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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Two Democratic senators are demanding answers from the Treasury Department about the decision to settle a case over the leak of President Trump's tax returns. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports the lawmakers want a watchdog to investigate the arrangement.
Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon are writing officials at the Treasury Department to get more detail about what they call an outrageously corrupt deal that creates a nearly $2 billion taxpayer fund that could compensate January 6th rioters and other Trump allies.
Chapter 2: What are the concerns raised by senators about Trump's tax return settlement?
The senators want the Inspector General for Tax Administration to probe whether any laws have been broken that bar political interference in the audit work of the IRS. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch is defending the settlement, asserting Trump and his family will not receive any direct financial benefit.
But the deal also seems to shield Trump from any legal problems over his past tax returns. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington.
The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to rise. Health officials say there are 177 suspected deaths from the virus and more than 800 suspected cases. Emmett Livingstone reports health workers are struggling to respond.
Late on Friday, locals in the gold-mining town of Mongualu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo burnt down a tent in an Ebola treatment centre. This follows another attack on a health centre in a nearby area this week. The violence underscores the difficulties health responders are facing in Congo trying to control the spread of Ebola.
The epicentre of the outbreak is in a poor, hard-to-reach area where armed groups as well as national armies are active. NGOs as well as the UN are flying tons of medical supplies to eastern Congo in a bid to contain the virus. But across a region larger than the state of Florida, U-cases keep cropping up. For NPR News, I'm Emmett Livingstone in Kinshasa.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is warning of a global food crisis in the next 6 to 12 months if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Large amounts of fertilizer bound for farmers in Africa and Asia have been unable to get through since the war in Iran began. Farmers rely on the fertilizer to grow their crops.
The agency's chief economist, Maximo Torreira, told NPR he's worried.
Today, we have enough food available and we have enough stocks. The problem is for the next harvest. As we move towards the middle of the year and the end of the year, we will have less supply and as a result, higher prices. And this will exacerbate more next year if this situation doesn't stop.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters today there has been some progress in negotiations on ending the war in Iran. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. A federal judge in Tennessee yesterday dismissed the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The immigrant had been wrongfully deported to El Salvador.
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