NPR News: 03-06-2026 2AM EST

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Israel launched huge strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut,

new Israeli evacuation orders, warned residents to, quote,

save your lives and leave.

The Lebanese government says more than 80,000 people have been displaced,

fleeing Israeli air strikes since the beginning of the war in Iran.

NPR's Hadeel Al-Shalchi reports from Beirut.

The roads leading out of the southern Beirut suburb of Dahye were gridlocked on Thursday,

as hundreds of people fled hours before Israeli strikes began.

People were seen leaving on foot carrying children and whatever belongings they could take.

This was the first time Israel issued a blanket evacuation order for the Beirut suburb known as a Hezbollah stronghold.

Israel said the strikes are in reaction to Hezbollah launching rockets into northern Israel earlier this week for the first time in over a year.

The Lebanese army said it had left some of its positions on the border with Israel,

as Israeli troops pushed further into Lebanese territory.

Al-Shalchi, NPR News, Beirut.

President Trump has fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Nome and on social media.

Trump said he will nominate Oklahoma Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullin for the post.

Mullin told reporters he only found out a little bit before they did.

The phone call got from the president and was right before the statement went out.

The announcement came after Kristi Nome faced a two-day grilling on Capitol Hill in the criticism of her leadership at DHS.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says the change at the top is welcome.

The president has fired Kristi Nome, good riddance.

But the problems at this agency, ICE, transcend any one person.

The rot is deep.

The president has to end the violence and reign in ICE.

President Trump says he's moving Nome to a special envoy role for a new security initiative that he now that he plans to announce this weekend.

Travel industry leaders urging Congress to end the stalemate over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Imperial Rose reports on their warning that the partial government shut down could slow air traffic during the busy spring break season.

The head of the U.S. Travel Association, Jeff Freeman, says airport security workers deserve to get paid as they show up to work through the partial government shutdown.

They're doing their job and they're not getting paid. It's not just unfair. It's reckless.

DHS has been shut down for nearly three weeks after lawmakers failed to agree on changes to how immigration officers operate.

That means about 50,000 employees at the TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, are working without pay.

Travel and aviation industry groups worry that those officers will call out sick and start working second jobs just as travel volume picks up in March and April.

Joel Rose, NPR News, Washington.

This is NPR News. Ukraine and Russia have exchanged prisoners of war for the second time this year.

NPR's Hannah Palomarenko reports about 200 Ukrainian soldiers have returned home.

The coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war reports this is the first stage of the exchange in accordance with the agreements in Geneva.

Some were in captivity for almost four years.

A soldier who appeared in a video by the Ukrainian ombudsman with tears in his eyes is thankful for his return.

Help the other guys come home, he adds, because their families are also waiting for them.

Russian officials say a total of 500 prisoners of war will be exchanged this time as part of the agreements.

Hannah Palomarenko, NPR News, gave more than 20 states are suing the Trump administration over the president's new global tariffs.

Democratic attorneys general are leading the suit, arguing President Trump is overstepping his power with planned 15% tariffs on much of the world.

Trump announced the new tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down the import taxes he imposed last year under an emergency powers law.

Following losses on Wall Street, the financial markets in Asia are mixed in Friday trading.

Japan's Benchmark knee K up half a percentage point and South Korean shares are in positive territory after a roller coaster week.

Global financial markets have been wavering this week amid worries over oil production amid the conflict in the Middle East.

This is NPR News.

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