"Live from NPR News in Washington," I'm Lynda Kenyan.
A Senate committee has advanced the nomination of acting attorney general Todd Blanche to be confirmed to the role.
“NPR's Claudia Grasales reports the 12 to 10 vote along party lines comes as two key Republicans lifted their objections.”
Republican senators Tom Tillis of North Carolina and John Corin of Texas voted to advance Blanche's nomination after the acting attorney general rescinded a 1.8
billion dollar fund dubbed the Anti-Weaponization Fund.
Ahead of the vote Tillis said he was satisfied with Blanche's rescindment that was put in writing. I called the payout pot for punks. I made no sense to me and I thought it was an insult to the police officers and the people that defended us on January 6. It's done. Tillis and Corin in both in their final terms held up the nomination until Blanche addressed their concerns of the fund and other provisions tied to a government settlement deal for President Trump. Blanche's nomination now heads to the full Senate floor.
"Clarity Salis," NPR News. In Spokane, Washington, three out of control wildfires are threatening thousands of homes.
“NPR's Kirk Sigler says fighting the fires complicated in this city built out into pine forests.”
Urban wildfires, like we've seen lately, like these, like Los Angeles, like in California, you really just can't stop them. Once they're going from house to house, you know, the structures create the fuel for rapid spread alongside all the trees and the brush. One lucky thing I would say quickly is that the elite federal fire fighting crews, some of them, including the incident commander,
only had to travel from Oregon where more than a million acres has burned so far and they arrived in just a few hours.
They extremely dry conditions and high temperatures combined with a warm winter have made fire conditions especially treacherous. The Saudi oil company, Ramko, is announcing a major boost in earnings despite escalations in the Middle East in the war with Iran. NPR's Hadil al-Shaljee reports. Saudi Arabia's oil company, Aramko, said it earned a profit of $33.4 billion in adjusted net income
“in April through June. That's up from $25.2 billion in the same quarter last year.”
It's one of Aramko's largest quarterly profits in almost four years. Many oil companies have benefited from the war with Iran as it has driven energy prices up. Aramko had to find alternative ways to route its oil shipments as the war affected the straight of harm moves. It used pipelines on the red sea and exported millions of barrels of oil a day. But now the red sea route is at risk as Yemen's Iran backed Houthis declared a
blockade on Saudi ships. Hadil al-Shaljee and PR news is stable. Both the Dow Jones and the S&P have hit record highs as stocks rallied after treasury secretary Scott Besant said there could be a deal regarding the straightforward moves by later in the day or tomorrow. The Dow is up more than 1,000 points. You're listening to NPR. Planning on going to the movies? You'll have some great picks to choose from.
Hollywood's summer blockbusters seem to be on track to bust some records this season. NPR's Bob Mandelo has the details. With Spider-Man brand new day for superhero fan. Make sure you want to do this scorpion. Michael for the music crowd. Odyssey for folks who like epic, devil wears product too for fashionistas Toy Story 5 for kids. Hollywood seems to have something for everyone this summer, which has theater owners
cheering a season poised to top the $4 billion barbenheimer summer of 2023.
And since hot weather almost always accounts for 40% of the film industry's annual revenues
analysts are increasingly optimistic that movie theaters may finally be getting back to the 10 and 11 billion dollars years. They enjoyed before streaming services caught on during the pandemic. Bob Mandelo and PR news. Here's something to think about if you're getting ready to send kids back to school. The American Academy of Pediatrics says those backpacks kids are carrying maybe too heavy for them. The guidelines say backpacks should weigh no more than 10 to 15% of
a child's body weight. But this one size fits all approach may not be ideal for many children. Instead, the Academy says a backpack is too heavy if a child leans forward or struggles to walk. Also, try to get backpacks with padded straps and compartments that distribute the weight much more evenly. I'm Linda Kenyan and PR news in Washington. The midterms are coming and that means the new cycle, which is already intense, is about to get
more intense this fall. So, the summer is a perfect time to make sure your news diet is calibrated. I'm Leila Faldon on up first. We unpack the three biggest stories every morning so you can stay informed and get on with your day in less than 15 minutes. Follow or subscribe to up first today
