NPR News Now - NPR News: 09-28-2026 3AM EDT

Episode Date: September 28, 2026

NPR News: 09-28-2026 3AM EDTSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. President Trump has praised the arrests of Five Men Sunday in England in connection with what British authorities are describing as a suspected terror plot. They were arrested near a British air base the U.S. has been using to launch attacks on Iran. NPR's Lauren Freyer reports from London. The British government declined to join the U.S. in Israeli war on Iran, but it's allowed the U.S. to use British air bases for what it calls defensive attacks on Iran. And Royal Air Force Base Fairford is one of those. hosting American bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Last summer, Iran's Revolutionary Guard said any base used against Iran is a, quote, legitimate target. Early Sunday, police say they intercepted three suspicious vans near RAF Fairford and arrested five suspects. They have not identified the men who remain in custody on suspicion, police say, of committing offenses under the Explosives Act and also of preparing a terrorist act. Lauren Freyer and PR News London. President Trump says he expects U.S. negotiators to engage in more talks with Iranian officials this week. He made his comments in an interview with the news site Axios. On Friday, Trump rejected the latest plan from Iran to reopen the strait of four moves. Speaking on NBC's meet the press, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi says that Iran is ready if the U.S. takes military action again.

We are fully prepared for the time for the war to be resumed. And I repeat, we stand firm in the face of any new aggression, even it comes to a doomsday war. But at the same time, we are ready, we stand ready for diplomacy. It is up to President Trump to choose. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, is reporting that Trump wants to resume bombing in Iran after the midterm elections in November. Much of the coast of the Baja Peninsula and other parts of northwest Mexico have been bracing for Hurricane Polo. KJZZ's Nina Krivinsky reports from Armacia in Sonora, Mexico. Hurricane Polo has been making its way north off Mexico's west coast after rapidly intensifying into a major hurricane.

The storm is expected to make landfall on the Baja Peninsula before making its way inland to the Mexican state of Sonora across the Gulf of California. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico warns travelers to be aware of flooding, mudslides, and road closures early in the week. The National Hurricane Center says moisture from the hurricane could also lead to heavy rainfall and flooding in the southwest U.S. Another storm, Tropical Storm Rachel, off of Mexico's southwest coast, has been moving north in Polo's wake and strengthened into a tropical storm Sunday. For NPR News, I'm Nina Kravinsky in Erdmoseo, Mexico. The Palestinian death toll from the Hamas-Israel war is now past 74. thousand, that's 15,000 more than the number of Americans who were killed in the Vietnam War. The latest numbers come from the Gaza Health Ministry.

This is NPR News. The zoo in Atlanta is welcoming two new giant pandas. They arrive from China's Sunday morning as part of a new agreement between the U.S. and Chinese governments. The loan of pandas is part of China's global diplomacy program. NPRS. St.N. Wright has more. Male panda Ping Ping, who's six, and female Fu Shwang, who's five, flew in on Boeing's FedEx Panda Express Jet. The giant pandas will stay in quarantine for about a month in Zoo Atlanta's new panda complex before they're introduced to the public on a date to be announced later.

Ping Ping and Fu Shwong are in Atlanta for 10 years through a new conservation agreement between the zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association. China's president, Xi Jinping, officially confirmed the pandas would soon arrive during his visit to Washington last week. Zoo Atlanta is one of three zoos in the U.S. with pandas on loan from China. Once in danger, they're now classified as vulnerable species. Kristen Wright, NPR News. Avengers and Game Encore landed in first place this weekend in North American theaters, bringing in $26 million. It was an encore showing of a movie released seven years ago,

but it contains new footage. It also brought in $60 million in overseas sales. The reboot of Resident Evil was in second, with $23.3 million in ticket sales, while Heart of the Beast debuted in third, 20 million. Budget flick primetime finished forth, bringing in $19.2 million. The man known as the Calypso King of the World has died. The family of Slinger Francisco, known around the world as the Mighty Sparrow, says he died peacefully but released no other

details of his death. He was 91 years old. His first hit song was released in 1956. Over his career, he wrote more than 500 songs and recorded 70 albums. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.