Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Linda Kenyan.
Deadly wildfires are raging in Europe.
“Hundreds of thousands of people in southern Europe have been evacuated due to the wildfires,”
which come amid an extraordinary heat wave and drought. Here in North America, tens of millions of people are continuing to endure hazard smoke from massive wildfires burning across Canada and the Western U.S. NPR's Kirk Sigler reports from the Fire Line in Boise. Well, it's a huge deal because it means all of the resources have been deployed at all the fires
across the country. So if we get another big fire, we're in trouble. And that's probably why I'm not seeing a whole lot here outside the center. The center has made a plea for international help. In fact, we're expecting a crew of elite firefighters coming in from Australia to land this weekend
and get deployed across the west, but international aid could be harder to come by if the situation in southern Europe gets worse and firefighters are going to be needed there and international crews needed there. That's NPR's Kirk Sigler reporting. Wall Street is headed into a busy week with the Federal Reserve facing big decision on
interest rates, along with earnings from big tech and big oil. NPR's Raphael Norm has a preview. The Fed is set to hold this latest policy meeting at a time of high uncertainty, although investors for now believe policy makers will hold great steady, many are betting the Fed may have to raise them this year if inflation picks up as expected.
That's because the continued war with Iran has led to a spike in energy prices.
We'll also get a first read of economic growth in the second quarter, which covers from
April to June.
“And we have a slew of important tech earnings, including from Microsoft and Meta.”
Researchers will also carefully eyed the earnings of Chevron and Exhton Mobile at a time of big volatility in the energy markets, Raphael Norm, NPR News. Warsaw launched another ballistic missile at Ukraine's Capitol this weekend, striking a residential building. From Moscow, NPR's Charles Mayn's reports Ukraine has attacked Russia's largest online
retailer 10 times in the past week. Ukraine, the tech warehouses of the online retailer Wildberries, a company often considered Russia's version of Amazon.com. This timebrowns targeted a wildberries facility in a catron bird, the main city in Russia's year old mountains, Kiev has justified the strikes by accusing wildberries of providing
drone technology and other components to Russia's military, a claim the company denies. The attacks have also come in addition to months of Ukraine targeting Russia's energy infrastructure. In the latest, authorities in the Siberian city of Tumen said drones struck an oil refinery
“without detailing the scale of the damage incurred, Charles Mayn's impure news, Moscow.”
You're listening to NPR News. The United Nations Secretary General is visiting Damascus.
This is the first time ahead of the UN has visited Syria in more than 15 years.
NPR's Emily Fang has more. The UN's Secretary General and Tony Gutierrez landed in Damascus and was welcome by serious foreign minister. Gutierrez's predecessor, last visited Syria in 2009, about two years later, as the world began and consumed Syria for the better part of the next 14 years.
Gutierrez's visit in other visits by heads of state have come as the new government in Syria and normalizes ties with the outside world. But Gutierrez has also expressed concern about two serious deadly bouts of sectarian violence in Syria that left thousands of civilians dead, mostly from Syria's minority groups. And violent attacks by militant groups are down, but they continue.
During a visit by the French President to Syria early this month, two bombs Syria said were set by ISIS cells went off. Emily Fang and Pernus. Punch the monkey is one today. The orphaned monkey at a Japanese zoo that stole many people's hearts by clinging to
an orangutan plush toy has been captivating fans around the world. Two keepers say punch has received more than 2,500 birthday cards. They also say the monkey he was abandoned by his mother is no longer being bullied by the other monkeys. Also, he's made friends, even as a girlfriend.
And punch the monkey no longer clings to that plush monkey toy. Happy birthday punch. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is now up 15 cents from last week. I'm Lynda Kenyan, NPR News in Washington, just over a year ago Congress eliminated more
than a billion dollars in funding for public media.
Again, we have not backed down. When you donate to independent nonprofits that make up the NPR network, we hold the powerful to account together. It's the kind of journalism democracy requires that we the public need to protect. Don't wait, join the community of people who power this work before the month is out
