U.K. Parliament bans women from being prosecuted for late-term abortion
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Iran warns of ‘irreparable consequences’ as Trump weighs U.S. role in conflict
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a sharp new warning to the U.S. “Americans should know that the Iranian nation cannot be surrendered,” he said. Khamenei’s comments, given during a televised address to the Iranian people on Wednesday, come amid President Trump’s increasing signals that he may take an active role in the conflict.
In a nationally broadcast address, Khamenei praised what he called the “steadfast, courageous, and time-sensitive” response of the Iranian people to Israeli airstrikes, and said Iran would equally resist an “imposed war” and “imposed peace.”
“Americans should know that the Iranian nation cannot be surrendered,” he said.
Khamenei’s comments, given during a televised address to the Iranian people on Wednesday, come amid President Trump’s increasing signals that the U.S. may take an active role in the conflict.
In a string of posts on his social media site Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and boasted that the U.S. and Israel had “total and complete control of the skies over Iran,” raising speculation that American forces are already more involved than previously acknowledged.
Trump also issued a direct threat against Khamenei.
“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding. He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least for now.”
A person briefed on the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, told NPR that Israel believes the U.S. will eventually join the offensive against Iran and is currently awaiting a formal decision from Washington.
This is a developing story, which will be updated.
NPR’s Daniel Estrin contributed reporting from Tel Aviv.
Copyright 2025 NPR
U.K. Parliament bans women from being prosecuted for late-term abortion
U.K. Parliament bans women from being prosecuted for late-term abortion. The vote was 379 to 137. Abortion is allowed up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, and beyond that in certain cases. But abortions have to be approved by two doctors, except for those that are terminated at home within 10 weeks. The new law still needs approval in the upper house of Parliament, the House of Lords, before taking effect.”The new [law] is about recognizing that these women need care and support, and not criminalization,” MP Tonia Antoniazzi told Parliament, calling the old law “outdated” and “Victorian” and others say the new law doesn’t go far enough.
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LONDON — In the biggest reform to British abortion laws in nearly 60 years, members of Parliament have voted to decriminalize some late-term abortions — at a time when many of their U.S. counterparts are moving in the other direction, to limit the procedure.
In a landslide vote late Tuesday, lawmakers in the lower house of British parliament, the House of Commons, endorsed new legislation that bars women in England and Wales from ever being investigated, arrested, prosecuted or imprisoned for terminating their own pregnancies — no matter what term or trimester they’re in. The vote was 379 to 137.
Abortion is allowed up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, and beyond that in certain cases, if the woman’s life is in danger. But abortions have to be approved by two doctors, except for those that are terminated at home within 10 weeks.
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Women who’ve ended their pregnancies outside those rules — for example by buying pills online and taking them at home, during the third trimester — have in some cases been prosecuted.
The new law changes that.
One of the most famous cases of women who’ve been prosecuted is that of Nicola Parker, who delivered a stillborn baby at home, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, after taking abortion medicine prescribed by a doctor over the phone when she was about 26 weeks pregnant. At trial, she told jurors she thought she was only six weeks along. She was arrested, jailed — and ultimately acquitted last month.
“The new [law] is about recognizing that these women need care and support, and not criminalization,” the author of an amendment to the new law, MP Tonia Antoniazzi, told Parliament, calling the old law “outdated” and “Victorian.”
Others say the new law doesn’t go far enough.
It does not change rules governing abortions in a clinical setting, and it leaves open the possibility of prosecutions of anyone who assists a woman in getting a late-term abortion, including medical professionals.
Another MP, Stella Creasy, proposed an amendment that would have fully decriminalized abortion and enshrined access to it as a human right. But it was not allowed to be brought for a vote. In an op-ed Wednesday, Creasy called it a “missed opportunity.”
Yet another amendment, on which lawmakers also weren’t allowed to vote, would have prevented the sale of mail order abortion pills.
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The new law still needs approval in the upper house of Parliament, the House of Lords, before taking effect — but backers have the votes there, and that is all but guaranteed.
Because of the United Kingdom’s devolved system of government, this law covers only England and Wales. The other two countries in the U.K., Scotland and Northern Ireland, have their own, similar sets of rules governing abortion and other matters.
This is nevertheless the biggest change to British abortion laws since the Abortion Act of 1967, which legalized abortion in England, Wales and Scotland. Initially that law allowed the procedure up to 28 weeks of pregnancy, but it was later reduced to 24 weeks.
Israel and U.S. intelligence differ on status of Iran’s nuclear program. Who’s right?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has argued for decades that Iran was on the verge of producing a nuclear weapon. The U.S. intelligence community has long had a somewhat different interpretation. The Americans say Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003. But experts say Israel has set back Iran’s program with attacks on multiple nuclear sites, including airstrikes that have killed at least nine Iranian nuclear scientists, according to the Israeli military. But for the first few days, Trump and his team kept stressing that the U.N. was not involved in attacks against Iran. six months before the attack, Iran could likely produce a rudimentary bomb in around six months, says David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security, which closely monitors Iran’s nuclear program. If Iran did that, it would have enough material for about 10 nuclear weapons, says Albright. However, President Trump has now contradicted Gabbard. “I think they (the Iranians) were very close to having it,” the president told reporters as he flew back to Washington from the G7 summit.
