NPR News: 02-22-2026 6PM EST

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jeanine Herbst. The Mexican military has killed one of the country's most powerful drug lords, also sought by the US NPR Zeta Peralta reports. His death has unleashed a wave of violence.

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Nemesio O Segueira Cervantes was better known as El Mencho and he turned the Jalisco New Generation cartel into one of the most powerful organized crime groups in the world. The US was offering a $15 million bounty for El Mencho, accusing his cartel of making billions of dollars by shipping fentanyl and cocaine to the U.S. mexico's defense ministry said El Mencho was injured during an operation to capture him in the state of Jal. He died while being airlifted to Mexico City. At the same time, members of his cartel have unleashed violence across the state. In Guadaljara, in Puerto Vallarta, armed men have set cars and businesses on fire. El Mencho's death now leaves a power vacuum in Mexico, and that is usually followed by intense violence. Ada Pearl, TIMEPR News, Mexico City.

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American businesses are trying to figure out how to get their money back for the tariffs they paid in the past year. This after the Supreme Court ruled last week that about half of President Trump's tariffs were collected illegally. NPR Zelena Selyuk reports. The high court, though, didn't set out a way for that money to be refunded.

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Ask anyone who sells anything in the US what's on their mind and they'll probably say tariff refunds. The US government has collected more than $200 billion in tariffs imposed by President Trump, but now the Supreme Court has struck down about half of them. Anyone who paid those tariffs should get their money back, and that anyone is often small business owners like Sarah Wells in Virgin. She sells backpacks and other products for new moms for breastfeeding. They're made overseas and we not only

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need the money back, but we need a process to get the money back,

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which she hopes will not require hiring lawyers or brokers, extensive paperwork or years long litigation. Alina Seluk, NPR News.

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Millions of people from the mid Atlantic through the Northeast are under blizzard warnings as a powerful winter storm heads up the coast with heavy snowfall and strong winds. Up to 2ft of snow could fall in some areas, including Boston. Mayor Michelle Wu is asking people to stay home if possible.

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You need every resident to do your part, too. Please, please make plans to stay inside, stay warm, do not be on the roads. We're seeing that the rate of snowfall is could be upwards of an inch, two inches an hour. That will be whiteout conditions.

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The worst part of the storm is forecast to hit tonight into tomorrow, though snow is falling from the mid Atlantic up through the Northeast. Officials say travel cond will be dangerous with dropping visibility on both the roads and in the air. New York City's mayor has declared a state of emergency in a travel ban starting tonight. You're listening to NPR News. A Pulitzer Prize winning novel has been removed from an English class at a New Jersey public school. Administrators say it's to protect students mental health. NPR's Anastasia Sioulkis reports. A warning. This report is about suicidal ideation.

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Administrators say this year at least five students from Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey have attempted suicide. The district's first response was to order the removal of Junot Diaz's novel the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wilde from an advanced level class for seniors. In the novel, the title character attempts suicide. Free expression advocates say this is part of a nationwide trend. The group Pen America reported in 2024 nearly 60% of banned books are titles that depict like grief, suicide and depression. After pushback from parents and students, the New Jersey district is allowing students to read the novel in class, but only if parents sign a permission form. They're also shoring up their mental health offerings. Anastasia Tsukas, NPR News, New York.

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If you or someone you know is considering suicide or are in crisis, call or text the Suicide in crisis lifeline. And at 9 8, 8, after more than a month long strike, thousands of nurses at a major New York hospital system approved a new contract. More than 4,000 nurses in the privately run New York Presbyterian system have been on strike since January 12th, and they will start returning to work this week. The nurses union says the new contract includes staffing improvement, raises topping 12% over three years and safeguards. This is NPR.

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