NPR News: 03-16-2026 11PM EDT

0:00Live from MPR News, I'm Childe Snyder. As Israel wages war in Iran, it's also expanding its campaign in Lebanon. Israel's military says it has launched a new ground-encursion into southern Lebanon to fight Hezbollah. As it prepares for possible ceasefire talks with Lebanon, in Paris-Daniel-Estern reports from Tel Aviv. The Israeli military says it has begun limited and targeted ground operations against Hezbollah, sending troops across the border into parts of southern Lebanon, where Israel has not previously operated during this current war. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians have followed Israeli evacuation orders and fled southern Lebanon. The Norwegian refugee council aid group says one in seven people in Lebanon are now displaced. A person briefed on the matter, not authorized to speak publicly and speaking on condition of anonymity. It says Israel intends to gradually increase its ground-encursion deeper into Lebanon, while at the same time there are behind-the-scenes efforts to try to hold direct ceasefire talks

1:02between Israel and Lebanon. Daniel Esterin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. With Israel intensifying operations in Lebanon, air traffic is getting back to normal in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE had briefly closed its airspace because of incoming Iranian attacks. Trade talks underway in Mexico ahead of a review later this year on the trade agreement that covers North America. Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum has said that she is very optimistic, Katie Silver, is in Mexico City. The USMCA, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement on NAFTA in 2020, is up for renegotiation in a few months. In South of the border, there are a lot of nerves. With 80% of Mexico's exports heading to the U.S., a recent government survey found businesses here are eager to maintain a free trade agreement. President Trump, however, has publicly questioned the need for the treaty and threatened to pull out of it altogether. Washington wants stronger rules to make sure goods from China don't slip into the U.S. from Mexico. For NPR News, I'm Katie Silver in Mexico City.

2:05The Senate is set to vote this week on a priority for President Trump, Impierre's Miles Parks reports on the election bill called the Save America Act. The Save America Act would overhaul U.S. elections procedures, as voters are already voting in primaries for this year's midterms. The bill would require people to provide proof of their U.S. citizenship, like a birth certificate or passport, to register to vote. That's something that could be difficult for millions of people, but the bill is not expected to pass. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said it doesn't have enough support to overcome a 60-vote filibuster in the Senate. Non-citizen voting has never been shown to be a widespread problem in American elections. The polls show a majority of Republican voters are concerned about voter fraud in the midterms. Miles Parks, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR. The storms that have been sweeping across the eastern half of the country are disrupting

3:05air travel. The flight tracking website Flight Aware says more than 4500 U.S. flights were canceled Monday, and delays topped 11,000. The storms that already dumped heavy snow across parts of the Midwest are bringing strong winds and the threat of tornadoes to the east coast. A wildfire covering nearly 600,000 acres is burning in western Nebraska with few signs of containment of Nebraska-published media's Macy Buyers reports. Constantly shifting high winds have made it difficult to control the spread of the largest wildfire in Nebraska history. Firefighters from across the state have been pitching in since Thursday to fight it. Volunteer Tyler Bendo worked for 24 hours straight. I have been out here since yesterday, since 1 o'clock. Still out here. I got a relief coming in right now to take me out so I can go home and get some rest. When asked about the first thing he'll do when he gets home, Bendo said, take shower and go to sleep. Bendo said he is thankful for the community support of firefighters and people affected.

4:08Federal help has arrived and winds have died down, but the large fire will still take some time to control. For NPR News, I'm Macy Buyers. Financial markets in Asia are climbing in Tuesday trading, attempting a second day of gains amid the war in the Middle East. South Korean shares leading the way up more than two and a half percent. Japan's benchmark knee-k is up half a percentage point. On Wall Street Monday, the S&P 500 snapped a four-day losing streak helped by gains in artificial intelligence stocks. This is NPR News. At this year's Oscars, one battle after another took home the award for best picture. Michael B. Jordan won for lead actor and the telecast had plenty of jokes at Timothy Shalamay's expense. Listen to a recap on the pop culture happy hour via the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.