Latest / The Rest of the World Podcast / The Rest of the World Report | October 16, 2026 — Morning Edition

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The Rest of the World Report | October 16, 2026 — Morning Edition · The Rest of the World Podcast

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  [music]
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  SPEAKER_00: Good morning from Paris,
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rudy Martinez with The Rest of the World Report for Friday morning,
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: October 16th.
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  SPEAKER_00: Video from a burning flat in Gaza City shows a young girl on a bed ringed by flames,
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  SPEAKER_00: with her mother burning nearby, until a Palestinian journalist carries her out.
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  SPEAKER_00: In one clip, the girl is on the bed, surrounded by smoke and fire as her mother burns near her.
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  SPEAKER_00: In another,
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  SPEAKER_00: the journalist,
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  SPEAKER_00: Ali al-Jafrawi,
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  SPEAKER_00: Carries her from the flat and passes her to bystanders to take to the hospital.
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  SPEAKER_00: One report says Al Jafrawi captured the footage.
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  SPEAKER_00: He wrote on Instagram,
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  SPEAKER_00: quote, by the grace of Allah, I was able to enter and bring her out, close quote.
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  SPEAKER_00: The clips were shared by Palestinian reporters,
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  SPEAKER_00: aid workers and campaigners and circulated widely on Wednesday.
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  SPEAKER_00: They reached political figures in the United States within hours.
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  SPEAKER_00: An Israeli strike hit the family's flat in the El Ramal neighborhood
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  SPEAKER_00: of western Gaza City at about 4 a.m. that day.
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  SPEAKER_00: A medical source at Al-Shifa Hospital identified the mother as Reem Assad Awad, 33.
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  SPEAKER_00: Civil defense crews said the fire moved so quickly through the flat and
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  SPEAKER_00: into neighboring buildings that rescuers could not reach the family at first.
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  SPEAKER_00: The girl is named Mariam in reports.
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  SPEAKER_00: Her age is given as two or three in some,
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  SPEAKER_00: three in others, and five in a photo caption, so it's not really settled.
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  SPEAKER_00: Photographs shared after the rescue show burns on her face and bandages over parts of her body.
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  SPEAKER_00: She was taken to al-Shifa,
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  SPEAKER_00: where her mother's body was also brought, and her condition has not been disclosed.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Israeli military said it is investigating the strike and
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  SPEAKER_00: that it had been targeting a Hamas operative.
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  SPEAKER_00: It gave no evidence and did not comment on the woman's death or her daughter's injuries.
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  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
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  SPEAKER_00: Video from a Gaza City flat shows a girl on a bed ringed by flames as her mother burned nearby.
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  SPEAKER_00: A journalist then carries her out.
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  SPEAKER_00: The mother,
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  SPEAKER_00: Reem Assad Awad, 33,
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  SPEAKER_00: was killed in an Israeli strike that the military says targeted a Hamas operative
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  SPEAKER_00: without giving any evidence.
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  SPEAKER_00: The clips reached U.S. political figures within hours.
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  SPEAKER_00: A 16-year-old killed three children and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School
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  SPEAKER_00: in Bend, Oregon on Thursday and was shot dead inside the building.
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  SPEAKER_00: Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz said the first emergency call came at 12.59 p.m.
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  SPEAKER_00: from a person in a vehicle outside the school who reported being shot at by someone
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  SPEAKER_00: with a long gun.
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  SPEAKER_00: Further calls came from inside the school.
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  SPEAKER_00: Dispatch summoned all available law enforcement at 1 p.m.
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  SPEAKER_00: and officers directed the school to lock down at 1.01 p.m.
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  SPEAKER_00: The first officers arrived at 1.02 p.m.
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  SPEAKER_00: The children killed were 5, 8, and 11, Krantz said.
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  SPEAKER_00: Officers found five people dead, including the shooter.
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  SPEAKER_00: A 7-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were taken to St.
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  SPEAKER_00: Charles Bend with critical injuries.
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  SPEAKER_00: Federal law enforcement sources said the shooter was
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  SPEAKER_00: a 16-year-old Bend resident armed with a shotgun.
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  SPEAKER_00: He shot his way through locked doors to get in, authorities said.
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  SPEAKER_00: A law enforcement official briefed on the shooting,
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  SPEAKER_00: said the weapon was a pump-action shotgun purchased by his mother.
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  SPEAKER_00: The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized
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  SPEAKER_00: to discuss the investigation.
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  SPEAKER_00: Police said a community member saw him enter, pursued him in the building, and engaged him.
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  SPEAKER_00: An officer then reported that the community member had shot the suspect.
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  SPEAKER_00: Krantz said he did not yet have details about the community member's firearm.
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  SPEAKER_00: Police have not named the victims the shooter or the community member.
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  SPEAKER_00: Krantz said investigators did not yet know how far the shooter had gone inside
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  SPEAKER_00: the building or whether he knew anyone at the school.
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  SPEAKER_00: Oregon Governor Tina Kotick said, this is a horrible day.
