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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korva Coleman. Israel says it has carried out a strike in the capital of Qatar. It targeted senior Hamas leaders. There is no immediate confirmation of casualties. NPR's Daniel Estrin has more from Tel Aviv.
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This is the first time Israel has carried out a strike in Doha. It marks an escalation in Israel's war against Hamas. Israel's military says the Hamas leaders targeted were directly responsible for Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and have since been, quote, orchestrating and manner managing the war with Israel. It came as Hamas took claim for a shooting attack in Jerusalem yesterday that killed six Israelis. Qatar called the strike a cowardly attack on residential buildings housing Hamas political leaders. Qatar has hosted Hamas political leaders for years in coordination with the US to establish lines of communication, according to a Qatari official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
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The United nations secretary general says the world is spending far more on waging war than in building peace. The UN is out with a report today that says global military spending reached a record $2.7 trillion last year. NPR's Michelle Keleman reports.
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UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is calling on the world to rebalance its military spending and refocus on the UN's goals to fight poverty, increase health care. And more than 100 countries have increased their military budgets to hit a global record in 2024. The $2.7 trillion amounts to $334 for every person on the planet, the report says, and it's the size of the entire gross domestic product for all African countries. Guterres says, quote, excessive military spending does not guarantee peace. Instead, it can fuel arms races and deepen mistrust among countries. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News.
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The U.S. supreme Court has told the Trump administration it will allow federal immigration agents to resume widespread random sweeps in the Los Angeles area. Opponents say agents can now stop people, even American citizens who look Latino, speak a different language or work in low wage jobs. Opponents have vowed to fight. Separately, President Trump is asking the Supreme Court to take up another issue, his tariffs. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben says lower courts have ruled these tariffs are illegal.
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Trump imposed those using emergency powers. It's a law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. A federal trade court and then a federal appeals court have said that no, these tariffs are not lawful under that act. So now the White House has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on whether these tariffs should be allowed to.
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Remain in place NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reporting. You're listening to NPR. In Texas, a law that allowed students without legal status to pay in state tuition ended over the summer. Thousands of affected students must now pay in state tuition, no matter how long they have lived in Texas. From member station kut, Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vasquez has more.
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After the Texas Dream act was repealed, tuition for students without legal status increased, even tripling in some cases. Fernanda, a student at UT Austin who asked that we only use her first name for fear of being deported, was one of the students who said they couldn't afford to go back to school for the fall semester.
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The sense of, like, hopelessness really took over something that I even with everything going on before, I'd never felt this way. And so that was probably the biggest heartbreak.
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The American Immigration Council estimates the end of the Texas Dream act will have economic impacts beyond immigrant families, with the state potentially losing more than $460 million each year. I'm Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vazquez in Austin, Texas.
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The elusive street artist Banksy has claimed responsibility for a new mural that appeared this week on the side of a judicial building in London. NPR's Lauren Freyr reports. The mural was quickly covered with black plastic, and a judge ruled it will be removed because of rules about listed buildings.
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The mural is on the outer wall of London's Royal Courts of Justice. It depicts a judge in a traditional wig and robe using a gavel to beat a protester. There's no reference to any particular particular incident, but it comes amid free speech concerns as police arrest hundreds of protesters across the country weekly for expressing support for a banned Pro Palestinian group.
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NPR's Lauren Frayer reporting. This is NPR.
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Host: Korva Coleman
Date: September 9, 2025 | Duration: 5 minutes
This edition of NPR News Now delivers a concise summary of major global and U.S. news. Topics include a new escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict extending into Qatar, a UN report on record global military spending, pivotal U.S. Supreme Court decisions on immigration and tariffs, the ending of Texas’s in-state tuition for undocumented students, and a new Banksy mural in London raising free speech questions.
[00:00–01:00]
[01:00–02:02]
[02:02–02:53]
[02:53–03:56]
[03:56–04:35]
“This is the first time Israel has carried out a strike in Doha. It marks an escalation in Israel's war against Hamas.”
— Daniel Estrin, [00:16]
“Excessive military spending does not guarantee peace. Instead, it can fuel arms races and deepen mistrust among countries.”
— Antonio Guterres (via Michelle Keleman), [01:49]
“The sense of, like, hopelessness really took over... that was probably the biggest heartbreak.”
— Fernanda, UT Austin student, [03:34]
This episode delivers a succinct yet comprehensive briefing on major political, social, and cultural developments from around the world, capturing the urgency, complexity, and human impact of each story.