Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kristen Wright.
Oil prices are surging, with the international benchmark Brent Crude, jumping above $100
a barrel for the first time since May.
“Attacks on oil tankers in the Red Sea are among the latest strikes in the escalating”
war with Iran. NPR's Jain of Raff reports Iran attacked American bases in Jordan and Kuwait overnight as the U.S. conducted a 12th night of strikes. Iran attacked air defenses and other targets on U.S. military installations in Jordan early Thursday.
Commercial satellite images showed what appeared to be an aircraft hangar, burning at a base in southern Jordan. The Jordanian military said the country's Air Force shot down four missiles and six Iranian drones targeting the kingdom. In Kuwait, Iran said it attacked U.S. military equipment including a Patriot missile defense
system, Iran in announcing the attacks has appealed to the people of Jordan and Kuwait
to support the strikes on U.S. military targets in their countries, saying U.S. forces were violating their sovereignty. Jain of Raff and Pyrenees, among Tripalays says the average price for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. is over $4.
“The European Union has slapped Google with a billion dollar fine for favoring its own”
services and search results, while restricting competitors, and Pyrenees Eleanor Beardsley reports. The finest part of Brussels ongoing efforts to regulate big tech companies, it caps an investigation launched in March 2024 under the EU's Digital Markets Act, which attempts to make digital markets fairer and more contestable.
They claim Google set up their search engine and Google play to favor its own services over their competitors, the European Commission says it is acting to protect consumer interests. Google says the fine harm European businesses and consumers, the fine comes at a time of high trade tensions between the EU and U.S. Eleanor Beardsley and Pyrenees Paris.
The New York Times is trying to convince a federal judge to "quot" justice department subpoenas, compelling several reporters to testify before a grand jury. And Pyrenees David Folk and Flick reports, the Times says the administration, is seeking its sources from a story on security concerns. For the new Air Force One, given to President Trump by the Qatari government.
“This clash erupted after the Times reported that the U.S. Secret Service interceded to convince”
Trump not to take the new jet home from the NATO summit in Turkey earlier this month. The Times alleges the Trump administration is attempting to intimidate its reporters, seeking phone records not just of its journalists, but of some of their family members. Trump has sued the Times for defamation, while the paper has sued the administration to block new restrictions on covering the Pentagon.
U.S. Attorney J. Clayton says he has followed justice department policies and that he respects the independence of the press. David Folk and Flick and PR News You're listening to NPR News in Washington. The ex-wife of an ICE officer, who shot and killed a man in Maine last week, alleges he had
a history of domestic violence and making racist comments. And Pyrenees Meg Anderson reports, immigration and customs enforcement, is in the midst of a hiring surge, and some law enforcement experts are concerned about proper vetting. The details about the ICE officers passed should have raised red flags. That's according to Kenneth Cory, who spent more than three decades with the New York City
Police. You want to make sure that the people that you're hiring have the temperament and disposition necessary to do the job. At the NYPD, he says recruits go through a background check and psychological tests, and the agency also interviews neighbors and former employers and looks up school records and
police reports. All that takes time. ICE has hired more than 12,000 officers in less than a year. In a statement, DHS says it applies all the "proper personnel vetting regulations, but did not provide specifics," Meg Anderson and Pyrenees.
The U.S. House has passed a trillion dollar defense policy bill to fund the military. Six Democrats voted with Republicans to support it, now the bill goes to the Senate.
House Republicans also advanced a $95 billion budget blueprint, mostly for the war with
Iran, that also needs Senate approval. Members of the House are leaving Washington this week to return to their districts for August recess. A flood watch is an effect across central North Carolina through tonight. The National Weather Service says flash flooding is possible.
I'm Kristen Wright, and this is NPR News from Washington. Support for NPR comes from India. This season of Plenty Summer School, we go to China, one of the world's biggest economy. And what we learned is Americans are crazy, Chinese are crazy. These are two countries full of these crazy hustlers.
The U.S. and China are more alike than you might think. On Plenty Summer School, a strange lesson about success, how to handle the downsides of progress.
