India’s honk-happy drivers are switching to even louder horns
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Education Department says it’s releasing more than $5 billion in frozen grants
The U.S. Education Department is releasing more than $5 billion in education grant funding to states. In late June, the Trump administration told states it was withholding these previously approved federal grants for further review. The decision left many school districts scrambling in the lead up to the school year. The largest pot of grant money consisted of roughly $2.2 billion for professional development for educators.
In late June, the Trump administration told states it was withholding these previously approved federal grants for further review. That announcement came a day before the July 1 deadline when those funds have traditionally been disbursed. The decision left many school districts scrambling in the lead up to the school year.
Earlier this month, the administration announced it would release grant funding for before- and after-school programs. Now, according to Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at the Education Department, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) “has directed the Department to release all formula funds. The agency will begin dispersing funds to states next week.”
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle lobbied to release the funds, citing financial strain on states and local communities. Several states have also sued the administration in an effort to get the funds released.
The grants that were held for review fund a wide range of education programs, including migrant education, services for English language learners and adult education.
The largest pot of grant money consisted of roughly $2.2 billion for professional development for educators. Tara Thomas, government affairs manager at The School Superintendents Association (AASA), told NPR districts often use these funds to help pay for continued teacher training.
“At the end of the day, it’s really just funding that makes teachers better at their jobs,” she said.
It’s not the first time the Trump administration has singled-out these programs: The administration’s proposed FY 2026 budget eliminated all the grants that had been frozen.
Copyright 2025 NPR
In reversal, Defense Department will continue providing crucial satellite weather data
In June, the Navy announced that it would stop sharing the crucial information about storms. In response, scientists and weather forecasters expressed fear that the missing data could lead to less accurate and timely hurricane forecasts. The Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, which processes and shares the data, “planned to phase out the data” It is unclear what will happen to the satellite data after September 2026.
In June, the Navy announced that it would stop sharing the crucial information about storms, as peak hurricane season loomed in the Atlantic. In response, scientists and weather forecasters expressed fear that the missing data could lead to less accurate and timely hurricane forecasts.
The Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, which processes and shares the data, “planned to phase out the data as part of a Defense Department modernization effort,” a Navy spokesperson wrote in an email to NPR. “But after feedback from government partners, officials found a way to meet modernization goals while keeping the data flowing until the sensor fails or the program formally ends in September 2026.”
The Defense Department operates satellites that collect information about conditions in the atmosphere and ocean, and for more than 40 years, it has shared that data with scientists and meteorologists.
The information is particularly useful for hurricane forecasters, because it allows them to watch storms in real-time as they form, according to Brian Tang, a hurricane researcher at the University at Albany. Tang says he is happy to hear that the Navy reconsidered its decision. “It’s vital that the data continue to be available through the heart of the Atlantic hurricane season,” he says.
Tracking storms as they gather strength allows forecasters to put out warnings earlier, giving people in harm’s way more time to prepare and evacuate.
The data are also crucial for monitoring sea ice in polar regions. Sea ice coverage affects weather patterns and international shipping, and is also an important source of information about how the planet is responding to climate change.
Before the latest announcement, the Navy had already pushed back the date for ending its data sharing with scientists once. The termination date was originally the end of June, but after an outcry from scientists and forecasters, it was updated to the end of July, according to the Navy. It is unclear what will happen to the satellite data after September 2026.
Copyright 2025 NPR
President Trump signs order to rename the Defense Department as the Department of War
President Trump signed an executive order on Friday to give the Department of Defense a new name. The change returns the department to a name that it carried for much of its history. The name “Department of War” will serve as a “secondary title” for the department. The order will also authorize Defense Department officials to substitute the word “war” into their titles, a White House fact sheet says. It’s not clear whether Trump can officially change the name without congressional action.
President Trump signed an executive order on Friday to give the Department of Defense a new name: the Department of War.
The change returns the department to a name that it carried for much of its history, until it became the Department of Defense in the wake of World War II.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said the rebranding reflected a new tone for the country and its military.
A White House fact sheet explains that under the executive order, the name “Department of War” will serve as a “secondary title” for the Department of Defense.
According to the fact sheet, the order will also authorize Defense Department officials to substitute the word “war” into their titles. For example, the Secretary of Defense could use the title Secretary of War.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appeared to acknowledge the change in a post on social media on Thursday, writing simply, “DEPARTMENT OF WAR.”
President Trump had previously signaled that a change was in the works. During an appearance in the Oval Office last month, Trump said that War Department “just sounded to me better.”
It’s not clear whether Trump can officially change the name without congressional action. He suggested after signing the order on Friday that the the administration would ask Congress to codify the change into law, but also said “I’m not sure they have to.”
