NPR News: 03-17-2026 6PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Iranian state TV has now confirmed the assassinations of two of its highest-level officials since Ayatollah Hamani was killed at the start of the war. Israel says it launched targeted strikes overnight, killing Iran's security and paramilitary chiefs. And Pierce-Kirikhan has more. Israel's defense minister made the announcement saying both men were killed overnight and Chinese instructed the military to continue, quote, hunting the leadership. Israel's military confirmed it had killed Golamresa Soleimani, the leader of the besiege, paramilitary forces, responsible for violently suppressing street protests against the Iranian government earlier this year. And that an Israeli air strike killed Ali Lavranjani, who it says had been in charge of directing Iran's military effort since Israel killed the supreme leader in the beginning of the war. The UAE Defense Ministry says it has, quote, engaged 10 ballistic missiles and 45 drones

1:01just in the early Tuesday hours. Kirikhan and PR News Tel Aviv. On a frigid day in Chicago, voters are out at the polls after months of a high stakes Illinois primary election season. This year's ballots include an open U.S. Senate seat and four Chicago area house seats. Pastor Yoon Ji-Khan has a king rather for a member session WBEZ spoke with Democratic primary voters this morning. Tiffany Shockley brought her young son with her to vote. Top of mind is one issue. Prices and gas, food crisis, I have like one income, I have a son, I cannot, I cannot live like that. Edward Ellis says he's fed up with the tariffs, the wars and what he calls the dysfunction of both political parties. He almost didn't come today. But then when you think about what people have been through to vote, I just feel that is my duty to vote. The Democratic candidates span three generations, from Gen X to Gen Z, and the outcome may indicate

2:05how far left the party's voters are looking to go. For NPR News, I'm Esther Yoon Ji-Khan in Chicago. Acting TSA Administrator Adam Stahl says they may have to close some security lanes and possibly some smaller airports around the country if the partial government shutdown continues. Some 50,000 TSA officers are working without pay, and Stahl tells Fox News the call out rate is growing every day. And when it weighed has been a TSA agent for 18 years and is a union representative. It's just unreasonable to expect anybody to continue going to work for such long periods of time without receiving any pay. This is the sale made over funding for the Department of Homeland Security continues over immigration tactics, including the killing of two U.S. citizens protesting in Minnesota earlier this year. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Many Americans who use marijuana say they do so for mental health conditions like anxiety

3:06and depression. But a major review of the evidence published in the journal Landsat Psychiatry concludes there is little to no evidence that it actually works. NPR's Will Stone has more. This is the largest effort to date to pull together all the data from high quality trials on cannabis and mental health. The researchers at the University of Sydney concluded there was no indication cannabis is effective for anxiety, depression, PTSD and other conditions. It found limited support for a few areas like insomnia, autism, and Tourette syndrome. Ziva Cooper is a cannabis researcher at UCLA who was not involved in the new paper. I would say that there are significant limitations with these types of studies. She says yes, there is a need for more well-controlled trials on cannabis. But the new review excluded other evidence that does show certain compounds in the plant can be beneficial for anxiety and other symptoms. Will Stone and NPR News. The Post-Mister General says without an influx of cash from Congress, the U.S. Postal Service

4:09will run out of money for its workers and vendors in about a year. David Steiner told lawmakers on Capitol Hill today that the Post Office, which doesn't get tax dollars to operate, and a fiscal year 2025 with a net loss of $9 billion. Mail Service continues, though, because the Post Office borrowed money from the U.S. Treasury while halting payments to some pension obligations over the years. It's the latest in a long-standing money problem at the Post Office. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News in Washington. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.