Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Trump gives President Xi Jinping of China a special welcome for their first state meeting in over a decade, Labor leaders push back on corporate control in Arizona, and Montana tribal colleges face growing funding challenges.

TRANSCRIPT

The Public News Service daily newscast September the 24th, 2026.

I'm Mike Clifford.

As expected, President Xi Jinping of China was welcomed with a lavish ceremony as he touched down on Andrews Air Force Base.

The New York Times notes hints of common ground soon emerged shortly after the two leaders shook hands on the tarmac.

Treasury Secretary Scott Besson said the countries had agreed to extend a one-year trade agreement that had been set to expire in November.

The two-month extension, which continues a suspension of certain U.S. tariffs in return for a steady flow of rare earth materials from China, will give us more time to see what we can do on the economic front Bessent told Fox News.

Meantime, North American labor leaders gathered in Phoenix this week to mobilize working-class voters ahead of the pending midterm elections.

The Service Employees International Union represents 2 million workers across the health care, public and property service sectors.

Union members include nurses, janitors, security officers and public sector workers, and it's working to organize new industries.

President April Verrett says the union's trying to level the balance of power between large corporate owners and the working class.

So we want to put workers on the winning side of that equation by resetting the power dynamics.

The largest political divide in our country is not between left and right.

It's between who has power and who doesn't.

Years of efforts to organize have failed, largely because companies such as Starbucks have pushed back on higher wages, improved health care, and other benefits that workers feel they deserve.

SEIU is behind an effort to boycott Starbucks, which labor leaders say has not bargained in good faith with workers who want to organize.

I'm Mark Moran.

The union faces a challenge in Arizona, which is a right-to-work state, meaning workers cannot be compelled to join a union as a condition of their employment.

Next, tribal colleges in Montana and across the country are facing steep federal funding cuts and inconsistent support, according to a new report.

The American Indian College Fund and the Brookings Institution Study finds chronic underfunding in Indian country.

Fort Peck Community College interim president Elijah Hopkins says federal grants have become extremely competitive and his college has lost several of them over the past few years.

Even though we've maintained the same amount of students, the support services to pay for staffing and for other technological supports has really gained our ability to provide qualitatively strong services to all of our students.

Hopkins says they may also have to trim degree and program offerings, making it harder to fill local jobs in fields like nursing and technical trades.

The college serves around 400 students in Poplar, Montana, on the Fort Peck, Assiniboine, and Sioux Reservation, and it provides the community's only post-secondary education.

I'm Laura Hatch reporting.

This is Public News Service.

As of 2019, Ohio state law mandates that selling or providing tobacco products to anyone under 21 is illegal.

While retailers are striving for compliance, one nonprofit says that minors and young adults still find ways to obtain nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes, and vaping products.

The WeCard program trains and educates responsible merchants to remain vigilant by scanning IDs, checking for fakes, and denying underage sales.

President Doug Anderson says while retailers have clamped down on illegal sales at the counter, there's still the issue of adults who provide tobacco to those who are underage.

Social access, social sourcing, that not only includes that adult buying or providing age-restricted product, but it also includes bumming and borrowing. 80% of the time, that's how kids report getting their access.

Any component intended for use in an electronic smoking device is also age-restricted, according to the Ohio Department of Public Health.

I'm Terry Dee reporting.

Next research shows New Yorkers and the nation at large don't trust the federal government.

A new Partnership for Public Service poll finds distrust in government is at 56%, up from 47% last year.

This isn't uncommon, as polls show trust in government has only declined since it was first studied in the 1960s.

However, it does fluctuate between presidencies, report author Paul Hitland says there's a blurred line between government and electoral politics.

Politics and elected officials are broadly unpopular, particularly Congress.

So that's one challenge people in the government have is to have the public understand the government is much greater than elected officials.

People do have high opinions of civil servants and their interactions with the federal government, whether it's renewing a passport or going through an airport security checkpoint.

Hitler notes trust can be built back by having government better explain what it does for the American people amid broader transparency efforts.

I'm Edwin J. Viera.

Finally, the Trump administration is aiming to remove the 2001 roadless rule.

It protects millions of acres of public lands from industrial development, and Americans have less than two weeks to respond.

Public outcry over potential logging and mining in protected wilderness areas has already led the Department of Agriculture to extend the comment period to October 6th.

Todd Martin with the National Parks Conservation Association says federal officials have failed to schedule any public hearings on the matter, making submitted written comments even more important.

You know, these are public lands.

They belong to all Americans.

And so we feel that folks should be outraged that the Trump administration is proposing to take away protections for 45 million acres of our national forest.

The Trump administration claims the rule's repeal is needed to prevent wildfires and improve forest health.

I'm Katherine Carley.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service.

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