NPR News: 03-17-2026 1PM EDT

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Lie from NPR Newsom Lakshmi Singh.

The director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, has resigned in protests

against the war in Iran.

NPR's Greg Meyri reports Kent had been a staunch supporter of President Trump because, he

says Trump said he opposed Middle East wars.

Joe Kent addressed his blunt resignation letter to President Trump in a post on X. He

wrote, quote, I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran.

Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation and it is clear that we started this war due

to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.

Kent is a former Green Beret deployed 11 times in the Middle East.

His wife was a senior chief petty officer in the Navy.

She was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019.

When nominated for his position last year, Kent faced sharp criticism from Democrats,

including Senator Patty Murray.

She called Kent, quote, a conspiracy theorist who espouses white supremacist views.

Greg Meyri, NPR News, Washington.

President Trump addressed Kent's resignation a short time ago.

I didn't know him well, but I thought it seemed like a pretty nice guy.

But when I ran a statement, I realized that it's a good thing that he's out because

he said that Iran was not a threat.

Iran was a threat every country realized what a threat Iran was.

Trump speaking with reporters while hosting Ireland's T-Shuck, Michal Martin, in recognition

of St. Patrick's State.

The Irish Examiner reported that ahead of Martin's White House visit, the Prime Minister

ruled out Irish involvement in any EU mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump had asked US allies to deploy warships to help get oil vessels through

the key waterway.

Today Trump said most NATO allies said they don't want to help even though he says the US

has supported them.

Trump then said the US does not need NATO.

The day is primary election day in Illinois.

From Reversation WBEZ, Mariah Wolf reports, one Senate and four House races are considered

wide open.

The retirements of longtime heavyweights, including Congressman Danny Davis and Senator

Dick Durbin, have prompted an avalanche of candidates, vying for open seats.

Across four wide open House Democratic primaries, there are 46 candidates on the ballots.

Jake Lewis is a Democratic strategist working in the ninth congressional district race.

The Democratic primary for Durbin's seat has been the highest profile, with three front

runners.

US representatives Roger Krishnamorthy and Robin Kelly and Illinois Lieutenant Governor

Juliana Stratton.

In the blue state of Illinois, the winner of the Democratic primary often soars to victory

in November's general election.

That's Mariah Wolf will reporting, this is NPR news.

The Federal Appeals Court has ruled that the administration can for now deport immigrants

to countries they are not from.

Here's NPR's humanibustio.

In a two-to-one decision and appeals panel for the first target reversed a lower courts

block on what are known as third country deportations.

These are deportations to a country that an immigrant is not from and does not have

connections to.

In the last year, the administration has increased the use of these deportations, sending

migrants to other countries like South Sudan or Eswatini.

Immigration attorneys have tried to stop these deportations, arguing that they can happen

with little opportunity to argue against them.

The appeals panel said that the court would hold oral arguments later this spring.

Humanibustio and Pair News, Washington.

Three Tennessee teenagers are suing Elon Musk's AI company, XAI, NPR's, Hojinan reports

of plaintiffs alleged XAI allowed someone to make sexually explicit images of them.

According to the civil complaint, the perpetrator used photos when plaintiffs sent to him, as

well as photos in a yearbook and on social media, to make images and videos in which the

plaintiffs appear to be nude.

He then used the material he generated to trade for more child sexual abuse material

in online communities.

The plaintiffs alleged partly based on law enforcement assessment that the model the perpetrator

used was made by XAI.

The class action lawsuit is the first suit filed by minor victims of CSAM against X, since

its image generation tool, GROC, produced millions of sexualized images last year and

early this year, Hojinan and Pair News.

This is NPR.

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