NPR News: 03-02-2026 7PM EST

0:00The U.S. launches a military operation against Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime. On State of the World, we'll bring you the latest on the operation, as well as reaction from the region and around the globe. Listen to State of the World on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Kivone, war in the Middle East widened today with waves of attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Iran, and Iran striking back on targets in the Gulf as far afield as Cyprus. The Lebanese militia, Hezbollah, has also entered the fight, launching its first attacks on Israel in more than a year, and PR's Jane Aroff has details from Amman. Well, there are tens of thousands of displaced here. The Lebanese government closed schools, turning them into shelters, with residents evacuating Beirut's southern suburbs, as well as South Lebanon, and Parrishawad Raskhala spoke with one man who said he left before dawn.

1:04As soon as he heard the Israeli air strikes hitting Dahia, the Beirut suburb where Hezbollah has a large presence. He said it's the second time he and his family had been displaced. The last time was two years ago when the shelters were full, and they slept in the streets. And PR's Jane Aroff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is challenging lawmakers who say President Trump's decision to attack Iran was illegal because he did not get approval from Congress. Rubio briefed top lawmakers on Capitol Hill today, and PR's Sam Gringless has more. The Secretary of State met with a bipartisan group of more than a dozen Congressional leaders, including the so-called Gang of Aid, who Rubio called just before the strikes. We've complied with a law 100 percent, and we're going to continue to comply with it. But we did notify members of Congress. We just can't notify 535 people. That's not possible. But most Democrats, like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and a few Republicans, dispute the administration's assertion that an imminent threat justified action without authorization.

2:07That briefing raised many more questions than it answered. Lawmakers are said to vote later this week on resolutions to curb continued military action against Iran, even if they do pass their unlikely to overcome a presidential veto. Sam Gringless, NPR News, Washington. Global crude oil prices are up about 8 percent natural gas prices in Europe have spiked much higher than that. As NPR's Camilla Domenoski reports, tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has halted due to the risk of attacks. About a fifth of global oil trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and even more than a fifth of the world's liquefied natural gas, or LNG, used for heating and electricity. Despite threats, Iran has never closed the Strait before. Claudio Gallimberti is with rice dead energy. We have not seen anything like this in pretty much the history of the Strait of Hormuz. Higher oil and natural gas prices will drive up costs for gasoline, electricity, and inflation overall. The U.S. is the world's top oil producer and the number one

3:07exporter of LNG, so higher prices are a boon to some U.S. companies. Camilla Domenoski. NPR News. Wall Street the Dow ended the day off 73, the Nasdaq gained 80 and the S&P 500 basically unchanged. This is NPR. The family of Baltimore native Henrietta Lacks settled their second lawsuit with a major biotech company. Her sales have been used to develop major medical breakthroughs. We get details from W.Y.P.R. Scott Mossione. The Lacks family have settled their lawsuit with Novartis, marking another win for the descendants of a black woman whose sales were taken and used for scientific research without her consent. The Lacks family settled with thermo-fisher scientific in 2023. The amount of both settlements has not been released. Henrietta Lacks was receiving medical care for cervical cancer at a segregated ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951 when doctors took samples from her tumor. The doctors found they could replicate her cells outside of her body, the first discovery of

4:09its kind. Since then, more than 100,000 scientific publications and numerous medical innovations have originated from the use of these cells. Lacks' family was never compensated for her contribution to medical science. For NPR News, I'm Scott Mossione in Baltimore. Near daybreak tomorrow morning, you might be able to see a total lunar eclipse. The Earth will be between the sun and the moon casting a shadow that covers the full moon. Early morning shafts of sunlight filtering through the Earth's atmosphere are expected to make the moon look red. The lunar eclipse will be visible from North America, Central America, and the western part of South America. The late Catherine O'Hara won Best Female Actor for her comedy series work in the studio last night. At the 30-second Actor Awards, she died unexpectedly from a blood clot last month. I'm Louise Kivone, NPR News, Washington.