“The intel we got and we shared with the United States was absolutely clear, was absolutely clear that they [the Iranians] were working, in a secret plan, to weaponize the uranium,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News.
However, the U.S. intelligence community has long had a somewhat different interpretation. The Americans say Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003, shortly after the U.S. invaded Iraq. While Iraq did not have the weapons of mass destruction the U.S. claimed, the invasion of a neighboring country appeared to rattle Iran, believing it too could face a U.S. incursion.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard reiterated the U.S. position in testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 25.
“The (intelligence community) continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003,” Gabbard said.
However, President Trump has now contradicted Gabbard.
“I don’t care what she said. I think they (the Iranians) were very close to having it,” the president told reporters as he flew back to Washington from the G7 summit in Canada.
So what to make of these competing claims?
Israeli officials, and Netanyahu in particular, have always tended to see new developments in Iran’s nuclear program as movement toward a bomb that would directly threaten Israel.
U.S. national security officials have acknowledged over the years that Iran continues to work on many aspects of its nuclear program, but say Khamenei has always stopped short of authorizing the building of a nuclear weapon.
U.N. agency says uranium enrichment has increased
The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, says Iran has now accumulated a little over 400 kilograms (about 900 pounds) of Uranium-235 enriched to 60% purity.
For comparison, uranium enriched to 5% can be used to run a civilian nuclear power plant, and 90% enrichment is considered weapons grade.
To go from 60 percent to 90% enrichment can be done quickly, according to nuclear experts.
If Iran did that, it would have enough material for about 10 nuclear weapons, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.
The Iranians would still need to take several additional steps such as turning the uranium in gas form to metal, and then fashioning it into a bomb design.
Prior to this attack, if Iran headed down this path, it could likely produce a rudimentary bomb in around six months, according to David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security, which closely monitors Iran’s nuclear program.
The chaos of the current conflict has scrambled many previous calculations. But experts say Israel has set back Iran’s program with attacks on multiple nuclear sites, including airstrikes that have killed at least nine Iranian nuclear scientists, according to the Israeli military.
“I think Israel is lengthening the time Iran would need to make nuclear weapons, probably significantly,” said Albright says.
AFP/IRNA / AFP via Getty Images / AFP via Getty Images Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iranian technicians work at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility about 200 miles south of Tehran in 2014. Israel has bombed the Natanz facility in recent days.
Trump changes his tone
When Israel launched its airstrikes last Friday, the Trump administration was supportive of Israel, and the U.S. military has assisted with air defense systems to protect against Iranian missile strikes. But for the first few days, Trump and his team kept stressing that the U.S. was not involved in attacks against Iran.
Based on these public statements, it appeared that Trump initially gave Israel a “yellow light” to conduct the operation, agreeing to help Israel play defense, but not offense.
Now, with the Israel’s inflicting heavy damage on Iran, Trump seems open to the possibility of direct U.S. military involvement.
Israel wants the U.S. to do something it can’t: unleash a huge, bunker-busting bomb to hit the most important Iranian nuclear facility, Fordow, which is built into the side of a mountain a little over 100 miles south of Tehran.
The U.S. bomb, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or the GBU-57, weighs 30,000 pounds and is so heavy that only one U.S. warplane is configured to carry it, the B-2 Stealth Bomber.
The U.S. provides Israel with a wide range of U.S. planes and U.S. bombs, which Israel is currently employing. But Israel doesn’t have this plane of this bomb. Israel has repeatedly made this request to the U.S., but it has always declined.
The Iranians chose the Fordow site with the knowledge that the U.S. or Israel might someday try to bomb it, as Israel has done with above-ground nuclear facilities in Iraq in 1981 and in Syria in 2007.
Fordow has “a considerable amount of 60% enriched uranium and a considerable number of gas centrifuges,” said Albright.
If the U.S. attacks, it’s not clear how much damage it could inflict on the Fordow site, which is believed to be close to 300 feet under the mountain.
“One [bomb] is not going to do it,” Albright said. “I think it’ll be a challenge with a couple. You try to hit the same spot more than once and the shockwave, you hope, will collapse the ceiling.”
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Cloudy with a chance of showers? All eyes on Fed’s economic forecast today
The Fed has been in a holding pattern since December, after cutting rates by a full percentage point last year. Markets will be watching closely for an update to that forecast on Wednesday afternoon. Inflation has been relatively tame in recent months, but Fed officials worry that Trump’s tariffs could rekindle price pressures. Interest on the federal debt totaled $776 billion in the first eight months of the fiscal year — the government’s third-biggest expense after Social Security and Medicare. The U.S. foreign-born workforce shrank by more than a million people in the last two months, according to surveys from the Labor Department. But the unemployment rate remains low, at 4.2%, and demand for workers has been cooling inRecent months. The Fed is monitoring the combined effects of Trump’s policies on taxes, regulation and immigration.
