NPR News: 03-07-2026 5PM EST

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. President Trump, Vice President Vance and Defense Secretary Hegseth were among the leaders who attended the dignified transfer of six U.S. soldiers killed last Sunday in Kuwait. In Pierce Tamer Keith reports, they were the first American service members killed in the U.S. war with Iran. At Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, President Trump saluted the fallen, wearing a white U.S.A. baseball cap and bright red tie. Trump and the other dignitaries stood on the tarmac in silence as the six flag draped transfer cases were carried from a military aircraft to waiting vans. The soldiers were all killed in Kuwait a day after Operation Epic Fury began. Their family members were on hand and hidden from view for the solemn event as the remains of their loved ones were brought back to U.S. soil. Here Trump described them as heroes. He said these losses are the way it is in war, but, quote, were going to keep it to a minimum.

1:03Tamer Keith and P.R. News Iran-backed militias in Iraq fired rockets at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad today. According to Iraqi security forces, there were no immediate reports of casualties. The Iran-linked militias also targeted the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq as M.P.R.'s Jane Arraf reports. This was the sound of a rocket being intercepted above the American Embassy in Baghdad. The video taken by a resident of an apartment complex across the street from the U.S. mission. The rockets were launched from Baghdad and Iraqi security official told NPR, he asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Iraq's prime minister ordered security forces to find and arrest those responsible for the attack. In the Kurdish capital, Erbil, three drones were intercepted with no casualties or significant damage. Kurdish government officials said. Jane Arraf and P.R. News, Erbil Deadly storms moved across the Midwest in Great Plains last night, spawning more than a

2:06dozen reported tornadoes. The storms left at least 4 dead in Michigan and 2 in Oklahoma, with more than a dozen people injured. Jason Wheeler with Member Station KOSU reports on the situation in Oklahoma. Oak Moghi County emergency management officials say power crews and other responders weren't able to do their work in that area Saturday morning because so many people were trying to see the damage. These storms came just a day after a mother and daughter died in their car in Western Oklahoma. Emergency management officials say they were struck by an unconfirmed tornado. Governor Kevin Stitt has declared a state of emergency for eight counties in Northeast Oklahoma. Across the state, four Western counties are still under a state of emergency after wildfires devastated hundreds of thousands of acres in late February. For MPR News, I'm Grayson Wheeler in Oklahoma City. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The Broadway League says nearly 20% of theater tickets are being snapped up by people attending

3:07musicals and plays on their own. That's a double what it was a couple of years ago. If your's Chloe Veltman reports, a theater operator is now taking steps to actively encourage audience members to fly solo. Sixty people signed up for live theater operator ATG Entertainment's inaugural Solo Seats event in San Francisco recently. The tickets included a discounted orchestra seat for the Broadway musical The Notebook on tour, a pre-show mixer with other solo seatsters and a free drink. There to go, Maria Sacada says this is her first time seeing a live show on her own. I kind of love the idea of going to a show like how you would see a movie by yourself. Social psychologist Bella DiPolo says solo leisure is booming, owing to rising economic independence and longer life expectancies. ATG says it plans to expand solo seats nationwide. Chloe Veltman MP on news. The National Symphony Orchestra's Executive Director is quitting. Jean Davidson had planned to stay until the group, which is the last classical music organization

4:12still at the Kennedy Center, hit its 100th birthday in 2031. But now she says she's leaving to take a job at the Wallace Annemburg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. This after several prominent artists who are collaborating with the NSO said they would no longer work with the Kennedy Center, including composer Philip Glass and soprano Renee Fleming. I'm Jeanine Herbst and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Listen to this podcast sponsor free on Amazon Music with a prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.