NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-14-2026 12AM EDT

Episode Date: March 14, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Roran. Six crew members who were on a KC-135 refueling aircraft supporting military operations in Iran are confirmed dead after the plane crashed in Western Iraq. The crash took place at an unspecified incident Thursday involving two aircraft in what was called friendly airspace. The other plane landed safely. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. War is hell. War is chaos. And as we saw yesterday with the tragic crash of our KC-135 tanker, bad things can happen.

American heroes, all of them. And as I have with all of them, as we have, we will greet those heroes at Dover, and their sacrifice will only recommit us to the resolve of this mission. The KC 135 is a widely flown Air Force plane used to refuel other aircraft in mid-air. Ukraine's president Vladimir Zelensky says the Trump administration's decision to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian oil will only empower the Kremlin. NPR's Joanna Kassis reports the sanction relief comes as the U.S.-Israel war on Iran has disrupted global oil supplies. The Trump administration says the temporary relief will last until April 11th and is supposed to cool

oil prices, which have shot up since the U.S. and Israel began their war on Iran. The U.S. says it applies only to Russian oil already in transit and will not help Russia much financially. Speaking to reporters in Paris, Zelensky said that's not the case. This single concession by the United States could provide Russia with approximately $10 billion to fund the war, Zelensky said. This certainly does not bring us any closer to peace. Zelensky spoke alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, who said there is no justification, for lifting these sanctions. Joanna Kikisis, NPR News, Kiev.

The UN says it's worried about cultural heritage sites being damaged by the war in Iran. Kerry Kahn reports. UNESCO called for maximum restraint to spare damage to what it says are the cultural and social foundations of societies. In Iran alone, multiple registered cultural sites have been damaged, including Tehran's Ghulistan Palace, as well as a 17th century,

palace and a mosque in Isfahan. Video on state media shows the 14th century Golistan Palace grounds littered with broken glass from its famous mirrored ceiling. Isfahan's governor was critical on social media, saying

the most advanced weapons have targeted the oldest symbols of civilization. In his first term, President Trump threatened to retaliate any Iranian attacks by hitting important Iranian cultural sites. It's NPR. Flights at four major East Coast airports, Dallas International, BWI Thurgood Marshall, Reagan National, and Richmond, Virginia are slowly returning to normal.

This after a critical Northern Virginia FAA facility had to be evacuated Friday. Controllers say there was a chemical smell in the TRACON facility. The delays jumped to about two hours and about a third of the departing flights were delayed. For nearly two weeks now, an unusually low number of Chinese war plan. have flown near Taiwan. Ashish Valentine reports from Taiwan, it's a lull in an otherwise escalating pattern of the Chinese naval and the air incursions near Taiwan.

Analysts have offered various explanations. Anti-corruption investigations and disappearances have left many of the Chinese military's top posts vacant, and President Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping soon. 2025 marked a record high in Chinese warplane and naval activity around Taiwan, and the Chinese military closed out the year with its largest ever naval and air drills encircling Taiwan. That's what makes the past two weeks such an anomaly. Whatever the reason, Taiwan's defense ministry has said they're remaining vigilant, noting that China's long-term goal

of controlling Taiwan remains the same. For NPR news, I'm Ashish Valentine in Taipei. At the World Baseball Classic, the U.S. defeated Canada 5 to 3 to advance to the semifinals of the pre-season International Tournament. Two games are scheduled for Saturday. The championship game will be decided Tuesday night in Miami. I'm Dan Ronan, NPR News in Washington. Support for in