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Chapter 1: What are the latest developments in the Iran-UAE conflict?
Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Iran's keeping up its attacks on U.S. interests in Gulf states, among them the United Arab Emirates. The UAE has been struck by more than 185 missiles and more than 800 drones since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran started Saturday. In Abu Dhabi, NPR's Ayyub Atrawi has more on the war that has directly and indirectly drawn in more than a dozen countries.
It's a very surreal moment because I'm standing in a five star luxury hotel ballroom where the government has brought select press to come and to attend a press conference where they have been giving us some more information about their position, their policies, domestic and international right now in the midst of this war. But also they've brought fragments in front of me right before me.
I can see them. charred, burnt fragments of some of the more than 185 missiles and hundreds of drones that they have intercepted since the start of this war, fired from Iran at the UAE. And they say nearly all of this has been intercepted.
Chapter 2: How is the U.S. responding to the Iran attacks on Gulf states?
And the three deaths that have been recorded so far in the United Arab Emirates have been a result of debris, not from any direct hit. NPR's Aya Batraoui. President Trump says if necessary, the U.S. Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible. The Strait has been facing a blockade by Iran, which has sent shockwaves through global energy markets.
The Strait is located between Oman and Iran. and functions as a key artery for global trade. Today, Trump said he will cut off all trade with Spain after that country denied the U.S. permission to use bases in the country for bombing Iran. And PR's Danielle Kurtzleben has more.
Chapter 3: What did President Trump say about Spain's trade policies?
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump expressed anger regarding Spain's stance on the Iran attacks and also lashed out at the country for refusing to spend 5 percent of its GDP on defense, a target NATO has set for 2035. They wanted to keep it at 2%, and they don't pay the 2%. So we're going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want anything to do with Spain.
Trump added that he intends to impose more tariffs to replace those the Supreme Court recently ruled were unlawful. The White House has been unclear on one new tariff, a 10% global tariff Trump imposed under a law called Section 122. He has said he is raising that to 15% and now says he has done so. However, there is no sign from the White House that this has happened.
Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News. Well, the State Department is advising Americans in the more than dozen countries in the Middle East to leave.
Chapter 4: What insights did Bill Clinton provide about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?
In the last 24 hours, U.S. embassies in Kuwait and most recently Saudi Arabia were hit. Meanwhile, the death toll is climbing across the region as a result of the launch of the war Saturday and Iran's retaliatory strikes on U.S. partners in the region. President Trump says the war could last four to five weeks, but the U.S. has the capability to fight longer. This is NPR.
Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have released video from their deposition of former President Bill Clinton about his history with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. NPR's Sage Miller reports Clinton testified his relationship with Epstein centered around the Clinton Foundation's work on AIDS research.
Clinton told the committee the relationship mostly started after he was president and ended around 2003.
Chapter 5: How are major mergers affecting creative independence in media?
I thought Mr. Epstein was an interesting man, but he I didn't think he was really interested in what I was doing. He added that he didn't notice anything that made him think Epstein was a criminal or involved in the trafficking or sexual abuse of underage girls. Clinton has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Concerns about creative independence are being amplified by major mergers on the horizon, and Pierre's Elizabeth Blair reports on a deal between HBO Max and Paramount Plus after Paramount Skydance's recent deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. HBO Max is home to popular shows like The White Lotus, The Last of Us, and Game of Thrones.
Paramount Plus includes Top Gun, Mission Impossible, and South Park. Paramount's Skydance chairman and CEO David Ellison told investors this week that HBO would be given the resources and independence to do what it does best. That's NPR's Elizabeth Blair reporting.
Chapter 6: What is the current state of the stock market?
At last check on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 292 points, or roughly half a percent. At 48,613, the S&P is down 55 points and Nasdaq is down 199 points. You're listening to NPR News.