NPR News: 08-11-2026 2AM EDT
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Why did Washington declare a public health emergency over wildfires?
Live from MPR News in Washington. I'm Giles Snyder. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has declared a public health emergency in Washington State. NPR Selena Simmons top and reports the emergency gives more flexibility to the state during ongoing wildfires.
In a statement, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, quote, We stand with the people of Washington and we will not let them face this crisis alone, unquote. Part of HHS, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, has sent regional staff to the state and is standing by to send more staff, equipment, and supplies if requested by the state.
How are Canadian authorities responding to the British Columbia wildfire crisis?
Around 65,000 people were evacuated out of Spokane last week, but now some roads have reopened and people who live in communities outside of the immediate area of the fires have been allowed to return home. There are other active wildfires. despires throughout the state and the region. Selena Sim is Duffin, NPR News.
Canada's British Columbia also under a state of emergency because of wildfires. A Canadian military has been put on standby after one person was killed and tens of thousands evacuated. The former Olympian at the heart of the reflecting pool dispute between President Trump and U.S. Attorney Janine Pierrot says his confidence in the nation is being tested. David Hearn spoke with MPR.
I don't think people are taking this lying down.
What is the story behind the Olympian’s reflecting‑pool protest and the legal fallout?
I've had so much support from all of my biking buddies, my paddling buddies, my neighborhood friends, of course my family. It's been uh an overwhelming feeling they have my back.
Heron is a former Olympic canoe racer who was among those arrested for vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. U.S. Attorney Pierot moved to drop the charges against him last week, acknowledging the damage was due to a flawed renovation. But President Trump has sharply criticized Pierot and wants her to revisit the decision.
Minnesota and Wisconsin. The demands of massive data centers casting a shadow over the elections, as NPR's Tamar Keith reports.
The giant windowless buildings use a lot of power and face growing bipartisan opposition.
Why are massive data centers becoming a political flashpoint in U.S. elections?
It is able to cross. Uh
partisan coalitions
in a way
that a
lot of other issues can't.
Amanda Littman is the founder of Run for Something, which works with democratic candidates for state and local office.
People are bringing it up to them, so they really are like responding to what they're hearing from voters. I think it is the most tangible physical representation of the threat that AI. feels like it's making in people's lives.
A recent Gallup poll found seven in ten Americans oppose a data center being built in their community. Tamara Keith, NPR News.
And you're listening to MPR News. Colombia's president says the priority is to save trapped people.
How is Colombia coping with the deadly earthquake and rescue efforts?
Abelardo de la Esparela is facing his first major crisis following that powerful earthquake that struck Western Colombia Monday. He was just sworn in last week. Video shows rescue workers, police, and volunteers searching for survivors shoveling debris by hand. hundred eleven people are dead, and nearly ninety enter dozens of buildings collapsed in the quake. In Thailand, three days after a high school student killed at least eight people and himself, a former member of Parliament in the same province has allegedly killed a government employee over a business dispute, Michael Sullivan reports from Chiang Rai.
Former Nantaburi MP Chalong Rai Rang was arrested after allegedly going to the provincial administration organization office and shooting its president, Tong Chai Yan Prasur, dead. Police say the former NP then called a local online media host in the middle of a live broadcast and admitted to the shooting. Both police and mister Chelong said the incident involved a dispute over money owed to him. Thailand is already dealing with the aftermath of the Friday shooting at Tepsarine School in Nantubri, the country's deadliest mass shooting in four years. Thailand has one of the highest gun ownership rates in Southeast Asia.
Why are coal miners in Appalachia experiencing a resurgence of black‑lung disease?
For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan
in Chiang
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why did Washington declare a public health emergency over wildfires?
0:00–0:43
2
How are Canadian authorities responding to the British Columbia wildfire crisis?
0:43–1:27
3
What is the story behind the Olympian’s reflecting‑pool protest and the legal fallout?
1:27–2:20
4
Why are massive data centers becoming a political flashpoint in U.S. elections?
2:20–3:05
5
How is Colombia coping with the deadly earthquake and rescue efforts?
3:05–4:25
6
Why are coal miners in Appalachia experiencing a resurgence of black‑lung disease?
4:25–5:02