NPR News: 09-26-2026 2PM EDT
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What are the latest hurricane threats affecting Hawaii and Baja California?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Hurricane Nolo is moving toward Hawaii, with its outer bands already reaching the Big Island and forecasters warning of potentially catastrophic flooding. Farther east, Category 4 Hurricane Polo, with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph, is threatening Baja California Sur, where a hurricane watch is in effect. The Pacific's already seen an extremely active hurricane season, with climate scientists pointing to the powerful Super El Nino pattern as a major factor. And here's Ava Berger has more.
There have been no full-blown hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean yet this season. It's the first time that has happened in more than a century. It's the exact opposite for the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific has already seen 18 hurricanes, more than the average, and these storms can be really strong.
How fast is Hurricane Polo intensifying compared to historical storms?
Gabriel Becky, a professor of geosciences at Princeton University, said Hurricane Polo increased faster than any hurricane he's ever seen.
It's a tale of two basins, the Pacific incredibly active, And the North Atlantic, incredibly inactive.
Vecchi and other climate scientists point to a super strong El Nino to explain the weather. This natural pattern occurs every few years and tends to suppress hurricanes in the Atlantic while fueling more storms in the Pacific. Ava Berger, NPR News. Investors
bought stocks and dumped bonds this week. As NPR's Scott Horsley reports, a sell-off in the bond market pushed mortgage rates to their highest level since the beginning of last year.
Long-term Treasury yields jumped again this week as investors demand a bigger return to lend money for the government in the face of stubborn inflation.
Why are investors selling bonds and how is it raising mortgage rates?
The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed to the highest level in two decades. Average mortgage rates, which tend to follow Treasury yields, rose to just over 7 percent. Mortgage rates had briefly dropped below 6 percent just before the U.S. launched its war with Iran and triggered a spike in energy prices. Today's higher borrowing costs have been a drag on the housing market. Sales of existing homes in August were the slowest in more than a year. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose three-tenths of a percent, the S&P 500 index climbed 1.2 percent, and the Nasdaq jumped more than 2 percent. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.
In France, scores of people turned out in Paris for Pope Leo's outdoor mass today.
What significance does Pope Francis' outdoor mass in Paris hold for the Catholic Church?
The Vatican says more than 600,000 people registered for the mass and Leo greeted people as he rode in his popemobile along a parade during the Champs-Élysées, heading to the place where mass was held. this amid tight security. It's the first papal visit in 18 years, and it's a sign of the Catholic Church's continuing appeal in a country now officially secular, but once strongly Catholic. Leo is on a four-day visit to France, starting yesterday with a prayer in the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. For the third time, the Supreme Court blocked a congressional map in Missouri in a redistricting case that could help determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The GOP-friendly map was meant to help Republicans get another seat in the House. The court's order requires the state to use the same voting districts used in 2022 and 2024, warning that changing the maps now
How is the Supreme Court's decision on Missouri's congressional map impacting upcoming elections?
would cause, quote, electoral chaos. This after a week of conflicting rulings in state and federal courts. In Brazil, with just over a week left before national elections, the president has ordered a ban on online betting. The move, the leader says, is for the health and welfare of families who are falling deeper into debt in the South American country. And Pierce Carey Kahn has more.
Online gambling has exploded in Brazil in recent years and so has personal debt, as well as gambling addictions and suicides, according to a recent national study. In signing the banning order, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said his decision was hard and drastic but necessary. Lula is locked in a tough re-election campaign with the son of former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What are the latest hurricane threats affecting Hawaii and Baja California?
0:00–0:53
2
How fast is Hurricane Polo intensifying compared to historical storms?
0:53–1:42
3
Why are investors selling bonds and how is it raising mortgage rates?
1:42–2:22
4
What significance does Pope Francis' outdoor mass in Paris hold for the Catholic Church?
2:22–3:24
5
How is the Supreme Court's decision on Missouri's congressional map impacting upcoming elections?
3:24–4:20
6
Why has Brazil's president banned online gambling ahead of the national election?
4:20–4:53