NPR News: 07-31-2026 7PM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton.
What did President Trump and Hamas say about a Gaza disarmament deal?
President Trump says a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza. But as NPR's Frank Lankvitt explains, many hurdles, conditions, and long timelines remain to wind down the war in the Palestinian territory.
The president said Hamas would totally disarm. They'd give up their weapons, and as that was concluding, then Israeli forces would begin to pull back from parts of Gaza. Now, within hours, Hamas officials told NPR Israel would have to withdraw first before it gave up any weapons. Now, this evening, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gurion He called the agreement unacceptable. He said Israel must be allowed to continue to target Hamas fighters. Otherwise, Hamas could regroup, prepare to attack Israel again, as it did back in October 7th of 2023.
NPR's Frank Lankvitt reporting, California, Nevada, and Arizona will soon be facing steep water cuts from the drought-stricken Colorado River. NPR's Kirk Sigler reports a new federal plan released by the Trump administration mostly targets three of the seven states in the river basin.
The Colorado River is facing its most severe drought conditions on record due to climate change. Under this new plan, as expected, major cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, and countless Southern California communities could be forced to cut their river water use by close to 100 billion gallons every two years. The Trump administration for now is only targeting those three states for mandatory cuts. States in the upper Colorado River Basin, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado are being asked to make voluntary cuts. This plan is likely to end up in court with lower basin farmers and cities likely targeting the upper basin, where cities like Denver depend on the river water but also aren't located anywhere near it and pipe its water in.
Kirk Ziegler, NPR News.
The long legal battle to erase the debts of nearly half a million federal student loan borrowers is coming to an end. NPR's Corey Turner reports.
The class action suit centered on a federal rule known as borrower defense. The rule allows borrowers to ask the U.S. Education Department to erase their debts if a school ripped them off by lying about things like job prospects or salary after graduation. Advocates filed the suit in 2019 when the first Trump administration delayed discharging loans for defrauded borrowers. In 2022, the Biden administration settled, but the current Trump administration asked the courts for a delay making good on that settlement. A July ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit told the department no more delays. When finished, the settlement will have discharged the debts of some 450,000 borrowers.
Corey Turner, NPR News.
The Trump administration is dropping its case against a former U.S. Olympian who was accused of vandalizing the reflecting pool in Washington, D.C. In a court filing, the Justice Department says that damage was caused by flawed work performed by a contractor.
What disagreements do Israeli officials cite about the proposed Gaza withdrawal?
Trump hired the company to coat the pool with what he called American flag blue liner. This is NPR News. Ukraine continues to target Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer. Over a dozen Wildberries depots have been struck by Ukrainian drones since July 18th. Observers say it's part of a strategy to make Russian citizens feel the consequences of the war. Ukraine alleges the retailer supplies gear that can be used by Russia's military, although the Kremlin denies it. A film production company is suing Netflix after an unencrypted Master hard drive containing the unreleased World War II spy thriller Fortitude, starring Nicolas Cage, was stolen from the streamer's office. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports.
According to the federal court filing, the British production company behind Fortitude delivered the unencrypted drive containing a screener of the movie to Netflix's LA offices in mid-June for internal review. Ten days later, a Netflix executive notified the filmmakers of the theft of several hard drives, including the one containing Fortitude.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:04
2
What did President Trump and Hamas say about a Gaza disarmament deal?
0:04–2:52
3
What disagreements do Israeli officials cite about the proposed Gaza withdrawal?
2:52–4:32
4
How will the new federal plan affect Colorado River water usage in California, Nevada and Arizona?
4:32–5:00