NPR News: 03-26-2026 6AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, on Corva Coleman, the status of any ceasefire negotiations between the US and Iran still isn't clear. The White House says productive talks continue, but it's not clear if anyone is talking. Iranian officials have said conditions, including a halt to attacks and reparations. Tehran says it will end the war when conditions are met. Meanwhile, Trump told Republicans at a fundraising dinner last night in Washington he won't say the U.S. is conducting war against Iran, he'll use a euphemism. I won't use the word war, because I say if you use the word war, that's maybe not a good thing to do. They don't like the word war, because you're supposed to get approval. So I'll use the word military operation, which is really what it is. It's called a military decimation. Russian President Vladimir Putin also called it a special military operation when Russia launched its full-scale invasion against Ukraine four years ago. More Israeli air strikes have hit southern Lebanon. Israeli officials say this is in advance of a prolonged ground invasion targeting his Bola militants.

1:07His Bola backed by Iran is firing into Israel, and P.R. as Lorne Freyr reports from Beirut. In a video posted to social media, officials from a Christian border village just inside Lebanon sit on their church steps saying Israeli troops have not arrived at their village yet, but explosions can be heard behind them. Israeli officials say they plan to take Lebanese territory up to the Lytani river, which runs 10 to 20 miles north of the current border with Israel. As Bola says it targeted a group of Israeli soldiers inside that area with a drone. Lebanon's health ministry says 42 first responders are among the more than 1,000 people killed here this month. The UN Secretary General who visited Lebanon recently says it should not become the next Gaza. Lorne Freyr and P.R. News Beirut. During California has found big tech companies meta and YouTube liable for creating addicting social media platforms. And Beir's Bobby Allen reports they've been ordered to pay $6 million in damages.

2:10After eight days of deliberations, the jury found that Instagram and YouTube were designed to hook kids and teens. The verdict confirms the lawyer's novel legal strategy to treat social media apps as defective products, no different than cigarettes or digital casinos. This could influence the outcome of thousands of other lawsuits over social media addiction that have been consolidated. Child safety advocate Julian Arnold had this message after the verdict. For the biggest tech executives, I want to say something. Stop blaming the parents. It's on you. Meta and Google have vowed to appeal. They say mental health issues are complex and can't be blamed on one single app. Bobby Allen and P.R. News Los Angeles. This came a day after a different jury in New Mexico found meta liable for failing to warn of dangers to children who use its platforms. This is NPR. Senate talks appear stalled in an effort to end the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. TSA agents aren't getting paid nearly 500 of them of quit. That has increased wait times for air passengers trying to clear security.

3:15The NCAA resumes basketball tournament play today from Member Station WDET, Quinn Kleinfelter reports most of the highest ranked men's teams remain in competition. Many brackets likely busted in the men's tournament after defending national champion Florida lost to Iowa. But number one seeds Duke, Arizona and Michigan all advanced to the so-called sweet 16 round. So did three seed Michigan state. Head coach Tom Izzo says now it gets real. Get into the sweet 16 just changes everything because it becomes a coin flip then somebody's got to be lucky. Somebody might get hurt somebody might get hurt on the other team. It could be a bad night in the women's tournament last year's final four teams. Connecticut, South Carolina, Texas and UCLA all still have a shot at duplicating that feat in this edition of the big dance for NPR news. I'm Quinn Kleinfelter in Detroit. ESPN has an update on its March Madness tournament challenge where millions of people picked which teams they think will advance.

4:16The sports outlet says there's only one person left who doesn't have a busted bracket in the NCAA women's division. It is eighth grader Otto Schellhammer. The 14-year-old in suburban Pittsburgh says he doesn't know much about basketball. Schellhammer says that his success is 100% luck. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News. 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.