NPR News: 03-06-2026 4PM EST

0:00This message comes from Charles Schwab. When it comes to managing your wealth, Schwab gives you more choices, like full-service wealth management and advice when you need it. You can also invest on your own and trade on Thinkorswim. Visit Schwab.com to learn more. Lie from NPR News in Washington. I'm Lakshmi Singh. On the seventh day of war, Iran launched another wave of retaliatory strikes against Israel and Gulf countries and Israel unleashed air strikes on Tehran and Beirut Lebanon. The Associated Press, recording an explosion hours ago as large plumes of smoke were seen rising in Beirut's southern suburbs. Tens of thousands of people have fled as Israeli forces issued sweeping evacuation warnings and targeted Iran back to his bullets strongholds. Areas of the Kurdistan region of Iraq are also under attack tonight. A major hotel in Erbil was hit shortly after the U.S. State Department warned four nationals' hotels were a target.

1:01Iran, back militias in Iraq are claiming responsibility. President Trump has projected the U.S. Israel war with Iran will last four to five weeks, perhaps longer. Amid concerns about weapons stocks, Trump's meeting today with some of the biggest U.S. defense contractors. Here's NPR's Franco-Ordonias. White House officials are expected to press contractors to accelerate weapons production. Press Secretary Caroline Levitz had the president would be joined by defense secretary Pete Hagseth. The purpose of it is to talk about the president's aggressive and fierce support for rapidly increasing the ability of U.S. manufacturers to produce American-made weapons. U.S. officials who are not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that they are concerned about a lack of missile interceptors and may have to draw from other stockpiles. Levitt and other officials have pushed back on those concerns, saying the U.S. has more than enough weapons. Franco-Ordonias and Pionnes, the White House.

2:02Customs officials say they're working on a streamlined system to deliver tariff refunds. NPR Scott Horsley reports they hope to have the system up and running within 45 days. Since the Supreme Court struck down many of President Trump's tariffs two weeks ago, the companies that paid those import taxes have been wondering when and how they'll get their money back. Customs estimates it collected some $166 billion from the now outlawed tariffs, refunding that money to more than 300,000 businesses will be cumbersome. But the government says it's working on a streamlined process that won't require every importer to file individual lawsuits. The government says it'll take about a month and a half to set up the program, which will use the same electronic filing system importers already rely on. The proposal came after a judge at the Court of International Trade said this week the Supreme Court left the administration with no choice. But to refund the money, it wrongly collected. Scott Horsley and Pionnes was Washington. The U.S. economy unexpectedly lost 92,000 jobs last month instead of gaining tens of thousands. The Labor Department says a jobless rate ticked up to 4.4%.

3:06U.S. docs and at the day lower, the Dow closed down 453 points are nearly 1%. This is NPR News. The Department of Justice has published additional Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor. That's after an NPR investigation found dozens of pages were withheld. Here's NPR Stephen Fowler. NPRJ uploaded more than 1,000 new pages of Epstein files Thursday evening. They include 18 pages related to claims of sexual abuse by President Trump four decades ago that were previously withheld. After NPR reported on those missing files, the Justice Department said it was looking to see if that was a mistake. There are still 37 pages of records relating to the allegation missing, also missing any sort of context as to how credible investigators found the claims. Or why it was included in a Justice Department slideshow last fall. Stephen Fowler, NPR News, Atlanta. Cuba is slowly recovering from a near total power blackout. NPR Zeta Peralta has an update.

4:08The island was plunged into darkness after a boiler broke at one of the country's largest thermoelectric plants. Cuba's aging electrical system has been fragile for years, but the U.S. has now enacted a fuel blockade that's thrown it close to collapse. Cubans are cooking on the streets with firewood. Public services are limited. The government has announced reforms to its economic system. Analysts say that was intended to encourage the U.S. to ease its pressure on the government. But President Trump showed no signs he was retreating. He said he wanted to finish up with Iran before moving on to Cuba. But he said it's a question of time before Cuba's government falls. NPR News, Garakas. The Nasdaq end of the day down 1.5% the S&P was down 1.3%. You're listening to NPR. This message comes from NPR sponsor OnePassword. Anyone else feel like 99% of your emails and texts are password reset codes? Trusted by millions of users and over 175,000 businesses, OnePassword lets you skip the resets and sign in securely with strong, unique passwords that auto fill across all your devices.

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