NPR News: 08-11-2026 10AM EDT
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Why are home sales falling and how are rising mortgage rates affecting the market?
Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Dua Lisa Cautel. Stocks opened mixed this morning as sagging home sales take another hit. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 200 points in early trading. The National Association of Realtors says sales of existing homes fell by 1.7 percent last month. Home sales were already slumping and rising mortgage rates are not making home buying any easier.
Freddie Mac says the average rate on a 30-year home loan is now close to 6.7 percent. Meanwhile, home prices continue to climb, averaging just over $434,000 last month. The parent company of President Trump's Truth Social platform says it lost $238 million in the most recent quarter. The company's expansion into cryptocurrency and online gaming has not panned out, so the business plans to refocus on its social media roots. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
It's primary day in a handful of states, but the most watched races might be where Democrats are deciding whether they want progressives or more centrist candidates to oppose Trump's policies. Wisconsin Public Radio's Anya Van Wagtendonk is watching a Democratic socialist, Francesca Hong, shake up the Democratic primary for a governor running a very grassroots, volunteer-driven campaign...
But she's also watching neighboring Minnesota. That's where Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan is running for Senate against Representative Angie Craig. Flanagan wants Medicare for all, while Craig has backed a public option that competes with private insurance. Israel has also been a dividing line there. Flanagan speaks out much more strongly against the Israeli government. And Flanagan is endorsed by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, while Craig is backed more by centrists and has raised more money.
What are the key dynamics in the Democratic primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota?
In Minnesota's Republican primaries, Mike Lindell has Trump's endorsement for governor, but the state GOP chairman has questioned his electability and even his residency. He faces Speaker of the State House Lisa DeMuth and Army veteran Kendall Qualls. Russia's high court has barred the country's lone party advocating for an end to the war in Ukraine from standing in parliamentary elections next month. As in Paris, Charles Mainz reports from Moscow, the decision comes despite growing signs of fatigue with the conflict among the Russian Republic.
Russia's liberal Yabloko Party had been the sole political bloc calling for an end to the war in Ukraine, a position that has already led to the arrest of several prominent members. Now the entire party is banned from the September vote after Russia's Supreme Court found Yabloko had engaged in copyright infringement and received foreign funding, among other charges. Several hundred Yabloka supporters, most of them younger Russians, waited outside as court deliberations dragged on for some eight hours. Yabloka leaders framed the court's decision as a sign of Kremlin fear of the party. This is NPR.
Why was Russia's Yabloko party banned from the upcoming parliamentary elections?
It's already been a record year for cyclosporiasis outbreaks. Now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns jalapenos grown in Mexico are sickening more than 300 people in 27 states with salmonella, and appears Yuki Noguchi reports.
Foodborne outbreaks are often underreported and challenging for state health departments to manage. But Dr. Ann Zink, former chief medical officer for the state of Alaska, says cuts to federal funding of key health agencies hurt operations this year. Epidemiologists and team reach out to CDC regularly to understand what they're seeing in a larger context nationally, which is really important. And when those personnel are gone, the positions are unfilled. It really slows not only the reporting, but the disease investigation. The number of cyclosporiasis cases reported by Missouri shot up to nearly 1,600 recently. Michigan, the epicenter, has over 12,000 cases.
Yuki Noguchi, NPR News. In Thailand, the prime minister has suspended the approval of firearms permits after at least seven people were killed by a teenage boy at a school near Bangkok. Dozens were injured and some remain hospitalized from the Friday shooting. A preliminary investigation indicated that the shooter allegedly was influenced by social media content involving violence.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
Why are home sales falling and how are rising mortgage rates affecting the market?
0:01–1:48
2
What are the key dynamics in the Democratic primaries in Wisconsin and Minnesota?
1:48–3:02
3
Why was Russia's Yabloko party banned from the upcoming parliamentary elections?
3:02–4:27
4
How are recent foodborne illness outbreaks linked to funding cuts in health agencies?
4:27–5:02