NPR News: 07-17-2026 4PM EDT

Lakshmi Singh· Host0:01

Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Federal health officials investigating the cyclospora outbreak are advising people to avoid eating shredded iceberg lettuce at Taco Bell locations in these five states: West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Indiana. The parasite has sickened thousands of people. California supplier Taylor Farms writes on social media that it is voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico, but it adds that none of its branded salads or kits are associated with the outbreak. Millions of people from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic are enduring a third straight day of unhealthy air quality because of the thick smoke from the wildfires burning in Canada. It's affecting people like Laura Shapiro in New York.

Laura Shapiro· Soundbite0:47

You can feel, you know, you're smelling terrible things [laughs]. You can feel it a little bit in your breathing, you know, and you just know that it's not good to breathe in all these toxins.

Lakshmi Singh· Host0:57

And Samuel Etienne in Chicago.

Samuel Etienne· Soundbite0:59

I do have asthma, but it rarely comes out. But something like this would definitely trigger it, so I wanted to be 100% certain I wouldn't have to, like, you know, run to the ER or anything like that.

Lakshmi Singh· Host1:09

Many people are opting to wear masks today, even with temperatures peaking in the 90s. US strikes targeted an Iranian control tower for the third time, according to Iranian state media. NPR's Hadil Al-Shalchi has the latest.

Speaker 41:22

Iranian state media said the maritime control tower at Shahid Kalantari Port in Chabahar was targeted for the third time