NPR News Now - NPR News: 07-07-2025 2AM EDT

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

NPR News: 07-07-2025 2AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. In central Texas, weather officials say more rain is expected overnight and that could lead to even more flooding. Meanwhile, the death toll from Friday's flash floods has now risen to at least 80 people, with dozens more still missing. NPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran has more on the devastation to the Texas Hill Country. The magnitude of this weather event is evident when you go to one of the RV to in Kerrville, Texas. It's of the RVs and cabins wer

the waters of the Guadalu was in his RV with his w banked on his store, tell friends that were camped they didn't make it. This search and rescue efforts Texas Governor Greg Abbott said. Sergio Martinez Beltran, NPR News, Kerrville, Texas. President Trump's deadline to end a pause on tariffs for many U.S. trading partners

is Wednesday. When he implemented the pause, Trump said it would lead to dozens of deals, but so far there have been just two. Speaking with reporters on Sunday, Trump says he has a plan to boost compliance with his trade demands by sending letters to some trading partners. It could be maybe as many as 15 or so. And they'll be going out on Monday and some will go out on Tuesday and Wednesday. And we've made deals also. So we're going to have a combination of letters and some deals have been made. Trade officials say the letters will warn of higher tariffs that would kick in in August. The BRICS block of developing nations criticized

Sunday the rising tariffs and the attacks on Iran, block leaders have been meeting in Rio de Janeiro. In a summit declaration, the group also condemned NATO's increased military spending and they expressed concern about global trade disruptions caused by tariffs. Eight members of the OPEC Plus Alliance of Oil Exporting Countries say they'll boost production by more than half a million barrels a day starting in August. That could reduce gas prices. The decision was made during a meeting that took place over this weekend. Exposure to heat and wildfire smoke can have big effects on a baby that's growing in a pregnant person's womb.

NPR's Alejandra Burunda reports on a new study that was published recently in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. During a pregnancy, people's bodies go through huge changes. Those changes can make them, and by extension their babies, more at risk from heat. The study found that babies born to mothers who dealt with heat and wildfire smoke during their pregnancies and even in the month before were more likely to be small in the womb. Roxana Kalili is a lead author and researcher at the University of Southern California. Pre-conception and first trimester were important time periods for heat stress exposure and linked to having an infant that was smaller in size. Doctors say to take precautions like drinking plenty of water and wearing a mask when it's

smoky can also help. Alejandra Borruna, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News. When the picture of Dorian Gray, which stars Succession's Sarah Snook, closed on June 29th after a limited run on Broadway, its producers announced the production had recouped its $8.75 million investment. Jeff London says it's just one example of a number of plays that were the big moneymakers last season on Broadway. To be fair musicals cost a lot more money and take a longer time to turn a profit but this past season plays helped make the Broadway box office tally at 1.9 billion dollars the highest in Broadway history. The picture of Dorian Gray a one-person play with a lot of video was the latest to make its

investment back. Other profit makers were George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck, Kieran Culkin and Bob Odenkirk and Glengarry Glen Ross, Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal and Othello, and finally Cole Escola's Farce Omeri. It remains to be seen whether any of the musicals which opened this past season will turn a profit. For NPR News, I'm Jeff London in New York. A commercial ship sailing in the Red Sea was set on fire Sunday. No group has claimed responsibility for that assault, but the Houthi militants of Yemen

are suspected of carrying the tack out. A security firm says it appears the ship was hit by drone boats that were carrying bombs. It was also targeted by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. On Monday morning, Israeli forces hit sites in Yemen. Israeli officials say the attack was in response to that Houthi attack on the ship.