NPR News: 02-16-2026 5AM EST
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingly.
What is the current status of the federal government shutdown?
The federal government is once again in a partial shutdown after Congress could not agree on funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The House and Senate are in recess this week. Democratic lawmakers are pressing for changes to how DHS conducts immigration enforcement before agreeing to additional funding. Republican Congressman Andrew Garbarino of New York chairs the House Homeland Security Committee. He notes U.S. immigration and customs enforcement, as well as U.S. customs and border protection, remain funded.
It's Secret Service, FEMA, CISA, who's the cybersecurity agency, as well as the TSA officials that work at our airports, Coast Guard. They are all going to go to work without being paid.
He was speaking to ABC News. Early voting begins this week in Texas, where veteran Republican Senator John Cornyn is seeking the party's nomination for a fifth term in Congress. Andrew Schneider with Houston Public Media says Cornyn is facing a couple of the state's well-known GOP challengers in next month's party primary.
If John Cornyn wins the general election this fall, he could become one of the longest serving senators in Texas history. But first, he has to get past State Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has led or tied Cornyn in most polls for nearly a year, and fend off attacks from Congressman Wesley Hunt.
Unfortunately, my opponents are people who, frankly, just want to join those ranks of performance artists who want to come to Washington, D.C. and want to become famous, get the most clicks on social media, and raise money. But the job entails a whole lot more than that.
Most analysts expect none of the three candidates will win an outright majority in the March 3rd primary. That would force a runoff between the top two contenders in May. For NPR News, I'm Andrew Schneider in Houston.
The man accused of killing 15 people on Australia's Bondi Beach in December made his first court appearance today since being released from a hospital. The 24-year-old is facing charges that include terrorism and murder. Prosecutors say he opened fire on crowds attending a Jewish festival, as Christina Kukula reports from Melbourne.
Naveed Akram appeared via video link from prison before a Sydney court. He did not enter a plea in response to the 59 charges against him, including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing a terrorist act over the shooting attack on a Jewish community gathering. During the short hearing, the 24-year-old confirmed that he understood the terms of court orders suppressing the names of survivors who do not wish to be publicly identified. He's due back in court in April. Akram was wounded in a shootout with police while his father, Sajid Akram, was killed. For NPR News, I'm Christina Kukola in Melbourne, Australia.
This is NPR News from Washington. The U.S. and Iran are scheduled to resume indirect talks this week in Geneva over Tehran's nuclear program. This follows recent negotiations in Oman, which President Trump and Iran's foreign minister both described afterwards as being productive. Oman is expected to mediate this latest round of discussions as well. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to lead the U.S. delegation as they did in Oman. President Trump has directed a buildup of U.S. naval assets in the Middle East to try to pressure Iran into giving up its nuclear ambitions. At the Winter Olympics in Italy, the U.S. men's hockey team has advanced to the quarterfinals.
As NPR's Becky Sullivan reports, the American team beat Germany 5-1 yesterday to move on to the next round.
Team USA came into the Olympics with eyes on a gold medal. It would be just the third ever for the Americans and the first since the Miracle on Ice team back in 1980. In the group stage, they made quick work of opponents Latvia, Denmark and Germany, outscoring them 16-5 overall. This is the first Olympics in 12 years that players from the NHL have been able to participate.
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