NPR News: 03-17-2026 11AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Korvakulman. The head of the U.S. Counterterrorism Center has resigned in protest over the war with Iran. Joe Kent published his blistering resignation letter that addresses President Trump directly. He says he can't in good conscience support the war. Kent writes, quote, it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. Kent says Trump was persuaded that there was a clear path to victory in Iran. He writes, quote, this was a lie. Meanwhile, Israel says it has killed two senior Iranian officials. NPR's Kerry Khan reports Iran is not commented on the claim. Israel's defense minister made the announcement saying both men were killed overnight and he's instructed the military to continue, quote, hunting the leadership. Israel's military confirmed it had killed Golamresa Soleimani, the leader of the besieged paramilitary forces, responsible for violently suppressing street protests against the Iranian

1:02government earlier this year. And that an Israeli air strike killed Ali Lavranjani, who it says had been in charge of directing Iran's military effort since Israel killed the supreme leader in the beginning of the war. Iran continues to strike targets in the Gulf. The UAE defense ministry says it has, quote, engaged 10 ballistic missiles and 45 drones just in the early Tuesday hours. Kerry Khan and PR News Tel Aviv. President Trump's call for European allies to help the U.S. Navy protect commercial shipping in the strait of Hormuz is being rebuffed by European leaders. Terry Schultz reports from Brussels. EU foreign policy chief Kayakullis said the blocs foreign ministers were considering whether to beef up their own naval mission in the Middle East, Operation Aspiris, which focuses on keeping navigation open in the Red Sea. Extending this mandate to cover the strait of Hormuz, there was no appetite from the member states to do that. President Trump says he's testing NATO allies' solidarity.

2:03But Finnish foreign minister Ilian Evoltanen explains that there are other pressures weighing on European countries too. We are already securing quite a long border against Russia, who is the May threat to NATO. NATO ambassadors meet today to discuss the situation in the Middle East. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. Fuel prices continue to soar because of the war with Iran. Airline executives say jet fuel prices have doubled. The CEO of the airline industry trade group Airlines for America is Chris Sununu. He's the former Republican governor of New Hampshire. Sununu says this is a spike and he hopes it will be temporary. If this issue in Iran were to go beyond Memorial Day or something like that, then the way I put it is, the pricing would get a little stickier, right? You'd probably see it last not just through the summer, but maybe even into the fall. He spoke to CNN. On Wall Street, the Dow is up nearly 250 points. This is NPR. Officials in Afghanistan say Pakistan has carried out a deadly air strike in the capital

3:05Kabul. Afghan officials say the strike hit a drug rehabilitation hospital killing at least 400 people. Afghanistan disputes the claim, saying it targets only military facilities. Reuters news agency reports the facility is a former NATO military base converted to a hospital about a decade ago. Files released earlier this year show that late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein often used offers of funding and philanthropy to draw people into his orbit. He was especially interested in funding science. NPR's Katie O'Riddle reports this is a system with little regulation. Epstein donated millions over a period of years to universities and researchers. While some institutions have updated their policies since then, there's no universal system of regulation for this kind of philanthropy. Rob Reesh, a professor at Stanford University, studies the impact of philanthropy. There should be public transparency about the person or the foundation, the amount and what the donor restrictions or intent were.

4:07So that conflicts of interest can be assessed by the relevant public audiences. Study suggests philanthropy funds at least 10 to 20 percent of science research at U.S. universities. Katie O'Riddle and Pair News. The National Weather Service has posted video of an apparent meteor that soared over western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio just this morning. It came along with a loud boom a couple of hours ago. It startled people from Pittsburgh to Cleveland. On Corvo Coleman, NPR News.