NPR News: 03-17-2026 9PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. The director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, has resigned to protest the war in Iran. Ampere's Greg Meyri reports Kent had been a staunch supporter of President Trump because Trump had said he opposed Middle East wars. Joe Kent addressed his blunt resignation letter to President Trump in a post on X. He wrote, quote, I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. Kent is a former Green Beret deployed 11 times in the Middle East. His wife was a senior chief petty officer in the Navy. She was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019. Denominated for his position last year, Kent faced sharp criticism from Democrats, including Senator Patty Murray. She called Kent, quote, a conspiracy theorist who espouses white supremacist views.

1:03Greg Meyri, NPR News, Washington. About a fifth of oil and liquefied natural gas, or LNG supplies, remained shut off from the world as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. At NPR's Julia Simon reports, some countries are better prepared than others for this energy crisis. On rooftops of millions of Pakistani homes are gleaming solar panels. Pakistan still imports LNG from Qatar for electricity. Those supplies are now cut off, and prices for substitutes are sky high. But Nabia Imran, a Pakistani think tank renewables first, says the recent surge of solar and battery installations in just the last three years means the country is less vulnerable. The widespread adoption of solar and batteries is kind of surge as a hedge protection sort of against these price shocks. It's not just solar and batteries. Energy experts tell NPR the recent growth of electric vehicles in countries like Nepal and China also make countries more resilient as oil prices climb.

2:07Julia Simon and Pierre News. Acting TSA Administrator Adam Stahl says small U.S. airports may have to close. If the partial government shutdown continues because of a lack of TSA staff who are working without pay as the partial government shutdown continues, and some of the bigger airports around the country are closing some of their security checkpoints, including Philadelphia International Airport, which says it's closing two more. Antoinette Wade has been a TSA agent for 18 years and is a union representative. It's just unreasonable to expect anybody to continue going to work for such long periods of time without receiving any pay. This is the stalemate over funding for the Department of Homeland Security continues over immigration tactics, including the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota. You're listening to NPR News. With air travel snarled by a winter storm in the Midwest and the partial government shutdown, a group of high school musicians from Minnesota is taking an unexpected road trip home from

3:12Florida. The Resadana van of Member Station K-A-X-E has more. Detroit lakes high school band and choir members competed in Orlando during spring break and planned to fly home. A mid-flight cancellations half of the students made it back to Minnesota, but around 75 students and chaperones were stranded in Florida, unable to rebook flights until four days later. Chaperones opted to hire three charter buses to drive 1700 miles home. Senior band captain Emma Thorsten is on the road trip. We spent the rest of the day sitting in the hotel lobby after we had to check out, and then we didn't know if I'd be getting a bus until the following day. The travel snafu is costing about $35,000 more than expected. For NPR News, I'm Larissa Donovan in Bemidi, Minnesota. In Western Nebraska, firefighters are making progress in containing the largest wildfire in state history, along with a handful of others. More than 750,000 acres have burned in four fires around the state.

4:14Officials say at least one person died. Several buildings have been destroyed. Most of the fires are partially contained, but the National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for parts of the state through tonight. The state's Governor Jim Pillan has issued a state of emergency and pledged to help farmers with supplies and recovery efforts. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington.