Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski says she'll oppose Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general,
further narrowing his path to confirmation.
Murkowski says she remains concerned the Trump administration could move ahead with a proposed
fund to compensate January 6 rioters, despite Blanche's pledge to shelve it.
With Senator Susan Collins also opposed and Mitch McConnell absent from Senate sessions,
Blanche can afford to lose only two Republican votes if all Democrats vote against his nomination.
Senator Bill Cassidy has not said how he will vote.
The Senate committee advanced Blanche's nomination earlier this week.
The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are expected to sign a joint defense agreement today.
That's according to a statement published by the Turkish President's Office.
NPR's Hadil al-Shalchi reports from Istanbul.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif are in the Saudi city of Mecca to sign a trilateral defense agreement,
according to the Turkish presidency and the Pakistani foreign ministry.
Details of the agreement were not immediately released, but the Pakistani foreign
ministry said that it was intended to, quote, strengthen collective deterrence against any act of aggression.
This deal comes as tensions in the Middle East rise, with fears of a widening war between the United States and Iran.
The agreement would combine the strengths of Saudi Arabia as an oil-rich country, Pakistan, a nuclear power,
and Turkey, which has NATO's second largest military and a growing defense industry.