NPR News: 03-17-2026 8AM EDT

0:00Line from NPR News in Washington, on Corvo Coleman. The Israeli military says it's killed two senior Iranian officials that includes a top security official, Ali Laranjani, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. The second is the head of Iran's powerful paramilitary group, the besiege forces. These are the highest profile assassinations in Iran since Israel killed Iran's supreme leader on the first day of the war. Israel also continues its attacks on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. The Lebanese government says a million people have been displaced in that country. NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalji says several countries are very worried about displaced civilians. Mass evacuations, we have to remember, is a move Israel used in Gaza, where many Palestinians weren't allowed to go back to their homes. And it's worrying countries, like Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK yesterday, issued a statement saying that a ground offensive must be averted and that it would lead to, quote, devastating humanitarian consequences and a protracted conflict.

1:00NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalji reporting, the war in Iran is driving U.S. gas prices higher, the national average, is nearly 90 cents per gallon higher compared to one month ago. NPR's Camilla Domenoski reports, crude oil prices have been volatile over the last couple of weeks, rising and falling. But prices at the pump have only gone in one direction, up. NPR prices are up even more sharply, rising well over a dollar from before the year on war began. Higher prices put pressure on households directly, when they buy gasoline, and indirectly, as higher diesel costs push up costs for farming, construction, trucking, and all forms of shipping. Meanwhile, the switch to summer gasoline, which cuts down on pollution and warm weather, could also help push prices higher in the coming weeks. Camilla Domenoski and NPR News President Trump says his administration is in ongoing talks with Cuba. NPR's Deepa Shiveram reports Trump is suggesting his administration could have a chance to

2:00take over the island. In an event in the Oval Office, Trump called Cuba a quote, failed nation. He said taking the country would be a quote, big honor. Trump has been saying for weeks that Cuba needs to make a deal with the U.S. or face consequences similar to the ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro. After seizing Maduro, the U.S. imposed a blockade on Cuba's oil supply from Venezuela. The island is facing a collapsed power grid and growing protests. Deepa Shiveram and NPR News, the White House. President Trump will welcome Ireland's Prime Minister to the White House today. The Irish T-Shuck, Mihal Martin. That's a tradition on St. Patrick's Day for the T-Shuck of the Republic of Ireland to pay a visit to U.S. leaders. Martin will also go to Capitol Hill today for a luncheon. You're listening to NPR. Three teenagers in Tennessee are suing the artificial intelligence company owned by billionaire

3:05Elon Musk, XAI. The team's alleged that company's large language model was used illegally to make nude and sexually explicit videos and images of them when they were young girls. The lawsuit does not alleged that the company's chatbot was used. The suit says the person who did this used the company's algorithm to make the unlawful images. In Texas, a Palestinian student protester from New Jersey has been released from a U.S. immigration and a customs enforcement detention center. She spent more than a year in custody. The member station KERA in Dallas, Priscilla Rice, has more. La Cacordia had been held at the Prairie Land Detention Center since last March after she was arrested for allegedly overstaying her visa. She previously had been arrested while protesting at Columbia University against Israel's war in Gaza. She was the last out of four student protester still in ICE custody. On Friday, a federal immigration judge ordered Cordilla be released on a $100,000 bond.

4:07She was granted a smaller bond last year, but the Department of Homeland Security filed an appeal keeping her in custody. Her supporters and legal team say she will keep fighting to stay with her family in the U.S. For NPR News, I'm Priscilla Rice in Dallas. Wildfires in Nebraska have burned more than 1,000 square miles. Most of that is due to the biggest blaze in the state, the moral wildfire in Western Nebraska. It's left at least one person dead. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News in Washington. 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 pop culture happy hour via the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.