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NPR News: 07-17-2026 6PM EDT

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Libby Casey.

Smoke from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota prompted more air quality alerts today in

the Upper Midwest, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic U.S., air quality levels spiked in places

including Minnesota and Washington, D.C., to the hazardous code "purple level," which is worse than "red level," and the Smokey conditions will likely stick around as fires burn unchecked across a remote region of Canada. A meteorologist, Mandy, fell Hubert with MPR News. Wildfire smoke, they can travel in credible distances because they're just tiny little

smoke particles, and they're so small that they stay suspended in the air for days, and the intense heat that these large fires produce, it lofts that smoke thousands of feet into the atmosphere. Once it's high enough, strong winds, including our jet stream, we kind of like to think of it as like a highway, it kind of carries at hundreds or even thousands of miles, which

areas will stay smoky depends on wind directions in the coming days.

Secretary of Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullin, is warning state officials that if they don't implement the Trump administration's election security measures, they could face penalties.

NPR's Jude Jaffee block reports, his remarks follow the President's speech Thursday

evening. Mullin says DHS will roll out an updated election infrastructure plan for states, and they will lose access to grants if they don't follow it. The Trump administration wants states to use a federal data system known as Save to check voter rolls for non-citizens and deceased voters.

Mullin had a warning for state officials that don't participate. We will make sure that we make those states a priority to look at who voted in their states,

and hold then the election officials accountable.

That could mean fines or even prison time, Mullin said. He says DHS found 250,000 non-citizens on the public voter rolls of four states, but how DHS arrived at that number is unknown. An election expert say that figure is likely highly inaccurate. Jude Jaffee block NPR news.

Federal regulators say they will once again allow Boeing to certify that its planes are air worthy.

NPR's Joel Rose reports, today's announcement comes after years of safety efforts at the

aerospace giant. The federal aviation administration says Boeing can take responsibility for certifying all of its 737 Macs and 787 planes starting next week. It's a big milestone for the plane maker. The FAA revoked Boeing's ability to self-certify its 737 Macs planes in 2019 after a pair

of deadly crashes. Regulators did the same for the 787 Dreamliner in 2022 citing production quality issues. The FAA now says it has confidence in Boeing to ensure that all of its planes are airworthy after months of data and safety reviews. The agency is also easing the monthly production caps it imposed on the 737 Macs, allowing

Boeing to make up to 47 per month. Joel Rose and PR news, Washington. You're listening to NPR news. The Homeland Security Department is changing its rules for foreign students and PR as a listen nadwernie reports.

The Department is adding fixed limits to how long international students can stay in the U.S. Historically, international students could remain in the states as long as they were making progress in their academic program. Under the new rule, most foreign students will be admitted to the U.S. for a fixed period

of time up to four years. If they need more time to finish, which many students do, they will now have to apply for a formal extension. Fan to awe the executive director and CEO of NAFSA, the Association of International Educators, called the move misguided and unnecessary, a solution in search of a problem.

Nazis worry this could impact programs with variable duration, such as graduate programs, medical schools, and PhDs. Already, international student enrollment for graduate programs is down compared with last year. Alyssa Nadwernie and PR News. Britain's Labor Party officially has a new leader in Andy Burnham.

He cleared the final hurdle needed to take office as Prime Minister next week. Burnham was the only contender in a leadership contest in the center left party to replace departing Prime Minister Kirstarmer. Burnham rose to popularity as the mayor of Greater Manchester, in his acceptance speech he promised to bring hope to the British people and economic growth across the country.

Oil prices hit their highest level in a month today as hostilities between the U.S. and Iran have again ramped up affecting shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the price of Brent Crew climb more than four and a half percent to settle above $88 a barrel. 1 year after Congress eliminated federal funding for public media and PR remains committed to informing the public.

But a free press doesn't just happen, it's something we must protect. Without federal funding, we're relying on your support now. Please make your gift today at Donate.npr.org.

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