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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst.
Chapter 2: What are the key details of the Texas Senate primary runoff?
In Texas today, a high-stakes Senate primary runoff is taking place between two Republicans, incumbent Senator John Cornyn and State Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom President Trump endorsed. NPR's Claudia Grisales has more.
This race exposed a crack in the red wall of Texas. It pit the party's populist movement against its establishment wing. Senator John Cornyn, a fixture of the establishment, was already facing a tough re-election fight.
Chapter 3: How is the Trump administration addressing media leaks?
Now, with President Trump's endorsement of controversial MAGA loyalist Kim Paxton, the Cornyn campaign is on life support.
NPS Claudia Gonzalez. Meanwhile, South Carolina Republican state lawmakers rejected President Trump's push to redraw congressional maps and push out the lone Democratic congressman, Jim Clyburn, as early voting got started today for a June 9th primary. The Trump administration is proposing a new government-wide nondisclosure agreement for federal employees.
Empire's Andrea Hsu reports the administration says media leaks have put federal agents and military service members in danger.
In its proposed rule, the Office of Personnel Management says recent leaks about immigration enforcement and the U.S.
Chapter 4: What recent developments are occurring in the Ukraine conflict?
raid on Venezuela underscore the need for NDAs. But the proposal also appears aimed at stopping leaks related to policy and personnel matters more generally. Already, federal workers are required to safeguard confidential and proprietary government information.
Now the administration is defining that broadly to include information about internal agency operations and deliberative material that is not publicly available. According to the proposal, agencies would decide for themselves whether to use the NDA, and federal employees would still have the right to disclose information as part of whistleblower complaints. Andrea Hsu and PR News.
Ukraine's military says it hit a Russian military site in occupied Ukraine and a separate strike shut down an oil refinery in Russia.
Chapter 5: What role are Colombian mercenaries playing in Sudan's conflict?
And here's Joanna Kakissis reports Russia's escalating threats against Ukraine following its own weekend strikes.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Secretary of State Marco Rubio to evacuate the U.S. embassy in Kyiv. Lavrov said the Kremlin is planning strikes on, quote, decision-making centers there.
Chapter 6: How has the number of Iranian pilgrims to the Hajj changed this year?
Rubio said he would relay the message to President Trump. In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country's military has used technology to halt Russian advances on the front line. It's not easy. It's not easy, he said.
Chapter 7: What are the current costs associated with performing the Hajj pilgrimage?
We are still actively defending it. This year, though, we have achieved better results. Zelensky claims Ukraine's long-range drone strikes have also cut Russian oil refining capacity by 10 percent. Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kyiv.
The Dow's down 207 points, Nasdaq up 241. This is NPR. The United Arab Emirates trained Colombian mercenaries and deployed them to fight alongside a group at war with Sudan's army. That's according to a new report. NPR's Jewel Bright reports the mercenaries went on to commit several atrocities in Sudan, including training child soldiers.
Analysis by Human Rights Watch shows how Colombian mercenaries were recruited by an Emirati company and trained on military bases in the UAE before being deployed to Sudan. Most of the mercenaries were retired Colombian military officers and while in Sudan, they fought alongside the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces or RSF which has been at war with Sudan's army for over three years.
The UAE has denied supporting the RSF despite mounting evidence. Human Rights Watch says the UAE has supported other deadly groups across Africa and the Middle East, and analysts say this is being done to secure minerals and to expand the UAE's influence across the region. Joe Bright, NPR News, Lagos
More than 1.5 million Muslims from around the world are performing the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. But this year, the number of Iranians making the pilgrimage is down to around 30,000. Last year, 90,000 Iranians got permits from Saudi Arabia to attend. Meanwhile, the cost to attend is high. Pakistan's religious affairs minister says the three-week-long package is about $3,400.
Most pilgrims save for decades to be able to afford the Hajj. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.
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