NPR News: 08-01-2026 5PM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. The U.S.
What urgent State Department travel warning is prompting Americans to leave the Middle East?
State Department is urging American citizens to leave the Middle East, saying a significant escalation of attacks involving Iran and its allies is expected across the region in the coming days. NPR's Frank Langford reports from Tel Aviv.
The State Department said Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, are expected to attack U.S. personnel and facilities. The security alert said, quote, all citizens should depart now when flights are available, end quote. Earlier this week, President Trump threatened to hit Iran very hard after Iran fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. base in Jordan. Trump has threatened military escalation in the past but not followed through. Ebrahim Rezaei is a spokesman for Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in Parliament. He wrote on X that Iran would respond to U.S. strikes with devastating counterattacks on American facilities in the region. Frank Langford, NPR News, Tel Aviv.
President Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, has begun selling a controversial news service for a fee of up to $100,000 a month. Truth Social is offering early access to posts, including major announcements from the president and others about global affairs and the economy. As NPR's Bobby Allen tells us, this is raising legal and ethical questions.
I talked to lawyers who formerly worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and they said this service looks like it violates insider trading laws against misusing public information to give certain investors an upper hand. Say, the president posts about the Strait of Hormuz, and a trader uses that to make money on oil futures.
How are Iran and its proxies reportedly preparing to target U.S. personnel and facilities?
Democrats, too, have taken notice. They've been criticizing this. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff wrote a letter to the SEC demanding an investigation.
NPR's Bobby Allen. A heat dome is hovering over much of the West. Across at least a dozen states, nearly 50 million people are under heat alerts. NPR's Kirk Sigler reports.
Oregon is already in the grips of one of its biggest wildfire seasons in history. And now the National Weather Service has implemented new red flag warnings for extreme wildfire risk this weekend across the central and eastern parts of the state and into Idaho, Washington State and Montana. Parts of the northwest got a lot of rain earlier this summer and spring, and now the high grasses and brush are turning to brittle as triple-digit heat bakes the land. A cold front, relatively speaking, is blowing in this weekend, which is not expected to bring any rain, but there is a possibility of dry lightning strikes that could ignite more fires, and fire crews are more concerned about the winds causing existing out-of-control wildfires to spread.
Kirk Sigler, NPR News, Boise.
In southern Europe, containment of one wildfire threat has allowed about 200,000 people to return home in southwestern France. Emergency crews have managed to pull back on fire threats in Spain and Portugal as well, but fires persist elsewhere in France and also in Greece. This is NPR News in Washington. The new chair of the National Governors Association says he is concerned about possible Trump administration efforts to influence upcoming midterm elections. Governor Wes Moore, a Maryland Democrat, pointed to the president's efforts to restrict voting by mail and said he was also concerned the president might deploy federal troops or agents to polling places. Plans by the United States to reduce the number of locations that service visa operations in several African countries is taking effect.
Michael Koloke has details.
U.S. embassies and consulates in over 20 African cities are realigning their routine visa services. The affected locations include Lusaka in Zambia, Namibia's capital Windhoek, and the South African city of Durban. Residents of those areas who wish to apply for a U.S. visa will be required to apply through one of 20 designated visa locations. such as Ghana's capital Accra and Nairobi in Kenya.
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