
32:56
concussion research that the company is exaggerating the device's per benefits.
33:01
The FDA documents are part of a new pure reviewed
33:04
investigation of the Q Caller published in BMJ, the journal
33:07
owned by the British Medical Association. The researchers who wrote
33:11
the BMJA investigation obtained the FDA documents via the Freedom
33:15
of Information Act and shared the records in their research
33:19
paper with The Washington Post. In advance of publication. Q
33:23
thirty executives declined interview requests. Q thirty Innovations is proud
33:29
of the Q Caller's place as the first and only
33:31
device ever cleared by the FDA to help athletes protect
33:34
their brains. The company wrote in a statement in response
33:37
to written questions, the FDA's medical experts made a thorough
33:41
evaluation of the data and made the right call on
33:44
the benefits, outweighing the little to no risk of wearing
33:47
the Q Caller. The BMJ paper, published by two medical researchers,
33:51
including one longtime critic of the Q Caller, calls for
33:55
the FDA to review its decision to clear the device.
33:58
An FDA spokesperson and declined to comments to the post,
34:01
signing the government shutdown this summer. An FDA spokesperson did
34:07
not reply to BMJ for its investigation. The clinical study
34:11
data reviewed by the FDA supported the safety and effectiveness
34:15
effectiveness of this device device as an aid in the
34:18
protection of the brain from effects associated with the repetitive
34:21
subcomsquous of head impacts. The data did not demonstrate that
34:26
the device can prevent concussion or serious brain injury. The
34:29
spokesperson wrote, it isn't unusual for the FDA to sign
34:33
off on a new medical device with ambiguous evidence that
34:36
it works, but those devices must be marketed and promoted
34:40
with language that doesn't exaggerate or overstate the device's limitations
34:44
and labels. The FDA approves and promotional materials on its
34:48
website and YouTube channel. Q three and its executives repeatedly
34:53
state that the device is proven to protect the brain
34:55
from injuries and may even prevent long term damage and disease.
35:00
We reduce injury caused by repetitive subconcussive impacts. Q thirty
35:04
chief executive Tom Hoey said in a recent video ad
35:08
that could be what's going to minimize these long term
35:11
health conditions, whether it's dementia, whether it's CTE, he said,
35:15
referring to a neuroggenera of disease linked to head trauma
35:19
and football. Q thirty, in its statement to the Post,
35:23
defended its marketing as consistent with the letter and spirit
35:26
of the law. Customer reviews highlighted on Q thirty's website
35:30
suggests that wearing the device has given some athletes a
35:33
greater sense of comfort, despite any uncertainty over its actual benefits.
35:38
After the concussion my son received this year, he was
35:41
kind of scared getting back into football, reads one review,
35:45
but knowing that he had the Q collar on his neck,
35:47
he felt safe and secure. The idea for the que
35:51
caller came from David Smith, a doctor of internal medicine
35:54
and inventor who has said in interviews that he based
35:58
it on the woodpecker and then the natural mechanism that
36:01
helped protect the bird against brain damage when it pecks.
36:04
After coming up with the idea, Smith connected with Hoey,
36:07
a sporting ghost manufacturer executive, who decided to co found
36:10
Q thirty, based in Westport, Connecticut, and makes the que
36:15
collar the company's signature product. When Q thirty executives began
36:19
touring the country in the early twenty tens seeking investors
36:23
and interest in their product, they had a compelling sales pitch,
36:26
a concussion prevention device inspired by, of all things, the woodpecker.
36:32
Why doesn't a woodpecker get a concussion jamison? Float? Q
36:35
thirty's vice president of innovation told the Columbus Dispatch in
36:39
twenty fifteen it was that little seat of thought that
36:42
led to doctor Dave basically spending a year of his
36:44
life and immersing himself in the physiology of the woodpecker.
