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NPR News: 07-27-2026 7AM EDT

Explore episode Jul 27, 2026
News
Pentagon Quietly Reclassified Iran War Deaths

NPR News: 07-27-2026 7AM EDT · Jul 27, 2026 News

The Pentagon changed how it counts American casualties in the Iran war — moving 4 recently killed troops out of the official Iran war death toll and into a new bucket labeled 'overseas operations.' The result: the true cost of the war is harder to see, and requires cross-referencing separate government lists to piece together.

Where this was said

Senate's High-Stakes Week: Funding, War, and a Troubled DNI Nominee

At 3:58 · chapter starts 2:42

With two record-setting government shutdowns already on the books since Trump took office, the Senate faces another deadline: pass government funding before the November elections or risk a third. NPR's Eric McDaniel laid out the scale of the challenge — $1 trillion in baseline funding, $100 billion in new Pentagon cash — and noted that the Senate's de facto 60-vote threshold means the 53 Republican senators cannot do this alone. They need Democrats, but Democrats have little incentive to cooperate: they're being asked to fund both Trump's immigration enforcement agenda and a war in Iran that Congress never formally authorized, as the Constitution requires. On top of that, Trump's pick for Director of National Intelligence, Jay Clayton, entered his confirmation process with bipartisan goodwill but eroded it quickly by refusing to clearly disavow Trump's 2020 election conspiracy theories — though Republicans retain enough votes to confirm him on a party-line basis if needed.

Technology
CxMT's Record-Breaking Shanghai Debut

NPR News: 07-27-2026 7AM EDT · Jul 27, 2026 Technology

Chinese chipmaker CxMT became the most valuable company listed on China's stock exchanges after its shares soared on debut in Shanghai. Its chips power AI servers and consumer smartphones — a direct play on China's race to build semiconductor independence amid U.S. export restrictions.

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