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NPR News Now

NPR News: 03-17-2026 5PM EDT

17 Mar 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What recent events occurred involving Iranian officials and Israel?

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. Israel says it killed two top Iranian officials overnight. Ali Larajani was the head of the country's Supreme National Security Council and acted as the country's de facto leader. He was also a close confidant of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. And Pierce Emily Fang has more on what his death means for the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.

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There are fears that in his absence, his replacement might be even more hardline than Lara Jani. Lara Jani was seen as very, very pragmatic, someone who could work with outside powers while still being very, very loyal to the supreme leader, to the office of the Ayatollah. And so taking him out would be a very, very big deal. NPR's Emily Fang.

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Israel also killed Brigadier General Soleimani, the head of the powerful militia that's aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Meanwhile, Joe Kent, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, quit today, saying Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S. and that it was clear Washington started the war because of, quote, pressure from Israel.

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He's the first senior member of the administration to quit over the war. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed Attorney General Pam Bondi to appear for a closed-door deposition next month over the Justice Department's handling of the files of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And here's Ryan Lucas reports.

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The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Kentucky's James Comer, says in a letter to the attorney general that the panel has questions for Bondi about the department's handling of the Epstein investigation and the DOJ's compliance with the law requiring the Epstein files be made public. The committee has subpoenaed Bondi to appear for a deposition on April 14th.

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There was no immediate comment from the Justice Department. Separately, Comer says Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch will appear Wednesday for a private briefing with Oversight Committee members. That meeting will focus on the Epstein files, according to a person familiar with the matter not authorized to speak about it publicly.

Chapter 2: What implications does the death of Ali Larajani have for U.S.-Israeli relations?

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Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington. New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani observed Ramadan last night with men incarcerated at Rikers Island, the city's jail complex. And Pierce, Brian Mann has more. Mamdani arrived through heavy security, joining a group of men many held as they await trial. Together, they knelt to pray. I am the one who will call.

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Mamdani spent an hour with the men talking and breaking the fast with a meal. He spent much of the last month holding public Ramadan celebrations. This is me just being a Muslim New Yorker, and I think there are some for whom that is a political act. Mamdani and many Muslim Americans have faced growing hostility in the U.S.

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from some politicians on the right, including Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, who last week reposted a photo of Mamdani celebrating the holiday next to an image of the 9-11 terror attacks, a post Mamdani described as bigoted. Brian Mann, NPR News, New York. This is NPR News.

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A new poll by the National Alliance for Mental Illness, or NAMI, finds that one in four employees has considered quitting their job because of mental health impacts of work. And here's Ritu Chatterjee has more. Three out of four respondents think mental health is an appropriate topic for the workplace, and yet nearly half are worried about being judged for sharing their mental health problems.

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Meg Delp is director of workplace mental health at NAMI. Most people in our study this year said that they are more comfortable talking about their ethnicity, their gender identity, sexual orientation, physical health, religion, spirituality, than talking about their mental health.

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Employees think managers play a key role, but Delp says less than 30% of managers have been trained to support mental health conversations. We know that workplaces can be a really vital place to impact mental health in a way that supports individuals, families, the organization itself, but that ripples out to communities. Ritu Chatterjee, NPR News.

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A meteor exploded over Lake Erie north of Cleveland this morning, causing a thunderous boom. And even though it happened during daylight hours, it was bright enough to be seen for about five seconds, meaning people across several states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, could see it. Many felt either the sonic boom or the explosion.

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The American Meteor Society is still looking through reports to figure out the path it took, its size, trajectory, and whether any fragments hit the ground aren't known yet. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Want to understand the reason and the meanings of the narratives that led us here and maybe how to head them off at the pass?

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That's On the Media's specialty. I'm Brooke Gladstone, host of WNYC's On the Media. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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