NPR News: 08-20-2025 5AM EDT

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly.

The Israeli military is planning to call up tens of thousands of reservists as part of its effort to expand operations against Hamas in Gaza.

That's according to an Israeli military official speaking on condition of anonymity.

The expansion will include parts of Gaza City.

The official says 50,000 reservists will be called up in the coming weeks.

President Trump says U.S.

troops will not be deployed to Ukraine as part of any peace deal with Russia, but the White House confirms American air support is still on the table.

As NPR's Franco Ordonez reports, Western leaders are weighing security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a potential peace agreement.

President Trump says U.S.

troops would not be joining potentially European troops who may serve on the ground to help maintain any peace deal agreed to by Ukraine and Russia, but said on Fox News that the U.S.

could provide some kind of air support.

When it comes to security, they're willing to put people on the ground.

We're willing to help them with things, especially

probably if you could talk about by air, because there's nobody has the kind of stuff we have.

White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt confirmed that U.S.-flown air support was an option.

She says the president understands that security guarantees are crucial and has directed his national security team to coordinate with their European counterparts.

Franco Ordoñas.

NPR News, The White House.

The Director of National Intelligence says the British government is dropping demands for iPhone maker Apple to provide a so-called back door to customer data.

Here's NPR's Bobby Allen.

The British government has abandoned its push for Apple to create a back door, allowing law enforcement to access the data of millions of customers.

A deal that led to the United Kingdom backing off Apple was announced by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

Law enforcement in the UK ordered Apple to allow investigators to view encrypted material from users.

That drew bipartisan criticism as an attack on privacy and security.

Apple responded by saying it would no longer offer a feature to UK users to encrypt iCloud data, including texts, notes, photos, and contacts.

In the U.S., law enforcement can often obtain that material from iCloud storage with a search warrant, unless the encrypted feature is enabled.

Bobby Allen in PR News.

The National Hurricane Center in Florida is urging people along the east coast of the U.S.

to stay out of the Atlantic this week as Hurricane Aaron moves up the coast and produces life-threatening rip currents.

This is no time to be complacent.

I would just say to you, flat out, don't go in the water.

That's New Jersey's Governor, Phil Murphy.

Erin is currently a category two storm with top sustained winds of 100 miles per hour.

It's expected to move between the East Coast and Bermuda today.

This is NPR News from Washington.

As Hurricane Erin gets a lot of attention along the East Coast, hot, dry conditions and the winds are raising concerns about more potential wildfires along the west coast.

Red flag warnings and heat advisories are in effect in most of California, as well as parts of southern Arizona and Nevada.

President Trump is renewing his criticism of the Smithsonian Institution.

NPR's Netta Ulabe says the president is doing so on social media.

In his post, the president called the Smithsonian Institution out of control, all caps.

He said museums throughout Washington and all over the country are essentially the last remaining segment of woke.

Again, the last word, all caps.

The White House earlier this month announced plans to audit eight Smithsonian museums to ensure what it called alignment with the President's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive narratives, and quote, restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.

But a number of museums and historical associations have pushed back against what the American Alliance of Museums described as, quote, the growing threats of censorship in a statement.

Netto Ulibi, NPR News.

Air Canada says it could take another week before its flight schedules are back to normal.

This follows a strike by roughly 10,000 Union flight attendants.

They walked off the job on Saturday.

Word of a contract agreement was announced by the Union early yesterday.

Air Canada normally operates about 700 flights each day.

I'm Dave Manningly, NPR News, in Washington.

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