Biden and Xi are meeting. Here’s what’s on the line.

Juliette Touma is spokesperson for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. She talked to the "BBC" as news broke that troops were entering the hospital.

Now to U.S. politics, where there’s a deal in place to avoid a government shutdown this week. The House passed a bill that will fund the government through early next year, giving lawmakers time to work out full-year spending bills. But if that doesn’t happen, there could still be a shutdown in mid-January, or early February. This was seen as an early test of new House Speaker Mike Johnson. Because many Republicans didn’t agree with his approach, his bill was passed with support from Democrats.

And looking ahead to 2024, former president Donald Trump will be on the Michigan primary ballot. A judge ruled against an attempt to block him. We’ve talked about cases like this around the country. Trump critics argue that he cannot run for reelection because the 14th Amendment bars officials from holding office if they’ve engaged in an insurrection against America. The Michigan judge’s ruling could be appealed, possibly all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Courts are trying to move quickly on similar cases in various states, since the first caucuses and primaries start in January.

And another major topic will be the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. China says it’s officially neutral in both wars. But the U.S. believes Xi is way too friendly with Putin. And the Biden administration says it’ll encourage China to use its influence with Iran to keep the war between Israel and Hamas from spreading.

Biden and Xi are heading into this meeting on the heels of news of climate cooperation. The countries just announced they’ll revive joint efforts to boost renewable energy and cut methane and plastic pollution. That’s the kind of small-step progress that Cha previously said he expected this week. But overall, he wasn’t expecting major changes out of Xi and Biden’s meeting.

Most home births are attended by certified professional midwives, who generally don’t work in hospitals, believe in low-intervention births, and learn through apprenticeships. That title doesn’t require them to have a graduate or nursing degree. But "The Post" found it can be difficult for expecting parents to assess the disciplinary and criminal records of a midwife before choosing to hire them. Vetting is important because home births can be riskier. A "Post" data analysis shows infants are more than twice as likely to die in home births attended by midwives than in hospital deliveries.

Tori DiVincenzo from Maryland lost her daughter in 2021 during a home birth. Afterwards, she and her husband looked into the background of their midwife, Karen Carr.

They learned Carr had a felony record in Virginia, from an incident that happened more than a decade before. That baby had been born in a high-risk position, not breathing. Thirteen minutes passed before someone called 911, and the baby was later diagnosed with a catastrophic brain injury. He died two days later. Carr pleaded guilty to child endangerment and performing an invasive procedure without a license, and served five days in jail.

And the prosecutors in that case told me they assumed that this type of criminal record would end her career. They never imagined a scenario in which a midwife could plead guilty to a felony charge of child endangerment and still go on to deliver babies as a licensed midwife within the United States. But that is exactly what has happened.

Another infant delivered by Carr died in Maryland that same year. A judge determined the decisions she made in delivery had "dire consequences.” She was fined the maximum of $30,000. Carr declined “The Post’s” requests for comment for this story.

The fact that she was able to continue working, despite being connected with multiple deaths, shows how little legal oversight there is. Brittain points out, in some states, there are no regulations for midwives. And in many cases, it’s not easy for parents to check their backgrounds.

There's some states where, if you want to see complaints, you have to file public records requests. And in other states, you can search for that information online. But, even in the case of Karen Carr, if you were to search her right now in the state-run database, by the Maryland Board of Nursing, that exists for the public to be able to look up information about a licensed midwife before they hire the midwife, you would find absolutely nothing related to her history.

“The Atlantic” looks at how some restaurants are changing how they deal with extremely negative reviews. And that includes jumping into the comments with spirited responses when they feel like a review was unfair. The story highlights Dragon Lee, a Chinese restaurant in upstate New York. Its responses include all-caps fireballs like “YOU DO NOT DESERVE OUR SERVICE.” And “DO US AND EVERYONE A FAVOR, DO NOT EVER COME BACK TO THIS PLACE EVER AGAIN.” The reporter paid the restaurant a visit and found it to be busy. And their overall rating is still pretty high. Som, maybe there is something to be said for getting away from a “customer is always right” philosophy.

Dragon Lee is, let’s say, choosing the spicier route for responses. But generally, a lot of the comments that restaurants receive are noise, with little real constructive criticism they can take action on. Odd complaints like "my chair was too cold.” Or generic ones, like the food "was absolutely terrible.” The sweet spot is reviews that are specific. And even Dragon Lee is willing to engage with a thoughtful critique. One customer said the Beef and Broccoli was lacking in flavor. The restaurant responded by saying it was using a new soy sauce base, was still making adjustments, and thanked the reviewer for the feedback.

But listen, take this as a note of caution before you leave a harsh or unhelpful review for a restaurant. Some places aren’t gonna let that slide. You might get back what you dished out.