NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-18-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

NPR News: 06-18-2025 1AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This is Ira Glass with This American Life, each week on our show. We choose a theme, tell different stories on that theme. All right, I'm just going to stop right there. You're listening to an NPR podcast, chances are you know our show. So instead, I'm going to tell you, we've just been on a run of really good shows lately. Some big epic emotional stories, some weird funny stuff too. Download us, This American Life. SHAY STEPHENS, MPR NEWS ANCHOR, WASHINGTON, CHILE, TORONTO, AMERICA, TORONTO, AND OCEAN,

LIVE FROM MPR NEWS IN WASHINGTON, I'M SHAY STEPHENS. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER JOHN THUNE SAYS THE UNITED STATES SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY DIRECT INVOLVEMENT IN THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND IRAN. IN AN INTERVIEW WITH FOX NEWS, THUNE SAID THAT IRAN SHOULD RESUME NEGOTIATIONS OVER ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM. JOHN THUNE, SENATING MAJORITY LEADER, WASHINGTON, CHILE, TORONTO, AMERICA, TORONTO, AND OCEAN, THEY HAVE MENACED THAT REGION AND THE WORLD NOW FOR 50 YEARS, said that Iran should resume negotiations over its nuclear program. They have menaced that region and the world now for 50 years, and it's high time that that stop.

And I think President Trump is in a position, whether by diplomacy or supporting Israel and what they're doing, whether it comes forcefully or voluntarily, Iran needs to end its nuclear program. It's as simple as that. Thune says that Trump met with his national security advisors on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Iran. President Trump is calling for the unconditional surrender of Tehran, but says its supreme leader is currently safe. Jordan and Lebanon are among several countries caught in the flight path between Israel and

Iran's air war. As NPR's Gina Raff reports, people are coping in different ways. For citizens, there's nothing they can do but watch. And that's exactly what many are doing. This is a rooftop bar near Beirut on the weekend. Lebanese musician Eila Atayek plays saxophone while diners snap photos of Iranian missiles in the sky. The video went viral. Atayek, whose stage name is O. Alan Sax, tells NPR he kept playing because he wanted to make people feel better.

It gives this love to everyone who's feeling emotionally disturbed to make them feel good. In Jordan too, despite the danger, people have hurried outside to watch when they hear air raid sirens. So much so that the government has warned them to stay indoors. Jane Arraff, NPR News, Amman. An overnight curfew for downtown Los Angeles has been lifted. It was imposed last week following clashes between police and protesters, as Steve Futterman reports.

Mayor Karen Bass, who imposed the curfew, said tensions here in the downtown area have been reduced. In a written statement, she said the curfew and other crime prevention efforts have been successful in protecting stores, restaurants, businesses and residential areas. When the curfew first went into effect, L.A. was enduring nightly confrontations, with police at times using non-lethal explosives, tear gas, and declaring unlawful assemblies. Although the nightly protests and confrontations have essentially ended, there are still some troops in place protecting a number of downtown federal buildings.

For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles. O'Brien. U.S. futures are higher in after hours trading on Wall Street following Tuesday's losses on Asia Pacific markets. Shares are mixed. You're listening to NPR. U.S. consumers pulled back on spending last month. Retail sales fell nine-tenths of a percent in May, up from a one-tenth of a percent decrease

in April. The Commerce Department says the drop in spending last month was due in part to a decline in auto sales. Car buying increased in March as consumers rushed to avoid steep tariffs on imported cars and auto parts. The prosecution is nearly done presenting its case against hip-hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs.

On Tuesday, a government witness laid out a timeline from a 2016 incident that is central to the trial. As NPR's Isabella Gomez-Sarviento reports, and a warning, this report contains mentions of violence. Video of Sean Combs hitting, kicking, and dragging his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in an LA hotel in 2016 has been shown to jurors multiple times. A new timeline of phone and text records adds further context. They show that Combs repeatedly called Ventura after she had left the hotel.

When Ventura did not answer calls, Combs' staff also tried to contact her. Other records show an assistant trying to contact hotel security to obtain the video of the assault. And texts from the next day showed one of Combs' own security guards monitoring Ventura and reporting on the state of her injuries. All of these records are meant to support the government's racketeering charge that Combs' employees facilitated and concealed his abuse. Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento, NPR News.

Again, U.S. futures are higher in after hours trading on Wall Street. On Asia-Pacific markets, shares are mixed. This is NPR News.