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Episode Date: July 23, 2026

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Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Kristen Wright. Yemen's Houthi rebels say they've attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. This, as Iran says, a new phase of the war with the United States will further affect the global economy. NPR's Jane Rafe has details. The Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they launched missile and drone strikes on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. A Saudi state news agency said one of its tankers had been hit and was on fire. It said the crew was unharmed. armed. Civil war has split control of Yemen between the Houthi group and Tsar Allah and an internationally recognized government supported by Saudi Arabia. The Houthis have also launched attacks in support of Iran and most recently warned Saudi Arabia that they will not allow its tankers through the key shipping route Babel-Mandab near the Red Sea. Jane Arraf, NPR News, Amman. The Trump administration signed a nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia, allowing the U.S. build and run nuclear energy plants in the kingdom. NPR's Emily Fang reports the deal is raising

concerns in the Middle East. There's nothing in this agreement and a security protocol attached that stops the kingdom from using these plants to say enrich uranium or other nuclear fuel that's provided by other countries, something that the U.S. made the United Arab Emirates, another Gulf country promised not to do in a previous energy deal back in 2009. So this agreement is sending shockwaves through the Middle East and especially in Israel, where I am right now because Saudi Arabia has been angling for nuclear cooperation with the U.S. for at least a decade. NPR's Emily Fang also reports the agreement doesn't require Saudi Arabia to adopt terms on greater oversight by the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to a memo seen by NPR.

A panel of experts is expected to make recommendations on whether the FDA should lift restrictions on some popular wellness peptides. NPR's Will Stone says the advisors are meeting this morning. BPC 157, MOTC, TB 500. These are some of the peptides du jour that are being considered by the advisors to the FDA. None of them are approved drugs and they have not undergone rigorous studies in humans, but they're promoted widely for injury recovery, longevity, metabolism, and more. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said he supports lifting the current prohibition on the manufacturing of these products so patients can get them from specialized pharmacies. The FDA's own scientists, however, are recommending against doing that, saying there's not enough

data on safety and effectiveness. The committee will vote on seven peptides today and Friday. FDA leadership will have the final say. Will Stone, NPR News. The man who pleaded guilty to killing Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, will be sentenced today. Vance Belter also confessed to shooting a state senator and his wife. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI says its AI models went rogue during testing, triggering a significant security incident at a startup company. NPR's Jenna McLaughlin reports. Experts at OpenAIs say they were testing a combination of cutting-edge AI agents to see if they could conduct sophisticated targeted cyber attacks when the test went wrong.

In a new blog post, the company says the AI agent was contained in an internal digital testing environment. when it managed to find a way to connect to the open internet and then broke into another AI company called Hugging Face. It's unclear what specific technical instructions or prompts OpenAI engineers were using that led to the incident, though Hugging Face says it detected and contained the attack quickly. OpenAI argues that the incident reveals the real-world capabilities of AI agents to conduct long-running complex cyber attacks and the importance of building safeguards into frontier models. Jenna McLaughlin, NPR News. cases of the measles have hit their highest level in the U.S. since the early 90s, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Its tracker has recorded 2,295 reported cases this year. The L.A. Dodgers will visit the White House this afternoon to celebrate their World Series championship. The president will host the team, but not every player is expected to be there. The federal government's immigration raids in Los Angeles have fueled tension. Ice agents were denied entry to Dodgers Stadium last year. Later, the team pledged more than a million dollars to groups helping immigrant families. The Dodgers are celebrating back-to-back World Series wins. This is NPR.