NPR News Now - NPR News: 03-30-2026 1AM EDT

Episode Date: March 30, 2026

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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered that country's military to expand its ground invasion of southern Lebanon. As M.Pairs Daniel Estrin reports, this comes as an Israeli soldier with U.S. citizenship was killed by Hezbollah in Lebanon. The killed soldier was from New Haven, Connecticut. He moved to Israel to serve in the military. Israel has been expanding its ground invasion into neighboring Lebanon, creating what Israel calls a new buffer zone. Netanyahu is now ordering it to be expanded. He says to thwart the threat of Hezbollah invading northern Israel and to push anti-tank missile fire farther away from the Israeli border. Netanyahu is facing pressure to protect residents of northern Israel who have not been evacuated from their homes and who face daily Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks.

In southern Israel, an Iranian missile attack hit a chemical plant sparking a massive fire. Authorities ruled out a leak of hazardous substances. Daniel Estrin, NPR News, Tel Aviv. During his annual Palm Sunday Mass, Pope Leo said God doesn't listen to the prayers of those who wage war and should never be used to justify violence. NPR's Ruth Sherlock has more. Pope Leo spoke as thousands of U.S. troops arrived in the Middle East as part of the U.S. and Israel's expanding war against Iran.

In his Palm Sunday Mass, Leo called the unfolding conflict atrocious. He said God should never be. be used to justify conflict and doesn't listen to the appeals of leaders who wage war. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegsef had recently prayed for violence against enemies, he said, deserved no mercy during a service at the Pentagon. Quoting a Bible passage, Leo said, Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood.

Ruth Sherlock, NPR News. TSA officers are now expecting to see their first paycheck in six weeks, as early, as Monday. They've been working without pay because of the continuing partial government shutdown, and that's caused weeks of disruptions for air travelers. President Trump Friday said the officers need to get the money they're owed, but union rep Johnny Jones says that's not enough to make them whole. A lot of people had to take loans out, which cost money. Everybody had an apartment complex. Their apartment agreed not to evict them, but they still had to pay the $35 to $75 per day late fee. This isn't just this one. This has happened twice in the last five.

months. So when you calculate all that stuff, the average has got to be around $10,000, because I've lost personally thousands of thousands of dollars. And I'm in one of the better positions of all the officers. Officials in Afghanistan say severe flooding and landslides there have killed at least 17 people and injured 26 others over the last 24 hours. And they say those numbers could go up as rescue crews reach the affected areas. The casualties are the latest from a number of severe weather events that have taken place there this year. You're listening to NPR News. According in California ruled last week, the tech companies were to blame for depression and anxiety in a young social media user.

Now Britain is considering joining a number of other countries, including Australia, by passing a social media ban for those under the age of 16. Vicki Barker has our reports. The British government had already launched a three-month consultation on a possible social media ban when the California verdict came down. But Prime Minister Kier Starmor tells the observer newspaper the ruling that Meta and Google intentionally built addictive social media platforms that damaged the 20-year-old plaintiff's mental health was a turning point. One month into the consultation, Starmor said a consensus is already emerging about the addictive nature of some of the algorithms aimed at teens and children. Though initially opposing a complete ban for under-16s, Starmer, a former human rights law, lawyer and prosecutor said he is now open-minded about it. For NPR news, I'm Vicki Barker in London. Lauren Betts had 23 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks as UCLA beat Duke Sunday 70 to 58 in the NCAA

women's basketball tournament. The Bruins move into next weekend's final four, so will Yukon, who easily handled Notre Dame 70 to 52. In college basketball, the men's final four is now said after a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer gave Yukon a stunning win over Duke Sunday, 73 to 72, Duke was the tournament's overall top seed. Yukon will now play Illinois in the final four next Saturday, and Michigan will play Arizona for a chance to make it to the finals. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.