NPR News: Posts

NPR News

The Postal Service may be out of cash in 2027 without Congress' help, postmaster says

A U.S. Postal Service worker sorts packages behind a mail truck in Los Angeles in 2020.

The U.S. Postal Service's leader says it is set to run out of money in less than a year and may have to stop deliveries because of declining mail volume and what USPS sees as burdensome requirements.

(Image credit: Kyle Grillot)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Joe Kent, a top counterterrorism official, resigns citing Iran war

Joe Kent, when he was campaigning as a Republican congressional candidate in 2022, resigned citing his opposition to the Iran war.

Kent said he "cannot in good conscience" back the Iran war. In his resignation letter, he says Iran "posed no imminent threat to our nation."

(Image credit: Nathan Howard)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Geopolitics may test the World Cup — a new book draws lessons from the past

undefined

Countries all around the world will soon send players to the U.S. to compete in one of soccer's biggest events. Roger Bennett explores how past competitions met cultural and geopolitical moments.

Continue Reading…

NPR News

U.S. seeks NATO help with Strait of Hormuz. And, SCOTUS blocks vaccine changes

Commercial vessels are pictured offshore in Dubai on March 11, 2026.

As the war with Iran intensifies, Trump is demanding that allies help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz. And, a federal judge halts RFK Jr.'s changes to children's vaccine policies.

(Image credit: AFP)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Israel says it killed two top Iranian commanders in targeted strike

An Emirates aircraft prepares for landing as a smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport in Dubai on March 16, 2026.

Israel says it killed Ali Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani, the highest profile assassinations since the targeting of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war.

(Image credit: AFP via Getty Images)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Is there a more fair way to sell World Cup tickets?

undefined

World Cup tickets are expensive, and buying them has been frustrating and confusing. But this is what economics is for: figuring out the best ways to allocate scarce resources. FIFA, steal these ideas.

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Bringing marine life back to South Florida's 'forgotten edge'

An experiment in nature-inspired design is underway in a South Florida residential canal. Two mangrove planters are being installed on a new seawall to provide habitat for marine wildlife.

Seawalls are great at protecting property and people. A new nature-inspired seawall add-on is trying to make them better at protecting marine wildlife too.

(Image credit: Nathan Rott)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

I'm concerned about my blood pressure. Can I check it at home?

undefined

If you get a high reading at the doctor's office, it may not be definitive. Here's what to know about your risk — and testing your blood pressure at home.

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Reproductive health clinics scramble as Title X funding cliff approaches

Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., along with other members of the Democratic Women

Title X is a 56-year-old federal grant program that supports thousands of clinics that provide birth control and STI testing and treatment around the country. Now those clinics could face a funding gap because of a Trump administration delay.

(Image credit: Ed Zurga)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

'Rewarding loyalists,' punishing critics: How Trump's Treasury sanctions foreigners

Colombian President Gustavo Petro (left), Brazil

Spain's Prime Minister called U.S. strikes against Iran "unjustified." When other foreigners in power have used similar language against the U.S. or Israel, they were sanctioned by the Treasury.

(Image credit: Oliver Contreras, Evaristo Sa and Bastien Ohier/Hans Lucas)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

From Descartes to punk rock, X has an extraordinary history

X marks many spots.

The letter X can be a lot of things: rebellious, mysterious, religious. For this Word of the Week, we examine its origins and many uses.

(Image credit: jclegg)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Last protester in detention after Trump's campus crackdown has been released

Leqaa Kordia, left, embraces friends, family and suppporters after being released from the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, Monday, March 16, 2026.

Leqaa Kordia, a 33-year-old from the West Bank who has lived in New Jersey since 2016, had been held in a U.S. immigration detention center in Texas since last March.

(Image credit: Tony Gutierrez)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Tennessee teens sue Elon Musk's xAI over AI-generated child sexual abuse material

Elon Musk

The three girls say that the nonconsensual nude images were created by a perpetrator who used AI company xAI's image generation tools.

(Image credit: Nicolas Tucat)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Afghanistan says 400 people killed in Pakistan strike on Kabul hospital

Residents and Taliban police gather the remains of a projectile at the site of a strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, on March 13.

Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of targeting a hospital for drug users in the Afghan capital with an airstrike, marking a dramatic escalation of a conflict that began late last month. Pakistan has dismissed the accusation.

(Image credit: Barackatullah Popal)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Federal judge halts RFK Jr.'s changes to children's vaccine policies

A federal judge in Boston blocked changes to U.S. vaccine policies championed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In a rebuke, a federal district court judge blocked the administration's reduction in the number of immunizations recommended for kids and also changes to an influential vaccine committee.

(Image credit: Samuel Corum)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Supreme Court to hear expedited arguments on protected status for migrants

The U.S. Supreme Court

The court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting some 6,000 Syrians and 350,000 Haitians who were granted Temporary Protected Status.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

A new drug could be the beginning of the end for sleeping sickness

A tsetse fly — their bite can spread the parasite that causes sleeping sickness.

