NPR News: 07-22-2026 9PM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst.
What were the key details of the new U.S.–Saudi nuclear cooperation agreement?
The White House has signed a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, and Pierce Quill Lawrence reports for decades the U.S. has been concerned about nuclear weapons proliferation in the Middle East.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long sought U.S. reactor technology with the stated goal of developing a peaceful nuclear power program. The American nuclear industry is interested in doing business with the oil-rich country, but previous U.S. presidents had worried it could lead to a weapons program and a nuclear arms race in the Middle East with the Saudis' arch-rival Iran. In the past, nuclear cooperation was held out as an incentive if Saudi Arabia recognized the state of Israel or if the kingdom addressed human rights concerns. According to a memo seen by NPR, this deal requires none of those concessions and may not include the strictest international inspections to make sure the Saudis don't begin a weapons program.
Quill Lawrence, NPR News.
The House advanced three notable bills to the Senate this afternoon, just before they leave town for a month-long recess. A trillion dollars for the military, new restrictions on congressional stock trading, and a Republican budget framework with money for the Iran war, farmers, and election security. But as NPR's Eric McDaniel reports, the Senate won't consider any of the legislation as written.
Bills generally need 60 votes in order to pass in the Senate, and that means that two of these, which lack substantial Democratic support, are dead on arrival there. Even Democratic military boosters have spoken out against the trillion-dollar National Defense Authorization Act, usually a bipartisan success story and this time waylaid by recent American service member deaths in Trump's war on Iran.
Why have past U.S. presidents been concerned about Saudi nuclear ambitions?
And House Republicans attached a voter ID bill to their stock trading restrictions, restrictions that don't require members to shed their personal financial stakes in publicly traded companies. Both policies concern Democrats. Senate Republicans could pass the Iran and farm and election package on their own, but Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he's holding that bill back for other reasons. Eric McDaniel, NPR News, the Capitol.
An independent autopsy commissioned by the parents of Nolan Wells. The 18-year-old, whose body was found two days after he disappeared after a July 4 boat trip with friends to an island off Mississippi, found the cause of his death, quote, undetermined. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is also the family's lawyer, says forensic pathologist Dr. Roger Mitchell cited body decomposition and missing facts as reason for the inconclusive result.
This forensic pathologist identified several limitations during the second autopsy that create barriers to establishing a definitive cause and manner of death for Nolan Xavier Wells.
The Mississippi State Medical Examiner's Office has not released its autopsy results. NFL star Colin Kaepernick paid for this second autopsy. U.S. futures contracts are trading higher. You're listening to NPR News. The number of people facing hunger worldwide declined for a third consecutive year, according to a new report by the United Nations. But the report also finds that progress is fragile and unevenly distributed due to ongoing shocks from climate change and trade route disruptions. In Piers Vatma, Tanis has more.
An estimated 645 million people experienced hunger in 2025. It's 14 million less than the previous year. According to the UN report, while Asia and Latin America saw steady improvements, Africa continues to have the highest number of hungry people, as droughts affected food production and conflict in the Middle East has driven up fuel and fertilizer prices. which in turn led to an increase in food costs. And more than a quarter of the world's population experienced food insecurity, meaning they had to compromise on the quality and quantity of the food they ate. The UN says women are disproportionately affected. Fatma Tanis, NPR News.
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