36:48
A woodpecker can hammer its head into trees millions of
36:52
times without suffering brain injuries, Float explained because it naturally
36:57
restricts its jugular vein filling its skull just enough blood
37:00
to serve as a natural cushion. What if we do
37:03
the same thing the woodpecker does, Float told the Dispatch
37:07
before slipping a Q collar around his neck. As Q
37:11
thirty began funding and promoting research about the device, it
37:14
drew the interest and skepticism of James Smolega, who at
37:18
the time was an associate professor of physical therapy at
37:20
High Point University in North Carolina. Smolka is a co
37:24
author of the new BMJ paper. Everybody is so caught
37:28
up in their own research. Nobody has the time, even
37:30
if they agree something doesn't sound right, to devote to
37:33
trying to debunk it, said Smolega, who now works it
37:36
in Tought University's Physical therapy program, in an interview I
37:41
did in twenty eighteen, Smoleiga collaborated with LIZN. Wong, a
37:47
woodpecker researcher from China, on an editorial in the British
37:50
Sports British Journal of Sports Medicine that argued Q thirty
37:54
executives were misrepresenting the bird's physiology. Several characteristics protect the
38:00
woodpecker against brain damage, Smoliga and Wong wrote, including a
38:04
spongy bone structure in the skull and a beak that
38:07
dissipated shock. But they were unable to find any support
38:10
in published research for Q thirty's theory that the bird
38:14
compresses its jugular veins to fill a skull with blood.
38:18
There is a lot of research and research on woodpeckers,
38:21
and we couldn't find it anywhere, Smoothliga said. The only
38:24
people who have proposed it are associated with the Q Collar.
38:27
Q thirty and its executives, who used to mention that
38:31
woodpecker routinely in interviews and on social media, appear to
38:34
have dropped references to the bird from Q collar promotional materials. Smith,
38:39
the inventor, acknowledged in an interview with The Post that
38:42
he never studied woodpeckers or reviewed publishment research on them.
38:46
Looking at photos of the bird in its bone structure online,
38:49
he said, led him to develop a theory that humans
38:52
can protect their brains from damage by restricting their jugular veins.
38:56
I am not a woodpecker veterinarian, Smith said, I am
38:58
someone who understands physiology. Q thirty, in its response, dismissed
39:04
concerns over woodpecker physiology as irrelevant to current disputes about
39:09
the Q collar and its benefits. Whatever inspired the inventor's creativity,
39:13
the safety and effectiveness of the Q collar was proven
39:16
by years of research and development, the company wrote. From
39:20
twenty fourteen through twenty eighteen, Q thirty funded several clinical
39:26
trials examining the Q collar safety and effectiveness on high
39:29
school athletes playing football, ice hockey, and soccer. Instead of
39:35
focusing on whether the QU collar prevented concussions, these studies
39:39
examined differences between the brains of subjects who wore the
39:42
Q collar and those who didn't through a type of
39:44
brain scan, an analysis called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI,
39:49
which measures how water moves through the brain's white matter.
39:53
Q thirty medical advisors Wayne o'lan, in his statement to
39:56
the Post, argued that focusing on DTI changes was more
40:00
objective than concussion frequency. The term concussion is confusing for everyone.
40:06
There just isn't a universal definition, wrote Olan, a neurosurgeon
40:11
and associate professor at George Washington University School of Medicine.
40:15
DTI can show clear images of changes to the brain.
40:19
If the brain scans of two football teams showed changes
40:21
in white matter from the team without the collar and
40:24
no little or just less change in the team with
40:26
the collar. I'd rather see players wearing the collar than not.
