NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-17-2025 10AM EDT

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

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On NPR's Thru Line, the firemen kept shouting to them not to jump, but they had no other choice. Frances Perkins witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire that changed everything. She was the first woman in a US cabinet created social security and the 40-hour work week. The woman behind the new deal on NPR's Thru Line, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korova Coleman. Officials with Gaza's Health Ministry say that at least 59 people have been killed

and more than 200 others wounded by Israeli fire. That is while they were trying to reach food aid this morning. NPR's Eya Batraoui reports most of the casualties happened as people were waiting for aid trucks. Palestinian medics say Israeli drones and tanks fired onto a large crowd of hungry people who demastated a roundabout in the destroyed southern city of Chanyunas. They were hoping to grab a sack of flour off some aid trucks that entered from Israel,

which has severely restricted food entering Gaza. Israel says it's to keep it from Hamas. The wounded and dead in Chanyunas flooded the nearby hospital. Bodies were strewn on the hospital's floors and piled onto donkey-drawn carts outside its ER. The Israeli military says it's reviewing the incident, which it says took place near to where troops are operating. Gaza's health ministry says nearly 50 people were killed in this single attack,

making it the deadliest of what's become daily Israeli killings of people risking their lives for food since late March. Ayah Batraoui, NPR News, Dubai. Israel and Iran continue to fire missiles and drones at each other for a fifth day. President Trump has written online warning people in Iran's capital to evacuate the city. Now there are traffic jams getting out of Tehran, as Israel has attacked some areas in the capital.

The Department of Homeland Security says federal immigration agents will not pause enforcement at work sites as they continue to arrest criminals or other people in the U.S. without legal status. Last week, the New York Times had reported the Trump administration would pause raids in the agriculture industry and at hotels and restaurants. President Trump wrote online then

that enforcement was hurting these industries. But today, DHS says there is no change in federal immigration enforcement. Stocks opened lower this morning as the Commerce Department reported a bigger than expected drop in retail spending last month. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 110 points in early trading. Retail spending dropped by nearly a full percentage point in May.

Some of that drop was expected after an earlier surge in spending on big ticket items as shoppers rushed to get ahead of tariffs. Spending at car dealers fell nearly 4% last month. Spending on appliances and building supplies was also down. People spent less money at both grocery stores and restaurants in May, even though food prices were climbing. Spending at gas stations was also down during the month thanks to a drop in gasoline prices. That trend could be changing now as fighting between Israel and Iran pushes pump prices higher. Triple A's average price of regular gas rose about three cents a gallon overnight. Scott Horsley, Impair News, Washington. On Wall Street, the Dow is now down about 102 points.

The Nasdaq is down about 80. This is NPR. The Trump family is entering the mobile phone market. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports the president's family business is licensing his name to a new cell phone service called Trump Mobile. The new venture will offer a plan that includes unlimited text messaging and international calls to more than 100 countries, and customer service will be U.S. based. Later this year, TrumpMobile also plans to release a gold-colored Android smartphone

called the T1, priced at nearly $500. It will be designed and built in the United States. TrumpMobile won't run its own cellular network. Instead, it will work with the nation's three major mobile carriers. The company says the service is expected to launch this summer. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. The Trump administration is preparing to enlarge its travel ban. The president may put restrictions on visitors from 36 more nations. That's on top of bans or restrictions already in place on visitors from another 19 countries, the new restrictions could start in August.

A doctor who is accused of supplying actor Matthew Perry with the drug ketamine is going to plead guilty in the case. An autopsy found the drug played a role in Perry's death in 2023. Dr. Salvador Placencia and four others were charged last year. Voters in Virginia hold their primary election today. The gubernatorial candidates for both major parties are running unopposed.

Republican Winsome Earl Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger. The other main races in Virginia are for lieutenant governor and attorney general. This is NPR. Hi, it's Terri Gross, host of Fresh Air. governor and attorney general. This is NPR.