NPR News: 03-08-2026 6AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Skiivone. Drones and missiles crisscross much of the Middle East today, as the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran entered its second week. Israeli fighter jets pounded targets in Iran's capital, and also in Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group is based. Meanwhile, Iran continues to fire drones and missiles into multiple Gulf states. NPR's Kerry Khan has the latest from Tel Aviv. Israel's military says it is dealt serious blows to Iran's air missile and drone system. They say they've been hitting targets throughout the country, and particularly in the capital Tehran. We have seen a decrease in the number of air-raid sirens in Israel signaling incoming missiles are drones from Iran. But I have to tell you, overnight and throughout the day, there was still more than a handful of sirens sending residents into the bomb shelter, and that's where I am right now. NPR's Kerry Khan reporting from Tel Aviv, attacks by Iran and its paramilitary proxies

1:00have intensified in Iraq and the country's Kurdistan region. A missile strike on the U.S. base at Erbil's international airport killed a Kurdish security member while rockets hit the U.S. embassy in Baghdad yesterday. NPR's Jain-Araf reports. Iran and the Iraqi militias at Baxe had a hotel used by the UN in the city of Selim as well as a brigade of Kurdish fighters and an Iranian opposition base near the Kurdistan region's second city. Kamala and Iranian armed opposition groups at its base near Selimania was hit by a missile Saturday, killing one of its fighters and wounding another. In the regional capital, Erbil, drone attacks at the airport compound where U.S. forces are based, killed a member of the region's internal security forces, the provincial governor told NPR. The Iraqi government pledged to arrest militia members that blamed for rocket attacks on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad Saturday. Security sources said one of the rockets hit the embassy's helicopter landing pad.

2:04Jain-Araf and NPR news, Erbil. A federal judge has struck down Trump administration official Kerry Lake's actions to dismantle voice of America, saying she did not have legal authority to do so, and PR's David Fokenflick reports she plans to appeal. Lake sought to lay off more than a thousand journalists from the U.S.-owned global network and its sister network, serving Cuba, and she tried to kill federal funding for Radio Free Asia and Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, and PR first reported on the legality of Lake status last August. For example, we repeatedly asked for any evidence she had been named acting CEO of the agency by President Trump, as required for that job. None arrived. U.S. District Court Judge Roy C. Lamberth wrote that Lake, quote, satisfies the requirements of neither this statute nor the Constitution. Lake tells NPR that Lamberth is an activist judge trying to stand in the way of Trump's agenda. This is NPR News in Washington. President Trump is currently slated to visit Beijing at the end of this month, and today

3:06China's Foreign Minister told reporters that there are hopes that this will be a landmark year for relations between China and the United States. Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke on the sidelines of an annual meeting of China's ceremonial legislature, long also called for an end to military actions in Iran. In Selma, Alabama, the annual reenactment of the 1965 bloody Sunday march for voting rights will be held today. Troy Public Radio's Kyle Gassett reports that a special service will be held to honor civil rights leader, Reverend Jesse Jackson. Today's bridge crossing will be one of the few that Jackson will not physically be present, but his contributions to the civil rights movement and the many times he participated in the march will be remembered. Jackson, who died last month, was moved to join the movement in 1965 when he heard reports of fellow black protesters being beaten in Selma by Alabama state troopers as they marched for the right to vote. The Americans to honor Jackson will be held before and after the bridge crossing reenactments

4:10as organizers attempt to draw attention to what they say are threats to voting rights. From PR News, I'm Kyle Gassett in Montgomery, Alabama. By the end of this month, Indonesia will ban social media for children under age 16. A government regulation has been signed their blocking access to these young people on what's considered high-risk digital platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. I'm Louise Skivone and PR News, Washington.