NPR News: 03-29-2026 6PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. ICE officers could remain at U.S. airports even after TSA workers start getting paid again, according to White House boarders, our Tom Holman. Ampere's Jeff Rady reports TSA paychecks could resume as early as tomorrow, even the Congress hasn't allocated money for that. After lawmakers failed to pass a Department of Homeland Security budget last Friday, President Trump directed the Transportation Security Administration to pay workers from existing funds. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers have been helping the TSA with checking identification and other tasks. On CNN's state of the Union, Tom Holman said ICE officers might remain at airports. Depends on how many TSA agents come back to work, how many TSA agents have actually quit and have no plan coming back to work. The TSA says hundreds of workers quit after going weeks without pay, that's increased security wait times by hours at airports around the country. Democrats vowed to block DHS funding without reforms after officers killed two U.S. citizens

1:03in Minneapolis. Jeff Rady in Pair News. Israel says it will widen its invasion of Southern Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he's expanding a security buffer zone to prevent House of Law militants from firing rockets southward into Israel. Just a move that could leave hundreds of thousands of people displaced permanently. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres worries that Israel is trying to use its Gaza model on Lebanon. Israel has blown up bridges and destroyed homes, and Lebanon's government says Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,200 people and displaced more than 1 million. Police in Israel turned away the Vatican's top official in Jerusalem from praying in one of Christianity's holiest sites today. The Latin Patriarch had already canceled public Palm Sunday events in keeping with the wartime restrictions, but he was barred from holding smaller private prayers, the first time in centuries, according to church leaders. Ampures Kerry Khan reports from Jerusalem, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee criticized

2:04the move. The bells of the church of the Holy Sepulchre ring out in the old city, but you can't get close to the site where many Christians believe Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Israeli officials are limiting public gatherings in Jerusalem's holy sites to under 50 people. The Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque has been close to just staff during the entire war. Judaism's Holy Western Wall allows 50 worshipers at a time. This year's Palm Sunday procession had been canceled in accordance to the rules, but police Sunday even prevented Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierre-Baltiste Pizabala and another official for mentoring the site, and what church officials say is, quote, a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure. Israel's president apologized Kerry Khan and Pierre News Jerusalem. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. The Al-Aqsa is preparing to send four astronauts on a mission that could take them around

3:05the moon. And if you're as Nell Greenfield voice reports, officials say everything is on track for a launch attempt on Wednesday. The Artemis II astronauts are in pre-flight quarantine at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Mission commander Reid Weisman told reporters that it's surreal to see the massive 322-foot-tall rocket standing on the launch pad. You look at the size of this vehicle and you know it's going one place. It is going to space and it is going to go there in a hurry when those mentions light this thing is moving out. Their test flight is expected to last 10 days. First, while their Orion capsule is in orbit around Earth, they'll check out its communications, life support, navigation, and propulsion. If their spacecraft all looks good, they'll go on a looping trip around the moon before coming back to splash down in the Pacific. Nell Greenfield voice, NPR news. At the Weekend Box office, Amazon MGM's Project Hill Mary took the top spot again with

4:06an estimated $58 million in ticket sales. The Phil Lord and Chris Miller sci-fi adventure dipped only 32% after notching the best non-franchise opening weekend since 2023's Oppenheimer. The film which costs $200 million to produce has already grossed $300 million worldwide in two weeks. In second place, Disney Pixar's original Hoppers with $12 million in its fourth weekend, that film has made nearly 300 million globally. I'm Janine Herbst in PR News.