Amy Held

NPR's Polina Litvinova reports from Kyiv the effort could potentially bring home 1,200 Ukrainians from captivity.

In Manila, hundreds of thousands of protesters came out to demand accountability in a flood control corruption scandal.

They're outraged over substandard or non-existent flood defense projects in the typhoon-prone Philippines.

Government officials have testified about kickbacks involving Congress and public works officials.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

has promised swift action.

This is NPR News.

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Amy Held.

President Trump is responding after a Republican-led House committee released thousands of pages of documents this week from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Democrats seized on emails mentioning Trump.

NPR's Ron Elving reports now Trump has instigated an investigation into his perceived political enemies.

Despite Trump's opposition, Republicans are increasingly calling for the release of Justice Department Epstein files.

A vote is expected next week.

Border Patrol agents have begun carrying out an immigration enforcement operation in Charlotte, North Carolina.

As Nick DeLaCanal from member station WFAE reports, agents made arrests this morning in the city's immigrant corridors.

U.S.

military officials tell NPR the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford will be in the northern Caribbean by tomorrow, joining some 15,000 soldiers and sailors already there.

The U.S.

has announced military drills and multiple deadly military strikes on vessels carrying people the Trump administration calls narco-terrorists.

It is seen as a possible pressure tactic on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.