GOP races to fund immigration enforcement. And, U.S. indicts former Cuban president
Republicans are racing to pass a $72 billion immigration enforcement package. And, the U.S. has indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro for his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two planes.
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Republicans in Congress are racing to approve $72 billion in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol through the rest of President Trump's term. The GOP is using a tool known as budget reconciliation to bypass Democrats who oppose more agency funding without reforms that limit officers' tactics. Trump is unhappy with the package because it doesn't include funding for the White House ballroom. Several Republicans, including Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, said they would oppose the budget if it included ballroom funding. Cassidy just lost his primary after the president backed another candidate. The senator remains a voting member of Congress until January.
Trump told reporters yesterday that it might take several days to decide whether to launch another strike on Iran, but he didn't commit to a specific timeline. The president also said the U.S. is now negotiating with impressive Iranian negotiators. Iran said it's prepared for either outcome: peace or continued conflict. Israel has pushed for the war to resume, while several Gulf Arab countries oppose it.
The U.S. Department of Justice has secured a criminal indictment for Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old former president of Cuba. The department alleges that Castro played a key role in shooting down two U.S. planes in 1996. The attack killed four people who were part of the anti-Castro activist group Brothers to the Rescue. The Justice Department is charging Castro and other former senior members of Cuban leadership with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and four individual counts of murder, according to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Thousands of researchers across the U.S. continue to grapple with the damage inflicted on science in 2025 during the Trump administration, despite a funding restoration earlier this year. After the Trump administration attempted to cut, freeze or suspend billions of dollars for research the previous year, some Republicans teamed up with Democrats to quietly restore portions of that funding through the appropriations process. But advocates say the money is not reaching scientists at the rate it should. They also say that the National Institutes of Health's lack of transparency is compromising the integrity and reliability of scientists' research. NPR spoke with researchers who are feeling the consequences of having their funding previously terminated. Here's what they had to say.
Britain is taking on climate change with an unlikely partner: beavers. About 400 years ago, people hunted the species to extinction across the country. Now, they are being reintroduced, and scientists are utilizing their dam-building skills to help mitigate flooding. Until two years ago, Greenford tube station in West London frequently flooded during heavy rainfall. Conservationists received a government license to welcome a family of five beavers to a 20-acre urban park near the station. The location used to be a golf course with a creek running through it. Within weeks of them settling in, the beavers built a dam in the creek, creating a pond that retains water and prevents it from overflowing into the city. They also redirected the creek's flow into smaller tributaries, forming a wetland that can better absorb heavy rainfall. Read more on how the British beavers are helping to combat flooding.
Ebola cases are skyrocketing each day since the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency on Saturday. The latest count is more than 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths. WHO says this outbreak is caused by a rare strain of Ebola called Bundibugyo, and it could have begun months before anyone noticed. Based on past outbreaks, this particular strain seems to have a fatality rate of 30-50%, says Dr. Daniel Bausch, visiting professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute. There have been only two known past outbreaks of Bundibugyo, so there isn't much data. Here's what you should understand about this virus: