TIANJIN, China — Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged on Sunday to resolve their border differences and bolster cooperation, ahead of the opening of a regional summit in Tianjin.

Modi is on his first visit to China since relations between the two countries deteriorated after Chinese and Indian soldiers engaged in deadly border clashes in 2020. Modi is visiting as part of India’s membership into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional political, economic and security group founded by China.

Modi said in his opening remarks that relations with China have moved in “a meaningful direction,” adding that “there is a peaceful environment at the borders after disengagement.”

Xi said he hoped the Tianjin meeting will “further elevate” and “promote the sustained, healthy and stable development of bilateral relations,” according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The two sides should “not let the border issue define the overall China-India relationship,” Xi said, adding that economic development for both countries should be their main focus.

“As long as they remain committed to the overarching goal of being partners, not rivals, and providing development opportunities, not threats, China-India relations will flourish and move forward steadily,” Xi said.

Indian Prime Minister’s Office / AP / AP In this photo provided by Indian Prime Minister’s Office, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who arrived in Tianjin on Sunday, is also due to meet with both leaders in the coming days.

Earlier in August, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi flew to New Delhi, as the two sides announced their rapprochement. Both governments pledged to restart border talks, and resume issuing visas and direct flights.

Wang’s visit coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 50% tariffs on India over its purchase of Russian oil, but Delhi’s process of rebuilding ties with Beijing had been in the works for months.

China and India this year have increased official visits and discussed easing some restrictions on trade and the movement of people across the border. In June, Beijing allowed pilgrims from India to visit holy sites in Tibet.

Copyright 2025 NPR

Craig Czury, award-winning poet, teacher and workshop leader, speaking about

his collection, “And If You Saw Me: New & Selected Prose Poems & Poems”

just released by Moonstone Press. In anticipation of Labor Day, Czury read

“Imagine there are people.” For information: www.craigczury.com/

www.moonstoneartscenter.org/ This is the first part of a two-part

series.

The Trump administration is cancelling $679 million in federal funding for ports to support the country’s offshore wind industry, the latest move in President Trump’s ongoing campaign against wind power.

Offshore wind is still a developing industry in the U.S., while Europe already has thousands of wind turbines in deep ocean waters. Those offshore turbines are dramatically larger than ones on land and require substantial infrastructure at ports for construction, from large assembly facilities to deepwater docks for ships that carry turbines out to sea.

Ports around the country hoped to seize the economic opportunity to become hubs for the wind industry. Under the Biden administration, 12 port projects from California to Virginia were granted funds, all of which the Trump administration said on Friday it was either withdrawing or cancelling.

“Wasteful wind projects are using resources that could otherwise go towards revitalizing America’s maritime industry,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in announcing the decision. He said if possible, the funding would be redirected to “address critical port upgrades.”

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., who represents an area that lost funding, said in a statement, “This is a new level of idiocracy, where the Trump administration is trying to destroy an entire sector of clean energy, kill thousands of good paying jobs, and drive up electricity prices for American consumers.”

Just over a week ago, the Trump Administration ordered wind companies to stop construction on a wind farm off the Rhode Island coast. Trump is a long-time critic of wind power, claiming it’s expensive and kills birds. He has pushed for cuts to tax incentives for wind and solar, which analyses have shown could raise electricity prices around the country.

The wind industry is reeling from the recent decisions, a marked change from a few years ago when the growing demand for electricity spurred a surge in announcements for new wind projects.

“The federal [Trump] administration ran on rebuilding back America, building infrastructure, creating U.S. jobs, creating manufacturing – this project does all of that,” said Chris Mikkelsen, executive director of the Port of Humboldt Bay, one of the ports that had its project funding canceled.

Bringing industry to a rural port

The federal grants were directed at creating wind manufacturing and logistics hubs, including in Maryland , Massachusetts and Staten Island in New York. The project that took the biggest hit is in Humboldt Bay in Northern California, which is losing out on more than $426 million.

The port is located in a rural part of the state, five hours north of San Francisco. For decades, it supported the local timber industry, which has waned significantly over the years. In 2022, the federal government held the first offshore lease for wind power in California, a sign the industry would be poised to take off. Mikkelsen says it represents a huge economic opportunity for his area.

“It’s the biggest we’ve seen in the century, there’s no doubt about it,” Mikkelsen said. “We’re not talking about entry-level jobs. These are very skilled, very high-paying jobs. Jobs here in Humboldt County are in desperate need.”

The federal grant represented a significant part of funding needed for the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project , which would also leverage private and state investment. The port planned to use it to clean up and remediate polluted areas, build facilities for handling the turbine parts, dredge the waterway and build a larger wharf capable of handling pieces of steel longer than a football field.

With the funding cancellation, Mikkelsen says he hopes it’s just a pause for the project, since California continues to push for renewable energy. The state has a goal of getting 100% of its electricity from zero-carbon sources by 2045. Offshore wind power is particularly useful for the state because it produces at night , when solar power goes away.

“This hurts a little bit, but it doesn’t change our focus and it certainly doesn’t change our outcome,” Mikkelsen said. “An administration can’t change the fact that the U.S. has incredible energy demands.”

