NPR News: 03-20-2026 11AM EDT

0:00Line from NPR News in Washington, an encore of a coalman, the war against Iran continues. The Pentagon says U.S. forces are destroying Iranian naval targets that threaten international shipping. That includes the very narrow strait of Hormuz, but Iran is continuing to attack neighboring Arab countries, officials in Kuwait say Iranian drones hid one of their oil refineries today sparking a fire. Iran says the top spokesman for its powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, was killed today in a strike. Meanwhile, NPR's Emily Fang is on Turkey's border with Iran, speaking to Iranians who say they have mixed feelings about joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on their country. Inestimated hundreds of Iranians are crossing to Turkey each day, some to escape bombing, others simply to connect to internet, which the government has blocked in Iran. This man's being on condition of anonymity for fear of being arrested, said people are trying to live normally in Iran, despite the bombing. He says he hopes the strikes can topple his government, but he mourns for the civilians

1:03killed in the strike. Israel said it had killed the IRGC's top spokespersons in Al-Mahamed 90 overnight in an air strike, and joint U.S. and Israeli strikes also killed the senior commander in the IRGC, as well as Iran's security chief Ali Larajani this week. The Trump administration is giving the go-ahead for local TV station owner Nexstar to purchase stations from its rival, Tegna, but NPR's David Fulkenflick reports a group of state attorneys general is suing to block the deal. If consummated Nexstar would own 259 stations and 44 states in the District of Columbia, the Federal Communications Commission waived its rules to allow Nexstar to reach 80 percent of U.S. households more than doubling the colonel out figure, the commission didn't even have a public debater of vote. Its lone Democrat condemned the decision. FCC chair Brendan Carr argues the move will ensure the viability of local stations. Carr said he wants to strengthen the hand of local station owners against national networks. As it sought approval, Nexstar backed Carr's attacks on ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel

2:06and mocked CNN in an ad campaign. The Justice Department also signed off on the deal, David Fulkenflick and PR News. The Trump administration has sued Harvard University again, this time over alleged failures to protect Jewish and Israeli students. This lawsuit is demanding that Harvard return billions of dollars of tax pay or money. The Trump administration has already filed other lawsuits against Harvard for alleged wrongdoing. Action star Chuck Norris has died at the age of 86, according to an online statement from his family. Norris was hospitalized yesterday in Hawaii for an undetermined issue. He began his career as a martial arts instructor. Norris went on to make action films that grossed more than half a billion dollars. He once appeared in an action film opposing legendary late Bruce Lee. He later moved to the series Walker, Texas Ranger. This is NPR. The National Weather Service has issued flash flood warnings for the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Officials in Honolulu County are telling people in the northern part of Oahu to get to

3:10higher ground now. A new survey finds most Americans do not see gambling on sports as a moral issue. That is in sharp contrast to people in other countries, as Fiona Murphy with the Religion News Service reports. Sports betting has taken off across the US, with Americans wagering about $170 billion in 2025. This week, as college basketball fans placed their bets on March madness, a new survey from the Pew Research Center finds that just three and ten Americans say gambling is morally wrong. Half say it's not a moral issue at all. The survey asked about attitudes towards gambling generally and did not distinguish between compulsive and casual gambling. Still, that's a sharp contrast from countries like Indonesia, India, and Italy were more than 70% of people view gambling as a moral. Of the 25 countries surveyed, only Canadians were more accepting of gambling than Americans. Young men and women are equally likely to say gambling is wrong. For NPR News, I'm Fiona Murphy in New York.

4:11Sixteen more games get underway next hour in the NCAA Men's Division I basketball tournament. Several teams are seeking their first ever win in tournament history, including the University of Akron, who faced Texas Tech today. Yesterday, the University of Nebraska defeated Troy University, 7647, for its school's first ever tournament win. They had previously been in the tournament eight times. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington. This message comes from Subaru. The All New 2026 Subaru Outback features bold new styling and standard symmetrical all-wheel-drive, plus safety features like standard eyesight driver assist technology. Discover the All New Outback at Subaru.com slash Outback.