NPR News Now - 4am ET, October 07 | The latest headlines from NPR

Episode Date: October 7, 2026

The latest headlines from NPR at the top of this hour. The stories you hear are written, reported and fact-checked by NPR journalists.  Learn more about the standards of our journalism at npr.org/ethics. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

This is NPR News Now. The latest headlines every hour. Live from NPR news, I'm Jail Snyder. A source tells NPR the reason the U.S. military withdrew its bombers from a base in the U.K. was a threat of an Iranian drone attack. NPR's Quill Lawrence reports on the removal of all 12 B1 bombers. A U.S. government official not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to NPR that fears of a drone attack on behalf of.

of Iran caused the U.S. to withdraw all the American bombers from Fairford Air Base in England. The base has been used for bombing sorties in the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran. Late last month, British authorities arrested five men traveling in white vans near the airbase in the pre-dawn hours. The men were later released after no explosives were found. British officials say the men remain under investigation and two more arrests have been made in the past week, including a British-Iranian dual national. Quill Lawrence and PR News. four weeks to go until midterm election day, more than a million voters have already cast their ballots, and money is pouring into political ads across key House and Senate contests.

And here are Stephen Fowler on what Democrats are signaling with their money moves. Just this week, the Democratic House campaign arm added six districts to its red-to-blue target list of flips. It's now up to 46 seats. A lot of it's aspirational and stretches into places that Trump won by double digits, It's like a House district in Little Rock, Arkansas, for example. At the same time, though, Republicans have invested considerable money in some of these places, too, to boost their candidates and attack Democrats, as polls show this combination potentially of a supercharged Democratic turnout, independence backing the Democrats, and a meaningful amount of Republicans staying home.

President Trump was asked Tuesday about that taxpayer-funded ad campaign headed into the November midterms, a day after saying he would now pay for the ads using money from his super PAC. He did not commit to reimbursing the millions already spent, telling reporters in his words, will decide whether to repay the funds. Cornell University has named a former Justice Department leader to head an investigation into how the school handles reports of sexual assault. Here's MPR's Jacqueline Diaz reporting. Former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates will lead the internal review into how Cornell responded

when the now former student reported being drugged and repeatedly raped out of fraternity. on campus. Yates was picked by a newly formed special committee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees. She will also examine the school's policies on how it prevents and responds to sexual harassment, assault, and other misconduct on campus. This all comes after a former student filed a lawsuit against the school last month. The student, who goes by Jane Doe, alleges failings in how Cornell administrators handled her case. Yates's probe is separate from a reopening of the criminal case. which is being led by New York AG Letitia James. Jacqueline Diaz, NPR News.

And you're listening to NPR News. Lawyers for a convicted killer, Krista Pike, say they will be in court later today. They're asking a judge for a court order to preserve evidence from Pike's failed execution, claiming the state of Tennessee violated Pike's rights by subjecting her to cruel and unusual punishment. In a statement, Pike's lawyers say she has regained consciousness and is, speaking after surviving two doses of a lethal injection drug. Obesity rates in children and adolescents have quadrupled to more than 170 million people since 1990. M.P.R.'s Gabrielle Emanuel reports on the World Health Organization's release of its first guidelines on how to treat that age group.

For children under the age of 10 who are obese, the WHO is emphasizing dietary changes and physical activity. They are not recommending surgery or weight loss medications, like GLP 1 for children. Luce Maria DeRigil is with the WHO. There is not enough evidence. The trials are starting. The medications that have been tested are not proven. She says they are also considering the long-term effect and cost of medications, as well as the long-term cost of obesity, which is estimated to be trillions of dollars each year worldwide. Gabriela Emmanuel NPR News. Yannel Messi has played his last international soccer match after helping Argentina. win a World Cup and two South American championships during his more than 20 years playing for his country's national team.

Messi is stepping away from international soccer. Messi will continue playing for Major League Soccer's Enter Miami. I'm Giles Snyder, and this is NPR News.