NPR News: 03-04-2026 6PM EST

Life Kit can help you change your life in record time. In just about 20 minutes, a Life Kit episode gives you evidence-based tips you can put into practice that day. No fast-forwarding to get to the good stuff. Just smart, straightforward advice right away. Listen to the Life Kit podcast in the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Rylan Barton. The Republican-led House Oversight Committee has voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi. Lawmakers in both parties want Bondi to testify in their investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. NPR's Sage Miller has more. Bondi would be the highest-ranking official in the Trump administration to testify as part of the committee's investigation into Epstein. The attorney general has come under fire for her handling of the Epstein files. Congress ordered the Justice Department to release the material. But some lawmakers have accused the DOJ of not complying with the law by unnecessarily redacting certain information and not publishing all the files as it should have. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment on the subpoena. Committee Democrats want to subpoena President Trump whose name appears numerous times in the files but Republicans say they do not believe it necessary Sage Miller NPR News A resolution to require President Trump to seek congressional approval for any further action in Iran failed to advance in the Senate five days after the U.S. and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran. The House is expected to vote on a similar war powers measure tomorrow. New satellite imagery shows the aftermath of a bombing of a school in Iran that has reportedly killed at least 165 people, many of them schoolchildren. As NPR's Jeff Brumfield reports, the imagery suggests the school may have been hit as part of an airstrike. Satellite images from the company Planet show half a dozen other buildings in addition to the school were struck precisely, including a new clinic that had just opened a few years ago. The clinic and school were adjacent to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps base. In fact, both structures used to be part of the base until they were walled off from the rest of the complex. Jeffrey Lewis with Middlebury College says they could have been targeted by accident. It is possible that the target hadn't been updated since there were changes on the ground, or the people doing the updating didn't understand what they were looking at. The Pentagon said it is investigating the incident. Jeff Brumfield, NPR News. Stocks rebounded today making up some of their losses since the war in Iran threw energy prices into turmoil NPR Scott Horsley reports crude oil prices appear to be leveling off Crude oil prices rose less than one percent following bigger increases on Monday and Tuesday Retail gasoline prices in the U.S. have jumped about 20 cents a gallon over the last two days. The price of diesel fuel has climbed above four dollars a gallon. That makes it more expensive to transport goods by truck or train. Surveys conducted by the Institute for Supply Management before the war began show an uptick in activity for both the manufacturing sector and service industries in February, but the latest beige book from the Federal Reserve shows little change in hiring. The Labor Department is set to report on employment and unemployment for the month of February later this week. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. The Dow added nearly half a percent today. This is NPR News. A federal judge has ruled that companies that paid President Trump's tariffs are due refunds. Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade wrote that all importers of record are entitled to the benefit after the Supreme Court struck down Trump's power to issue tariffs using an emergency power. The ruling offers some clarity about the refund process, which the Supreme Court didn't mention in its decision. Global sea levels could rise more than is currently expected because of climate change. That's according to a new study looking at how sea level is measured as NPR Lauren Sommer reports As the climate gets hotter oceans are rising That because polar ice and glaciers are melting and because the water itself expands as it gets warmer A new study from Vaheningen University in the Netherlands finds that scientific studies may be underestimating how much sea levels could rise. The researchers found the computer models scientists use start with a current sea level that's about 10 inches too low on average. If that's corrected, those same models would show as many as 130 million more people potentially affected on coastlines if sea level rises by three feet. Lauren Sommer, NPR News. The Winter Paralympics come to Milan-Cortina, marking their 50th anniversary this Friday. China is looking to extend its dominance, but Ukraine and other nations are boycotting the opening ceremony over the return of the Russian flag and anthem. The war in the Middle East has prompted travel difficulties for some of the nations coming to Italy because of widespread flight disruptions. I'm Rylan Barton, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.