Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton.
The U.S. military announced a 13th night of strikes against Iran as clashes escalated
over shipping routes.
“U.S. Central Command, say the strikes are designed to degrade Iran's ability to threaten”
commercial vessels. President Trump announced today the U.S. would pay for any Iranian attacks on cargo ships by using frozen Iranian assets. Earlier, Yemen's Iran backed Houthi rebels said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, potentially widening the conflict.
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement that would allow U.S. companies to build and run nuclear power plants on Saudi soil, but just hours after that deal, President Trump wrote on social media that Saudi Arabia would first need to join the Abraham Accords, normalizing ties with Israel, still the development is worrying many Israelis, as NPR's family fang reports.
There was shock when the agreement was announced even horror. Israel, I should know, is why they believed to have nuclear weapons already itself, but
it's never confirmed its nuclear arsenal, and they don't want other countries around
it to have a nuclear weapon.
“They're worried that this slightly more flexible conditions of the U.S.”
at agreement could set off a nuclear arms race across the region. NPR's family fangre reporting, the world bank says last month's earthquakes in Venezuela caused $19.6 billion in damage, and PR's Michelle Kalman has more. In a statement, the world bank says that the earthquakes disrupted lives, damage, critical infrastructure, and created new challenges for Venezuela's economic recovery.
It says it could take more than 10 years to rebuild, unless there's more public and private investment to speed that up. The world bank says that 47% of the total damage occurred in residential buildings, so getting temporary housing for Venezuela, and as a priority for the early recovery, there was also damaged to infrastructure and non-residential buildings.
The coastal city of La Guerra was the hardest hit, with buildings flattened along miles of coastline. The official death toll is well above 5000, and still going up. Michelle Kalman and PR news, the State Department.
“The man who admitted to shooting and killing a Minnesota State Lawmaker and her husband”
has received two life sentences, plus 40 years Minnesota Public Radio's Kate Kelly reports. Vance Balter murdered former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. Balter also shot an injured estate senator and his wife, and planned attacks on more Democratic lawmakers. The courtroom was packed, some members of the public and the press cried during testimony.
Melissa Hortman's mother, Linda Halipzuck, says Minnesota lost a leader, and she lost her baby.
It's over, but it's never over, and will, you know, she was a force, and her husband
was a wonderful man, and the world is a poor place without them both. Minnesota pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. For NPR news, I'm Kate Kelly and Minneapolis. This is NPR news. Recent Ukrainian attacks on Russian warehouses have targeted wild berries, Russia's largest
online retailer. Ukraine alleges it supplies geared to Russia's military, although the Kremlin denies it. The attacks are estimated to have severely affected small businesses, which use wild berries, storage, and distribution network to sell their goods across Russia. Advisors to the FDA are backing popular peptide therapies.
The panel of experts met today to consider lifting restrictions on some of the experimental compounds, and peers will stone as more. These peptides are promoted widely for longevity, injury recovery, muscle growth, and more. Many of them are not allowed to be made in the US, except for research purposes, and they are not FDA approved drugs.
But skyrocketing demand and the growth of an illicit market has led the federal government to reconsider the restrictions. In a series of narrow votes, the committee recommended the FDA allow specialized pharmacies to make a number of the compounds, including BPC-157 and TB-500. That's despite the agency's own scientists recommending against doing so because of a lack
of evidence and safety concerns. The votes are not binding, but the agency usually follows suit, and health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has publicly endorsed peptides. Will Stone and PR News. A Turkish governor has been sacked after photos of him in tightly tight cycling shorts
when viral. Some Turkish politicians criticized him for wearing the tight attire during a public event and posting the photos online. A petition to reinstate him gathered over 10,000 signatures. Supporters argue he was promoting sports and youth activities.
This is NPR News from 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 Jr. left home to join a protest in Seattle, a week later he was shot and killed
there. "I need some a ref me, just as for my son."
