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Episode Date: July 25, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Linda Kenyon. Democrats in Maine are expected to choose who will challenge Republican Senator Susan Collins in the midterms this fall. The front rudder is a professional logger and former Maine Senate president with a populist message. Kevin Miller with Maine Public Radio has the story. Troy Jackson campaigned several times with Maine's former Democratic nominee. Now the Grand Platner is out. Jackson says he's the best person to rally the Democrats and independence. from the left, we're not from the right, we're from the bottom, and we're rising.

And I know what happens when working people decide that they've had enough. Jackson served six years as Maine's Senate President. With his track record on workers' rights and pledged to support single-payer health care, he appears to have the support of the majority of delegates who will select a new nominee. His only opponent is Sandra Pelleteer, a political newcomer and biopharmaceutical executive. For NPR News, I'm Kevin Miller. President Trump has announced a new round of global tariffs. As Catherine Osborne reports, the new levies are getting sharp blowback from around the world.

The Trump administration put new tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent on more than 80 countries, saying they didn't do enough to fight forced labor. Brazil rejects that claim. It says it's ratified more treaties on the issue than the United States at the International Labor Organization. Trump has often tussled with Brazil's left-wing government. But other South American countries with more. more pro-Trump presidents also got the higher 12.5% tariff level. They include Chile, where one official says the U.S. accusations do not match the facts. For NPR News, I'm Catherine Osborne in Rio de Janeiro.

India's education minister has tendered his resignation, meeting a key demand of student-led protesters who have been demonstrating across the country. Those protests pose the most serious challenge in years to the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as NPR's Dia Hadid reports. Minister Daramendra Pradhan's resignation was met with joy among protesters. But protest leader said students had two more demands, action against police who attacked thousands of protesters trying to march onto Parliament on Monday, and compensation to the families of students who died by suicide

after learning they would have to retake a medical entry exam after the education ministry cancelled the results of the initial test in May, saying some questions were leaked. That leak was a trigger for these protests. With the minister's resignation, it's unclear if protest leaders will be able to maintain momentum against the government or whether this emboldened students to make more demands of the government, which tried to ignore them for weeks. D Hadid, NPR News. AAA fines the average gas prices are up to $4.11 a gallon for regular.

That's up 12 cents a gallon from a week ago. You're listening to NPR News in Washington. Belgian authorities have arrested an intern at NATO's military headquarters on suspicion of spying. Terry Schultz reports a NATO official says the incident does not appear to have affected alliance operations. The Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor's Office says a Canadian woman of Chinese origin was placed under arrest Friday and charged with suspected espionage on behalf of a third country following searches of her home and workplace. The suspect is an intern at NATO's military headquarters known as Shape, which sits about a suspect. hours drive south of Brussels. Colonel Marty O'Donnell is the shape spokesman. At this time,

there is no indication that NATO or shape operational readiness, command and control arrangements, or ongoing tasks have been adversely affected. Belgian authorities say the military alliance's security services were the first to pick up on the woman's suspicious activities, and a joint preliminary investigation with Belgian authorities was carried out before the Friday arrest. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. Three new women's world records have been set at the Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin. The event was filled with sawing, chopping, and log rolling. Carolina Urbanova from the Czech Republic set records in the women's underhand chop and the women's standing chop.

Meredith Ingridson of Hayward set the record for the women's boom run, which involves sprinting across the water and back over eight red cedar logs in 13.7.8 seconds. 66 men and 40 women from 16 states and nine countries took part in this competition. I'm Linda Kenyon, NPR News, in Washington.