NPR News: 03-18-2026 4AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan. The Lebanese army says three more soldiers were killed today by Israeli air strikes. Lebanon's government says more than 900 people have been killed since the war in Iran began. From Beirut, NPR's Hadeel al-Shashi reports. While the Lebanese army said two soldiers were killed, the Israeli military said it was aware of reports that Lebanese soldiers in southern Lebanon were injured due to an Israeli strike, and it was investigating the case. The Lebanese army has withdrawn from some of its positions in the south, as Israeli troops started a ground incursion this week. They called it a, quote, limited and targeted ground operation against the Iran-backed militant group Hasbullah. Troops are going deeper into parts of southern Lebanon. Lebanese President Josef Aoun has been calling for direct talks with Israel to end the war, and on the international community to bolster the Lebanese army to help it disarm Hasbullah. Hadeel al-Shashi and P.R. News Beirut.

1:00A state Iranian news agency confirms his really strikes have killed two of the country's top security officials. One was Iran's security chief, NPR's Emily Fang has more. The news agency for Iran's judiciary has now confirmed the death of Ali Lourjani. He had been around security chief and also a nuclear negotiator, who had been trying to negotiate with the U.S. just weeks before the joint strikes with Israel killed Iran's top leadership. He was also killed. Ghulam Raza Salamani, the commander of a powerful paramilitary group which operates under the ages of Iran's supreme leader. American and European officials say Salamani was responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians during anti-government protests earlier this year. Israel has also said that in the past day it has hit more than 10 outposts run by the same paramilitary group. Emily Fang and P.R. News is done. Some cancellations and delays are stacking up and security lines at airports are getting longer, as TSA agents have been working without pay for more than a month because of the

2:03partial government shutdown. Christopher Sinunu is among those demanding that TSA agents get paid. He's the former Republican governor of New Hampshire, now president and CEO of the airline group Airlines for America. Sunday he sent an open letter to Congress along with nine airline and shipping leaders, seeking leaders to fund the Department of Homeland Security. The system's not in crisis mode. That's the good news that it is being mitigated, but boy, it is a complete unnecessary hassle for the American public and completely unfair and completely unnecessary to not pay your own employees on behalf of the federal government. The flight tracking service flight aware said Tuesday that more than 1,100 flights were canceled and another 7,300 were delayed mostly because of weather-related issues. From Washington, you're listening to NPR News. The terror threat level at Tampa's McDill Air Force Base, the home of the U.S. Central

3:05Command, was elevated Tuesday night to what's called Charlie level, which means a terrorist action targeting personnel or facilities could be likely. Charlie is the second highest to five levels of terrorism threats. Progress is slowed when it comes to reducing child mortality, and that's before taking into account all of the foreign aid cuts over the past year. NPR's Gabriella Manual reports on the latest United Nations Global Data. In 2024, 4.9 million children under five died. Almost half of those deaths occurred in the first month of life. And Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest under five mortality rates. These numbers have dropped by more than 50 percent since 2000, but... The rate of decline from 2016 to 2024 has significantly reduced. Kate Strong is with the World Health Organization. We know how to prevent, we know how to treat these conditions that are causing death.

4:11But that's not the problem. The problem, she says, is that local health systems need bolstering and financing for global health initiatives needs to be increased. Gabriella, Imanuelle, NPR News. The Women's National Basketball Association and its Players Association have reached a verbal agreement on a new tentative collective bargaining agreement. The agreement is expected to reflect the skyrocketing growth of the league. I'm Dan Ronan, NPR News in Washington. Support for 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.