NPR News: 07-15-2025 9PM EDT
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Why is the State Department cutting 45% of its domestic offices and how will it affect overseas embassies?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. A top State Department official defended major cutbacks at his agency during a hearing on Capitol Hill today, but as MPR's Michelle Calliman reports, the Deputy Secretary of State says the cuts won't reach US embassies or consulates overseas.
Just days after he laid off thirteen hundred staffers at the State Department, Deputy Secretary of State for Management Michael Regis says the goal was to cut through the bureaucracy here in Washington.
The reorganization will merge, eliminate, consolidate, or streamline nearly forty-five percent of the department's domestic offices.
The ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Gregory Meeks, blasted him for firing career foreign and civil servants, many with decades of service, just because they were in offices he's closing. Meeks called it the largest brain drain in the department's recent history. Michelle Kelleman, NPR News, the state.
State Department. The catastrophic flooding across central Texas is prompting a number of cities to take a closer look at their emergency plans.
What are the biggest flood hazards in central Texas and why might it take generations to fix them?
But as Nathan Bernier from Member Station K U T reports, one of the state's most common flood dangers may take generations to fix.
Texas already led the nation in flood deaths even before the recent storms claimed more than 130 lives. One of the most deadly flood risks is when fast moving water flows over the road. So when it comes, it comes fast. We've been up to our knees or our thighs on this road. It's just pouring. Brent and Katie Johnson live next to a low water crossing in northwest Austin. The city has nearly seventy of them. At the current pace, Austin is fixing about one low water crossing every three years.
How are massive wildfires in Colorado impacting communities and air quality across the region?
That means it could take 200 years to fix them all. And across central Texas, there are hundreds more. I'm Nathan Vernier in Austin, Texas.
Several large wildfires continue to burn across western Colorado. Stina Seek from Colorado Public Radio reports the Turner Gulch Fire has grown to more than twelve square miles and closed a state highway in a remote part of the state.
Authorities knocked on Michaela Smiley's door at five thirty in the morning Tuesday and told her to go. She left with her toddler and newborn. Smiley says monitoring the fire the last few days was tough.
It's a roller coaster because you were like one minute, you're like it's fine, and the next minute it's blowing up and you're panicking and then you're fine again and then you're panicking.
Why are Parisians finally allowed to swim in the Seine and what does it mean for the city’s environmental cleanup?
Hot, dry and windy weather has stoked several large fires in the state, including the South Rim Fire outside of Montrose. It closed Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and forced nearby residents to flee. For MPR News, I'm Stina Sieg in Grand Junction, Colorado.
At the close on Wall Street, the Dow was down 436 points. This is NPR News. Parts of the upper Midwest and Northeastern United States are being warned about poor air quality. The National Weather Service says smoke from wildfires in Canada is prompting the alerts. They were in effect today in sections of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio, as well as areas of New York and Vermont. Firefighters are working to contain hundreds of wildfires that are burning in western Canada.
How are smoke from Canadian wildfires creating poor‑air‑quality alerts in the Upper Midwest and Northeast?
Health officials there have downgraded the risk level but caution residents to avoid rigorous outdoor activities in Toronto and parts of Ontario. Parisians are now swimming in their iconic river legally for the first time in more than a hundred years. MPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports after a brief trial period. Period during last summer's Olympic Games, the Seine is now open to the public in several designated places. A large
wooden dock has been built at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. People are laying out and swimming laps in the open river. Flora Say, who moved to Paris from Hong Kong 32 years ago, keeps coming back. That's great, really great. It's my third time.
What are the key takeaways from today’s NPR News roundup covering government cuts, floods, fires, and river swimming?
Because of high pollution levels, it's been illegal to swim in the Seine since 1923 until this July. I always dream to swim here in the Seine.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why is the State Department cutting 45% of its domestic offices and how will it affect overseas embassies?
0:00–1:09
2
What are the biggest flood hazards in central Texas and why might it take generations to fix them?
1:09–1:48
3
How are massive wildfires in Colorado impacting communities and air quality across the region?
1:48–2:34
4
Why are Parisians finally allowed to swim in the Seine and what does it mean for the city’s environmental cleanup?
2:34–3:25
5
How are smoke from Canadian wildfires creating poor‑air‑quality alerts in the Upper Midwest and Northeast?
3:25–4:09
6
What are the key takeaways from today’s NPR News roundup covering government cuts, floods, fires, and river swimming?
4:09–4:38