NPR News: 03-21-2026 2AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. The U.S. military is deploying three more warships to Iran, along with another 2,500 Marines. The moves come as Iran continues its attacks on Israel, as well as a number of energy sites and neighboring Gulf states. Oil prices continue to climb this week, as Iran is also blocked most oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. But President Trump said Friday that Iran will not be able to maintain that stranglehold for very long, and the economy will return to normal. It's a simple military maneuver. It's relatively safe, but you need a lot of help in the sense of you need ships, you need volume. And NATO could help us, but they so far haven't had the courage to do so, and others could help us. But, you know, we don't use it. You know, at a certain point, it'll open itself. Georgia is the first state to suspend its gas tax in response to the war in Iran. The war has caused fuel prices, despite across the country.

1:01From member station W-A-B-E, Raul Bali reports that the suspension takes effect immediately. Lawmakers cheered after Governor Brian Kemp signed the 60-day suspension of the state's motor fuel tax that was quickly pushed through the legislature this week. In the coming days and weeks, as retailers get new shipments of motor fuel, those prices on the billboards will not include the 33-cent excess excise tax on gasoline and the 37-cent tax on diesel fuel. Like the rest of the nation, Georgia has seen gas prices jump since the war in Iran started, according to AAA, regular unleaded is jump more than $1.00 a gallon to $379.00. It's been even worse for diesel, which has jumped from $361.00 to $5.25 a gallon. For NPR News, I'm Raul Bali in Atlanta. A federal jury is found Elon Musk liable for attempting to drive down the social media platform Twitter's stock prices ahead of his takeover of the company in 2022.

2:04Kate D'Benedetti with member station Kate QED reports. The civil lawsuit accused Musk of making misleading statements about the number of bots on Twitter and falsely saying that his takeover was temporarily on hold. Attorneys for the former stockholders say the billionaire was trying to manipulate the market to get a better deal. Here's Attorney Mark Mulumphy speaking outside the courtroom. The jury's verdict sends a strong message that just because you're a rich and powerful person, you still have to obey the law and no man is above the law. Musk's legal team declined to comment. The plaintiff's attorneys estimate Musk could owe up to $2.6 billion in damages. For NPR News, I'm Katie D'Benedetti in San Francisco. More than 200 people were rescued Friday as heavy rains pummeled the Hawaiian island of Oahu and triggered the worst flooding the island has seen in 20 years, Hawaii Governor Josh Green says the damage could top $1 billion. You're listening to NPR News. U.S. prosecutors are investigating Colombian President Gustavo Petro for possible ties to drug

3:07traffickers that's according to accounts published by the New York Times and other media outlets. Manuel Rada reports it comes about a month after Petro met with Trump at the White House to discuss combating drug trafficking. According to the Times, federal prosecutors and Manhattan and Brooklyn are in the early stages of investigating if Petro's presidential campaign met with and took money from drug traffickers. NPR has not independently verified the investigation. The Trump administration has not commented. The Colombian Embassy in Washington said that reports of investigations against Petro were not confirmed by any quote to competent authority and added that the president has confronted criminal activity throughout his public life. President Trump has often accused Petro of being an ally of drug traffickers. A charge to the Colombian president has rejected. For NPR News, I'm Manuel Rada in Lima, Peru. After a Marshall artist Chuck Norris has died, he was 86 years old. His family described the death as a sudden passing, but did not offer a cause of death.

4:11Norris began as a successful Marshall artist before moving to Hollywood where he starred in movies and on television. He had lined the show Walker, Texas Ranger, which was a staple of Saturday nights for more than eight years on CBS. Stocks fell on Friday. The Dow was down 443 points. The Nasdaq closed down 443 points as well and the S&P 500 closed down 100 points. I'm Dale Wilman and you're listening to NPR News. 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.