40:30
But other brain imaging experts interviewed by the Post emphasize
40:34
that there is little consensus in the field over how
40:37
DTI results connect to actual brain injury, including the type
40:40
of subconcussive injuries thought to lead to later life problems
40:44
such as dementia and CTE. DTI tells you something might
40:50
be going on in the white matter, but the problem
40:52
is it's very limited in telling you what change is
40:55
and what it means, said Guido Guberman, a neurosurgery resident
40:59
at mcgin I University in Montreal who has served as
41:02
a pure reviewer on Q thirty research. Biologically, we don't
41:07
really even know what it looks like on DTI when
41:10
someone has a concussion. Tom Talavag is a brain imaging
41:14
expert who has served as a paid consult to Q
41:17
thirty and believes the Q caller may offer a benefit,
41:20
but he also said he thinks the company is overstating
41:23
what Q collar research has found. Talavad, the head of
41:28
the biomedical engineering department at the University of Cincinnati, has
41:33
led his own studies of high school football players using DTI,
41:37
documenting what he and others think were signs of brain
41:39
inflammation caused by repetitive subconcussive hits. As he reviewed Q
41:44
thirty's research, Talavd said he came to believe the devices
41:48
offered some protection. The athletes who had worn the Q
41:52
collar still showed some evidence of inflammation, but it was
41:55
meaningfully less than the athletes who had not worn the
41:58
Q collar. Talavd said, I think the caller is doing something,
42:02
and it is probably doing something that is good, but
42:04
I would not say it is a proven to protect
42:06
the brain free from injury. Other experts are even more skeptical.
42:11
I don't think it should work, and I haven't seen
42:13
any data that shows it does, said Daniel Danishvar, chief
42:17
of Brain injury Rehabilitation at Mass General Bingham and an
42:21
associate professor at Harvard Medical School. These changes in DTI
42:25
their finding, they're really small and unlikely to reflect anything
42:28
meaningful for patients. Because there was no similar device on
42:33
the market, Q thirty needed to put it through the
42:35
FDA's de novo clarance process for devices with low to
42:39
moderate risk to sell it. In the United States. While
42:42
drug makers have to show convincing evidence that a new
42:45
prescription drug is effective to win the agency's blessing, Q
42:49
thirty had to show only that the benefits of its
42:51
device likely outweighed the risks, which the FDA classified as moderate.
42:57
In twenty twenty four, Smoliga submitted a FOLIA request a
43:02
sorry a FOIA request to the FDA seeking all documents
43:07
relating to its decision to clear the Q caller. Earlier
43:11
this year, the agency released to him nearly six thousand
43:14
pages of heavily redacted memos that show the FDA reviewers
43:17
had the same concerns about DTI results expressed by Q
43:21
coller critics. I recommend this de novo be declined due
43:26
to the lack of evidence of effectiveness, FDA statistician zoufing
43:30
Lee wrote in a December twenty twenty memo. A February
43:34
twenty twenty one memo shows other reviewers, including the FDA's
43:38
expert on medical imaging, had also shared doubts. The medical
43:42
imaging experts states that dtiimaging may not exhibit clinically meaningful results.
43:49
The memo states overall, the team still feels uncertain about
43:53
the clinical meaningfulness of dtiimaging, but others on the team
43:57
of eight reviewers found the q Coller research compelling. Christopher
44:01
loftis a neurosurgeon on the review team concluded there is
44:05
evidence of clinical benefits. According to the February twenty twenty
44:08
one memo. The FDA decided to clear it, but poortily
44:12
listed its doubts in its clearance document. The study results
44:16
were uncertain, the link between the key data and brain
44:18
function was unclear. The evidence only predicted a benefit rather
44:22
than showing a clinical effect in athletes. Given the urgent
44:26
need for protection of the brain following mild head impacts,
44:29
the document states the probable benefits outweigh the probable risks.
44:35
The agency worked with Q thirty document show to update
44:38
the labeling to mitigate specific areas of uncertainty. This labeling,
44:42
which the FDA required in the Q Coller Owner's Manual,
44:46
included the following statements. The q Coller has not been
44:50
demonstrated to prevent long term cognitive function deficits, and the
44:54
ultimate impact on clinical outcomes has not been evaluated. Data
44:58
do not demonstrate that the I can prevent concussion or
45:01
serious brain injury. The FDA's news release announcing the decision
45:06
was worded cautiously, stating that the QUE collar may reduce
45:09
the occurrence of specific changes in the brain that are
45:13
associated with brain injury. Q thirty on its website touts
45:17
the FDA sign off with a less vague summary of
45:19
what white collar research has found FDA cleared improven to
45:24
help protect the brain from impacts during sports, the website says.