The goal in the world of global health s to bring an end to this scourge by 2030. A new drug looks as if it could do the job.

(Image credit: Patrick Robert/Corbis/Sygma)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Cuba hit by island wide blackout as energy crisis deepens

People line up in the street to buy bread in Havana, Cuba, Friday, March 13, 2026.

On Monday Cuba was plunged into an island-wide blackout affecting 11 million people after a "complete disconnection" of its electrical system, officials said, amid a worsening fuel shortage.

(Image credit: Ramon Espinosa)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Vaccine critics keep the pressure on, even as RFK Jr. shifts focus

At a recent meeting of the MAHA Institute, vaccine critics said injuries from immunizations are an epidemic.

Anti-vaccine activists rally supporters to try to keep the momentum going on changing federal vaccine policies. This comes even as the White House tries to tamp down attention to the unpopular issue ahead of the midterm elections, and a powerful federal advisory committee plans to meet to consider even more moves.

(Image credit: Creative Images Lab)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Gasoline prices are still rising as the Iran war stretches into its third week

A customer fuels up with regular gasoline priced at $5.29 at a Chevron gas station in Bellevue, Wash., Friday, March 13, 2026.

U.S. gasoline prices are up nearly 80 cents from a month ago, while diesel prices have shot up even more. Diesel is now just under $5 a gallon, according to AAA, up $1.34 from last month.

(Image credit: Lindsey Wasson)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Team USA dominated the Paralympics on both ice and snow. Check out the highlights

The U.S. men

A mix of decorated veterans and rising stars won 24 medals for Team USA, 13 of them gold. The last one arrived Sunday, when the U.S. sled hockey team beat Canada to win its fifth straight gold medal.

(Image credit: Stefano Rellandini)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Senate prepares to vote on Trump's SAVE Act. And, takeaways from last night's Oscars

Tourists are reflected in water on the east side of the U.S. Capitol on March 12, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

Senate Republicans are gearing up to vote on President Trump's controversial voting overhaul, the SAVE America Act. And, key takeaways from the 2026 Oscars.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Trump threatens NATO allies over Strait of Hormuz help

A shirt is seen hanging Sunday amid the rubble in the Beryanak District in Tehran, Iran, after it was damaged by missile attacks two days before.

With the Iran war entering a third week and the price of oil reaching nearly $105 a barrel on Monday, President Trump again urged NATO countries and China to help the U.S. secure the vital Strait of Hormuz.

(Image credit: Majid Saeedi)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Influencers push 'parasite cleanses' but doctors say to steer clear

undefined

Some people online believe many of us have dangerous parasites in our gut and need to flush them out with herbal supplements. Here's what doctors say about the trend.

Continue Reading…

NPR News

As parents clamor for a treatment touted for autism, doctors hesitate to prescribe it

undefined

After the leucovorin got public attention as a potential autism treatment, families rushed to get it. Many doctors are torn about prescribing an unproven drug but don't want to lose patients' trust.

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Oil and gas prices are soaring. Some countries are ready with solar panels and EVs

Energy experts say that because of the rapid growth of solar, Pakistan has a greater cushion against the growing energy crisis.

As an energy crisis grows, some countries are more prepared because of renewable energy and electric vehicles. Pakistan reduced its reliance on imported natural gas because of the growth of solar.

(Image credit: Asif Hassan)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

Morning news brief

The war with Iran enters its third week, as Trump and his top aides refocus their messaging on "winning" to regain faltering support, in the Senate, Republican lawmakers take up the SAVE Act this week.

Continue Reading…

NPR News

5th member of Iranian women's soccer team gives up asylum in Australia

This photo taken on March 8, 2026 shows Iranian players running towards their positions at the start of the AFC Women

The player's departure shortly before midnight on Sunday leaves two of an initial seven squad members in Australia.

(Image credit: STR/AFP)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

5 takeaways from an Oscars night that spread the love

Paul Thomas Anderson holds his Oscars for best adapted screenplay, best director and best picture for <!-- raw HTML omitted -->One Battle After Another<!-- raw HTML omitted -->.

It's thrilling to see the Academy recognize a weird, funny, scary performance like Amy Madigan's in Weapons. Here's what NPR critic Linda Holmes thought of the awards.

(Image credit: Mike Coppola)

Continue Reading…

NPR News

'One Battle After Another' takes best picture. Here's the full list of Oscar winners

The cast and crew of <!-- raw HTML omitted -->One Battle After Another<!-- raw HTML omitted --> accept the Academy Award for best picture at the 2026 Oscars.

Michael B. Jordan and Jessie Buckley won best actor and best actress_._ Paul Thomas Anderson received best director_._ Cassandra Kulukundis won the Academy's first ever casting award.

(Image credit: Kevin Winter)

Continue Reading…