NPR News: 09-14-2026 9AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. Saudi Arabia says U.S. sent com commander Brad Cooper visited the kingdom today and Mc Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This comes as benchmark crude oil prices climbed past $108 a barrel. And Pierre's A.B. Betrowe reports the Saudis also shut down a key oil pipeline after militants based in a rock attacked it with drones. Saudi Arabia says the drone strikes on its oil pipeline last week came from Iraq, where Iranian back militias are denying involvement. The kingdom says the attack forced a suspension of oil through its pipeline. News satellite images examined by NPR show a pumping station along the pipeline charred and badly damaged after the attacks. The attacks coincided with renewed fighting in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and Iran backed who the rebels are trading cross border fire. The whoothies have also been attacking Saudi oil tankers to block them from transiting through the Bebe-Mendip straight in the Red Sea.

1:00Gulf oil tankers are similarly unable to transit freely through the state of Hamuz as a result of Iranian attacks. A.B. and Pierre News. Dubai. Ukraine says a Russian drone hit a Ukrainian train near the border with Poland this weekend. It was close to a train station where a former director for the CIA was waiting to board. Pierre's Joanna Kikiss' reports from Kiev. In a statement, Ukrainian railways said former CIA director David Petraeus was at a station near the Polish border when the Russian drone hit the passenger train. A Ukrainian media outlet posted this video showing the station at the moment of the strike, terrified passengers ran as smoke billowed in the distance. No casualties were reported. The Indian railway said it was, quote, highly probable that the Russian drones intended target was another train that had purposely left hours earlier ahead of schedule. European politicians, including former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, were aboard

2:05the train. Joanna Kikiss' NPR News. The Washington Post is reporting that the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts could close as soon as tomorrow in Washington, D.C. The newspaper has internal reports suggesting the Center is run out of money. Post reporter Jonathan Edwards says there's also disagreement about how to do repair work at the Kennedy Center. No one would disagree that renovations are necessary and have been for some time. It's just the degree to which they're needed and what the best possible solution is. The Trump folks would say, hey, we need to close everything and we need to close it now. On the other side, folks would say, hey, we can do this in a phased approach. Keep the center open and keep programming going while we do it. He spoke to NPR's morning edition. This is NPR. China's top intelligence officials are warning that artificial intelligence could pose a threat

3:06to the communist party rule of that country. The leader of China's Ministry of State Security is calling for more party control over AI. This follows weekend warnings by AI industry leaders in the West. They are calling for a slowing of some AI research due to potential threats to humanity. President Trump downplayed the AI leader's calls. He says the U.S. needs to keep its AI dominance over China. Germany's Alexander Zvera is the winner of the men's singles title at this year's U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in New York. He beat American Ben Shelton in four sets to capture his second Grand Slam title this year. NPR's Becky Sullivan has more. Even before the first serve of Sunday's match, Shelton's appearance in the final was a bit of history. He is mixed race. His father Brian is black. Making Shelton the first black man to play in the U.S. Open men's singles final since Arthur Ash, more than half a century ago. It was also Shelton's first career Grand Slam final.

4:06And of course, no American man has won a Grand Slam singles title since 2003. Yet the 23-year-old couldn't overpower the six-foot six Germans' ferev. The big two of men's tennis these days, Yannick Center and Carlos Alcaro's, have both had injuries this year, leaving the door unusually wide open for others. And Zvera, it's taken advantage. He won the French Open earlier this summer, and with Sundays win, now has a second career slam to his name. Becky Sullivan in P.R. News, New York. On Saturday, Elena Rebecca won the Women's U.S. Open. She defeated defending champion, Arena Sapulanka. This is NPR. This is Ira Glass. On this American life, we tell stories about when things change. Like for this guy David, whose entire life took a sharp, unexpected, and very unpleasant term. And it did take me a while to realize that it's basically because the monkey pressed the button. That's right, because the monkey pressed the button. Apprising stories every week, wherever you get your podcasts.