Who should when the Oscar for the best original song this year?
On the latest all songs considered from Imperial Music, we rank the nominees.
“I think Diane Warren should have won two Academy Awards.”
The problem is very often the lyrics are not much more insightful than you would find
on the nearest throw pillow. Here the Imperial Music podcast on the NPR app or wherever you get podcasts. Live from NPR News and Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. Lebanon's death toll from Israeli strikes has risen to more than 600. The UN says the war has displaced more than 800,000 people in Lebanon.
200,000 of them are children. The Israeli army is hitting southern Lebanon and the suburbs of Beirut as it targets Hezbollah strongholds and Piers Hadil Al-Shalchi reports. At the sports city football stadium on the outskirts of Beirut nearly 800 people are now crammed into white tents pitched by volunteers.
People haven't had access to clean bathrooms and say they haven't showered for days. Samar Saffa is the general manager of Mechzumi Foundation. A non-profit trying to help equip the stadium to make it more livable. He says resources are very limited.
What we have budgeted for within this year, we cannot cater for half a million displaced.
Saffa says organizations like his are feeling the impact of President Trump's
“cuts to international humanitarian aid, making it difficult to provide essential services to those in need in Lebanon.”
Hadil Al-Shalchi and PR news, Beirut. Gas prices are rising again across the U.S. and tensions the Middle East are part of the reason after U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, oil markets have been on edge. The Texas Newsrooms Lusium Vasquez reports. Gas prices are climbing as crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline becomes more expensive.
Triple A says the national average price for a gallon of regular gas was just under 3 bucks a month ago. Now it's up by nearly 60 cents. When you look at the bigger picture over the last week or two, you see an increase in crude oil prices. That's after U.S. intervention in Iran. Daniel Armbruster with Triple A says the big concern now is whether the conflict disrupts
global oil shipments, which could push prices even higher. How that plays out in the coming weeks is going to be really important as to how long we see elevated gas prices.
“For now, analysts say it's still difficult to predict how much higher prices could climb”
in the weeks ahead. For MPR News, I'm Lusio Vasquez and Houston. President Trump used to swing through Ohio and Kentucky to push an economic message into attack Republican Congressman Thomas Massey, even as the conflict in Iran threatens to overshadow his agenda.
He's this loyal to the people of Kentucky and most importantly, he is this loyal to the United States of America and he's got to be voted out of office as soon as possible. Massey is one of the few remaining congressional Republicans who has dared to defy Trump. He's opposed Trump's military campaigns in Iran and Venezuela and was one of the primary sponsors of the bill to release files related to sex trafficking investigations into Jeffrey
Epstein. Trump is supporting Massey's primary election opponent Ed Gallerine. U.S. stocks remained relatively calm today. The S&P 500 dropped a fraction. This is NPR News.
Some Democratic-led states alarmed by the possibility of federal immigration officers patrolling the polls during this year's midterm elections are taking steps to prevent that from happening. New Mexico has barred armed agents from polling locations and at least six other Democratic lead states are considering similar steps. Blue states have been overwhelmingly targeted by President Trump's aggressive immigration
enforcement tactics. U.S. home insurance costs have gone up in part because climate change is fueling more extreme weather that damages property NPR's Michael Coffey reports costs are expected to keep rising. Industry 4 cash show home insurance premiums rising nationwide this year by up to 8%.
While disaster cost fell in 2025, Rob Hoyt notes at marked another year in which the U.S.
suffered more than $100 billion in losses from extreme weather.
Western insurance expert at the University of Georgia. We're talking about a quote better than typical year in recent times, but that should be interpreted as amongst a very troubling set of years from a catastrophic loss perspective. Insurance costs have also been rising because people keep moving to risk areas like regions prone to wildfires and hurricanes and when disasters hit, inflation has made rebuilding more expensive.
Michael Coffey and PR news. The company responsible for selling lost luggage in the U.S. released a list of the oddest things left behind at airports last year. Unclaimed baggage says it's most unusual finds included a powered prosthetic knee joint, a set of 10 karat diamond grills, and a fragment of a meteorite that felt to earth in 15
176, this is NPR.
