NPR News: 04-05-2026 3AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Rollin. The U.S. military Saturday found alive and rescued the second pilot on board a military fighter jet shot down Friday by Iran. The other pilot was rescued Friday. Middle East expert Aaron David Miller is a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former State Department official. He said the Pentagon has carried out the war plans exceptionally well, but long-term problems will likely remain in the Middle East. This has been a tactical set of brilliant operations by the American military. But if the war ended today, it would be a strategic disaster. The Highlander's Uranium has not been retrieved. The regime not only survives, but has demonstrated a terrifying capacity to undermine Gulf security and stability and asserted control over the Straits of Formos and essentially set up a toll booth. President Trump once again warned Iran to open the straight or face more military action.

1:03Security staffing at airports across the country is beginning to improve, but his NPR's Windsor Johnston reports the wait times remain uncertain. Hundreds of TSA workers resigned during the recent pay disruption and experts say it can take months to hire and train replacements. That means staffing levels can vary by airport and even by the time of day, creating unpredictable wait times for travelers. Aviation analyst Henry Hartfeld says the progress so far is uneven. Some of the airports where we saw the worst lines, such as at Houston Bush in a continental Atlanta parts field Jackson International, are performing much better. But this is a day-to-day situation. President Trump signed an executive order on Friday to pay all DHS workers as Congress remains deadlocked over how to fund the agency. Windsor Johnston and P.R. News, Washington. The crew of the Artemis II mission is hurtling towards the moon. They'll fly by in a few days and then begin circling back to Earth.

2:04But on board, what do they eat? From central Florida public median, Mary and Somerall has more. The menu includes a wide variety of foods with things like spicy green beans, tropical fruit salad and maple cream cookies. In an asset video about eating in space, astronaut Christina Cook says foods you wouldn't even imagine being rehydrated are actually good. NASA's Norm Knight, the director of the Flight Operations Directorate, says NASA tracks each meal to ensure the crew's health. We have a food lab and we have folks at the Johnson Space Center tracking what they eat, the nutrition, the calories. It makes a difference. Each crew member was able to help sample and craft their own menu preferences before launch. For M.P.R. News, I'm Mary and Somerall in Orlando. The crew will go by the moon on Monday. You're listening to M.P.R. News from Washington. At the NCAA men's basketball semi-finals in Indianapolis, the top seed UConn to feed

3:06Illinois, 71 to 62 to advance to the championship game Monday. The Huskies will play another number one seed Michigan which crews past Arizona in the late game, 91 to 73. At the Women's Basketball Final for Infinix, South Carolina will play UCLA today. Tip off is at 330 for the national championship. In the semi-final, South Carolina defeated the defending champ UConn to advance and UCLA defeated Texas. Three and a half years after Bison were reintroduced to Britain, conservationists say the herd is already having an impact on the woodlands where they roam. Vicki Barker has more from London. It's been at least 6,000 years since wild bison last roamed what is now Britain. The Cant Wild Life Trust's Allison Reuter told the BBC the small herd of European bison was introduced to a woodland sanctuary in Cant because the habits of these massive lumbering animals help restore complex habitats that other bovine species cannot.

4:09They come in, they change the habitats, they mess things up, they knock things over, they dig things up, they turn things around and lots and lots of wildlife will really benefit them. With the herd now growing, the trust is opening so called bison bridges, ultimately allowing them to roam and reshape 500 acres of English woodland. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London. Officials in Riverside, California say a smoky wildfire that began Friday as mostly under control. This is NPR News from Washington. Support for in, 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.