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  SPEAKER_00: No parent should have to have this kind of day.
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  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
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  SPEAKER_00: The 16-year-old killed three children and a teacher at a school in Bend, Oregon on Thursday.
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  SPEAKER_00: A community member then shot him dead.
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  SPEAKER_00: The 7-year-old and the 54-year-old teacher are in critical condition.
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  SPEAKER_00: Police have not released names or a motive.
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  SPEAKER_00: The US military has developed strike plans for Iran that include the potential use
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  SPEAKER_00: of its largest non-nuclear bomb, according to multiple US officials.
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  SPEAKER_00: The plans would be used if President Donald Trump orders combat resumed,
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  SPEAKER_00: either before or after the November 3rd midterm elections.
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  SPEAKER_00: The plans cover Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites, the official says.
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  SPEAKER_00: The bomb is the 21,600-pound GBU-43-B Massive Ordinance Air Blast,
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  SPEAKER_00: known as the Mother of All Bombs.
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  SPEAKER_00: One official said Trump has ordered additional strike packages that include it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Another said plans for striking Iranian nuclear sites also call for it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Those include Pickaxe Mountain,
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  SPEAKER_00: where the U.S. and Israel believe Iran has stored components of its nuclear program.
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  SPEAKER_00: The weapon is an airburst bomb designed to affect surface targets over a wide area.
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  SPEAKER_00: The United States has not used it in strikes inside Iran so far.
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  SPEAKER_00: It was used in Afghanistan in 2017.
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  SPEAKER_00: The officials doubt that it would achieve Trump's stated goals.
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  SPEAKER_00: A source familiar with the planning said it is definitely not designed as
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  SPEAKER_00: a deep penetration warhead,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the sites at Pickaxe are believed to be fortified by granite.
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  SPEAKER_00: The officials said the bomb would devastate the surface
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  SPEAKER_00: and could raise civilian casualty concerns near populated areas.
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  SPEAKER_00: A Defense Department official said the department plans for a wide range
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  SPEAKER_00: of operational scenarios.
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  SPEAKER_00: Trump said Thursday in an interview, quote, It's not nuclear at all.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is just an extremely large bomb, close quote.
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  SPEAKER_00: His ability to capture the obvious is impressive.
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  SPEAKER_00: He said he would not use nuclear weapons and has said he does not see putting U.S.
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  SPEAKER_00: troops on the ground in Iran.
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  SPEAKER_00: On October 8th, he said he would not resume strikes before the midterms.
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  SPEAKER_00: Several advisers said privately they did not know whether that statement was definitive.
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  SPEAKER_00: Iran's parliament speaker,
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  SPEAKER_00: Mohammed Bahir Galabaf,
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  SPEAKER_00: said in a televised address late Wednesday that Iran must keep combining military
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  SPEAKER_00: and defensive capabilities, negotiations, and regional leverage.
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  SPEAKER_00: He said the aim is to push the United States to accept its demands.
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  SPEAKER_00: Tehran's stated demands include lifting the U.S.
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  SPEAKER_00: naval blockade and sanctions and withdrawing U.S. forces from the region.
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  SPEAKER_00: A container ship sank in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday.
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  SPEAKER_00: What American readers need to know.
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  SPEAKER_00: U.S. officials say the military has drawn up Iran strike plans
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  SPEAKER_00: that could use its largest non-nuclear bomb if Trump orders combat resumed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Officials doubt it would destroy deeply buried nuclear sites.
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  SPEAKER_00: Trump says he would not use nuclear weapons and does not see U.S. troops on the ground.
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  SPEAKER_00: He said October 8th that he would not resume strikes before November 3rd midterms.
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  SPEAKER_00: Israel's defense minister said Wednesday
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  SPEAKER_00: that Beirut's southern suburbs will be evacuated and struck if Hezbollah joins Iran
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  SPEAKER_00: in attacking Israel.
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  SPEAKER_00: Defense Minister Israel Katz spoke during a visit to Israeli-occupied areas of southern Lebanon.
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  SPEAKER_00: He said the army, quote, is ready to launch a ground offensive, close quote.
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  SPEAKER_00: He said more than a million Shiite residents of Lebanon would be displaced.
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  SPEAKER_00: Israel has not struck Beirut since early June after a fragile ceasefire agreement
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  SPEAKER_00: and international pressure.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lebanese press reported on Wednesday that an Iranian delegation headed
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  SPEAKER_00: by Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatib Zadeh had arrived in Lebanon.
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  SPEAKER_00: Representatives of the Amal movement and Hezbollah received the delegation.
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  SPEAKER_00: On Thursday,
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  SPEAKER_00: Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by telephone
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  SPEAKER_00: with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
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  SPEAKER_00: A State Department official said Rubio urged Aoun to hold accountable those
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  SPEAKER_00: who ordered, financed, and directed an explosives shipment.
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  SPEAKER_00: A truck carrying 780 kilograms of explosives was intercepted last week on
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  SPEAKER_00: the highway between Beirut and the Bekaa Valley.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlala acknowledged the group's connection to
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  SPEAKER_00: the shipment on Thursday.