45:28
Q thirty's website contains a wealth of information about the
45:31
QUEUE collar, including a section under the heading what it
45:34
doesn't do. The bullet points underneath a short potential buyers
45:38
that the Q collar does not negatively impact athletic performance
45:42
or reduce blood flow through carretid arteries carotid arteries. There
45:47
are no warnings, however, that the device has not been
45:50
shown to prevent concussions, nor is there a warning that
45:53
any claims it prevents longer term cognitive problems and disease
45:57
have not been proven. The company's executive and NFL ambassadors
46:01
offer no such caveats either. The Q caller gives me
46:05
an extra added layer of protection. It keeps my head
46:07
in the game, says Tennessee Titans running back Tony Pollard
46:11
in a video ad titled Prevent Protect Your Future. The
46:16
Q Caller is the first and only device that protects
46:18
from these subconcussive injuries, says Wayne Ollen, the GWU neurosurgeon
46:24
and Q thirty medical advisor, in one video ad. There
46:27
is no real question anymore. The athletes who are making
46:30
this a part of their protective gear are more protected.
46:34
The FDA officially cleared the device. This clearance means that
46:38
number one, the device is safe for you to wear,
46:40
but number two, it's proven effective, says Suzanne Williams, Q
46:44
thirty's vice president of Sports Marketing in another Two former
46:48
FDA officials who reviewed the Q collar materials offered differing
46:52
assessments to the Post about whether the company's marketing is
46:55
exceeding what the FDA permitted it to say, Essentially the saying,
47:00
we have no idea if it works, said Alberto Gutierrez,
47:04
who spent twenty five years regulating devices at the FDA
47:07
before leaving the agency in twenty seventeen. Gutiera said the
47:12
FDA should have followed up to ensure that the QUE
47:14
collar was marketed in line with the limitations on its label.
47:18
The web pages tell me, they have not, he said.
47:22
But Lowell Schiller, a former senior FDA official who consults
47:26
on regulatory policy, said the agency's clearance was complicated and
47:29
vague and left Q thirty marketers with a difficult task.
47:33
How that gets translated to language a consumer can understand,
47:36
while also not overstepping the limitations is challenging, he said.
47:41
Q thirty also highlights customer reviews on the website under
47:45
the heading real Customers, Real Reviews. Several of them describe
47:49
parents feeling reassured that their children who suffered concussions could
47:53
safely return to contact sports. My son's first year wearing
47:59
wearing for football is one hundred and twenty pounds sophomore
48:01
with previous concussions. It makes a dramatic impact on his
48:05
self confidence knowing he's protected. Reads One incredibly revolutionary product,
48:10
reads another purchase for my son who had a concussion
48:13
with a brain bleed that required surgery from one filled
48:17
one filed contact on field contact. Chris Nowinski, chief executive
48:23
of the Concussion Legacy Foundation and an advocate for prohibiting
48:26
tackle football under age fourteen because of risks including CTE,
48:30
found these reviews both alarming and tragic. These appear to
48:34
be parents who are concerned about the long term risks,
48:36
and the Q coller is the reason why their kids
48:38
are still playing, said Nowinski, who noted that the research
48:42
has consistently found the risk of developing CTE is associated
48:46
with how long someone plays a contact sport, not the
48:49
number of concussions. Q thirty dismissed this concern in its
48:53
statement to the Post. Our customer feedback includes scores of
48:57
parents who consulted their doctor about using the Q caller.
49:00
Critics out there guessing about how decisions are being made
49:03
or just making assumptions, the company wrote. Q thirty has
49:08
gained two powerful supporters from its home state, in Connecticut's
49:12
two senators, both Democrats. In an April twenty twenty four
49:16
news release, Senator Chris Murphy praised Q thirty and said
49:19
he had helped secure over fifteen million dollars in federal
49:21
investment through the Department of Defense to support Q thirty.
