PBS News Hour full episode, June 26, 2026

The twin 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes, Venezuela's worst natural disaster in over a century, have resulted in over 900 confirmed deaths and 50,000+ missing. The country's pre-existing economic, social, and political crises, including a struggling healthcare system and mass emigration of doctors, severely hamper its ability to respond effectively, leaving many areas without aid.

More than 900 people are now confirmed dead, and tens of thousands remain missing. Already, before the earthquake, nearly eight million Venezuelans, or more than one-quarter of the country, depended on humanitarian assistance. It has been really difficult for Venezuelans to respond to this disaster, because we have a health care system that has been hit very hard for the economic crisis in Venezuela.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine criticizes the Supreme Court's ruling allowing the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for migrants, particularly Haitians, calling it a 'mistake' and a 'job killer.' He argues that Haitian migrants in cities like Springfield are filling essential jobs, buying homes, opening businesses, and contributing significantly to the state's economic recovery and population growth.

You're seeing in Springfield a city that is coming back... one of the reasons it's come back is because of the Haitians who have been there to fill jobs that were simply not being filled at all... This is bad for Ohio. This is a job killer for Ohio. It's a job killer for Springfield. It's not good for our state.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest, has imposed aggressive new screen time limits: no screens before second grade, six hours per week for middle schoolers, and ten hours for high schoolers (including homework). This policy marks a dramatic shift from previous efforts to bridge the digital divide, aiming to recalibrate students' relationship with technology, promote hands-on learning, and improve mental health, particularly benefiting lower-income students who spend more time on screens outside school.

No screen time will be allowed before second grade, and older students will see sharp limits, six hours per week for middle schoolers and 10 hours, including homework time, for high schoolers... students from lower-income backgrounds... are the ones who are, outside of the school day, actually spending more time on screens... those students in need are the ones who actually will benefit the most from a new renewed focus on hands-on learning, less time in front of a screen, going outdoors, at the elementary school level, in particular, more play-based learning.

The WNBA is facing challenges with inconsistent refereeing and managing polarized narratives surrounding its new superstar, Caitlin Clark. Critics point to uncalled 'cheap shots' against Clark as evidence of bias, while others highlight the league's history of refereeing issues and the complex social dynamics (race, sexuality) at play. The league's reactive approach to controversies and perceived leadership failures are seen as hindering its ability to navigate rapid growth and diverse fan bases.

Fans are starting to see a pattern where there have been cheap shots against Caitlin Clark that have gone uncalled... The WNBA, I think, needs to reckon with its history of inconsistent refereeing... Caitlin Clark is a magnifying glass to a lot of issues that have been plaguing the WNBA for a long time... This is a rocket ship that has a bad captain. It's an airplane flying in the sky, and there's a ton of turbulence, and they do not know how to navigate it.

The Cincinnati Opera's 'Black Opera Project' aims to create new operatic works entirely by African American artists (composers, directors, librettists, designers) to have an impact similar to 'Black Panther' in film. Its first production, 'Lalovavi,' is an Afrofuturist opera set 400 years in the future, incorporating the indigenous Tut language. Tut, a secret language used by enslaved Black Americans to learn English, is featured for the first time in a media production, symbolizing resistance and liberation.

When are we going to have something in the operatic world that has the same impact on the opera world that 'Black Panther' had on the movie industry? And that's the idea that kind of started the ball rolling on the Black Opera Project... First one out of the gate is entitled 'Lalovavi,' which stands for love in the language of Tut... Tut is a living language. It's indigenous to Black American slaves in the Deep South... To our knowledge, there has never been a media production in history that incorporates the Tut language.