NPR News: 09-16-2026 1PM EDT
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How will the Federal Reserve’s expected rate hike affect borrowing costs?
Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Sangh. Borrowing costs could be rising in the US. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to increase its benchmark interest rate. By a quarter percentage point or range between Three point seven five percent and four percent. By the time it ends its latest meeting in Washington DC today. Meanwhile more people than expected opted to dine out last month. As NPR Zelina Saliuk reports, restaurant spending is a key economic measure of retail sales from the Commerce Department.
Retail sales grew 1.2% from July to August.
What does the latest retail‑sales data reveal about consumer spending trends?
That marked a recovery from a dip in spending we saw between June and July. Federal data shows that people spent more across the board, buying clothes and electronics, and likely school supplies for back to school. Compared to a year earlier, spending grew 6%. Higher prices are part of the story with people spending more somewhat because things are costing more. Gas stations is one prime example. Sales there surged twenty one percent in August compared to August of last year, but the price of gasoline was up even more than that last month, suggesting some people might in fact be buying less. Spending at restaurants and bars grew nearly six percent. Alina Selluch, NPR News.
A majority of the House of Representatives has again called for the president to end the US war with Iran. The conflict has never been authorized by Congress as required by the Constitution and Federal Statute.
Why are House lawmakers pushing to end the U.S. war with Iran?
More from NPR's Eric McDaniel.
The war with Iran is an unpopular conflict, led by an unpopular president, and has, according to the nonpartisan staff at the Congressional Budget Office, contributed to rising prices in the U.S. That makes it an issue on the campaign trail. Tuesday's vote saw seven Republicans join all Democrats to oppose the conflict, and it put all House lawmakers on the record, again ahead of November voting. The president isn't expected to sign the measure if it ever does make it to his desk. The vote also comes after Republican Representative Thomas Massey of Kentucky introduced impeachment charges against the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, in part over the administration's conduct in the war. Eric McDaniel, NPR News in Washington.
The European Union has invited Canada to become the first associate member of the bloc, Terry Schultz reports from Brussels.
EU and Canada have both been on the receiving end of President Trump's threats and tariffs and have been looking to reduce their dependence on the US. Now they'll seek a new relationship with each other, as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered to create a new status.
What new relationship is the EU proposing for Canada as its first associate member?
I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to being the first associate member of the European Union.
It's not clear exactly what this status will entail or when it might be realized, but Von der Leyen mentioned increasing cooperation in manufacturing, tech, defense, the Arctic, minerals, and AI. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. It's NPR.
Five hundred US colleges and universities share one alarming distinction. At least forty percent of recent students who borrowed federal loans are not paying them back. Our Cory Turner reports on a new NPR analysis of federal student loan data.
The Education Department only recently started publishing schools' nonpayment rates, meaning the share of a school's recent borrowers who are at least three months late on their loan payments. One pattern jumps out from the data. The nation's private for-profit schools had nonpayment rates twice as high as public and private nonprofit schools.
Which colleges have the highest federal student‑loan non‑payment rates and why?
And of the schools with the highest nonpayment rates were at least 40%. Yeah. The vast majority are again private for profit schools, many of them marketing short-term career training to low-income students. Corey Turner, MPR News.
The literary world celebrating the legacy of Pulitzer Prize winning author Annie Dillard, who died yesterday at the age of eighty one. Atelka Lahoske has this remembrance. Annie
Dillard wrote Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, an American Childhood and The Writing Life.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
How will the Federal Reserve’s expected rate hike affect borrowing costs?
0:01–0:38
2
What does the latest retail‑sales data reveal about consumer spending trends?
0:38–1:30
3
Why are House lawmakers pushing to end the U.S. war with Iran?
1:30–2:35
4
What new relationship is the EU proposing for Canada as its first associate member?
2:35–3:38
5
Which colleges have the highest federal student‑loan non‑payment rates and why?
3:38–4:22
6
How did Pulitzer‑winner Annie Dillard’s life and work influence American literature?
4:22–5:03