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Episode Date: August 21, 2026

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Live from NPR news, I'm Charles Snyder. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says it may take a while to see results from his attempt to calm the bond market. Anything that happens within a 24-hour period is noise. And I think that once the market understands that we are focusing on fiscal consolidation and that we are trying to bring the market back into equilibrium in a thinly traded market. I think I'm confident that bonds will continue to climb. Besson announced Wednesday that Treasury would double the size of a bond buyback program starting next month. But bond yields resumed climbing Thursday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, a key benchmark for mortgage rates, rose back above 4.6 percent Thursday. The Trump administration says dismantling Hezbollah is essential for an incredible path forward for Lebanon. The U.S. describes the group as an Iranian proxy that's dragged the country into two wars with Israel. NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports. State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggott says the Iranian regime has used as Bala to spread terror throughout the Middle East. That's why the U.S. is renewing its designation of the Lebanese group as an Iranian proxy. The Treasury Department is also adding 10 individuals to a sanctions list, accusing them of helping to transfer cash between Iranians.

and Hezbollah. The State Department says couriers transfer cash on commercial flights and U.S. officials are working with Turkey to disrupt that. Israel invaded southern Lebanon earlier this year to counter Hezbollah rocket fire, and now the U.S. is trying to mediate an end to the conflict. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, Washington. The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier at the heart of the controversy over deteriorating conditions is returning home. The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln is returned. after a record-setting deployment in the Middle East, USS George Washington Carrier arrived Thursday to take over. For years, L.A. has been known to have the largest population of displaced military veterans in the country. But NPR's Quill Lawrence reports that this year the region is reporting a 26% decline in veteran homelessness.

Advocates for homeless veterans in Los Angeles are celebrating when, as the number of vets living on the street counted each year on a single night, dropped by a quarter this year. The improvement over the past three years is even better a 42% drop, says the Director of Veterans Affairs for L.A. County, Jim Zener. Since we started one team three years ago with the VA, county, city, and community partners, we've increased permanent housing placements by over 40%. The VA helped create what Zener called the One Team, which formulates a list of homeless vets in L.A., by name, and then works to help them individually streamlining all available agencies and non-governmental groups

in the effort. Quill Lawrence, NPR News. This is NPR. The U.S. military says the crash of a charter aircraft in Western Alaska Thursday killed all eight people on board. The crash happened at Cape Newenham Airport at a radar site that tracks aircraft operating at Alaska's airspace. It's managed by the Pacific Air Force's Regional Support Center. The plane had taken off from Anchorage. Why, Governor Josh Green, urging residents, prepare for another big storm. Forecasters keeping an eye on a system that they say could bring a tropical storm to the islands this weekend, a week after Hurricane Lala, tore a ruse from Holmes and left many without power. For decades, the U.S. has served adults with disabilities in their communities rather than in institutions.

Amirish Tanaki Meta reports that the Trump administration is trying to reverse course. Siblings Kaylee and Cody Brendel grew up near the Jersey Shore. Both of them are blind, and Cody, who's 27, also has often. And after high school, for years, he was in a kind of limbo until now. His family has found a community-based program funded by Medicaid where he learns life skills like job training at Jersey Mikes, where he loves bopping lettuce. You have to bang it down a couple of times to loosen the court. But now, the Justice Department has said it will no longer enforce illegal protection that says

states must provide services for adults with disabilities in their community. Here's Cody's sister, Kaylee. That affects everything. Integrated setting affects school, where you can work. It affects the community-based programs like what my brother uses. The law hasn't changed, but the administration may no longer enforce it. Janaki Mhatha and Pira News. This is NPR News.