NPR News: 09-20-2026 2PM EDT
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Why did the Houthis fire a ballistic missile at Riyadh and what was the outcome?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Saudi Arabia says Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a ballistic missile toward Riyadh and Pierce Kat Lonsdorf reports it's the first time the Saudi capital has been targeted since fighting broke out with the Iran backed rebels.
The Houthis have not fired toward Riyadh in years, but over the weekend, residents there, including journalists with Reuters and the AFP, heard loud explosions over the city and saw plumes of smoke rising over the airport. In a statement, Saudi Arabia said its air defense forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis. There were no reports of casualties or damage. The statement also said the Houthis tried to attack civilian infrastructure in the Red Sea port city of Yambu. Where a key Saudi pipeline ends. The attacks mark another escalation in the war in Yemen. The Iran Bakthouthis say they're targeting Saudi air bases in response to Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.
What is President Trump’s new AI‑czar appointment and how does it fit into the US‑China AI regulation talks?
The group has also imposed a blockade on Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. Kat Lonsdorf, M PR News, Tel Aviv.
President Trump says he's appointing a new AI czar as part of a new task force on artificial intelligence. This as the debate on whether and how to regulate the risks of AI grows, and as MPR's Emily Fang reports, the US and China meet today in New York to talk about AI regulation.
A rapid stream of disclosures from leading AI companies has increased pressure on the US and its competitor China to regulate frontier AI. But Trump has repeatedly said AI should not be regulated and that fears of AI were a quote hoax. And in a series of social media posts last week and over the weekend, he touted AI's contribution to the American economy and called criticism of data centers, which are deeply unpopular among voters, quote, crazed. Trump's previous AI advisor, David Sachs, is a prominent Silicon Valley investor who has been outspoken in the last weeks about how the US should push as fast as possible, with as little regulation as possible, in AI. Emily Fang and Pure News, Washington.
How are AI policy discussions shaping up at the UN General Assembly and the upcoming AI conference?
And AI will also be a focus at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York this week, along with the US Iran war and other issues. This as China's leader Xi Jinping heads to Washington this week for a meeting with President Trump instead of attending the UN meeting. US Ambassador to the UN Mike Walsh says US China AI is a focus.
We're going to have a an AI conference here at the UN General Assembly. We're going to see uh AI discussed at the UN Security Council. I can tell you that China just announced a world AI cooperation organization. Uh and our values and their values don't exactly mesh when it comes to global governance uh and how technology can be used for surveillance and the suppression of freedom.
Speaking there on CNN State of the Union, meanwhile, the agreement between the US, Greenland, and Denmark over the semi autonomous island is also expected to be signed at the UN meeting. You're listening to NPR News.
Why did Ed Sheeran break his silence over Macklemore’s removal from his US tour?
Singer Ed Sheeran breaks his silence following Macklemore's removal from his US tour. And Pierce Matcherry reports the promoter dropped the rapper as the opening act after he made pro Palestinian comments on stage earlier this month.
Fans at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field cheered Ed Sharon as he took the mic for the first time since the controversy over McLamore's statement supporting Palestinians erupted. What happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival on October seventh was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is a catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. Local college student Hadi Chattapadie was among the protesters outside the stadium in Philadelphia. Ed Sheeran could have kept McLamore on this on this tour, but the silencing of pro-Palestine speech is not new. Stadium owners had threatened to cancel Sheehan's upcoming shows if Macklemore remained on the bill.
Matt Sherry, NPR News, Philadelphia.
How did a rescued pelican become the surprising wildlife story of the episode?
In Florida, a knock on the door earlier this month startled scientists.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Why did the Houthis fire a ballistic missile at Riyadh and what was the outcome?
0:00–0:53
2
What is President Trump’s new AI‑czar appointment and how does it fit into the US‑China AI regulation talks?
0:53–2:00
3
How are AI policy discussions shaping up at the UN General Assembly and the upcoming AI conference?
2:00–3:01
4
Why did Ed Sheeran break his silence over Macklemore’s removal from his US tour?
3:01–4:05
5
How did a rescued pelican become the surprising wildlife story of the episode?
4:05–4:53