NPR News: 03-20-2026 9PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from limiting reporters' access to the Pentagon. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman in Washington, D.C., sided with the New York Times and ruled that the Pentagon policy illegally restricts the credentials of reporters, including NPRs, who walked out of the building rather than agree to the new rules last year. The Times sued the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in December, claiming the credentialing policy violates the journalist's constitutional rights to free speech and do process. Kuwait Petroleum says drones targeted one of its oil refineries today, setting different parts of it on fire, and its oil and gas prices continue to soar from the U.S. Israeli war on Iran, and PR's Aya Batraui has the latest. The state-owned Qatar energy gave a detailed breakdown of the damage to its rust-leaf-and-complex from Iran's missile attack Wednesday night. The company says the attack slashed its capacity to export liquefied natural gas by some 17 percent, and says it will take up to five years to repair the damage.

1:03Qatar says this will impact supplies to China, South Korea, Italy, and Belgium. And Qatar says a facility operated by Shell that converts natural gas into fuels for engine oil and lubricants was also struck that night, and will be offline for at least a year. Iran attacked these vital Qatar-E sites in response to an Israeli attack on Iran's most important gas facility. Qatar and Iran share the world's biggest gas reserve in the Persian Gulf. Aya Batraui, NPR News, Dubai. Cuban doctors working abroad are a major source of money for the Cuban government, but more than a half a dozen countries have started sending those doctors home or phasing out the arrangement. As NPR's at Gabriela Emanuel reports, this comes as a result of U.S. pressure. For more than 60 years, Cuba has sent doctors and other medical professionals abroad to work in underserved communities. The Cuban government is often paid a hefty sum, and the doctors make a small fraction of that. Stephanie Panachelli-Bataya is at the University of Warwick in the UK. It is the highest income of foreign funds for Cuba, so it's a huge support to the

2:06Cuban economy. The U.S. calls the system human trafficking, and it has threatened to cut off U.S. assistance to countries that participate. Now Guatemala, Jamaica, Guyana, Honduras, and others are bowing out of their arrangements with Cuba, or are trying to pay the doctors directly. Gabriela Emanuel and NPR News. A federal judge has ruled that the government overreached when it declared certain types of gender-affirming care unsafe for young people. The ruling is part of a multi-state lawsuit filed against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The judge says Kennedy did not follow administrative procedures when he issued the declaration in December. The declaration warns doctors that they could be excluded from federal health programs if they provide treatments such as gender-affirming surgery and puberty blockers. U.S. stock sank again today, the S&P 500 fell 1.5 percent. This is NPR News. After nearly 100 years on the air, CBS Radio will end broadcasting in May, according to

3:06an internal CBS memo obtained by NPR, CBS News Radio is heard on roughly 700 affiliates, the cuts affect about 6 percent of CBS' work force. The memo calls this a necessary decision stemming from a shift in station programming strategies and challenging economic realities. Doctors without borders, or MSF, warns that those displaced by fighting in parts of South Sudan require urgent support. Michael Koloki has more. The humanitarian organization said yesterday that an escalation of violence between South Sudan's military and opposition groups in the northeast of the country had forced thousands of people to flee their homes. MSF warned that without sustained humanitarian support, further displacement of people, coupled by the risk of disease outbreaks, could result in a catastrophe. The aid group added that a number of remote communities in South Sudan remain without life-saving assistance. Last month, the United Nations Security Council expressed grave concern over escalating violence in parts of South Sudan, and called on all the awarding parties to seize hostilities,

4:09adding that the fighting was undermining the country's stability. For NPR News, a Michael Koloki in Nairobi. NASA's Moon Rocket is back at the launch pad following hangar repairs. The 322-foot rocket made the slow four-mile trek today at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. It could blast off in early April with four astronauts, the first to fly the Moon in more than half a century. They'll fly around the Moon in their capsule and then come straight home without stopping. This is NPR News from Washington. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a Prime Membership, or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.