“We’re going with it, and we’re going with it very strongly. There’s a question as to whether or not they [Congress] have to, but we’ll put it before Congress,” Trump said.
Almost from the country’s founding, the military was overseen by the War Department, but the sprawling agency took on its current name following an act of Congress in 1949. At the time, the change marked the culmination of an effort by President Harry Truman to unify the Air Force, Army and Navy under the umbrella of a single department.
As the largest department in the U.S. government, even just changing signs, seals and titles could prove costly. In 2023, an Army official told Congress that an effort to rename only nine Army bases would cost taxpayers $39 million.
Danielle Kurtzleben and Quil Lawrence contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 NPR
India’s honk-happy drivers are switching to even louder horns
The average noise in Mumbai is often more than 80 decibels. In a city of 20 million people, getting stuck in slow-moving traffic can sound as loud as a rock concert. “Many people here believe it’s impossible to drive without honking,” says Sumaira Abdulali, founder of the nonprofit Awaaz Foundation. A new “pom pom” horn costs less than $10 and can last a year or longer, depending on how much you’re honking, a review of the horn says. “Pedestrians don’t listen if you use the “ti” horn,” says Karim Mansood, who has sold vehicle spare parts for more than four decades at Mumbai’s CST Road marketplace. “Titi” horns can be classified in two types: “titi” and “Pom Pom” horns, which are used in SUVs, buses and other vehicles and are louder than the “titi” horn. The first has a flat tone and is used mostly in bikes, rickshaws and hatchbacks. The second is an air-pressure horn, mostly used in trucks and buses.
Drivers honk at pedestrians and each other. They honk to beat the traffic signal, or when the signal beats them.
In one not-so-scientific survey NPR conducted at an intersection near its bureau here at 3 p.m. one day in August, there were 27 honks in just one minute. Traffic constable Vikas Rahane, who was on the afternoon-to-evening shift, says that number is the “normal” amount, but it’s only going to go up.
“It’s the peak-hour evening traffic that gets you,” he said, referring to the times from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Sometimes, he can’t sleep. It has even caused hearing loss in some of his colleagues.
Under Indian laws, cops like Rahane can penalize drivers up to $25 for honking too much or without reason. But as his senior officer, Subhash Shinde, said: Mumbai roads are often so chaotic, they can focus on little beyond keeping the traffic moving and the pedestrians safe. “In the order of priorities, this one [honking violations] would rank somewhere between six and 10,” said Shinde.
Rajanish Kakade / AP / AP A traffic police official in Mumbai stops motorcyclists whose passengers are not wearing helmets in 2022.
A 2019 study found that the average noise in Mumbai is often more than 80 decibels — rivaling some of the busiest streets of Manhattan. That’s like listening to a vacuum cleaner day and night — but louder. The World Health Organization recommends that it should not exceed 55 decibels.
Traffic is among the biggest culprits, as it is in most international cities. But in India, there’s another dimension to this problem.
“Many people here believe it’s impossible to drive without honking because if you don’t honk, no one will move out of your way,” says Sumaira Abdulali, founder of the nonprofit Awaaz Foundation that campaigns to control noise pollution. “Whereas the fact is when everyone’s honking no one moves out of your way anyway.”
When vehicles don’t move, drivers honk more. This noise blends with that coming from road, railway, bridge and housing construction projects, which often go on day and night in Mumbai, year-round. In a city of 20 million people, where most sidewalks are dilapidated, getting stuck in slow-moving traffic can sound as loud as a rock concert.
“The horns go up to 120 decibels, and sometimes even a little bit more than that,” says Abdulali. “And they are definitely getting louder.”
NPR spoke to more than a dozen drivers of bikes, auto-rickshaws and taxis for this story. Nearly everyone said that they find the standard-issue horn inadequate. Some pointed to a local hub where they can shop for extra-loud horns: the CST Road marketplace in suburban Mumbai.
Hundreds of shops at CST Road are crammed along half a mile of bumpy road with cackling traffic. They specialize in automobile spare parts — headlights, LED screens, music systems, bumper stickers — their wares often spilling out on the pavement.
One of the shopkeepers offers a demo of the horns they sell: a flat one, a punchy one, a musical one, one that sounds like a barking dog, and another that sounds like someone screaming. They call the last one “the ladies.”
Noor Mohammed, who owns a shop here, says their bestsellers can be classified in two types: “titi” horns and “pom pom” horns. The first has a flat tone and is used mostly in bikes, rickshaws and hatchbacks. The second is an air-pressure horn, mostly used in SUVs and buses.
