NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-15-2026 6PM EDT

Episode Date: March 15, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. Gulf states are reporting new missile and drone attacks today as Iran widens its campaign. Tehran is telling people to evacuate from three major ports in the United Arab Emirates, and Israel announced new missile strikes on Iran today. All this as security forces in Iran are intensifying a crackdown on civilians. As the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran enters its third week. And peers Arzhu Razvani has more on the repression campaign. People all over Iran are now routinely stopped at an increasing number of checkpoints,

where security forces are often checking people's phones to see who they're communicating with and what videos or photographs they're sharing. That's according to the Norway-based Hangau Organization for Human Rights, which has a network of independent sources inside Iran. The group says it has seen and verified text messages civilians are regularly receiving from Iranian authorities, warning them not to share information with foreign media. Since the start of the war, Iran's state media reports that dozens of people across the country have been arrested on suspicion of spying.

Those detained have been accused of providing Israel with information about military and security sites that the U.S. and Israel have been striking. Arzirzvani, NPR News, Urbiel, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Ukrainian President Zelensky says the EU is pressuring him to reopen a Soviet-era oil pipeline in Ukraine that sends Russian oil to two EU member states, Kremlin allies, Hungary, and Slovakia. If here's Joanna Kikis' reports, the pipeline was badly damaged earlier this year by a Russian attack. Zelensky made the comments in Kiev during a private meeting with several media outlets, including NPR. He said that while Ukrainian crews need months to finish repairing the

Drushpa pipeline, he does not want to reopen it. If the EU threatened to withhold weapons to Ukraine, he says, then he will be forced to restore the pipeline, but called this blackmail. The Hungarian government is blocking new EU sanctions on Russia and also a $100 billion loan to Ukraine. The U.S. has also temporarily lifted sanctions on Russian oil exports as oil prices have risen due to the U.S. Israel War on Iran. Joanna Kekis, NPR News, Kiev. The chair of the Federal Communications Commission is threatening the licenses of broadcasters over what he says is fake news about the U.S. Israeli war in Iran. And Pierce Daniel Kurtzleben has more.

President Trump has been angrily criticizing press coverage of the war. In one social media post, he said the news media, quote, actually wants us to lose the war. So then yesterday, when FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened the licenses of broadcasters running, as he put it, hoaxes and news distortions, it was easy to connect that to the president's anger at war coverage. NPR's Daniel Kurtzleben reporting. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The Treasury Department is set to receive a $10 billion fee charged by the Trump administration

for brokering a deal to sell TikTok's U.S. business. It's far higher than bankers usually get for brokering deals, some of the biggest beneficiaries, long-time Trump allies like Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, which is the lead investor of the new TikTok entity. The White House says the fee, reported by the Wall Street Journal is a fair payment for saving the popular social video platform. A large late winter storm is hitting the central U.S. today, bringing blizzard conditions. And peers Matt Bloom has more. The National Weather Service says heavy and blowing snow and freezing cold will disrupt travel for millions across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region through late Monday.

Gusty winds are bringing elevated fire risk to the southern plains. In farther southeast, harsh winds and severe weather could extend through the Ohio and Tennessee valleys and deep south. The storm is the latest part of a busy mid-March weather pattern for the U.S. An unusually early heat wave is settling over the southwest, bringing highs 10 to 20 degrees above normal through the week. And in Hawaii, tens of thousands of residents remain without power after torrential rainfall hit the island chain. Matt Bloom and PR News. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service says a cold front is pushing east, and the Mid-Atlantic could see severe weather tomorrow,

including storms, hail, heavy rain, and possible tornadoes. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.