NPR News: 04-04-2026 10AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. U.S. forces are searching for a missing service member after two American fighter jets were shot down over Iran on Friday. Two crew members have been rescued. NPR's D Parvez reports on how Iranian state media is covering the search. State media has televised a call out, asking for nomadic tribes and local villagers to target any foreign pilots in the area. The announcement includes a monetary reward for any capture. U.S. official confirmed to NPR that a search and rescue operation is in progress. That's NPR's D Parvez reporting. Israel says it's carried out a new wave of strikes on what it calls regime infrastructure in Tehran. The military says it had air defense sites and facilities tied to weapons storage and research. Iran continues to fire at neighboring countries, a damaged a desalination plant in Kuwait on Friday. But Iran state media have confirmed that one of its own plants is still fully out of service.

1:04The government says it was hit by an air strike. NPR's Julia Simon reports experts say attacks on plants that create fresh water are increasingly becoming a weapon of war. Resalination is the process of using electricity to separate seawater into a salty solution on one side and fresh water on the other, across the Middle East, countries rely heavily on the process. Qatar and Bahrain get more than 90 percent of their drinking water from it. As climate change increases the severity of droughts, experts see desalination plants as a key adaptation tool. Since the recent war began, strikes have hit plants in Iran, as well as Kuwait and Bahrain. Earlier this week, President Trump wrote on social media that the U.S. may strike more Iranian desalination plants. Civilian infrastructure sites like water plants are banned as targets by international law. Julia Simon and Pierre News. The CDC is warning of an illicit drug that's often found alongside fentanyl in some parts

2:07of the country. Some PRs ping-mong reports it can cause dangerous withdrawal symptoms. Dr. Michael Lynch is an ER physician based in Pittsburgh. He started seeing overdoses involving metatomidine some two years ago. The powerful sedative is often mixed with fentanyl that fentanyl overdose drugs don't work on it. People would start breathing again, but they wouldn't wake up even after people got naloxone or narchan. Patients also came in delirious, agitated with very high heart rates and not responding to typical medications. So what we're seeing is tenfold increases in people needing ICU care for withdrawal. According to the CDC, the drug is most prevalent in the Northeast U.S., though it's also showing it more in the Midwest and the South. Ping-kwang and Pierre News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Amazon says it's adding a 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge to sellers because of higher fuel prices amid the war in Iran.

3:09The online retailer says the added costs will take effect on April 17th. The Trump administration is suing three states, Arizona, Illinois, and Connecticut arguing the prediction market industry should be federally regulated and not subject to the rules of state gambling commissions. Some states have sued individual companies claiming they offer unregulated sports gambling. Todd Gugman with New Hampshire Public Radio reports. March Madness is one of the most widely bet on events of the year, and for states, regulated sports gambling has become a key source of revenue. But prediction market companies have come seemingly out of nowhere, offering people the chance to win money on the outcome of games, but state governments don't get a cut. State Senator Tim Lang, a Republican, says New Hampshire could soon join other states that have filed lawsuits. They're welcome to apply for a license, right? They're welcome to come to the state and work within our state regulations to make this happen. They should not be able to skirt our state laws. The prediction markets and the Trump administration say the federal government, not the states, should

4:11have oversight. For NPR News, I'm Todd Bookman. Illinois will play Yukon Tinnheit in the NCAA men's final four in Indianapolis. Michigan will take on Arizona in the second matchup. The two winners will advance to the championship game on Monday night. I'm Windsor Johnston, 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.