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Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump is refusing to sign a bipartisan affordability bill intended to lower the cost of housing and encourage more home construction. On social media, the Republican leader said he was protesting Congress's inability to pass a strict voter identification bill. With the country well into midterm primary season, Trump had 10 days until today to sign or veto or allow the legislation to to take effect at midnight. Without his signature, the administration has ousted the remaining leadership at the Election Assistance Commission. This leaves the independent agency in a precarious position heading into November's midterm elections. We have more from NPR's Ashley Lopez.
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The White House says it has removed the last few commissioners of the Election Assistance Commission. This is an independent agency created in the wake of the 2000 presidential election, a close race plagued by administrative errors. The agency has since helped provide election officials with resources and has collected data about how elections went. The EAC was created to have four commissioners at the beginning of this year. One Republican member abruptly resigned and now another is also resigning. The agency's two Democratic members, however, were removed. Ashley Lopez, NPR News.
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President Trump says Iran asked to keep negotiating an end to hostilities and the US Agreed, but that the June ceasefire was over. He gave an update on social media today after three Qatari and Saudi commercial tankers came under fire this week and led to retaliatory strikes between the war rivals. Joseph Otel is a retired four star general and served as commander of U.S. central Command from 2016 to 2019. On NPR, Votel was asked if he believed Iran was willing to risk prolonged war with the US to maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz.
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I think that's a big takeaway out of just these last 72, 96 hours that Iran is principally focused on permanent sovereign control of the Straits Hormuz and they are willing to accept the risk of large scale of conflict before they before they're willing to relinquish it.
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Goldman Sachs is prohibiting employees from betting on prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi. NPR's Bobby Allen reports on the latest investment firm to warn staff against abusing confidential information.
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Prediction markets offer betting on many topics involving finance, whether it's a company's quarterly earnings or what an analyst will say on an investor call or when a company will introduce a new service. The new rule from Goldman Sachs prohibits employees from placing bets on future outcomes related to finance, corporate America, elections or geopolitics. It does allow for employees to wager on sports and entertainment. Billions of dollars are traded every week on prediction market sites, which are largely unregulated despite the new rule. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said earlier this year that prediction markets were, quote, super interesting and that he had met with prediction market executives over possible partnerships. Bobby Allen, NPR News.
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It's npr. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the fastest growing Ebola outbreak ever recorded. This comes amid reports that the outbreak has spread to two new provinces in the country. NPR's Jewel Bright has details.
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Health officials say they are tracing potential Ebola cases in the provinces of Shopo and Hoat Uwele. Two suspected cases are also being tested in the city of Kisangani, one of Congo's biggest cities. Health officials say the suspected cases suggest the outbreak is now spreading beyond three provinces in the country's eastern region, which had been the epicenter of the outbreak. More than 1700 Ebola cases have been recorded in the DRC since the start of the outbreak in May, and at least 600 people have died this week. Health workers responding to the outbreak threatened to go on strike to protest poor working conditions and the non payment of salaries. Joel Bright, NPR News, Lagos.
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The German automaker Volkswagen says it plans to significantly scale back its model lineup after Europe's largest Automaker reported an 8.6% decline in global deliveries. More than a third of the decline is in China, where the German automaker struggling to compete with Chinese rivals. Volkswagen's top executive says sales were affected by geopolitical tensions as well as increasing costs. The company has not said if it now intends to implement its plan for mass layoffs. I'm Lakshmi Singh, NPR News.
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