NPR News: 09-15-2026 11AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kurova Kulman. Saudi Arabia issued missile alert warnings for both southern and northern parts of its country today. This comes as Houthi rebels enaboring Yemen, say the Saudis have launched dozens of air strikes against them. And Piers Aya Batrawi reports. The Houthis took control of Yemeni coastal areas along a Red Sea shipping corridor and are now fighting Saudi-backed groups for control of Yemen's western governorate of Taz. The Houthis have also fired at Saudi Arabia, which reports dozens of civilians wounded. The fighting is going both ways. With the Houthis saying Saudi Arabia launched more than 50 air strikes on Monday in support of Yemeni government forces and allied tribes. And they say more air strikes killed three people, two of them children on Tuesday. The United Nations says tens of thousands of people have been displaced by the fighting in Yemen and that eight supplies are critically low. Aya Batrawi and Piers News, Dubai. The Israel traffic in the Netherlands has been disrupted today by what authorities describe a sabotage. As Terry Schultz reports, materials, including pipes, were found on the tracks

1:04in multiple locations. The company managing Dutch railways says it believes there's been a quote, deliberate disruption of train traffic by human action as it seeks to locate all the areas where materials have been fastened to the tracks. In one location, pro rail says, a train hit the debris, but no one was injured. And the railway's detection system stopped other trains before impact. Local media images show police carrying pipes between five and seven feet long away from train tracks. It's not known when rail traffic will be able to return to normal as a police and intelligence service investigation is underway. Europe has been on high alert for sabotage attacks due to its support for Ukraine and its war against Russia. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz and Brussels. The US Supreme Court has rejected President Trump's push to restrict mail in ballots before this year's midterm elections. And Piers Hanselow Wong says the decision blocks Trump's order to the postal service to come up with a plan. That plan included new mail and ballot requirements that states would have had to follow in order

2:05to get their ballots delivered by USPS, but a federal judge in Boston found those requirements are likely illegal because USPS has no authority to impose them on states. And this new Supreme Court order rejects the Trump administration's request to pause the judge's ruling. And Piers Hanselow Wong reporting the US Postal Service is among NPR's financial supporters. Meanwhile, President Trump is furious over the US Supreme Court's ruling and lengthy online post this morning. Trump insulted most of the justices who ruled against the mail in ballot plan, except for the two who dissented justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The president also slammed earlier Supreme Court rulings he didn't like. That included blocking his effort to overturn birthright citizenship and his tariffs. You're listening to NPR. The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington says it is close to bankruptcy.

3:05The Center's board is set to meet today. Members told the federal judge last night they could be forced to shut down the center as soon as today. The Trump administration has touted its deals with pharmaceutical companies as among the key wins of the president's second term. But one of the promises within those deals to cut drug prices and Medicaid has been slow to materialize and Piers Sidney Lumpkin has more. Last fall, the president said companies that signed his most favored nation drug price deals would offer all of their drugs at a discount to Medicaid. But of the more than a dozen companies NPR reached out to, none would say how many they were offering at a lower price for the program. The actual text of the agreements hasn't been made public, but Medicaid can't just lower prices across the board. State Medicaid programs have until September 30th to finalize their participation agreements in what's called the generous model. It's a pilot program that states and drug companies opt into for most favored nation's prices on Medicaid drugs. The deadlines have been pushed back, but the agency overseeing

4:09the pilot says there's robust interest. Sidney Lumpkin and Piers News officials in Nevada say they're starting to build a new plant in Reno that will treat waste water. The goal is to turn this into water that meets drinking water standards. When it's finished, it will treat up to two million gallons of waste water every day. Nevada officials hope to take less water from the trucky river and they hope to complete building by 2029. This is NPR. Up first from NPR News is your way to slow down a fast moving world and make sense of it, which is just what tech leaders say they need right now. One of the big stories this week is that tech leaders say they want to slow down AI development. Also, the latest fighting in the Middle East could push oil prices even higher. Start your day with what you need to know on up first. Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.