NPR News Now - NPR News: 06-18-2025 5PM EDT

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

NPR News: 06-18-2025 5PM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

On the plus side, you get sponsor-free listening to over 25 NPR podcasts. On the minus side, you get fewer chances to tap fast forward on your podcast player. On the plus side, you get to support something you care about. On the minus side, you like challenges and think this makes it too easy. So why don't you join us on the plus side of things with NPR Plus? Learn more and sign up at plus.npr.org. Jack Spear Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear. Trump administration officials are reported to again be meeting in the White House Situation Room amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran in a continued effort by Israel to

get the U.S. directly involved in a conflict there. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office today, Trump says no decision has been made yet on whether to strike an Iranian nuclear site, though he repeated what he has said previously about the situation. I don't want to get involved either, but I've been saying for 20 years, maybe longer, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I've been saying it for a long time, and I think they were a few weeks away from having one, and they had to sign a document. I think they were a few weeks away from having one and

they had to sign a document. I think they wish they signed it now. It was a fair deal. Trump going on to say in terms of Israeli military actions, quote, Israel has done a very good job of that but we'll see what happens. Iran's Supreme Leader has rejected calls for unconditional surrender. President Trump, meanwhile, says Iran wanted a meeting at the White House, though Iran's mission to the U.N. says that's not true. Here's NPR's Michelle Kelleyman. President Trump has been calling for Iran's quote, unconditional surrender, and has tried

to keep people guessing about whether he will send U.S. warplanes to join Israel in bombing Iranian nuclear sites. I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do. I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate. He says Iran wanted talks at the White House, but Iran's mission to the UN posted on social media

that no Iranian official has ever asked to, quote, grovel at the gates of the White House. Iran does not negotiate under duress, it says, vowing to respond to any threats. Michelle Kelliman, NPR News, the State Department. Transgender kids in nearly half of all U.S. states will not be able to access certain gender-affirming treatments. In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court today upheld

Tennessee's ban on the care for minors. Mariana Bakhiyal from member from WPLN has the story. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said that the court's role is not to judge the fairness of the law, but whether it violates the equal protection clause, which the court found it did not. Tennessee ACLU attorney Lucas Cameron Vaughn says that the loss of access to care, including puberty blockers or hormone therapy, will affect hundreds of thousands of people here. Many of them are discussing potentially moving out of the state or moving out of the country,

but unfortunately many do not have the resources to do that. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skermetti celebrated the ruling, calling it a victory that transcends politics. For NPR News, I'm Mariana Bacallao in Nashville. On Wall Street, investors largely tread water today amid increased volatility in the mid-east. The Dow fell 44 points. The Nasdaq was up 25 points. The S&P was down a point today.

You're listening to NPR. The U.S. State Department says it is restarting the suspended process for student foreign visas. Officials say part of the process will require applicants to unlock their social media accounts. The department says consular officials will be on the lookout for any posts or messages that might be deemed hostile to the U.S. government or U.S. institutions. State Department says those who refuse to provide access to their accounts could have their student visa applications rejected. The Begong Moth of Australia travels more than 600 miles in the spring and then again

in the fall. NPR's Ari Daniels reports researchers now know how the moths manage to find their way. Previous work revealed that the Earth's magnetic field helps the moths orient. But they couldn't use only the Earth's magnetic field. They needed something visual to go with it. Andrea Adden is a neurobiologist at the Francis Crick Institute, and she thought that visual cue might come from the Milky Way. So she and her colleagues caught moths in the mountains and ran them through a couple of experiments, including one that involved placing them inside a mini-planetarium with

a projection of the night sky, and another that monitored the insect's brain activity. And they found the moths were using the starry sky as a compass cue to orient and navigate, a first for an invertebrate. R.E. Daniel, NPR News. Amazon now says it's gearing up its robo-taxi operation in part as it prepares for a major challenge from self-driving cab leader Waymo. Amazon's saying today plans to make as many as 10,000 robo-taxis

at a plant in Silicon Valley. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington. Hey everybody, it's Ian from How to Do Everything. I'm Jack Spear, NPR News in Washington.