Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor, Johnston.
The United States has expanded its strikes on Iran, hitting targets farther north and
“firing on its ship accused of trying to breach the U.S. naval blockade.”
Tehran retaliated before dawn today with missile and drone attacks aimed at Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait. Israel says its military will continue to occupy areas in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, and NPR's Emily Fang reports from Tel Aviv. In a Thursday statement from his office, Israel's Defense Minister Israel cats that he told
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Heggsef that Israel "never" asked the United States to defend
her borders for us, and he said Israel would maintain a security presence in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza. Cats' statement followed reports from media outlet Axios this week that President Trump had called Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin and Yahoo, and urged him to remove Israeli troops from territory seized in Syria and Lebanon.
Netanyahu has said he will travel to the U.S. next week to attend the late Senator Lindsey Graham's funeral, but the White House is not confirmed in meeting with him. The White House has invited Lebanon's President, however, following U.S. broker talks an Italy between Lebanon and Israel, which end in on Wednesday, Emily Fang and Pernus Tel Aviv. President Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence faced a tough round
of questioning on Capitol Hill yesterday. During his confirmation hearing, Jay Clayton
was repeatedly pressed over Trump's repeated false claims of widespread election fraud
in 2020, NPR's Greg Mayary reports. Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee repeatedly asked Clayton straight up, who won the 2020 election, and so after several go-rounds with senators along these lines, the tone escalated as Georgia Democrat John Ossoff kept pressing Clayton. Who won the 2020 election?
I said I'm not going to get into that with you, but you do have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee.
“Is anything that I just said not honest or forthright?”
Yes, you're not being honest or forthright. Who won the election? I think I have the question.
NPR's Greg Mayary, Texas Governor Greg Abbott says record setting rainfall is expected
in many parts of South Central Texas over the next several days, Blaze Gany from the Texas Newsroom reports. Have it open Wednesdays, pressurts, telling people that the weather event has been categorized as life-threatening catastrophic floods. This comes a little over a year after the deadly floods in Hill Country that led to the
death of more than 130 people. Abbott says this storm is expected to produce more rain than that. The fourth of July floods last year had rainfall of 20.29 inches. The expected rainfall during this rainstorm is expected to be more than 30 inches.
“So far, 75 people have been rescued mostly from stranded motorists.”
I'm Blaze Gany in Austin. This is NPR. Ukraine's defense minister is stepping down, even though he's been credited with pushing cutting-edge drone warfare to turn the tables on Russia. NPR, Juannicky Kisses reports on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's latest government
reshuffle. Mikhailov Fedorov is 35, a reform-minded innovator hit a go for the defense ministry just six months ago. Announcing his departure on social media Fedorov listed more than 20 accomplishments, including the successful drone strike campaign against Russian logistics in occupied Crimea.
Ehor Fedorko, who leads the Ukrainian Council of Defense Industry, told NPR that he is sorry to see Fedorov go. One of the faces of the modern and technological war, it's Mikhailov Fedorov. Lawmakers from Zelensky's servant of the people party told NPR that Fedorov was removed in part because he clashed with Ukraine's old-school military chief, Oleksandr Sirsky.
Juannicky Kisses and PR news, Kyiv Defense Secretary, Pete Hegsev, is introducing annual screenings for test-tosterone deficiency among service members, age 30 and older. Troops under 30 will be able to request the testing voluntarily. Hegsev says the program is intended to help troops perform at their absolute best. The move comes as other Trump administration officials push for broader access to test-tosterone
replacement therapy. So some of their claims go beyond what current research has established. This is NPR news in Washington. The last time Antonio May's senior heard from his son, it was in a note, the 16-year-old left in the family's garage.
He told me he was going to make me cry. Antonio Junior left home to join a protest in Seattle, a week later, he was shot and killed there. Listen to Weakeep Us Safe on the Embedded Podcast from NPR.
