Thursday morning news: July 17, 2025

SOUND: [Israeli airstrike in Syria]

Israel-Syria » Explosions in Damascus … as Israeli airstrikes targeted the Syrian Defense Ministry Wednesday. Strikes also hit the presidential palace and army headquarters.

The Israeli military said the rare attacks in the heart of Damascus were an effort to protect members of the Druze minority from Syrian government forces. They were also designed to push Islamic militants away from Israel's border.

Syrian officials say the strike killed three people and injured more than 30.

In Washington, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters:

RUBIO: It's complicated, obviously. These are historic, long-time rivalries between different groups in the southwest of Syria, Bedouins, the Druze community, and it led to an unfortunate situation and a misunderstanding, it looks like, between the Israeli side and the Syrian side.

While in Jerusalem…

SOUND: [Druze demonstration]

Members of the Druze minority rallied outside the U.S. embassy. They called on President Trump to cut ties with Syria's President Ahmad al-Sharaa...saying they feared for their safety after clashes with government forces.

DRUZE DEMONSTRATOR: It's not a business, it's not a deal. You cannot make a deal with a person that is a killer, that what he knows is only to kill people, and to kill people that are different than him.

The Syrian government and the Druze minority have struck fragile ceasefire agreements … but many have their doubts as to whether the truce will hold.

Biden mental health probe » Jill Biden’s former chief of staff was in the hot seat Wednesday on Capitol Hill … facing tough questions, which he declined to answer.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee grilled Anthony Bernal about President Biden’s mental fitness during his time in office. Chairman James Comer says he asked Barnal directly:

COMER: Was Joe Biden fit to exercise the duties of the president? He pled the Fifth.

He said Bernal repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-recrimination … when asked about Biden’s cognitive fitness and the alleged misuse of the autopen.

COMER: We believe there was illegal use of the autopen. We’re going to continue to bring these people in and give them an opportunity to answer questions.

Criminal deportations » Some African nations are now accepting foreign criminals deported from the U.S. after their home countries refused to take them back. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher has more.

BENJAMIN EICHER: A plane chartered by the US government touched down in the southern African nation of Eswatini this week. Aboard that plane were five men convicted of violent crimes—including murder and assault against children.

The men were citizens of Vietnam, Laos, Jamaica, Cuba, and Yemen.

U.S. officials say the men are being held in isolated prison units there, awaiting possible relocation with help from the International Organization for Migration.

The flight followed a Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump administration to deport criminals to nations other than their native countries.

Earlier this month, the U.S. sent eight other convicts to South Sudan, and U.S. officials are negotiating with more African nations to accept future deportees.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

Wholesale inflation cools » Some good news regarding inflation. Just one day after a report suggesting that consumer prices were growing at a faster pace … new numbers on Wednesday showed inflation at the wholesale level was cooler than expected.

The producer price index tracks what businesses pay for goods before they reach store shelves. And that index was flat in June.

Over the past year, wholesale prices rose just 2.3%, while the “core” measure was up 2.6%. Both of those numbers beat expectations.

Some argue that is a sign that tariffs may not be driving up costs overall just yet.

Trump says he's not firing Powell » President Trump is pushing back on reports that he’s considering firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

TRUMP:  He is doing a lousy job, but no, I'm not talking about that. We get, fortunately, we get to make a change in the next, what, eight months or so.

Powell has maintained that the Fed would hold off on cutting interest rates … waiting to see the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on inflation and the economy.

The president has been very unhappy about that, repeatedly blasting Powell, saying he has waited too long to take action.

Trump has said he could still fire Powell if the White House finds legal cause to do so. There is debate about whether he could legally fire the chairman without cause.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the Federal Trade Commission weighs in on fraud surrounding gender treatment claims. Plus, one teacher’s mission to equip students with the truth about the origin of life.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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