NPR News: 03-21-2026 6PM EDT

Iran's state media reported early Saturday that Israel and the U.S. jointly struck the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Friday statement that recent Israeli strikes had eliminated Iran's uranium enrichment capacity. Israel's military denied awareness of any such attacks in a statement to NPR, while the International Atomic Energy Agency's watchdog detected no elevated off-site radiation levels after a reported second strike. Netanyahu's comments highlighted Israel's ongoing efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program, but the conflicting reports left the incident's details unverified.

Robert Mueller, the former FBI director and special counsel who investigated Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, died at age 81. Diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2021, Mueller led the FBI for 12 years starting just before the 9/11 attacks. His 2019 probe uncovered secret high-level contacts between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin—despite denials from both— but found insufficient evidence of conspiracy and declined to charge Trump with obstruction of justice, citing Justice Department policy. In archived 2019 testimony, Mueller explained: "Based on Justice Department policy and principles of fairness, we decided we would not make a determination as to whether the President committed a crime. That was our decisi