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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced on Monday, Oct. 13, it will be laying off 550 employees as part of its continued streamlining and restructuring plan, officials said.

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The layoffs are not related to the government shutdown, said JPL Director Dave Gallagher in a brief message on the website of the federal research and space agency located near Pasadena.

Gallagher wrote on the website that the agency is “undergoing a realignment of its workforce, including a reduction in staff.”

He also wrote that the cuts of 550 employees — about 11% of its total staff — slices across technical, business and support areas. This is the third round of layoffs at JPL in the past two years. read more

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT and SIBI ARASU

The world’s largest maritime nations gathered in London on Tuesday to consider adopting regulations that would move the shipping industry away from fossil fuels to slash emissions.

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If the deal is adopted, this will be the first time a global fee is imposed on planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Most ships today run on heavy fuel oil that releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants as it’s burned.

Nations are meeting at the International Maritime Organization headquarters through Friday. The Trump administration unequivocally rejects the proposal and has threatened to retaliate if nations support it, setting the stage for a fight over the climate deal. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — A sharp slowdown in hiring poses a growing risk to the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday, a sign that the Fed will likely cut its key interest rate twice more this year.

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Powell said in written remarks that despite the federal government shutdown cutting off official economic data, “the outlook for employment and inflation does not appear to have changed much since our September meeting,” when the Fed reduced its key rate for the first time this year.

Fed officials at that meeting also forecast that the central bank would reduce its rate twice more this year and once in 2026. Lower rates from the Fed could reduce borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans, and business loans. Powell is speaking before a meeting of the National Association of Business Economics in Philadelphia. read more

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN

General Motors will record a negative impact of $1.6 billion in its next quarter after tax incentives for electric vehicles were slashed by the U.S. and rules governing emissions are relaxed.

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Shares fell less than 2% before the opening bell Tuesday.

The EV tax credit ended last month. The clean vehicle tax credit was worth $7,500 for new EVs and up to $4,000 for used ones.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency has been working on easing rules aimed at cleaning up auto tailpipe emissions as the Trump administration move to undo incentives for automakers to go electric. President Donald Trump has also challenged federal EV charging infrastructure money and blocked California’s ban of new gas-powered vehicle sales. It adds up to less pressure on automakers to continue evolving their production away from gas-burning vehicles. read more

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Federal officials rejected a company’s bid to acquire 167 million tons of coal on public lands in Montana for less than a penny per ton, in what would have been the biggest U.S. government coal sale in more than a decade.

The failed sale underscores a continued low appetite for coal among utilities that are turning to cheaper natural gas and renewables such as wind and solar to generate electricity. Emissions from burning coal are a leading driver of climate change, which scientists say is raising sea levels and making weather more extreme.

President Donald Trump has made reviving the coal industry a centerpiece of his agenda to increase U.S. energy production. But economists say Trump’s attempts to boost coal are unlikely to reverse its yearslong decline.

The Department of Interior said in a Tuesday statement that last week’s $186,000 bid from the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. (NTEC) did not meet the requirements of the Mineral Leasing Act. read more