NPR News: 09-16-2026 9PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, Unriland, Barton, the European Union has proposed making Canada its first associate member. President Trump says the move could be considered a hostile act. Canada has been a terrible trade partner. And I don't see that. And if they do that, if I think it's an all-ahastle act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things. So if they do that, if Europe does that with a bad intention, if it's a good intention, that's fine. If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been seeking to build ties with the EU and rely less on the U.S. amid President Trump's trade war and talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state. Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Bady has filed a request for an emergency court hearing regarding the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. after the Center's board shut down the complexes main building and PR's Anasasiya Tsilkis has more.

1:00Representative Bady, Democrat from Ohio, is asking the federal court to force the board, including its chairman, President Trump, to explain why they closed the Kennedy Center so suddenly in what appears to be a major escalation of the fight over the future of the arts institution. Just this week, Judge Christopher Cooper had said he needed to approve any closure ahead of the renovation. Cooper also ruled that the board cannot add President Trump's name to the front of the building. The board has already filed an appeal in President Trump vowed on social media to take the fight all the way to the Supreme Court. Trump also said he will not renovate the center without his name on it. Anasasiya Tsilkis and PR News. President Trump's nominee for Surgeon General, former Fox contributor Dr. Nicole Sapphire, said during a confirmation hearing today she doesn't believe childhood vaccines cause autism. That puts her out of step with her potential future boss, health secretary Robert of Kennedy, Jr., who has promoted the theory. Why it spread scientific consensus has concluded a link between autism and vaccines doesn't

2:02exist. The Surgeon General post has been vacant throughout Trump's second term. More people than expected, dined out last month, and PR's Alina Seljuk has the latest restaurant spending numbers. Retail sales grew 1.2 percent from July to August. That marked a recovery from a dip in spending we saw between June and July. Full data shows that people spent more across the board buying clothes and electronics and likely school supplies were back to school compared to a year earlier spending grew 6. Higher prices are part of the story with people spending more, somewhat because things are costing more. Spending at gas stations is one prime example. Sales there surged 21 percent in August compared to August of last year, but the price of gasoline was up even more than that last month, suggesting some people might in fact be buying less. Spending at restaurants and bars grew nearly 6 percent. Alina Seljuk in PR News. U.S. stocks slipped today. This is NPR. The Trump administration has announced travel bans on officials it claims are responsible

3:05for discriminating against white people in South Africa. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he would revoke visas from those the U.S. says are responsible for policies that allow for uncompensated land seizures and race-based discrimination. The South African government rejects the administration's allegations. Scientists have created a new model for studying brain diseases. As NPR's pink long reports, it involves putting human brain cells into mice. Researchers have struggled to understand and treat brain disorders because on a biological level, they can't really study them in living humans. Sergio Pashka is a neuroscientist at Stanford. There's been this quest of trying to build models of the human brain outside of the human body. And then deployed them very systematically towards studying this devastating disorders of the brain. Pashka and his colleagues have created a new model in which about 50 percent of a mouse's brain by volume is replaced with lab-grown human neurons. They offer better models for studying early developmental diseases like cerebral palsy.

4:06The research is published in the journal Nature. Outside researchers say this work was done with strong ethical oversight, but it could raise serious ethical questions if it's replicated in larger animals like pig sur primates. Ping Huang and PR News. Former President George W. Bush has a new book of oil paintings coming out in March, featuring his portraits of political prisoners and dissidents. The book includes 44 paintings and biographical sketches featuring figures like the late Kurdish-Auronian activist Gina Masa Amini. This is NPR News from Washington. This message comes from Angie. Angie has been helping homeowners find skilled pros to get their home projects done well for over 30 years. For everything from minor repairs to major remodels, find reviews, pricing, and booking at Angie.com or on the Angie app.