"Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst.
The director of the National Counterterrorism Center,
“Joe Kent, has resigned to protest the war in Iran.”
And if you're as great as my report, Kent had been a staunch supporter of President Trump, because Trump has said he opposed Middle East wars. Joe Kent addressed his blunt resignation letter to President Trump in a post on X.
He wrote, quote, "I cannot in good conscience "to support the ongoing war in Iran." Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war
due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.
Kent is a former Green Buray deployed 11 times in the Middle East. His wife was a senior chief petty officer in the Navy. She was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019. When nominated for his position last year,
Kent faced sharp criticism from Democrats, including Senator Patty Murray. She called Kent, quote, "a conspiracy theorist "who espouses white supremacist views. "Greg my read, MPR News, Washington."
“- About a fifth of oil and liquified natural gas”
or LNG supplies remain shut off from the world as the straight of horror moves remains closed. But in Pierce Julia Simon reports, some countries are better prepared than others for this energy crisis.
On rooftops of millions of Pakistani homes are gleaming solar panels. Pakistan still imports LNG from Qatar for electricity. Though supplies are now cut off, and prices for substitutes are sky high.
But Nabiya Imran, a Pakistani think tank renewables first,
says the recent surge of solar and battery installations in just the last three years, means the country is less vulnerable. - The widespread option of solar and batteries is kind of served as a hedge protection sort of against
these price shocks. - It's not just solar and batteries. Energy experts tell NPR the recent growth of electric vehicles in countries like Nepal
“and China also make countries more resilient”
as oil prices climb, Julia Simon and Phearnews. - Acting TSA administrator Adam Stahl says small US airports may have to close. If the partial government shutdown continues because of a lack of TSA staff
who are working without pay as the partial government shutdown continues.
As some of the bigger airports around the country
are closing some of their security checkpoints, including Philadelphia International Airport, which says it's closing two more. Antoinette Wade has been a TSA agent for 18 years and is a union representative.
- It's just unreasonable to expect anybody to continue going to work for such long periods of time without receiving any pay. - This is the stalemate over funding for the Department of Homeland Security continues
over immigration tactics, including the killing of two US citizens in Minnesota. You're listening to NPR news. - With air travel snarled by a winter storm in the Midwest and the partial government shutdown,
a group of high school musicians from Minnesota is taking an unexpected road trip home from Florida. The rest of Donovan of Member Station KAXE has more. Detroit Lakes High School Band and choir members competed in Orlando during spring break
and planned a fly home amid flight cancellations half of the students made a back to Minnesota. But around 75 students in Shaperone's were stranded in Florida unable to rebook flights until four days later. Shaperone's opted to hire three charter buses
to drive 1,700 miles home. Senior Band Captain Emma Thorson is on the road trip. - We stand the use of the day sitting in the hotel lobby actually we had to check out. And then we kept getting notified that we weren't gonna be
a getting a bushing towel to the following day. - The travel snafu is costing about $35,000 more than expected. For NPR news, I'm Larissa Donovan in Bemidhi, Minnesota. - In Western Nebraska, firefighters are making progress in containing the largest wildfire and state history
along with a handful of others. More than 750,000 acres have burned in four fires around the state. Officials at least one person died, several buildings have been destroyed.
Most of the fires are partially contained but the National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for parts of the state through tonight. The state's Governor Jim Pillen has issued a state of emergency
and pledged to help farmers with supplies and recovery efforts. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR news from Washington. - One to understand the reason
and the meanings of the narratives that let us hear and maybe had a head them off at the past. - That's on the media specialty. I'm Brooke Gladstone, host of WNYCs on the media. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
