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NPR News: 04-23-2026 10AM EDT

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Live from NPR News in Washington on Corv.

has been forced out of his job. He was serving as the Navy's top civilian leader

responsible for budgets and shipbuilding. But retired Navy Rear Admiral Mark McGumrace says Falen didn't make a wise spending decision on replacing a type of Navy frigate. But his decision to meet it replace it without doing a competitive process with a version of a co-scard cutter that had no anti-Sermon warfare, no air defense, and was very noisy. It was the opposite of the ship you would want for a frigate. He rushed into it with no

analysis agreement. And, you know, we were suddenly, you know, getting ready to head down

the path of an even worse frigate than the one he canceled. I think that really frustrated senior

leaders around him. He spoke to NPR's morning edition. European Union countries have given preliminary approval

to a 106 billion dollar loan for Ukraine. Terry Schultz reports, the loan package has been

held up by Hungary and Slovakia over suspended deliveries of Russian oil through Ukraine. The governments of Hungary and Slovakia say as long as Russian oil starts arriving again via the Drupal pipeline by Thursday, they'll drop their vetoes on the European Union's loan for Ukraine. The interest-free loan, which will be split between this year and next, was already agreed to by all 27 EU governments in December, but Hungary and Slovakia withdrew their

consent earlier this year. When Russia damaged the pipeline flowing through Ukraine and keep did not immediately repair it, now that needed repairs are completed, the loan is expected to be finalized Thursday, along with the 20th package of EU sanctions against

Russia for its full-scale invasion, which Hungary was blocking for the same reason.

For impure news, I'm Terry Schultz and Brussels.

Standing U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanch says the Justice Department will loosen restrictions on FDA approved and state regulated marijuana. Blanch says marijuana will now be reclassified as a less dangerous drug. A new national youth poll from Harvard University finds that just 13% of 18 to 29-year-olds believe the country is on the right track, and beer's Elena Moore reports. 46% of young Americans say rising prices and inflation are an urgent

crisis, and many feel increasingly doubtful about their economic future. Just 29% believe they'll be better off financially than their parents. While 26% say they'll be worse off. It's a 3.5 years ago, it was a 21-point difference, skewing toward better off. What's more, folks are down on the political system, giving both parties roughly the same lower approval rating of about 25%. Respondents were also more likely to say politicians

care more about the interests of the elite over people like themselves, by an 11-point margin

for Democrats and a whopping 41-point margin for Republicans. Elena Moore and PR news. On Wall Street, the Dow is now down about 200 points. This is NPR. Center Republicans have passed a budget measure overnight that funds immigration agencies in the Department of Homeland Security. DHS has been shut down for weeks, Democrats are demanding changes in how immigration agents operate. The legislative procedure is complex.

The House has been waiting for the Senate to pass funding for immigration agencies before it will take up the funding bills. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided the fate of a major pipeline running underneath the Great Lakes will be decided by Michigan courts. This is considered a win for both Michigan and for environmental groups that want to shut down the pipeline from interlocking public radio, Vivian Law, explains.

Just as Sonia Sotomayor wrote that "Enbridge Energy missed the deadline to move the case to federal court and arguments to excuse this were not persuasive." Court venue matters and "Enbridge preferred federal courts because of pipeline safety regulations, but the plaintiffs preferred state." Andy Bushbomb is a lawyer for the Great Lakes Business Network, which filed briefs supporting the plaintiff.

"The state court will have a chance to determine whether line five poses a huge risk to the people of Michigan and to the Great Lakes. All the justice of the court requires some ideology agreed that it's the state court that's the proper court to hear this dispute." "Enbridge says the federal agency overseeing line five hasn't found any issues that would

warrant shutting it down. For NPR News, I'm Vivian Law in Interlocking." Officials in Georgia say wildfires have burned more than 50 homes. Forcasters say the weather today will be very dry, especially in southern Georgia. I'm Corva Coleman and PR News in Washington. "Every episode of NPR's It's Bene Minute Podcast starts with a question about how culture shapes our lives. How are we spending too much on other people's weddings? Is social media

bad for your mental health? We're here for your right to be curious. One big question at a time. Follow its Bene Minute wherever you get your podcasts."

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