49:26
M Murphy's office did not reply repeated requests for more
49:29
information about the funding, and last October, Senator Richard Blumenthal
49:34
told a Connecticut television station that he was pressing the
49:37
Department of Defense to consider using this device on the
49:40
battlefield and in training wherever it can save our military
49:43
men and women from the concussive impacts. Bluementhal's office declined
49:48
to comment on these efforts. A spokesperson for the Department
49:51
of the Defense Department also declined to answer questions regarding
49:55
any money it has given Q thirty, which has spent
49:58
seven hundred and twenty thousand dollars over the time the
50:00
last five years on lobbying and consultants, according to an
50:03
analysis of lobbying disclosure reports by the nonprofit Open Secrets,
50:08
Q thirty has developed a product specifically from military and
50:11
law enforcement called Q Collar Tactical. It comes in black
50:15
and camouflage in retails for two hundred and forty nine dollars.
50:19
Q thirty declined to answer why the Tactical model is
50:21
more expensive. Four years after the FDA authorization, qcollor hasn't
50:27
seen sales skyrocket to the degree of its top executives expected.
50:31
According to a story last October in the Milwaukee Business Journal,
50:36
Q thirty expected to sell hundreds of thousands of collars
50:39
in just the first year after getting FDA clearance. According
50:43
to the story, which was based on an interview with
50:45
a Q thirty manufacturing partner in twenty twenty four. This
50:49
partner said Q thirty sold about fifty thousand collars, but
50:54
the manufacturer remained optimistic about future sales, in part because
50:58
of recent events that again had highlighted the risks of
51:01
head trauma in sports, Miami Dolphin's quarterback two Attagliavolda's repeated
51:07
concussions and legendary quarterback Brett Farr's announcement that he was
51:11
battling Parkinson's disease, and the company has earned some repeat customers,
51:16
including Richard Dean's head football coach at Peyton High School
51:19
outside Colorado Springs. This season is the third in which
51:23
Deem's entire team wears que collars. Since we've implemented the
51:27
use of coup collars, our concussions per season have probably
51:30
dropped from three to five per season to zero to one,
51:33
he said. Told about the debate over que collar research
51:37
and the company owed admission the device doesn't prevent concussions,
51:41
Deems acknowledged the possibility of a placebo effect, but personally,
51:45
I'm a believer, he said, offering what he found a
51:47
compelling anecdote. I've seen kids get lit up and hop
51:50
right that up back up, wearing a que collar. He
51:53
said in the past that kid would have been messed up.
52:01
The next article from the front page of today's edition
52:04
is titled Trump's tariff tariffs bright bring India's garment industry
52:09
to its knees. Just seven weeks after Trump imposed a
52:14
fifty percent tariff on India, many of Turripur's garment factories
52:18
have ground to a halt, putting thousands out of work.
52:23
By Supriya Kumar, if the tag on your T shirts
52:28
has made in India, there's a good chance it came
52:30
from this southern industrial hub, long known as Dollar City
52:33
for its dominance in the US market. Now, just seven
52:37
weeks after the Trump administration imposed of fifty percent tariff
52:40
on Indian exports, many of tre garment factories have ground
52:45
to a halt. The slowdown has rippled through a vast
52:49
network of hulking plants and small workshops which employ more
52:52
than six hundred thousand people. Thousands of fabrics cutters, thread
52:57
trimmers and sewing machine operators are suddenly out of work.
