NPR News: 03-29-2026 7AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Regional powers are meeting in Pakistan today in a new push to end the war in Iran. NPR's Jaina Raf reports Turkey and Egypt are among those taking part, even as Iranian officials report strikes hit several regions overnight. Pakistan's Prime Minister says he and the Iranian President have held what he calls extensive discussions that are aimed at ending this war. The U.S. hasn't been doing quite so well, it seems President Trump said that talks were going very well and that he had given Tehran till April 6 to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. But Iran says it has not been negotiating, it has not engaged in negotiations with the U.S. At NPR's Jaina Raf reporting, thousands of U.S. Marines and sailors have arrived in the region signaling a growing American military presence. Organizers say millions of demonstrators took part in no Kings rallies in cities across

1:03the nation Saturday to protest policies of the Trump administration. Karen Zahar with Member Station WUKY reports crowds turned out in Kentucky's second-largest city. Like previous no Kings rallies in Lexington, the downtown courthouse square was filled with demonstrators and speakers urged the crowd to continue pushing back against the Trump administration. We're marching with millions of Americans over 3000 rallies in all 50 states. Vietnam veteran Lee Carroll held a sign that red stop Trump's war. We need to be here to show we believe in something better than what's going on right now. For NPR News, I'm Karen Zahar in Lexington. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is deploying a new electronic health record system and the George Griffin of Member Station WCMU reports Michigan will be the first state to make the switch. Healthcare for veterans has dramatically changed in recent years with expanded coverage

2:05through the Pact Act. That's according to Anthony Cologne, the CEO of the Sagnau VA health care system. Cologne says physical records can make it challenging to utilize new coverage to prove exposure to chemicals from burn pits and age in orange. There are still a significant number of veterans who may not realize that they've earned this benefit due to some exposure. Cologne says the new electronic record system will help keep records in one easily accessible place. But the initial transition may cause delays. For NPR News, I'm Emma George Griffin in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Hundreds of employees at one of the U.S. Navy's biggest shipbuilding contractors have voted to approve a deal with bath ironworks ending a week-long strike. The four-year agreement goes into effect immediately. This is NPR News. California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order banning state officials from betting on prediction markets with insider information.

3:10The move comes in a growing concern about politicians and military personnel profiting on those sites. Two tickets to the men's final four in Indianapolis have been punched after Saturday's results. Greg Ecklin reports Illinois and Arizona both advanced after victories in the South and West Regional Finals. The fighting and line-eye were on number three seed. They had to work their way through Houston instead of nearby Chicago, but they were undeterred in the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes and route to a 7159 victory. Keaton Wagler, an unharbled at high school senior from Kansas a year ago, scored 25 points and was the region's most outstanding player. In the West Regional, Arizona defeated Purdue 7964 to reach the final four for the first time since 2001.

4:11For NPR News, I'm Greg Ecklin. Nestle says more than 400,000 Kit Kat candy bars were stolen while en route from Italy to Poland. This was food giant says the candy and the truck are still missing, but the thieves won't get far if they tried to sell it. Nestle says all of the products can be traced using the unique batch code that's assigned to individual bars. This is NPR News in Washington.