by Brittney Melton

March 19, 2026

Good morning. Hold on to your pens! Cursive handwriting is making a comeback in many classrooms across the U.S. But critics say it doesn’t add any real value for students. Here’s the news we’re following today:

A wave of attacks from Iran today has hit the world’s largest liquefied natural gas complex in Qatar. Iran also targeted a gas field and facility in the United Arab Emirates and fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia. The attacks come after Israel bombed Iran’s South Pars gas field yesterday. Energy prices surged immediately, driving oil up to around $110 a barrel, which is about $40 higher than before the conflict began. President Trump said on social media late yesterday that Israel acted independently when it struck the gas field in Iran.

Oliver Contreras/AFP via Getty Images

🎧 Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claims a new stage in the war is underway following Israel's attack. Arab Gulf states warn that Israel’s actions jeopardize global energy security and escalate tensions. The Guard said that if an attack like this happens again, it would strike regional energy infrastructure until "it's completely destroyed." Iran's attack on Qatar has set back the country’s ability to resume gas production after the war ends. Countries like China and India rely on this gas, and this is already disrupting fertilizer and plastic production, NPR’s Aya Batrawy tells Up First. The pain that Iran’s counterattacks are inflicting on countries around the world could increase pressure to end the conflict, Batrawy says.
➡️ Cheap drones are revolutionizing modern warfare. The shift has been unfolding for several years, but it’s now taking center stage in the skies over the Middle East as Trump’s war with Iran enters its third week. The rapid rise of drone use is catching the U.S. off guard. Eliminating these threats can be financially burdensome, allowing Iran to escalate the conflict's costs for the U.S.

Cesar Chavez, the renowned union leader and advocate for farmworker rights, has been accused of sexually abusing two girls in the 1970s and assaulting Dolores Huerta, his United Farm Workers co-founder, in the 1960s. These revelations emerged from an investigation published by the New York Times. In the report, two women alleged that Chavez began grooming and abusing them during his time as UFW president. One woman said he raped her in a motel room when she was 15 and Chavez was 47. Another woman shared with the Times that she was only 13 when Chavez began groping her in his office at the union’s headquarters. Huerta accused Chavez of pressuring her into sex and later raping her. Both encounters led to pregnancies that she concealed. After the children were born, she arranged for other families to raise them.

🎧 Progressive Democrats face a challenge as they balance Chavez’s legacy for Latinos and laborers while acknowledging the allegations against him, says Michael Adkison of Houston Public Media. California Gov. Gavin Newsom says the movement Chavez has built is bigger than one man. Meanwhile, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has prohibited state agencies from observing Cesar Chavez Day, which the state has observed since 1999. Several cities in Texas have canceled their planned events for the holiday. Some cities, such as Tucson, Ariz., are moving forward with their planned events, but under a different name. Cities across the country are now weighing the fate of streets and buildings named after Chavez.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced yesterday that it is tightening safety rules in busy airspace around major airports. The agency will suspend the use of visual separation between helicopters and planes. Visual separation is a procedure where air traffic controllers warn pilots about nearby aircraft and instruct them to avoid other craft through visual observation. The agency's decision comes more than a year after the collision of a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter with an American Airlines regional jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people. The FAA also identified two recent close calls that prompted this policy change.

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A Honda dealership with several vehicles of different colors in the lot.

Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America

Taxpayers who purchased a new vehicle in 2025 may qualify for a new deduction this filing season. It comes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which also removes taxes on tips and overtime for qualifying workers, but eliminates the tax credit for electric vehicle purchases. Here's what you should know:

🚘 The deduction only works on new vehicles purchased after Dec. 31, 2024. If you purchased a used car, you are out of luck.
🚘 To qualify, the vehicle's final assembly process must have occurred in the U.S. You can determine this with your vehicle identification number.
🚘 The vehicle must be for personal use and not for a business purpose.
🚘 Unlike most tax deductions, this one is available to taxpayers who take the standard deduction instead of itemizing. This perk expands the number of people who can benefit from it, according to Mark Gallegos, a tax partner at Porte Brown Wealth Management.

Lara Downes

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the United States. Pianist Lara Downes is traveling across the country, capturing conversations about our history through music. Her latest stop is New York City, where she met with Adam Gopnik, a staff writer for The New Yorker who is passionate about American history and music. The two discuss and explore how immigrants have shaped patriotic music. American music has showcased “new perspectives and sounds of everyone who comes here,” Downes says. Gopnik emphasizes that as long as the U.S. remains open to new voices, American music will continue to evolve. Listen to how immigrants have shaped American music or read more about their conversation.

What does it mean to be an American? There’s no single answer. At NPR, we think of American identity as a story, one that’s constantly being rewritten by the people who live it.

The American Storytelling collection brings together stories from local stations across the NPR Network, from small-town struggles to natural wonders to the layered histories that shape our nation. These are some of our biggest little-known shows, all in one place.

Explore the American Storytelling channel on Apple Podcasts or find it in the NPR App.

Listen Now ➔

Jessie Holmes arrives at the 1,000-mile race's finish line of the dog sledding race. He has one fist up in the air and the other hand is holding on to his sled.

Gabby Hiestand Selgado/KYUK

Jessie Holmes and his team of sled dogs successfully defended their Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race title this week, becoming the first musher to accomplish the feat in a decade. (via Alaska Public Media)

A new study finds that Salganea taiwanensis, a wood-feeding cockroach, may pair bond, which is rarely seen in invertebrates. The bond means two organisms will spend an extended time together, while excluding others.

This week, NPR’s Far-Flung Postcard series takes readers to central Kenya, where a group of grandmothers have formed a soccer team to stay active and inspire a generation of teenagers.

Stream your local NPR station.

Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.

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