NPR News: 04-05-2026 1AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Roman. President Trump late Saturday said the U.S. military has found a live and rescued the F-15E pilot who was shot down Friday in Iran, a second crew member was rescued earlier. The news comes after what's being described as a frantic effort to get the airmen out of harm's way after Iran urged citizens to assist in finding the pilot and offered a reward for his capture. With the war now more than five weeks old, NPR's Deparvas in Vanturky reports Iran is stepping up its attacks against its Gulf neighbors. Iran launched multiple strikes in the region, including one at Oracle's offices in Dubai overnight and an intercepted attack on an Abu Dhabi gas site. They also hit a water desalination plant and an oil refinery in Kuwait. And the strikes on Israel continued as well, damaging some homes, cars as well as a train station in Tel Aviv. Another plane in A-10 known as the Wardhawg crashed on Friday, the pilot of that single

1:01pilot plane is safe. The European Commission is being asked by several EU governments to impose an extra tax on energy companies for the profits they're making due to the Iran War. Terry Schultz reports. Finance and economy ministers from Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain want the European Commission, the EU's executive body, to introduce what they call a solidarity levy on energy companies, similar to one imposed when Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 created an energy crisis. The call comes amidst soaring fuel prices sparked by the Iranian regime's closing of the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes on Iran. The five ministers made the recommendation in a letter to EU climate commissioner, Volkha Hostra, urging him to take the action to signal to EU citizens and businesses that the block is trying to help those suffering from the price rises. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz and Brussels. Union leaders for the U.S. Postal Service are raising concerns about President Trump's

2:02new executive order that calls for restrictions on voting by mail. NPR's Hansi Loewong has more. President Trump's executive order calls for his administration to create lists of adult U.S. citizens in each state, and also calls for banning the U.S. Postal Service from delivering mail and balance to anyone not on those lists. Their lawsuits, Democrats, voting rights groups, and almost two dozen states argue the Constitution gives state legislatures and Congress not the president, the power to set rules for federal elections. Dimas and the National World Letter Care Association says the order would weaponize the Postal Service to determine a voter's eligibility. It's going to cause confusion and could cause further delays in the daily handling of the mail and the daily routine and work of a post-a worker. Trump says his order is trying to stop illegal voting by non-citizens in federal elections. A problem that numerous studies have shown is incredibly rare. Hansi Loewong and pure news. And from Washington, you're listening to NPR News. Publio, the 14th, presided over an Eastern visual at the Vatican Saturday evening.

3:05NPR's Jason DeRose reports on the first Eastern service of the new papacy. Dozens of cardinals, bishops, and priests processed into a darkened St. Peter's Basilica to usher in the ancient service known as the Great Easter Vigil. The light of Christ sang the cantor, followed by the congregation's reply, thanks be to God. Easter comes this year into a world torn by wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and at a time of great political strife in the U.S., yet Christians around the world celebrate, as they have for millennium, the resurrection of Christ, as the triumph of light over darkness, peace over violence, life over death. Jason DeRose, NPR News. A federal judge in Boston has stopped efforts by the Trump administration to collect data from universities that provide institutions that are not considering race when it comes to college admissions.

4:07A coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit last month seeking to block the measure, saying the White House action could threaten the privacy of students and lead to baseless investigations against those universities. The judge said the federal government probably has the right to collect the data, but he said the program was started in what he described as a rushed and chaotic way. President Trump ordered the new policy last summer after he charged universities for using race in admissions. I'm Dan Roman, NPR. Support for NPR. 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 dot NPR dot org. That's plus dot NPR dot org.