NPR News: 09-16-2026 9PM EDT
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What is the EU's proposal to make Canada an associate member and how is President Trump responding?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. The European Union has proposed making Canada its first associate member. President Trump says the move could be considered a hostile act.
Canada has been a terrible trade partner. And no, I don't see that. And if they do that, if I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe. on many things. So if they do that, if Europe does that with a bad intention, if it's a good intention, that's fine. If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been seeking to build ties with the EU and rely less on the U.S.,
Why did Rep. Joyce Beatty request an emergency court hearing over the sudden Kennedy Center closure?
amid President Trump's trade war and talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state. Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty has filed a request for an emergency court hearing regarding the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. After the center's board shut down the complex's main building, NPR's Anastasia Tsilkas has more.
Representative Beatty, Democrat from Ohio, is asking the federal court to force the board, including its chairman, President Trump, to explain why they closed the Kennedy Center so suddenly in what appears to be a major escalation of the fight over the future of the arts institution. Just this week, Judge Christopher Cooper had said he needed to approve any closure ahead of the renovation. Cooper also ruled that the board cannot add President Trump's name to the front of the building. The board has already filed an appeal, and President Trump vowed on social media to take the fight all the way to the Supreme Court. Trump also said he will not renovate the center without his name on it. Anastasia Tsilkas, NPR News.
What did Surgeon General nominee Dr. Nicole Sapphire say about the link between childhood vaccines and autism?
President Trump's nominee for surgeon general, former Fox contributor Dr. Nicole Sapphire, said during a confirmation hearing today she doesn't believe childhood vaccines cause autism. That puts her out of step with her potential future boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has promoted the theory. Widespread scientific consensus has concluded a link between autism and vaccines doesn't exist. The Surgeon General post has been vacant throughout Trump's second term. More people than expected dined out last month. NPR's Alina Selyuk has the latest restaurant spending numbers.
Retail sales grew 1.2 percent from July to August. 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.
How did August retail sales, including restaurant and gas station spending, compare to the same period last year?
Spending at gas stations is one prime example. Sales there surged 21% 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 6 percent. Alina Seluk, NPR News.
U.S. stocks slipped today. This is NPR. The Trump administration has announced travel bans on officials it claims are responsible for discriminating against white people in South Africa. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would revoke visas from those the U.S.
What travel bans did the Trump administration announce against South African officials and what were the stated reasons?
says are responsible for policies that allow for uncompensated land seizures. and race-based discrimination, the South African government rejects the administration's allegations. Scientists have created a new model for studying brain diseases. As NPR's Ping Huang reports, it involves putting human brain cells into mice.
Researchers have struggled to understand and treat brain disorders because on a biological level, they can't really study them in living humans. Sergio Pashka is a neuroscientist at Stanford.
There's been this quest of trying to build models of the human brain outside of the human body and then deploy them very systematically towards studying these devastating disorders of the brain.
Pashka and his colleagues have created a new model in which about 50% of a mouse's brain by volume is replaced with lab-grown human neurons.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the EU's proposal to make Canada an associate member and how is President Trump responding?
0:00–0:42
2
Why did Rep. Joyce Beatty request an emergency court hearing over the sudden Kennedy Center closure?
0:42–1:39
3
What did Surgeon General nominee Dr. Nicole Sapphire say about the link between childhood vaccines and autism?
1:39–2:37
4
How did August retail sales, including restaurant and gas station spending, compare to the same period last year?
2:37–3:13
5
What travel bans did the Trump administration announce against South African officials and what were the stated reasons?
3:13–4:09
6
How are researchers using human brain cells in mice to create new models for studying brain diseases?
4:09–4:53