NPR News: 03-18-2026 12PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Senator Mark Wayne Mullin is seeking U.S. Senate confirmation to become the next secretary of Homeland Security. He first needs to secure the recommendation of the Homeland Security Governmental Affairs Committee. The panel's chairman is Rand Paul. The Republican and Mullin have had beef in the past. Paul reaffirmed that today in questioning whether Mullin has the temperament to lead the DHS. You told the media that I was a freaking snake and that you completely understood why I had been assaulted. I was shocked. They would justify and celebrate this violent assault. It caused me so much pain in my family, so much pain. I just wonder if someone who applauded violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits to the proper use of force. If confirmed, Mullin would replace Kristi Nome, who was fired by President Trump following

1:01criticism of a more than $200 million ad campaign in which Nome was featured. However, Nome's tenure was also overshadowed by widespread criticism of the DHS's immigration enforcement tactics, including confrontations that led to the killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. Israel says it has killed another high-ranking Iranian leader. It is the latest in Israeli air strikes targeting the country's top officials. Iran's president confirmed the killing overnight of its top intelligence minister on social media. Separately, thousands of mourners gathered in Tehran for a mass funeral of the heads of Iran's National Security Council and the powerful Bussi, each paramilitary police. Here's NPR's Kerry Khan. Defense Minister Israel Katz says Iran's intelligence minister, Esmail Hatib, was responsible for, quote, the regime's apparatus of repression and assassination and instrumental in the deadly crackdown on Iranian demonstrators earlier this year. Katz says the war is in a decisive phase, and that, quote, no one in Iran has immunity.

2:05Everyone is a target. Meanwhile, mourners packed a huge Tehran square for the funerals of two leaders also killed by Israel. Life's stream of the massive crowd carrying multiple coffins was broadcast on Iranian TV. Kerry Khan and PR News Tel Aviv. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky says he's worried the more weapons United States uses to fight its war against Iran, the fewer missiles available to help Ukraine defeat Russia. Zelensky tells the BBC Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a, quote, long war in the Middle East because he says it would mean higher energy prices, the depletion of US reserves and a depletion of resources in Ukraine. US stocks are trading lower this hour, the Dow Jones industrial average down 470 points are roughly 1%. This is NPR News. Brosecutors in Arizona have filed criminal charges against the popular betting site

3:05CalShape, and here's NPR's Bobby Allen. CalShi in polymarket, absolutely can bet on just about anything, are facing more than 20 lawsuits over their legal status as a futures contract, not gambling sites. Now Arizona's attorney general is accusing CalShi of operating an unlicensed gambling operation involved in criminal wagering on sports and elections. It's the latest sign of a growing riff between states and the Trump administration, which supports the prediction market industry. Donald Trump Jr., the president's son, is an advisor to both CalShi and polymarket. CalShi says the charges are seriously flawed and meritless. CalShi says it's billions of dollars in weekly bets fall under exclusive federal jurisdiction. Bobby Allen NPR News. Firefighters in Western Nebraska are trying to contain four wildfires that have burned more than 800,000 acres. Macy Byers reports on how affected farmers and ranchers are coping. Though his home was saved by firefighters, rancher Owen Johnson says corrals, fencing sheds and dozens of hay bales burned when the wildfire swept through his property.

4:06He had to let his livestock loose to escape, losing a stallion and a calf in the chaos. If I had to turn my horses out and let them survive out here, they wouldn't, they're not enough grass left to feed them for a day. As far as you can see, it's just block, everything's just block and burned, burned everything. Johnson has no idea what it will take to recover. Across the four wildfires, loss of grazing land and farm structures have hit Nebraska ranchers hard. For NPR News, I'm Macy Byers in Lincoln, Nebraska. You're listening to NPR News. This message comes from Rosetta Stone. Spring travel coming up, Rosetta Stone has been the trusted leader in language learning for over 30 years. Ready to start learning a new language this spring? Visit rosettastone.com slash NPR today.