Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch was on Capitol Hill for a Senate confirmation hearing
“to be permanent head of the Justice Department.”
It was a rocky hearing where he faced criticism by Republican Senator John Cornan, who was defeated by a Trump-backed opponent in the Texas primary.
Cornan grilled Blanch about his role in creating a nearly $1.8 billion fund for
purported victims of Justice Department persecution, Blanch needs all the Republican votes to get his nomination out of committee and onto the full Senate. If you're as Ryan Lucas has more. Democrats are united in their opposition to Blanch's nomination, they say. Weaponized the Department to go after President Trump's perceived enemies, they criticize
his handling of the Epstein files, firing of a political, career, employees at the Justice Department, the list goes on and on, but for better or worse, when it comes to this confirmation Blanch knows he really only has to worry about keeping all of the Republican senators on board. In Piers' Ryan Lucas reporting, delegations from 65 countries are expected to be at the State
“Department tomorrow for a conference on the rise of political terrorism.”
And Piers' Michelle Kellerman reports, the Trump administration is focusing on left-wing
groups. Secretary of State Marker Rubio says that far left political terrorism is on the rise in the Western Hemisphere, Europe, Asia, and beyond, and he calls this a blind spot for law enforcement. A State Department official tells reporters left-wing violence is rising to levels that haven't
been seen since the 1970s. Rubio is bringing together experts from around the world for a one-day conference on this to better map the threat and come up with ways to counter it, though many in Europe have raised alarms about right-wing political violence that is not a focus of this conference. Michelle Kellerman and B.R. News, the State Department.
The final is set in men's World Cup Soccer, Argentina will face Spain in the final on Sunday. Argentina beat England today two to one in the semi-final. This after fans were treated to another nail-biter victory in the knockout round. Order Natalie Elcoba has more from Buenos Aires. This is a sound of victory in Buenos Aires after a stunning come-from-behind win for Argentina's
national football team in a semi-final match with England at the World Cup. It's one of soccer's most storied rivalries between two countries that have battled on and off the pitch. They fought a war in 1982 over the Falkland Islands and in 1986 Diego Maradona scored the iconic hand of God goal. This time the magic came from Lionel Messi, who set up the winning
header from Laudado Martinez in the waning minutes of the game. It means Argentina will face Spain in the final on Sunday in New Jersey. I'm Natalie Alcoba in Buenos Aires for NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth has blocked more promotions this time for seven senior
Navy officers, five of whom are women or people of color to two-star general.
That means for the first time in more than a decade no female active duty naval officers
are likely to be promoted to Admiral this year. So far Heggseth has fired or sideline more than two dozen generals and admirals and removed about 40 senior officers. Ebola is continuing to spread widely in Congo as health workers struggle to stop the disease more than 2,000 people have been affected around 750 have died and that living stone has
more. It's two months to the day since the country declared an outbreak and despite a huge international health response, the disease is still spreading out of control. In the past several weeks, Ebola has spread to new areas of Congo, including to the large city of Gisengani.
The World Health Organization has warned that the outbreak may be too to four times larger than what the official figures suggest. Ebola is spreading in rural communities across a huge area, which is often affected by conflict. Many people are getting sick and dying unnoticed. For NPR News, I'm Emmett Leningstone in Kinchasseau.
The fence separator, separating Gibraltar from Spain, has been dismantled to ease travel for thousands across daily. The change follows years of post-Brexit negotiations between the European Union and the UK over Gibraltar. The British territory is also claimed by Spain.
UK and the EU signed an agreement yesterday that brings Gibraltar into the EU's shenanigans free travel area. I'm Jeanine Herbst and PR News in Washington. Everyone wants to know if AI is conscious, but consciousness is really hard to define. It's the experience we're having right now.
“What it is like to eat chocolate or to look at the blue sky?”
So how do we know who or what is conscious? Check out the new way scientists are finding to measure the elusive phenomenon on short
Wave.
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