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  SPEAKER_00: Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Lebanon would investigate.
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  SPEAKER_00: Rubio also pushed for direct communication between Lebanese and Israeli militaries.
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  SPEAKER_00: Aoun told him that Lebanese security forces are fully carrying out their duties
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  SPEAKER_00: in confiscating illicit arms across the country.
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  SPEAKER_00: The presidential palace said Aoun What American readers need to know.
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  SPEAKER_00: Israel's defense minister threatened to evacuate
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  SPEAKER_00: and strike Beirut's southern suburbs if Hezbollah joins Iran in attacking Israel.
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  SPEAKER_00: Secretary of State Marco Rubio pressed Lebanon's president on Hezbollah's weapons
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  SPEAKER_00: after a truck carrying 780 kilograms of explosives was intercepted last week.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lebanon's president asked Rubio to press Israel to stop its attacks in the south.
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  SPEAKER_00: A school roof collapsed in Peshawar,
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  SPEAKER_00: Pakistan on Thursday and killed at least 31 people, 30 of them students.
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  SPEAKER_00: The roof of Al-Qa'ir's school in the Afridi Abad area of
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  SPEAKER_00: the provincial capital came down on a classroom.
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  SPEAKER_00: A spokesman for the Rescue 1122 emergency service,
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  SPEAKER_00: Bilal Ahmad Faizi,
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  SPEAKER_00: said teams found that one roof had collapsed onto another,
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  SPEAKER_00: crushing the classroom below.
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  SPEAKER_00: Peshawar police official,
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  SPEAKER_00: Mayan Saeed Ahmed,
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  SPEAKER_00: said the roof was overweight with construction on a weak structure that caused
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  SPEAKER_00: the collapse.
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  SPEAKER_00: The toll shifted through the day.
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  SPEAKER_00: A hospital spokesman first said it had risen to 33,
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  SPEAKER_00: then said 30 students and a female teacher had been killed.
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  SPEAKER_00: He said 61 people were brought to the hospital and 30 were discharged after treatment.
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  SPEAKER_00: Provincial Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said a team had been formed to investigate.
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  SPEAKER_00: He said a transparent investigation into the incident will be conducted
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  SPEAKER_00: and those responsible will be identified.
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  SPEAKER_00: He ordered a structural safety audit of educational institutions across the province.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Provincial Education Department formed a fact-finding committee.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Prime Minister's office said the governor told the prime minister
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  SPEAKER_00: the school owner had been arrested.
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  SPEAKER_00: Kundi announced 1 million rupees for bereaved families and 200,000 rupees for the injured.
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  SPEAKER_00: And finally, a few quick briefs before we go.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maduro.
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  SPEAKER_00: Venezuela's Maduro and his wife Celia Flores pleaded not guilty Thursday in
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  SPEAKER_00: a New York courtroom to new charges of conspiracy to commit torture unsealed
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  SPEAKER_00: the previous week.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maduro said, quote, I reject this document in its entirety, close quote.
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  SPEAKER_00: Flores said she was completely innocent.
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  SPEAKER_00: U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said last week that the couple engaged in a conspiracy
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: to commit torture, including the torture of U.S. citizens.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: The pair had already pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism,
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons charges.
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  SPEAKER_00: No trial date was reported.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Tigray.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Ethiopian forces and allied fighters say they have expanded control across Tigray
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  SPEAKER_00: and entered the city of Aksum.
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  SPEAKER_00: The conflict monitor, ACLED, documented the entry.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: The pro-government Tigray Peace Force says Eritrean forces sustained significant
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: casualties and retreated toward the border.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Eritrea's information minister said Yamain Gebremeskel called the claims false,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the losses could not be independently verified.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: A State Department statement said Secretary of State Marco Rubio called
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: for de-escalation in a call with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy.
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  SPEAKER_00: Starlink.
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  SPEAKER_00: Two U.S.
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  SPEAKER_00: officials and one Western official,
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  SPEAKER_00: speaking anonymously,
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  SPEAKER_00: said the order to slow Starlink speeds for Ukraine's military came from within
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  SPEAKER_00: the White House.
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  SPEAKER_00: They said Pentagon officials received notice from the White House that
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  SPEAKER_00: the service needed to be slowed.
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  SPEAKER_00: A senior U.S. official denied the request came from Trump.
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  SPEAKER_00: A Ukrainian defense ministry source said connectivity was restored as of Thursday.
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  SPEAKER_00: In an interview published Thursday, Trump said, quote, I am not a big fan of Zelensky.
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  SPEAKER_00: Close quotes.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's it for this morning's edition of The Rest of the World Report.
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  SPEAKER_00: Before I go,
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  SPEAKER_00: tonight in lieu of an evening edition,
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be doing a live Q&A at 6 p.m. Eastern time over on the Substack.
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  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to join, feel free.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's going to be free, everybody.
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  SPEAKER_00: Until then, take care, enjoy the rest of your Friday.
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  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for listening.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rudy Martinez, and I'll see you later.
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