NPR News: 03-15-2026 11AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Amy Held. The historic shock to the world's oil supply is reverberating three weeks into the war in Iran. President Trump is calling on other nations to protect the passage for global supply that Iran is blocking, and his NPR's Oresy Resvani reports the response to that call has been pretty quiet. President Trump wants China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and other nations to send their warships to the Strait of Hormuz to help secure the key shipping route. The UK's defense ministry says it's exploring its options, but so far no country has committed to Trump's call. Since the start of the war, Iran has blocked some oil tankers and attacked cargo vessels trying to pass through the strait, which has led to a huge spike in global oil prices, nearly a fifth of the world's oil supply typically passes through this vital oil export route. The waters off Iran's coast have become a strategic battleground in the war. The U.S. bombed military targets on Iran's Hark Island Saturday.

1:01Trump said the U.S. might hit the island again, quote, just for fun, if Iran continues interfering with ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Oresy Resvani, NPR News, Erbil, and the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Since the war, the price of oil has spiked more than 40 percent, and that will have wide reaching consequences in the U.S., even though it is less reliant on imports than other nations. Here's KPMG Chief Economist, Diane Swank. We're seeing everything from freight shipping costs to transportation costs, prices at the gas pumps, to what you will see at the grocery store. Everything that gets moved is going to be affected by these price hikes. Triple A says the price of gas is now about $3.70 a gallon. It's up about $0.78 from one month ago. The chair of the Federal Communications Commission is threatening the licenses of broadcasters over what he says is fake news about the war.

2:02NPR's Danielle Kurtz Laban reports. FCC Chair Brendan Carr made the threat in a social media post that accused outlets of, quote, running hoaxes and news distortions, unquote. He added, quote, broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not, unquote. In the post, Carr attached a social media post in which President Trump said that outlets including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal want the U.S. to lose the war in Iran. He also characterized workers at those outlets as truly sick and demented people. The administration has multiple times accused news organizations of pushing fake news after running stories about difficulties and damages the U.S. has suffered in the war. Danielle Kurtz Laban and NPR News. U.S.-China trade talks are underway in Paris, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading the U.S. delegation. These meetings expected to pave the way for Trump to travel to China in a couple of weeks. This is NPR News. Blizzard conditions are blanketing much of the central U.S. now dealing with heavy snow

3:05and high winds, but its heat and dryness plus high winds that are bringing critical fire danger farther south. Texas and New Mexico are under red flag warnings today. Meantime a cold front is sweeping eastward, bringing the chance of severe weather to parts of the mid-Atlantic by tomorrow that includes tornado risk. The Academy Awards will be handed out tonight in Los Angeles and PR's Mandelite Del Barco reports. The big prize at the Oscars could be a showdown between two of the ten films vying for best picture. The Supernatural Thriller set in the Jim Crow South has a record breaking 16 nominations. Ryan Kugler is up for Best Director and for Best Actor Michael B. Jordan. He plays two roles as a twin smoke and stack. Be careful. How are we out? Sinners is facing one battle after another, which was written, directed and produced by Paul Thomas Anderson. He's nominated as Best Director and the film stars Best Actor nominee Leonardo DiCaprio. He plays a washed up revolutionary.

4:07Also competing for Best Picture are Hamlet, Sentimental Value, Train Dreams, The Secret Agent, Bagonia, F1, Frankenstein and Marty Supreme, Mandelite Del Barco and PR News. Thousands of spectators are lining the streets of South Boston for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. It's one of the biggest celebrations of Irish heritage in the U.S. and also one of the oldest. Organizers say Boston first held festivities in 1737. And Patrick's Day is Tuesday. This is NPR News.