NPR News: 09-21-2026 7PM EDT
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What are the details of the Paramount‑Warner merger settlement and its conditions?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. Paramount Skydance is one step closer to a deal to merge with Warner Brothers Discovery, as NPR's Montalito Barco reports the company settled an antitrust lawsuit filed by twelve state attorneys general.
Paramount CEO David Ellison agrees to operate Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers separately, at least for now, and to release at least thirty films a year. He also promised to create an independence board for their news operations, CNN and CBS. California Attorney General Rob Bontas says those concessions and more satisfy antitrust concerns. Even so
This settlement is not a vote of support for this merger. It is not a blessing.
Critics of the merger, like former Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Vedoya, say the attorneys general cave to Paramount after it threatened to leave California.
The billionaires won here. These guys censored, bribed, and bullied their way to the top.
The mega merger could finalize within weeks.
How did the Northeast air‑traffic outage occur and what were its immediate impacts on flights?
Mandalete Delvarco, NPR News.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says several severed telecom lines that snarled air traffic in the northeast have been fixed. NPR's Joel Rose reports hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed today.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the problems began with a blown circuit at its air traffic control facility in Philadelphia, which also handles traffic at Newark Liberty International Airport. Aviation officials tried to switch to a backup line but found that it had been cut because of unrelated construction in New Jersey. The impact of the equipment outages spread across the Northeast, with lengthy delays at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports in New York City. The equipment problems overshadowed a long awaited announcement from leaders at the FAA and the Department of Transportation. Picked the same day to unveil an ambitious plan to use artificial intelligence to manage the nation's airspace.
Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington.
What is the FAA’s new AI‑based plan for managing U.S. airspace?
A group of small business organizations is urging Congress to undo a recent Trump administration move when the U.S. Small Business Administration stopped lending to green card holders. NPR's Alina Selyuk reports these loans are a core pillar of small business financing.
This spring was the first time in the history of the SBA that it stopped accepting loan requests from any business that's even partially owned by someone who's not an American citizen. That includes people who live here permanently and legally, they pay the same federal taxes as citizens. Top Democrats from small business committees in the House and the Senate have a resolution to roll this back. And now more than a hundred business organizations, including lenders, have signed a letter to congressional leaders to support the resolution. The advocacy group's small business majority says last year SBA loans to green card holders helped support more than 80,000 jobs.
The National Hurricane Center says the tropical cyclone named Polo is now a hurricane in the Pacific Ocean. It's expected to become a major hurricane by Wednesday.
Why did the SBA stop lending to businesses owned by green‑card holders and how are lawmakers responding?
It could bring up to a foot of rain to parts of coastal Mexico. This is NPR News from Washington. A federal appeals court ruled in favor of a new Missouri congressional map backed by President Trump, but it ordered the ruling not to be implemented for a week or until the US Supreme Court can weigh in. It's the latest in the confusing back and forth court battle over the map, which was drawn by the Republican led legislature to help the party keep control of Congress this year. Officials have already sent ballots to citizens overseas and military voters. Rebel groups are trying to overthrow Ethiopia's government. NPR's Jewel Bright reports the alliance includes groups that fought against each other during a civil war.
The Alliance for Survival Coalition accuses Prime Minister Abi Ahmed's government of having too much power and blames it for high rates of poverty. The seven rebel groups are trying to depose the central government. The alliance includes the Tigris People Vibration Front, which fought a civil war against Ethiopia's federal government between 2020 and 2022.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What are the details of the Paramount‑Warner merger settlement and its conditions?
0:00–1:01
2
How did the Northeast air‑traffic outage occur and what were its immediate impacts on flights?
1:01–1:53
3
What is the FAA’s new AI‑based plan for managing U.S. airspace?
1:53–2:52
4
Why did the SBA stop lending to businesses owned by green‑card holders and how are lawmakers responding?
2:52–4:01
5
How is Hurricane Polo expected to affect coastal Mexico and what is its current status?
4:01–4:42
6
What is the latest on Ethiopia’s rebel coalition and the political tensions surrounding Prime Minister Abi Ahmed?
4:42–4:52