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Episode Date: August 27, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Roran. Tech company Meadow will pay up to $17.1 billion to settle a lawsuit with 47 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories concerning the operation of Facebook and its Instagram platforms. Colorado's Attorney General Phil Wisner argued on behalf of states that Mehta knowingly designed its platforms to be addictive to children while hiding the harm. that they cause. We're going to now put in effective age assurance and effective protections so that underage kids are not getting on the platform. And there's going to be an auditor who's going to oversee the conduct of the company. And we're going to hold them to account. We're going to make sure they follow these rules. This is going to be a game changer. Much of the money in the settlement will be used for educational and mental health programs.

Senator Richard Blumenthal says he hopes that the House of Representatives will approve a sanctions bill against Russia next month. NPR's Polina-Lenal reports from Kiev that Blumenthal also got a request from Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky on the needs that his country is seeking. Senator Blumenthal says making sure Ukraine gets intercepta missiles, it needs to defend itself from Russian ballistic missile attacks is part of what he calls his homework, along with advocating for letting Ukraine use Starlink on Russia's territory.

Talking to reporters in Kiev, Blumenthal said he hoped that CIA director John Radcliffe used his recent trip to Moscow to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin against a possible escalation in the war with Ukraine. I'm hopeful that, I'm very hopeful that the message was, don't do it, forget about it. President Zelensky has said he believes Russia is preparing to mobilize an additional 300,000 troops. Polina Litvinova, NPR News. Two weeks after a severe storm caused widespread power outages in northwest Indiana, the local utility company says the restoration efforts are mostly complete. Barban Giano reports some residents, though, are still upset. Nipsco announced on their website Wednesday, Cruz would continue working through individual outage cases. James Isson is a contractor and lives in Hobart, Indiana. He says his neighbor still doesn't have electricity due to damage from trees. Isson says he's frustrated with the lack of

urgency on Nipsco's part. There's still a lot of power. Yeah, and you can see that. There's still people still hurting. And that makes no sense to me. Nipsco currently faces a class action lawsuit, alleging the utility failed to manage vegetation, as well as conduct adequate inspections of utility poles and power lines. Indiana Governor Mike Braun has asked Indiana's utility watchdog to seek an investigation

into Nipsco. For NPR News, I'm Barbanguiano and Gary. On Wall Street Wednesday, all three stock indexes. were down. This is NPR. Flash flooding along the border between China and Nepal has left an estimated 160 people dead. Hundreds of others are reported missing. Experts say an avalanche from a glacier is the likely cause in the warming Himalaya mountain region. The U.S. Geological Survey first reported the incident as an earthquake, but later said the 5.2 event was actually a landslide. The Japanese artist, Yakko Kusama, has died, nicknamed the Princess of Pocodots.

Her work was shown at major museums and galleries around the world. She was 97. NPR's Elizabeth Blair has this appreciation. Yayoi Kusama put polka dots on everything, clothing, paintings, giant pumpkin sculptures. She once wrote, Our Earth is only one Pocodot among a million stars in the cosmos. She was also obsessed with the concept of infinity. Her infinity rooms have floor to ceiling mirrors and twinkling lights that seem to go on forever. Kusama grew up in Matsumoto City. She suffered

from mental illness and hallucinations. As a little girl, she would draw the visions in sketchbooks to, as she put it, help ease the shock and fear. Kusama moved to New York and thrived in the city's avant-garde scene. In the last years of her life, Kusama lived in in a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo. She continued to create art in a studio nearby. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News. NFL owners have approved the sale of the Seattle Seahawks $9.6 billion. This is NBR.

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