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Episode Date: August 31, 2026

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Roran. President Trump is escalating his trade war with Canada, and both countries are now raising tariffs on each other. But his latest move is renaming Lake Ontario, which sits between New York and Canada to Lake America. NPR's Deepa Shiveram reports. Trump signed an executive order directing the federal government to rename the smallest of the Great Lakes. He made a similar move last year, renaming the Gulf of Mexico. We have a gulf and we have a lake. Now all we need is a notion. The change comes after trade talks broke down and Trump announced that he would impose a 50% tariff on some Canadian goods,

escalating a trade war with the U.S.'s longtime ally. Canada issued counter tariffs in response. Tariffs are likely to raise the cost of goods for Americans that are already high due to the war with Iran. And it's becoming an issue for some Republicans in tight election fights this year. Deepa Shiveram, NPR News. Two executives and a reporter for Stars and Stripes filed suit Thursday against the Pentagon for firing them. They alleged top Defense Department officials retaliated for their recent reporting. NPR's David Fulkenflik reports.

Stars and Stripes covers military matters. It's funded in part by the Congress through the Pentagon's budget. Early this year, the Pentagon's chief spokesman posted on social media that he wanted to refocus stars and stripes, quote, away from the woke distractions that siphon morale. In July, editor-in-chief Eric Slavin and reporter Lara Corti spoke to CBS News about concerns their independence was being eroded. Then the paper reported on deteriorating conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln and the Persian Gulf. The two were fired.

Publisher Max Lederer was fired too after he announced he'd retire rather than terminate them. The three journalists are asking a federal judge to intervene to block the firings from taking effect. The Pentagon declined comment citing the litigation. David Falkinflick and PR News. Jurors in the Plymouth, Massachusetts murder trial of Lindsay Clancy began their first day of deliberations Thursday. They're scheduled to resume those discussions in the morning. They're deciding whether Clancy had lost her grip on reality due to mental illness and postpartum psychosis or whether she was in control of herself when she killed the three children in January of 2023.

Deborah Becker with member station WBUR is covering the trial. Defense attorney Kevin Redington said Lindsay Clancy was experiencing postpartum psychosis and should not be held criminally responsible for strangling her three children who were five years old, three years old, and eight months old. Now, postpartum psychosis is a potentially dangerous psychiatric emergency that can be treated but is often misdiagnosed. Clancy did not testify in her own defense. This is NPR. Around parts of the world, stargazers are getting quite a show this morning.

The Earth is moving between the sun and the moon in a partial lunar eclipse. At the peak of the eclipse, the moon was almost fully behind the Earth's shadow, causing the moon to be covered in a rusty red glow. This is not a full lunar eclipse, but scientists say it's closed. 93.2% of the moon will be dark. The peak of the eclipse was about 35 minutes ago. According to space.com, the next total lunar eclipse anywhere on Earth will occur on December the 31st of 2008. In Nevada, firefighters are close to containing a wildfire that has burned structures and forced thousands of people to flee their homes in Reno.

NPR's Kirk Ziegler reports. Federal data show that more than three quarters of all wildfires in the U.S. are human-caused, be it arson or just negligence, such as a down power line or a spark. from a vehicle. Kelly Pail is a researcher at Headwaters economics. She says greater public awareness about the risks has helped. You know, Smokey Bear is one of the most widely recognized marketing creatures out there. He's been championed for 80 years. And yet, we still do see a lot of human ignition. So awareness is only one piece of the puzzle. Human-caused wildfires tend to be more destructive than natural blazes. Pail says communities can zone so that infrastructure is clear of hazardous fuels and homes and businesses should be built with wildfire resistant materials.

Kirk Sigler, NPR News. It was a positive day on Wall Street. All three indexes were up. This is NPR. Support for NPR.