NPR on Today's News

 

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Israel, which began the war in Iran with the U.S., has been sidelined in the agreement that the U.S. and Iran are expected to sign on Friday to begin negotiations to end hostilities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be party to those negotiations, and it could spoil peace efforts.

🎧 Friday's agreement is only a commitment to negotiate,and NPR's Carrie Kahn tells Up First that it's unclear how Iran's nuclear program will be addressed in those talks. Israel says this is why it went to war in the first place, and rejects Iran's demands to withdraw from all Lebanese territory. Israeli elections will take place in the fall, and Kahn says Netanyahu's political allies and opponents are hammering him over how the deal to begin peace talks leaves Israel out of the picture and Hezbollah still active in Lebanon.

President Trump will meet with Qatar and UAE — key stakeholders in the deal with Iran — today as part of his first full day at the G7 summit. While Iran has gotten a lot of attention at the summit so far, European leaders are just as focused on getting Russia to negotiate an end to its war in Ukraine.

🎧 Trump and other G7 leaders are meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later today. This week, Russia fired dozens of missiles at Ukraine, killing 11 and sparking a fire on one of Ukraine’s religious landmarks. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben says. French President Emmanuel Macron, who is hosting the summit, has been one of the loudest European voices calling for European nations to be more independent of the U.S. Trump's repeated antagonism toward these nations, on issues like NATO and Greenland, has made them more willing to band together and push back, Kurtzleben adds.

Oklahoma and the District of Columbia hold primary elections today, while Georgia and Alabama have some runoffs. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia is, on paper, the most vulnerable incumbent on the ballot for Democrats, NPR's Stephen Fowler says. Whoever wins the Republican runoff sets up a high-profile, big-money matchup. In Oklahoma, Sen. Markwayne Mullin's appointment to Homeland Security secretary has left a ripple of seats open after his replacement said he isn't running for a full term. And D.C. residents will cast their votes in a highly consequential mayoral primary.

➡️ As the nation inches closer to the midterm elections, voting officials worry that the Department of Homeland Security will not be a partner in helping to secure elections, but rather a threat seeking to undermine results that President Trump dislikes.

As Luigi Mangione's legal team heads back to court in New York City this week for a key pretrial hearing, some legal experts say his populist appeal, fueled in part by what some describe as his Instagram-ready good looks, could complicate his trials. Mangione is accused of stalking and killing Brian Thompson, CEO of the insurance company UnitedHealthcare. Donors have given $1.5 million to support his defense.