Live from NPR News in Washington, on Ryland Barton, two tankers,
transiting the Strait of Hormuz were attacked this week,
“killing one crew member and PR's Quill Lawrence reports.”
The two ships were trying to run the straight near the coast of Oman across the narrow passage from Iran when they came under attack by unknown projectiles. According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operation Center, an international shipping security organization. Before the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran in February,
about 20 percent of the world's petroleum came through the Strait of Hormuz,
along with many other key commodities. Now, only a few ships are risking it as Iran is demanding compensation for passage, and the U.S. is enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports. Oman is a U.S. ally that has mediated disputes in the past, but President Trump threatened to bomb Oman this week if it "gets in the way."
Quill Lawrence and PR News. The Trump administration has moved to repeal a rule that banned logging on tens of millions of acres of national forests, and PR's Kirk Sigler reports the public has 30 days to comment. This decision of the 2001 roadless rule was widely expected.
“President Trump's forest service, along with the timber industry,”
has argued that restrictions on new roadbuilding have severely hindered the U.S. government's ability to thin and log forests
with the goal of preventing wildfires and smoke,
like that's been engulfing much of the country again this summer. But the forest service is behind its own targets on treating forests in areas where roads are already built, and environmentalists are calling the overturning of the rule a giveaway to industry.
Meanwhile, it's still not clear how interested timber companies are. In most of these pristine forests, they're hard and expensive to get to, and often very controversial, the log. Kirk Sigler and PR News, Mazul Amantana.
A federal judge heard opening statements today, and the lawsuit brought by four attorneys general against Facebook, parent company Mehta. It's the latest in a string of cases seeking to hold social media companies accountable for alleged harms against young people.
KQED's Rachel Miro has more. Social media platforms developers have long argued successfully that federal law protects them from claims made on free speech grounds, but plaintiffs are drawing blood at the state level with a new consumer product cases like those brought against tobacco companies.
Judges in both New Mexico and Los Angeles have already ordered big damages appeals are pending. KQED's Rachel Miro reporting in Florida. Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has won reelection in a new Florida district after Republicans redrew the Congressional map.
That's according to a race call from the Associated Press. Some voters expressed concern that her primary win could lessen black representation in Congress. Her main opponent was former Congresswoman Sheila Scherfless McCormick, who resigned from the seat in April while facing an ethics investigation.
Primary elections are also happening in Alaska and Wyoming today. Wall Street pulled further back from its all-time high today. This is NPR News. A collection of labor unions and higher education groups is suing the Trump administration to stop a new immigration rule
that limits the amount of time foreign students and journalists can stay in the U.S. NPR is a list of noteworthy reports the new rule limits students to four years unless they apply and pay for an extension. The lawsuit filed in federal court early Tuesday aims to pause the new rule. Arguing the government didn't follow correct procedures in issuing it.
What we're asking for is that it be paused so that they can be a full review of how the rule came to be and the process that was followed. Henta A is the director and CEO of NAFSA, the Association of International Educators, one of the organizations behind the lawsuit. This new rule eliminates what's known as a duration of status, adding strict time limits
to student visas and restricting how international students can transfer schools or change their study plans. But college is worried it will deter foreign students from enrolling in medical programs or PhDs. Then U.S. innovation will take a big hit.
Alyssa Nadwarnie NPR News. The leader of Quebec's separatist's party says he would delay any independence referendum until President Trump leaves office. Paul St. Pierre Plamondon says his government would hold a referendum
on separating from Canada during its first term.
If it comes to power in the province this fall, but that would not be before January 20, 29 when Trump's term ends. He believes the issue requires a clear and calm debate free from American political upheavals. Quebec voters have rejected sovereignty twice with the most recent vote in 1995. This is NPR.
This week on up first, the midterms and the Middle East were tracking major primary elections in Florida, Alaska and Wyoming and abroad, the President's son-in-law Jared Kushner pursues a peace plan in Gaza.
“Plus, the U.S. Iran ceasefire hits a crucial 60-day deadline.”
Stay caught up on the week's biggest stories with of first. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
