NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-09-2026 2PM EDT

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

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Lie from NPR news, I'm Lakshmi Singh. U.S. officials are dissatisfied with Israel strikes on Iranian oil facilities over the weekend. Sources tell NPR. It is the first time in the war. Israel has openly attacked civilian industrial infrastructure in Iran. NPR's Daniel Estrin has more from Tel Aviv. Israeli airstrikes hit an oil depot and a refinery in Tehran, sending fiery pillars and black smoke into the sky,

and causing oily raindrops to fall onto the city. Israel said Iran's military was using the oil to fuel its missile launches at Israel. U.S. officials were displeased with the extent of the damage. That's according to a person briefed on the matter not authorized to speak publicly. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also expressed dissatisfaction. He tweeted at Israel to be cautious about its targets. He said Iran's oil economy will be needed when Iran's regime collapses. Daniel Estrin NPR News, Tel Aviv.

Today, the State Department held a flag ceremony and observance of U.S. hostage and wrongful detainee day. Secretary Marco Rubio opened his remarks with a somber reminder that in waging war against Iran, the U.S. is targeting the world's leading hostage taker. The goals of this mission are clear, and it's important to continue to remind the American people of why it is that the greatest military in the history of the world is engaged in this operation. It is to destroy the ability of this regime to launch missiles. both by destroying their missiles and their launchers, destroy the factories that make these missiles,

and destroy their Navy. Independent researchers are suing the departments of state and homeland security over a policy to deny visas to or deport non-citizens who work on or study certain things, namely online trust and safety, fact-checking and other activities that the administration deems censorship. NPR Shannon Bond reports a lawsuit alleges the administration is chilling free speech. The lawsuit accuses of the Trump administration of trying to silence people whose work supports online content moderation, arguing that amounts

to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. The State Department says it's restricting visas for those it says are, quote, complicit in censoring Americans. In December, it banned five Europeans from entering the U.S., including a former EU tech regulator and advocates who work to curb online harms. The government also threatened to deport one, who is a permanent U.S. resident. The lawsuit says that's having a chilling effect on independent research into internet platforms. Shannon Bond and PR News. Anthropics suing the administration for alleged retaliation over the company's position on artificial intelligence security, and it filed two federal losses today.

Last week, the Defense Department cited national security concerns in designating Anthropica supply chain risk. That was after Anthropics CEO declined to allow the company's clawed AI model be used for autonomous weapons or surveillance of Americans. You're listening to NPR News. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tish says authorities are investigating whether an incident during counter-protests outside New York City's mayoral residence over the weekend was inspired by ISIS. Tish says men brought improvised explosive devices that were hurled during a Saturday demonstration led by far-right activist Jake Lange. Tish says the devices did not explode. Two people were taken into custody. but were not charged yet.

The federal government released new dietary guidelines in January that turned the food pyramid on its head. Those guidelines are also used to set school nutrition standards. NPR's Caden Mills reports a school nutrition association is worry those standards affecting students could also change. The new guidelines encourage Americans to consume more animal products like red meat and full-fat dairy. They also push for fewer processed foods. But many school cafeterias around the country rely on heavily processed, heat-and-served meals. Moving away from those foods would likely require schools do more scratch cooking. Diane Pratt-Hevner is a spokesperson for the School Nutrition Association.

They simply do not have the money, the staff, the equipment to be able to prepare all of their meals from scratch. She said schools would, quote, absolutely need more funding. should the federal government propose stricter school nutrition standards. Kaden Mills, NPR News. The Dow is down 443 points or nearly 1%. I'm Lakshmi-Seng, NPR News, in Washington. Listen to this podcast, sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR NewsNow Plus at plus.

That's plus.npr.org.