Omkar Khandekar / NPR / NPR Dawood Karim Mansouri has sold vehicle horns at Mumbai’s CST Road marketplace for more than four decades. In recent years, he’s noticed a rise in customers demanding “extra-loud” ones, saying that’s the only way to be heard amid the city’s chaos.
In recent years, he says, there’s been a spike in demand for the “pom pom” horn. “Pedestrians don’t listen if you use the “ti ti.” They make way when you use the high-pressure pom pom horns,” Mohammed says. Others say those who upgrade to loud horns just want to show off.
A new “pom pom” horn costs less than $10 and can last a year or longer, depending on how much you beep. Such is the demand, a league of horn-reviewers has spawned online. Many specifically seek the horns in the Hyundai Creta, a subcompact SUV, because, as one reviewer describes them, “it is very, very, very strong.”
One can make a case for their popularity, says Gagan Choudhary, founder of the automobile news website Gaadify. “In India, we chat a lot and play music on a high volume inside the car. Because of that, usually the horns with more bass are heard a little easier,” he says.
Choudhary adds that vehicle manufacturers understand the needs of Indian drivers. Some motorbike-makers have made their horns louder in recent years, and some car-makers have made their horns punchier, with more bass.
To confirm, NPR emailed more than a dozen motorcycle and car manufacturers. Mercedes-Benz said in a statement, “We understand that horn usage in India is often more frequent and serves as an essential communication tool on the roads … unlike many countries where horns are primarily used to signal caution or alert other drivers.” That is why their car horns for India “are slightly adapted for enhanced durability.”
Other companies did not respond.
But all these louder — and more durable — horns haven’t increased road safety. More than 150,000 people die in road accidents in India every year. The numbers get grimmer by the year.
Nasir Kachroo / NurPhoto via Getty Images / NurPhoto via Getty Images A man drives a Hyundai Creta in Punjab, India, in 2023. The subcompact SUV has become popular with Indian motorists for its loud horn.
A few years ago, the country’s road and highways minister, Nitin Gadkari, proposed a solution to the country’s noise crisis: Replace all vehicle horns with ones that play Indian classical instruments, like flute, harmonium or violin, “so it is gentler on the ear.”
Environmentalist Abdulali says that would be a disaster. “I can only imagine what’s going to happen when you have various types of music blaring because somebody is bored or unhappy.”
The only way ahead, she says, is to understand noise as a public health issue and combat it by enforcing laws and promoting civic sense. Until that happens, Abdulali says, she will keep raising her voice — and hope that someone hears it above the din.
Copyright 2025 NPR
Opinion: Remembering Sandra Grimes, mole hunter
Sandra Grimes spent more than two decades with the CIA. Her work was crucial in catching and stopping a Soviet agent. The Senate Intelligence Committee said the agent “caused more damage to the national security of the United States than any spy in the history of the CIA” The agent, Aldrich Ames, is still serving a life sentence for his spy work for the Soviet Union. He was arrested in 1994 and pled guilty to espionage, after taking millions of dollars.
It was 1991. Sandra Grimes had spent more than two decades with the CIA. But she agreed to stay on to help a colleague investigate why the agency’s informants in the Soviet Union had “gone dark,” as they say in spycraft, in 1985 and 1986. They learned they had been identified, interrogated, and often executed.
“It was a terrible, terrible reminder of the seriousness of what we did for a living,” Sandra Grimes said in that National Security Archive interview. “We owed all these people who had made the sacrifice.”
Their investigation led them to look closely at Aldrich Ames, whom they knew as “Rick.” He was the CIA’s counterintelligence chief for Soviet operations, and knew about all of the agency’s informants in the USSR.
Rick Ames had episodes of public drunkenness, carried on affairs, which triggered an expensive divorce, and married one of his old informants. He started wearing tailored suits, had his teeth capped, then paid cash for a new house and bought a Jaguar. All on a civil servant’s salary.
Sandra Grimes scrutinized activity logs and financial statements and noticed that three times after Ames had lunch with a Soviet embassy official in Washington, D.C., he deposited thousands into his bank account.
“Well, three matches don’t make a conviction, but in my mind, Rick was the spy,” Sandra Grimes recollected. “It didn’t take a rocket scientist to add one plus one plus one.”
Aldrich Ames was arrested in 1994 and pled guilty to espionage, after taking millions of dollars for his spy work for the Soviet Union. He is still serving a life sentence.
Sandra Grimes died on July 25 at the age of 79. Her work was crucial in catching and stopping a Soviet agent who, the Senate Intelligence Committee said, “caused more damage to the national security of the United States than any spy in the history of the CIA.”
Copyright 2025 NPR