NPR News: 07-20-2026 12PM EDT

Lakshmi Singh· Host0:01

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The U.S. military carried out a wave of airstrikes in Iran over the weekend and said a third U.S. service member had been killed in military operations since Friday. Iran retaliated with attacks on Bahrain, home of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, and says it disabled two oil tankers that attempted to transit the Strait of Hormuz without Iran's permission. Global oil prices remain elevated, at one point topping more than ninety dollars per barrel. A new British prime minister now occupies 10 Downing Street. Labor Party leader Andy Burnham has taken the reins after he met with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer tendered his resignation to the monarch. In his final remarks today as prime minister, Starmer defended his administration.

Keir Starmer· Soundbite0:54

I am confident that Britain is now stronger and fairer than it was two years ago.

Lakshmi Singh· Host1:00

But Starmer was unable to survive a series of political missteps and internal party strife. Congo says the Ebola has killed thirty-seven people between Friday and Saturday alone, driving up the overall death toll in Congo to at least nine hundred thirty in the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record. There is no approved vaccine or treatment for the virus that caused the latest wave of illnesses and deaths. President Trump says the new Air Force One