NPR News: 09-28-2026 11AM EDT
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Why is the Trump administration rolling back vehicle fuel economy standards?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman. The Trump administration has announced it is rolling back fuel economy standards for new vehicles. It says less efficient vehicles will make cars more affordable for Americans. As NPR's Willa Rubin reports, this is a step that weakens Biden-era climate policies.
The Corporate Average Fuel Economy, CAFE, standards, have been around since the 70s. These require American carmakers to make each year's new vehicles more fuel efficient on average across their entire fleets. But how much more efficient? Under the Biden administration, fleets needed to get 2% more efficient every year. That meant carmakers needed to make electric vehicles, balance out their gas guzzlers. Otherwise, they were subject to a fine. That fine went away last July as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Now, a much smaller increase in fuel efficiency will be required every year. Willa Rubin, NPR News.
How will federal cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and refugee programs affect voters?
Voters may soon feel more economic pain. There are upcoming cuts to safety net programs such as SNAP. Along with that, President Trump is going to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from programs he opposes, even though Congress has approved funding for them. NPR's Mara Liason reports this is called a pocket veto or pocket
rescission. According to the White House, the canceled funds include over $550 million from programs that provided services to refugees and other non-citizens. Later this week, the cuts to Medicaid and food stamp snap benefits that were in Trump's one big beautiful bill are going to kick in. And this pocket rescission has been called illegal by the General Accounting Office. So together, all of these cuts... add up to more economic pressure on voters.
NPR's Mara Liason reporting.
What is known about the suspected plot near the UK air base used by U.S. bombers?
Iran's embassy in London is denying any involvement in a suspected plot that was foiled near an air base in western England. It's one of the bases where U.S. military bombers take off for attacks on Iran. NPR's Lauren Frayer reports from London.
The Iranian embassy in London says it categorically rejects what it calls malicious speculations that it was involved in a suspected terror plot near Royal Air Force Base Fairford. In the middle of the night early Sunday, a farmer alerted police to three suspicious vehicles near that British airbase. Police intercepted them and arrested five men whom they say are British nationals all in their mid-20s living in London. They've been detained on suspicion of both explosives and terrorism offences. British counterterrorism officials say they are aware that, quote, geopolitical questions are being raised, but that the idea that the base may have been targeted because of its role in U.S. attacks on Iran is just one of many threads they are investigating.
Lauren Fryer, NPR
News,
London.
You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The White House has started airing a new ad featuring President Trump.
Why are critics questioning the legality of the White House's Trump ad?
In it, he asks people to join him in his fight to expel warmongers from government. The ad says it was paid for by the U.S. government. This is the second such ad released by the White House in recent days. Critics say these appear to violate federal law. Weather forecasters say that the nor'easter that pounded the east coast over the weekend is now weakening.
What damage did the weekend nor'easter cause along the East Coast?
One person was killed in New York State by a falling tree this weekend. The powerful storm brought winds that were near hurricane strength. It is still pouring rain from New York to New England. The smoke billowing off a wildfire can travel hundreds or thousands of miles.
How does wildfire smoke affect birds and their behavior?
A new field of study is trying to understand how that smoke may be disturbing wild places and creatures, such as birds. Here's NPR's Ari Daniel.
Having repeatedly experienced wildfire smoke herself, Olivia Sanderfoot, who's based at Cornell University, has long wanted to know how birds handle it.
It's not just about what they're inhaling, which is inevitably bad for them. It's also about how the cues that they use to navigate their world are upended when it gets smoky outside.
Sanderfoots teamed up with researchers in other disciplines to create a new field called smoke ecology.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why is the Trump administration rolling back vehicle fuel economy standards?
0:00–1:00
2
How will federal cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and refugee programs affect voters?
1:00–1:53
3
What is known about the suspected plot near the UK air base used by U.S. bombers?
1:53–3:05
4
Why are critics questioning the legality of the White House's Trump ad?
3:05–3:28
5
What damage did the weekend nor'easter cause along the East Coast?
3:28–3:45
6
How does wildfire smoke affect birds and their behavior?
3:45–5:01