Giles Snyder

Central Command confirming in a statement that one of its refueling aircraft went down in an incident that involved another aircraft that was able to land safely.

The military says the crash was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.

Casualties are unclear.

New federal drought data show much of the American West is now experiencing its lowest snowpack in history.

NPR's Kirk Sigler reports this comes as record heat is expected to bear down on the region in the next week.

Stocks in Japan tracking Wall Street's declines.

A benchmark Nikkei down 1.3% in Friday trading as the Iran war drives oil prices higher.

Wall Street finished sharply lower.

The S&P 500 fell 1.5% Thursday.

The Dow dropped 1.6%.

I'm Giles Snyder.

This is NPR News.

Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder.

President Trump appears to be backing off his political demands as he claims the end of war in Iran is near.

NPR's Franco Ordonez reports that the White House says Trump will determine whether Iran has unconditionally surrendered.

China says it's evacuated thousands of its citizens from the Middle East and Iran as U.S.

and Israeli strikes continue.

NPR's Emily Fang reports that the scale of the evacuations underlines the closer ties China has been building with countries in the region.

To Ohio now, where a federal judge has ruled that prediction markets are avoiding the law.

NPR's Bobby Allen reports there are more than 20 federal lawsuits over the betting craze's future.