NPR News: 03-12-2026 2AM EDT

0:00Who should win the Oscar for the best original song this year? On the latest all songs considered from NPR music, we rank the nominees. I think Diane Warren should have won two Academy Awards. The problem is very often the lyrics are not much more insightful than you would find on the nearest throw pillow. Here's the NPR music podcast on the NPR app or wherever you get podcasts. Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. As the Iran War approaches a two week mark, huge crowds took to the streets of Tehran for funerals for top commanders, killed in joint U.S. and Israeli air strikes. And there are questions about the whereabouts of the new supreme leader. The son of the late Ayatollah Ali Hamane is not appeared in public or issued any direct message since the war began. Here's NPR Shane Arath. The Ayatollah Amush Tava Hamane is injured but safe and sound. His son Yusuf wrote in a post on his telegram channel. The reports have been that he was injured but not seriously enough to not be in charge.

1:04We don't know where he is. He's obviously in a secure location. And although he's supreme leader and he commands pretty much everything, there is still that layer of command and control of the military. NPR Shane Arath reporting from Erbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Oil prices are rising again, topping $100 of barrel before settling back a bit, despite an agreement among major countries to release a record amount of oil from emergency reserves. International academics say the war with Iran is disrupting global higher education from member station G.B.H. in Boston. Kirk Karepp has reports that while few Americans study in Iran, the conflict is creating ripple effects across the Middle East. Qatar hosts American branch campuses for Georgetown and Northwestern. In the United Arab Emirates, there's NYU Abu Dhabi, as well as Boston's Halt International Business School, which has a campus in Dubai. Both Qatar and the UAE have been hit by strikes from Iran in response to American and Israeli attacks.

2:06Fanta Ab is executive director of the Association of International Educators. She says the Middle East is a major hub for developing global talent. This has been incredibly disruptive, so a lot of work and crisis management has been the issue disorder. Ab says with no end in sight, many institutions are bringing students home or moving classes online. For NPR News, I'm Kirk Karepp as I in Boston. President Trump campaigned in Kentucky Wednesday. NPR's Mara Alliance reports he's trying to help defeat a fellow Republican. Presidents usually campaign on behalf of their parties and incumbents, but not this time. President Trump was in Kentucky's fourth congressional district represented by Thomas Massey since 2012. Trump said Massey was a loser. He was disloyal. He was a disaster as a congressman and a human being. But the district is safely read and Trump is confident that if Massey loses the primary or Republican will still win in November. The president and Massey have clashed over many issues, including Trump's constitutional authority to conduct the war in Iran,

3:07federal spending and the Epstein files. Massey forced Trump to back down and release the files when he and other Republicans banded together with Democrats. Mara Laison, NPR News. This is NPR News. India has made it easier for Chinese companies to invest in key sectors of its economy, including solar cells and silicon chips. She's Valentine reports on the move that Mara has significant lowering of tensions between two of the world's largest economies. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had been facing pressure from industry to open the economy to foreign investment. Chinese investment had been restricted for the past six years, following deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops along the contested Himalayan border. Direct flights also resume between the two countries late last year. A conflict with Iran has pushed up fuel prices, and the Indian rupee fell to a record low on Monday. India has been deepening trade and diplomatic partnerships with China and the EU, amid tensions with the United States, which has been pressuring India to cut its purchases of

4:12Russian oil. For NPR News, I'm Ashish Valentine. The ride hailing service lift has agreed to protect the rights of blind and disabled riders who travel with service animals. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights has lived as agreed to a settlement that applies nationwide. In the case of a college student who said that lift drivers repeatedly refused to let her service dog ride along. Officials say lift has agreed to train drivers on disability rights and warn them that they can lose their access to the platform if they violate the law. The WNBA and its players union have yet to reach a deal and a new collective bargaining agreement that two sides started talking again Wednesday afternoon in New York. After ending a 12-hour negotiating session early Wednesday morning, revenue sharing, the key sticking point. I'm Giles Snyder, NPR News.