Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst.

The director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Joe Kent, has resigned to protest the war in Iran.

In peers Greg Myrie reports, Kent had been a staunch supporter of President Trump because Trump had said he opposed Middle East wars.

Joe Kent addressed his blunt resignation letter to President Trump in a post on X.

He wrote, quote, I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. Ken is a former

Green Beret deployed 11 times in the Middle East. His wife was a senior chief petty officer in the

Navy. She was killed in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019. When nominated for his position last

year, Kent faced sharp criticism from Democrats, including Senator Patty Murray.

She called Kent, quote, a conspiracy theorist who espouses white supremacist views.

Greg Myrie, NPR News, Washington.

About a fifth of oil and liquefied natural gas, or LNG supplies, remain shut off from the world as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

But NPR's Julius Simon reports some countries are better prepared than others for this energy crisis.

On rooftops of millions of Pakistani homes are gleaming solar panels.

Pakistan still imports LNG from Qatar for electricity.

Those supplies are now cut off.

And prices for substitutes are sky high.

But Nabil Imran at Pakistani think tank Renewables First says the recent surge of solar and battery

installations in just the last three years means the country is less vulnerable.

The widespread adoption of solar and batteries is kind of serves as a hedge protection sort of against these price shocks.

It's not just solar and batteries. Energy experts tell MPR the recent growth of electric vehicles in countries like Nepal and China

also make countries more resilient as oil prices climb.

Julia Simon, NPR News.

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