Turmoil for the wind industry

Electricity demand is growing across the country , especially as new data centers are built for artificial intelligence. Solar and wind projects produce cheaper energy on average than fossil fuels projects that run on natural gas and coal, though the cost can vary greatly depending on the location and type of project. The Biden administration set a goal of getting 30 gigawatts of power from offshore wind by 2030, enough for around 10 million homes. An analysis found that plan could create 77,000 jobs , according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a federal research lab.

President Trump put a moratorium on the development of new offshore wind projects on his first day in office. In cancelling the Rhode Island wind project, the administration stated it was for the “protection of national security interests,” but did not elaborate on what those are specifically.

“We’re not allowing any windmills to go up,” Trump said earlier this week . “Unless there’s a legal situation where somebody committed to it a long time ago, we don’t allow windmills.”

More than 80 gigawatts of offshore wind projects have been planned in the U.S., but their future has gotten murkier. Interest rates have gone up, making financing more challenging. Turmoil in the industry could also make it harder to attract investment. But many companies are hoping it’s a passing phase, given the overall demand for electricity.

“We will have an offshore wind industry in this country because it’s hard to imagine we can bring the kind of power we need to the coasts without it,” said Jason Grumet, chief executive officer of the American Clean Power Association, a renewable energy industry group. “But at the moment the industry is very worried because projects are being cancelled with virtually no rationale.”

Copyright 2025 NPR

Chicago’s mayor has limited how much his city’s police department can cooperate with federal immigration agents, in response to threats from the Trump administration to “ramp up” immigration enforcement operations in the city.

On Saturday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order barring the city’s police department from collaborating with federal officers conducting civil immigration enforcement operations, and with U.S. military personnel on police patrols.

Johnson, a Democrat, said Trump was acting outside “the bounds of the Constitution” by threatening to send more federal law enforcement officers or even the National Guard to Chicago against the wishes of state and local leaders.

“We do not want to see tanks in our streets. We do not want to see families ripped apart,” Johnson said. “We do not want grandmothers thrown into the back of unmarked vans. We don’t want to see homeless Chicagoans harassed or disappeared by federal agents.”

President Trump, in a post on his social media site Truth Social on Saturday, criticized Illinois’ Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and suggested federal forces could be dispatched to the Midwest city to fight crime.

“Six people were killed, and 24 people were shot, in Chicago last weekend, and JB Pritzker, the weak and pathetic Governor of Illinois, just said that he doesn’t need help in preventing CRIME,” Trump wrote. “He is CRAZY!!! He better straighten it out, FAST, or we’re coming!”

The Trump administration recently deployed National Guard members to the streets of Washington, D.C. in an effort to reduce crime in the nation’s capital.

On Sunday, Pritzker said on CBS’s Face the Nation that the possibility of sending the U.S. military to the streets of an American city amounts to an “attack on the American people by the President of the United States.”

Pritzker also said Trump also had “other aims” besides simply fighting crime, such as disrupting the 2026 midterm elections. “He’ll just claim that there’s some problem with an election, and then he’s got troops on the ground that can take control, if in fact he’s allowed to do this,” the governor said.

Though Trump himself has tied crime to a possible increase of federal forces in Chicago, the administration is expected to characterize the surge of law enforcement resources as focused specifically on immigration enforcement, the Associated Press reported .

White House “border czar” Tom Homan said last week that there would be a “ramp-up” of immigration enforcement operations in Chicago and other cities, including New York and Los Angeles.

“All these sanctuary cities that refuse to work with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] where we know public safety threats are being released every day into this country — especially in those cities — we’re going to address that,” Homan told reporters .

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday that the government intends to “add more resources” to ongoing ICE operations in Chicago but did not disclose any details.

Last week the Trump administration asked the Naval Station Great Lakes for support with immigration operations, including “facilities, infrastructure, and other logistical needs to support DHS operations,” according to the AP .

Under Mayor Johnson’s order, Chicago Police Department officers will also have to wear official police uniforms and will be prohibited from wearing face masks so city residents can distinguish them from federal officers, he said. (A DHS spokesperson previously told NPR that some immigration agents wear masks to protect themselves from increasing threats.)

On Sunday, the White House criticized Johnson’s executive order.

“If these Democrats focused on fixing crime in their own cities instead of doing publicity stunts to criticize the President, their communities would be much safer,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “Cracking down on crime should not be a partisan issue, but Democrats suffering from TDS are trying to make it one. They should listen to fellow Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser who recently celebrated the Trump Administration’s success in driving down violent crime in Washington DC.”

Johnson said he believed the immigration crackdown could begin as early as Friday.

Copyright 2025 NPR

If you’ve ever watched the movie “Due Date,” you’re probably familiar with the concept of a no-fly list. In the 2010 film, Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifiniakis’ characters end up having to drive across the country after getting kicked off a flight for inadvertently using trigger words like “bomb” and “terrorist.” While the movie is a comedy, and it’s not based on a true story, no-fly lists are no joke. American citizens are entitled to certain inalienable human rights, but flying isn’t one of them. If you do something that the federal government or the airlines deem bad enough, you can lose the right to a middle seat faster than the flight attendants can give their safety speech.