The Fed has been in a holding pattern since December, after cutting rates by a full percentage point last year.
Investors who place bets are nearly certain that the central bank will keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged Wednesday — between 4.25% and 4.5% — according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
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“Uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased,” the Fed’s rate-setting committee said in a statement after its last meeting, in May.
Three months ago, committee members said they expected to cut interest rates by an average of half a percentage point this year. Markets will be watching closely for an update to that forecast on Wednesday afternoon.
Inflation hasn’t risen yet, despite tariffs
Inflation has been relatively tame in recent months. But Fed officials worry that Trump’s tariffs — which are the highest in nearly a century — could rekindle price pressures.
Israel’s attack on Iran last week added a new wrinkle to the outlook by triggering a spike in crude oil prices. If sustained, that could jeopardize the drop in gasoline prices that has helped keep the overall cost of living in check.
Trump continues to exert pressure on Fed chief Powell
Trump has been urging the central bank to cut interest rates more aggressively, arguing that lower borrowing costs will goose the economy while also saving the federal government money on its $36 trillion debt.
“GREAT NUMBERS!” Trump wrote in all caps on social media last week, after a report showed that consumer prices rose just 2.4% for the 12 months ending in May. “FED SHOULD LOWER ONE FULL POINT.”
Trump later called Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell a “numbskull” for not lowering interest rates more quickly.
Bonds aren’t doing well, and that’s not good for America
The government’s own borrowing costs are set by the bond market, which is not directly tied to the short-term rates set by the Fed. And those borrowing costs have only risen in recent months.
Bond yields ordinarily fall during times of turmoil, as investors flock to the safety of U.S. government debt. But yields on Treasury bonds unexpectedly rose last week after Israel’s attack on Iran, suggesting investors are not as confident in the U.S. government’s creditworthiness as they once were.
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The combination of high debt and rising bond yields can be costly not just for the government but also for taxpayers. Interest on the federal debt totaled $776 billion in the first eight months of the fiscal year — the government’s third-biggest expense after Social Security and Medicare.
The higher bond yields also make mortgages, car loans and other types of consumer borrowing more expensive.
Foreign-born workforce shrinks by 1 million people
In addition to tariffs, the Fed is monitoring the combined effects of Trump’s policies on taxes, regulation and immigration. Tax cuts and deregulatory moves have the potential to boost the economy while strict border controls and large-scale deportations could make it harder for businesses to find the workers they need.
The foreign-born workforce shrank by more than a million people in the last two months, according to surveys from the Labor Department.
Fewer immigrant workers could “add meaningful upward pressure to inflation by the end of the year in sectors reliant on immigrant labor such as agriculture, construction, food processing, and leisure and hospitality,” Fed Governor Adriana Kugler warned in a speech this month.
Demand for workers has been cooling in recent months, but the unemployment rate remains low, at 4.2%.
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Goliath the Galápagos tortoise celebrated his first Father’s Day and 135th birthday
Goliath the tortoise is the first Galápagos tortoise hatchling born at Zoo Miami. The hatchling was born on June 4 after incubating for about four months. Goliath had been matched with several female tortoises to breed, but the process had been unsuccessful. He mated with Sweet Pea, the hatchling’s mother, but they haven’t had much interaction with their baby. The zoo has submitted applications to Guinness Book of World Records for “The Oldest First-Time Father in History!”
He also turned 135 at Zoo Miami.
His hatchling was born on June 4 after incubating for about four months, becoming the first Galápagos tortoise hatchling born at Zoo Miami. Goliath had been matched with several female tortoises to breed, but the process had been unsuccessful until he mated with Sweet Pea, the hatchling’s mother.
But Goliath and Sweet Pea haven’t had much interaction with their baby.
“In the wild, hatchlings are on their own from the moment they emerge from the egg and the parents have no further connection to them,” the zoo said in a statement. “The hatchling appears to be healthy and has been removed from the incubator and placed in a separate enclosure where it is active and full of energy!”
Goliath, who weighs almost 600 pounds, has been at Zoo Miami for 43 years. Before, he lived at the Bronx Zoo for 52 years.
The zoo has submitted applications to Guinness Book of World Records that would make Goliath “The Oldest First-Time Father in History!” and him and Sweet Pea “The Oldest First-Time Parents in History!” the zoo said.
They have some company. In April, four Galápagos tortoise hatchlings were born at the Philadelphia Zoo, making “Mommy” and “Abrazzo” parents for the first time at almost a century old.
More about Galápagos tortoises
Galápagos tortoises are herbivores native to the Galápagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador. Female tortoises typically lay up to 20 billiard-ball-sized eggs at a time, according to the Philadelphia Zoo.
The temperature during incubation determines the hatchlings’ sex — eggs incubated at 82.4 degrees Fahrenheit or lower produce female tortoises, while temperatures above 85.1 degrees produce males.
It takes the eggs four to eight months to hatch. Males can eventually weigh 500 pounds on average, while females typically weigh 250 pounds.
In both zoos and the wild, tortoises can live about 100 to 200 years, the Philadelphia Zoo says.
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