NPR News: 03-29-2026 8PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Iran is warning the U.S. against a ground invasion, after President Trump sent thousands of U.S. troops to the Middle East. The country's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagar Ghalbaf, says if it happens, it would be met with force. Iran also threatened to target American and Israeli universities in the Middle East as part of its war efforts. This is ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt met in Islamabad today, trying to de-escalate the war. Pakistan also says it's offered to hold talks between the U.S. and Iran in the coming days. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he's widening his country's invasion of southern Lebanon, visiting troops in northern Israel today. Netanyahu says he's creating what he calls a security buffer zone to prevent has below militants from firing rockets into Israel. But Lebanon's government says Israeli attacks have killed more than 1200 people and displaced about a fifth of the country's population. And Purslorn Breyer has more.

1:01First Israeli officials said they'd take Lebanese territory up to the Latani river, 10 to 20 miles north of the current border. Then they ordered residents out of a zone 10 miles beyond that. Collette Sleem is the principal of a school housing displaced people on the boundary of that zone, where the roar of Israeli war planes interrupted our interview. People are fleeing north in waves, she says, and her shelter is now full. Israel has been striking homes, bridges, highways and fuel stations, forcing people from homes that in some cases had only just been repaired from the last Israeli invasion in 2024. Lebanon's government says at least 49 people were killed Sunday, including a paramedic. Lauren Friar and PR News Beirut. The European Union is trying to improve enforcement of deportation of people whose claims for asylum have been rejected. Terry Schultz has more. EU leaders call them return hubs. Sites where European governments could deport people with rejected asylum claims who can't

2:04immediately be sent back to their home countries. The European Parliament backed the plan last week after the largest center-right political group voted with far-right parties, some members of which openly advocate an ICE system similar to that of the U.S. Now negotiations are underway with the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, and among the 27 member countries to finalize the legislation. Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands are among the countries negotiating with primarily African countries to host the Sites. The International Rescue Committee calls the vote and historic setback for refugee rights. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. In college basketball, the men's final four is set. Illinois faces Yukon and Michigan takes on Arizona next Saturday with the winners facing off two days later for the national title. US Futures contracts are trading lower at this hour. You're listening to NPR News. Like Alangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael are considered the three great masters of the

3:06high renaissance, and now for the first time a retrospective of Raphael's work in the U.S. is now in the U.S. And if NPR is Jennifer Vinesco has more. Raphael has been called the Prince of Painters. His portraits of Madonna's and other religious figures are known for their harmony and balance. He became an extraordinary narrative painter, a storyteller who instantly knew how to capture the plot of a story or a scene at the moment of its greatest drama. That's Carmen Bambach. She's the curator of the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. She's collected more than 170 of his drawings, paintings, prints, and tapestries from museums and private collections around the world. Many of them here for the first time. The show will run until the end of June. Jennifer Vinesco and P.R. News, New York. New genetic research shows that the earliest known dog is about 5,000 years older than

4:06first thought. It dates to around 15,800 years ago. Doctors found a dog's bones at a rock shelter site in Pinarbasa, Turkey, used by ancient human hunter gatherers. The scientists say it shows dogs and humans were good pals before the advent of agriculture. The dog descended from an ancient wolf population, separate from the modern ones, with the first animal domesticated by people with goats, sheep, cattle, and cats coming later. I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. 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.