53:01
Production has fallen by twenty five percent across the board,
53:04
said G. Sampath, General Secretary of the Center of Indian
53:07
Trade Unions in Tirapart. This city's garment exports were valued
53:11
at three point seven billion dollars last year, according to
53:15
the Tiraport Exports Association, and a third of the apparel
53:18
manufactured here is normally shipped to American retailers including wal Mart,
53:23
Target and Seers. Interviews with more than a dozen factory workers,
53:28
labour contractors, and business executives revealed how rapidly President Donald
53:32
Trump's trade war has upended lives and livelihoods across Tiraport,
53:37
a one industry town where many workers have no written
53:40
contracts or job security. Migrant laborers from rural villages have
53:45
been sent home, though still employed on the production line,
53:48
said their hours and wages have been slashed. Exports faced
53:52
with frozen or canceled orders or focused on shipping out
53:55
existing inventory. Fearing new stock will go unsold, said the
54:00
US buyers had begun demanding discounts of up to twenty
54:03
percent to offset the cost of terraffs. Maniharsani, forty four,
54:08
spent the past two years here trimming loose threads from
54:11
freshly stitched garments. He migrated to Terrapur with his family
54:16
from the impovers state of Bihar in eastern India, drawn
54:19
by the promise of steady work. His wife worked in
54:22
a factory too, and together they earned about four hundred
54:25
and fifty dollars a month, enough for a modest living
54:28
and far more than they could make back home. They
54:31
were paid for each piece of clothing they produced. When
54:34
production slowed and shifts disappeared, their income crater to just
54:38
over two hundred and fifty dollars a month, scarcely enough
54:41
to cover food and rent, let alone the debts they
54:44
had taken on for their eldest daughter's wedding. I don't
54:47
know what to do, Sani said, Should I use the
54:50
little money I have to feed my family or repay
54:53
what I owe? Last month, leaving his wife and two
54:56
children behind, Sani traveled hundreds of miles to neighboring Karnakata State,
55:01
where he found a job in construction for four dollars
55:03
a day. He said he doesn't know much about global
55:06
trade policy, but he feels abandoned by his government. No
55:09
help has come, he said, No one cares what happens
55:12
to us. Mohan Shankar, managing partner, of Gina Garments, which
55:17
manufactures T shirts, pants, and children's clothes for brands like
55:21
H and M, said the most important thing for US
55:23
now is not look at profit margins, but to manage
55:26
cash flow. It is a period of survival for US,
55:30
with US buyers cutting or delaying orders. Shankhar said he
55:33
plans to reduce a production plans to reduce production for
55:37
the American market by nearly seventy percent. There's no option
55:41
but to cut overhead costs and eventually downsize. He said.
55:45
Most manufacturers in Tiraport produce low margin mass market clothes.
55:50
The shirts, leggings and underwear made here typically retail for
55:53
between five and ten dollars in the United States, leaving
55:57
little room to pass on additional costs. According to Milton
56:00
Ambrose John, former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry
56:04
in Turipar and the managing director of Cotton Blossom, an
56:08
Indian clothing company, any discount for American buyers is not
56:12
at all sustainable, John said, not even five percent, and
56:15
some of his customers, he added, are demanding ten to
56:19
twenty percent. The United States imposed a twenty five percent
56:23
tariff on Indian exports in August amidstalled trade negotiations, then
56:28
doubled the rate to fifty percent as a penalty for
56:30
India's purchases of Russian oil. Trump said Wednesday that Prime
56:34
Minister Narenda Modi had pledged to stop buying oil from Moscow,
56:38
raising hopes of a possible breakthrough, but the Indian Ministry
56:42
of External Affairs said Thursday it was unaware of a
56:44
call between the two leaders. A day after the fifty
56:48
percent tariffs took effect on August twenty eighth, the Indian
56:51
government extended an exemption on import duties for cotton, seen
56:55
as an attempt to provide some relief to clothing manufacturers.
56:59
But business its owners in Turports say they need more support,
57:03
and they need it urgently. There has to be a
57:05
policy where emergency loans are given to people, said John,
57:09
comparing the current slowdown to the pandemic era the last
57:12
time so many of the city's looms fell silent. India's
57:18
Commerce Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
57:22
Beyond the short term pain, there are fears that Indian
57:25
manufacturers could quickly lose their US market share to competitors
57:28
like Bangladesh and Vietnam. Which face only twenty percent tariffs,
57:32
It will be easy for American companies to make the switch,
57:35
said Ajay Shrivastva, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative,
57:41
a trade and technology think tank based in New Delhi.
57:47
Due to time constraints, we will need to end that
57:50
item at this time. This concludes the reading of the
57:53
Washington Post for today, October eighteenth. Your reader for today
57:58
has been Chris Greco. If you have any questions, comments,
58:01
or suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call
58:04
us at eight five nine four two two six three
58:07
nine zero. Thank you for listening, and now please stay
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