NPR News: 03-22-2026 4AM EDT

Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman.

A funeral service was held Saturday for an American service member killed in the war

in the Middle East.

35-year-old Captain Cody Cork of Winter Haven, Florida, was among six people killed by a

drone strike at a command center in Kuwait.

His stepmother, Stacey Cork, says he leaves behind a legacy worth celebrating.

We don't just say goodbye.

We say thank you.

Thank you, Cody.

For your courage, your heart, your laughter, and for the life you've lived so fully.

Master Sergeant Robert Bunch said Cork lived a life of courage, commitment, and sacrifice.

That level of selfless service is something we can never fully repay, but we can honor

it by remembering his legacy.

Iran attacked two communities near Israel's main nuclear research centers Saturday night.

At least seven people were seriously injured and several buildings were damaged.

The attack came after Israel's military hit Tehran's main nuclear enrichment site.

It's the first time Israel's nuclear research facility was targeted.

Israel says it was not able to intercept the missiles.

In Cuba, that country's electricity grid is collapsed for the second time in a week,

leaving 10 million people without power.

As Katie Silver reports from Mexico City, it's the latest in a series of widespread outages

as the U.S. oil embargo continues to take its toll.

The state-owned Union Electricer said Cuba's grid had a, quote, total disconnection on Saturday.

It also happened this past Monday and earlier this month.

The Caribbean Islands infrastructure has been crippled after Donald Trump cut off Venezuelan

oil shipments to Cuba and threatened tariffs on any country that it provides fuel.

Reports suggest multiple tankers carrying Russian fuel are on route to Cuba.

The first choose to arrive Monday.

Mexico has also indicated it is trying to find ways to resume selling oil to Cuba.

It's stopping early this year due to U.S. pressure.

For NPR News, I'm Katie Silver and Mexico City.

American retailers are predicting a strong growth in sales, in part,

fueled by tax refunds and the forecast of a cool down in inflation.

The nation's top retail trade group is forecasting that spending at stores and restaurants

will grow 4.4 percent this year, as NPR's Alina Celia tells us.

The National Retail Federation says this growth will be greater than the recent years

or the years before the pandemic.

The forecast counts on a slight boost from tax cuts at the start of the year.

It also predicts that inflation might ease in the second half of the year.

The group acknowledged that it's not considering any potential fallout of the war in Iran,

including the impact on shipping or gas prices.

Chief economist Mark Matthews says the retail group is still optimistic

that the resilient American consumer and, quote,

the underlying fundamentals of the U.S. economy will support continued stability

in the year ahead, Alina Celia and Beer News, Washington.

And you're listening to NPR News.

The World Health Organization says a strike on a hospital in Sudan's dire four region

has killed at least 64 people.

13 of those who died were children.

The WHO also says the strike made the hospital non-operational.

It's not clear where the strike came from and both sides in the fighting

are blaming each other for the attack.

People who are self-employed and make too much money for federal help

with health insurance premiums are facing tough choices right now.

Ampere Selina Simmons-Duffin reports that premium costs for affordable

care act plans have doubled this year.

Ken Warner and Parvin Vora are in their mid fifties and live in Manchester, Connecticut.

They're self-employed and use the ACA for health coverage.

Last year, they had to drain one of their two small retirement accounts.

It's a pay for the hip surgery and the eye surgery and the roof went.

We needed a new roof and a new boiler at the same year as the surgery.

Now they're wondering how they can pay for surgery on Vora's other eye

and warners other hip and eyeing the retirement account that's left.

And this is supposed to be meant for our sixties, our seventies and our eighties.

They say they feel stuck in a broken system with health care premiums

and out-of-pocket costs only getting more expensive each year.

Selina Simmons-Duffin and PR News.

The FDA says almost 90,000 bottles of a children's pain reliever have been recalled

because of reports of contamination.

The children's ibuprofen oral suspension is manufactured by tarot pharmaceuticals.

The recall was announced after some customers reported a gel-like mass and black particles

in the product.

The FDA says that the recalled product is unlikely to pose a serious health risk.

I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.

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