Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton.
It's day 11 of the U.S. Israeli war on Iran, the U.S. destroyed several Iranian naval vessels
“today, including 16 mine layers near the critical strength of Hormuz, Iran is ruled out”
diplomatic talks and is attacked oil infrastructure in the region leaving global financial markets on edge. The Trump administration, again, promised the most intense strikes yet, as NPR's Greg Mairi explains reports out of Iran, again, site large explosions in and around the capital Tehran.
We don't have specifics, but the U.S. has been hitting an average of 500 or so targets in Iran every day. For its part, Iran carried out more air strikes in Israel and several Gulf countries. There were reports of deaths and injuries to civilians. The Pentagon says 140 U.S. troops have been wounded, most are minor injuries, but eight
are severely injured, and as we've reported previously, seven service members have been killed. NPR's Greg Mairi reporting. China says it's evacuated thousands of its citizens from the Middle East and Iran, and NPR's Emily Fang reports the scale of the evacuations underlies the closer ties China has been
“building up with countries in the region.”
Over 10,000 Chinese citizens were brought out of Gulf countries like Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, according to a Chinese ministry spokesperson. And more than 3,000 Chinese citizens had to be evacuated out of Iran, mostly overland through Azerbaijan. With scores of flights canceled in the region, Beijing had to work with Chinese Airlines
to boost special evacuation flights out of the Gulf, where China has pursued close economic and security ties with Gulf countries. Wang Yi, China's four ministers, that earlier this week that the U.S. has really war with Iran should not have happened, and he warned against what he called the "law of the jungle" coming back.
Emily Fang and Pyrenees. A congressional report published today finds that overpayments and private Medicare plans have raised costs for all seniors in the system by billions of dollars. NPR's Salinas Simmons-Duffin explains criticism of the plan has grown in the last few years.
“The joint economic committee in Congress estimates that overpayments to insurance companies”
that run Medicare Advantage has cost American seniors billions.
Specifically, in 2025, seniors paid 13.4 billion dollars in higher premiums for doctors'
office visits and outpatient services. More than half of those enrolled in Medicare are in one of these private plans. Republicans and Congress were along champions of the model, but by partisan criticism has been growing, because Medicare Advantage actually costs the government about 20 percent more per person than traditional Medicare.
Selena Simmons-Duffin and Pyrenees, Washington. U.S. stocks held steadier today as Wall Street waited for the next signal in the war with Iran may end. This is NPR News. Afghanistan's government has rejected U.S. allegations that it detains foreigners to obtain
leverage over other countries. The State Department designated Afghanistan as a sponsor of wrongful detention yesterday, accusing the country of engaging in hostage diplomacy. The U.S. gave the designation to Iran a day before launching strikes a week and a half ago.
Actors featured in viral videos made by the White House are pushing back against how they're being used to promote the war in Iran, and PR's net at U.S. has more. One of these videos titled "Justice the American Way" has gotten hundreds of thousands of views on social media. "We've got daddy's home.
We're welcome home, so strike him on our strength and honor." It's a mashup of real war footage with clips for movies like Iron Man 2, Top Gun, and video games such as Halo. The voice actor who says finishing the fight is Steve Downs. He has demanded to be removed from a video he described in a social media post as, quote,
"juvenile and disgusting war porn." Another actor Ben Stiller also publicly requested the White House to remove a clip from his movie "Tropic Thunder."
Stiller said, quote, "We never gave you permission and have no interest in being part of
your propaganda machine. War is not a movie." End quote. Netta Ulippi and PR news. Italy has bought a rare portrait by Baroque painter Caravaggio for nearly $35 million
one of the largest investments ever for a single artwork. The portrait painted around 1598 to picks a mafeo Barbarini, who later became Pope Urban the eighth. The painting will now enter Rome's Palazzo Barbarini permanent collection. This is P.R. News, from Washington.
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