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- [00:00]
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Jeanine Herbst
Live from NPR News. In Washington, I'm Jeanine Herbst. The Treasury Department is placing a new round of sanctions on 10 people and companies accused of helping Iran develop drones and ballistic missiles. NPR's Jennifer Pack reports. Many are in China and Hong Kong.
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Jennifer Pak
The US treasury accuses one Chinese individual and seven companies from China and Hong Kong of helping Iran to secure weapons and supplies for its drones and missiles. This comes days before President Trump plans to meet his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping in Beijing. The leaders have a lot to discuss, but the Iran war might overshadow the meeting. China buys most of Iran's oil. The US Is trying to sever this economic lifeline for Iran. It has also sanctioned small private refineries in China that purchase Iranian oil. But Beijing has ordered its companies to disregard those U.S. sanctions. Jennifer Pak, NPR News, Shanghai.
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Jeanine Herbst
Tennessee this week became the first Southern state to adopt a new congressional map as a result of the Supreme Court decision limiting the use of race when redrawing districts. That's drawn protests. And Virginia's Supreme Court knocked down a plan over a procedural error that could have given Democrats an edge. NPR's Don Gagne has more on what's at stake for voters.
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Don Gagne
People still vote to express their level of dissatisfaction or satisfaction with elected officials. They'll vote their pocketbook, gas prices, health care, an unpopular war. Pick the issue. But if at the end of the day, one party's been able to redraw maps in their favor, then that can act as a buffer on the kind of disapproval we're seeing now in say, that new NPR PBS Marist poll, which puts the presidents of disapproval at a record record low number.
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Jeanine Herbst
And pier's Don Gagne reporting. The cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak is expected to dock in the Canary Islands tomorrow, where the remaining passengers will disembark and return to their countries for monitoring. Experts stress the virus isn't spreading like COVID 19, but some public health experts warn the U.S. may not be fully prepared if cases grow. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports.
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Dr. Seema Yasmin
Public health experts say the hantavirus is not spreading in the same way COVID 19 does. Dr. Seema Yasmin is an epidemiologist and professor at Stanford University. Six years after the pandemic, she says Americans still have legitimate fears about new outbreaks.
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I'm not going to gaslight anyone into thinking that they are foolish for being scared because of the world we're living in, and especially the fact that the US now does not have a seat at the table when it comes to global health.
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Yasmin says years of political division, misinformation and declining trust in public health agencies have left the U.S. vulnerable.
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Jeanine Herbst
NPR's Windsor Johnston reporting. You're listening to NPR News. Climate experts say most of the US Is experiencing drought conditions and that could spark an intense summer wildfire season, especially in the Western states. NPR's Lauren Sommer reports. Under the Trump administration, wildfire prevention work has fallen behind.
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Lauren Sommer
Many US Forests are overgrown with vegetation, which puts them at risk of extreme wildfires that kill trees and spread into communities. So the Forest Service does work every year to reduce that risk. They often set controlled burns during the cool season, which clears out the underbrush. In 2025, the Trump administration burned only about half the area that was burned in recent years. In a statement, the Forest Service says that's because staff was occupied fighting wildfires last year. But some wildfire experts say the work slowed down after the Trump administration tried shrink the agency last year, leading to the loss of thousands of employees. Lauren Sommer, NPR News.
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Jeanine Herbst
The post office's finances are still struggling as the agency reports a net loss for the fifth quarter in a row. USPS officials say the Postal Service is just months away from running out of money. It relies on stamps and service fees, not taxpayer dollars, to deliver mail six days a week all around the country. But people don't send that much mail anymore, and the post office reported a net loss of $2 billion just in the second quarter. The post office has already cut workers, stopped payments to its pension plans and also raised shipping prices. I'm Jeanine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.
- [04:54]
Capital One/Schwab Announcer
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