Federal No Fly List

The U.S. federal government’s official No Fly List is a private list created and updated by a division of the FBI called the Threat Screening Center (TSC). The No Fly List is actually part of a larger list, the terrorist watchlist. “While we cannot provide a demographic breakdown, we can confirm that U.S. persons make up approximately half a percent of No Fly records,” an FBI spokesperson tells Travel + Leisure. Anyone on the No Fly List is banned from flying on commercial aircraft to or from the U.S. Additionally, they’re not allowed to fly, commercially, over the U.S. According to the FBI, any individual, regardless of where they have citizenship, can end up on the No Fly List. For years, extremely wealthy passengers on the No Fly List have gotten around it by flying in and out on their private jets which aren’t subject to screening by TSA, one of the government agencies with access to the No Fly List.

View through a plane window. Margot Cavin/Travel + Leisure

What gets you placed on the federal No Fly List?

There are a number of things that can get you on the federal No Fly List. For starters, you could be placed on it if you make a threat that can be deemed an act of international or domestic terrorism pertaining to an aircraft, an airline, a passenger, or civil aviation security. You can also find yourself on the list for a threat to commit an act of terrorism with respect to the U.S. or a threat to commit an act of international terrorism. This includes making threats against U.S. government facilities abroad such as embassies, consulates, and military bases.

How do you know if you’re on the federal No Fly List?

The federal No Fly List is not public because if it were, terrorist organizations could potentially use it to their advantage. Most of the time, the only way you’ll know that you’re on the federal No Fly List is because you won’t receive a boarding pass from the airline after purchasing your ticket. In extremely limited circumstances, if you’re a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident, you may receive a letter from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) informing you that you are on the No Fly List, although it doesn’t always explain why you’re on it. Often, the letter will include an option for you to appeal if you think you don’t belong on the No Fly List. If you are not a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident, you won’t receive this letter.

Airline No-fly Lists

In addition to the official federal No Fly List, airlines are allowed to blacklist passengers from future flights. “Like most major airlines, Delta does maintain an internal no-fly list separate from a no-fly list managed by TSA/Homeland Security,” a spokesperson for Delta told T+L. “Out of many security and operational considerations, we don’t comment or characterize details about our internal list.” Many passengers on these airline no-fly lists—which airlines have different names for—are deemed “unruly passengers.” In 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) logged 2,102 unruly passenger reports. It may seem like a lot, but keep in mind that 2.9 million passengers fly in and out of U.S. airports every day.

Being on one airline’s no-fly list doesn’t mean you are on another airline’s no-fly list. For the most part, they don’t share that information. For example, when Executive Platinum American Airlines member Keith White showed up at the airport only to find himself on American Airlines’ no-fly list, he was able to get to his final destination by purchasing a last-minute ticket on another airline. By the time he reached his final destination, American Airlines had removed him from their no-fly list; they never told him why he was on it.

View through an airport window on a rainy day. Margot Cavin/Travel + Leisure

What gets you on an airline’s no-fly list?

Unruly behavior is the number one reason passengers end up on an airline’s no-fly list. This includes making threats or acting in a violent manner that prevents airline crew members from doing their jobs, which subsequently impacts the safety of other passengers. In 2022, Delta reported having nearly 2,000 passengers on its no-fly list, most of whom ended up on it for refusing to wear a mask during the height of the COVID pandemic.

Of course, not all unruly behavior is considered detrimental enough to ban you from flying the airline ever again. United, for example, takes away other perks or privileges, including loyalty miles and Mileage Plus account status, for minor offenses. You can also lose your eligibility for TSA PreCheck. For more severe incidents, the consequences are more serious. In addition to being placed on their internal no-fly list, an airline can report your behavior to the FAA who can hit you with up to $37,000 in fines (per violation). The FAA can also refer your case to the FBI which can result in a felony trial and even jail time.

How do you know if you’re on an airline’s no-fly list?

According to Christopher Elliot, a consumer advocate and founder of Elliot Advocacy, airlines should tell you in advance if you’re on their version of a no-fly list. Elliot also says consumers need to be informed of why they’re banned and how they can get the ban lifted. Still, airlines don’t always do this. Some passengers, such as Keith White, don’t find out until the agent at the gate tries to scan their boarding pass, and it gets denied. That said, if you do something on a flight that gets you immediately banned, you may be served papers after you’re escorted off the plane. Other passengers report receiving emails from the airlines informing them of their status.

Does getting selected for extra screening mean I’m on a no-fly list?

Just because you are selected for extra screening or find the dreaded “SSSS” on your boarding pass does not mean you are on an airline’s no-fly list. According to the DHS, “Such delays are often caused by a name similarity to another person who is on the watchlist.” If this happens to you, you can appeal and apply for a redress number. “98 percent of individuals who apply for redress have no nexus to the terrorist watchlist,” reports the DHS. A redress number is basically a 7-digit case number assigned to you that you can input when you’re booking a flight. When you do so, the airline and TSA can refer back to your case and see that you’re not on a watchlist, despite being flagged.