NPR News: 03-23-2026 11PM EDT

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The Senate has voted mostly long-party lines to confirm one of its own.

Republican Mark Wayne, Mullen of Oklahoma, is the next home land security secretary.

Mullen is taking over a department that's been without funding for more than a month as lawmakers

and the White House square off over immigration enforcement. Here's NPR Sam Greenglass.

Mullen is inheriting a department at the center of a national debate about immigration.

After federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.

While ICE still has billions of dollars at its disposal, despite the funding lapse,

employees at other agencies under DHS like TSA are going without pay.

And absences are causing long waits at major airports.

Some lawmakers hope their colleague will be a steadier hand compared to his predecessor, Kristi Nome,

who Trump ultimately fired. But most Democrats still opposed his nomination,

saying they don't believe a change in leadership is enough of a course correction.

Sam Greenglass and NPR News Washington.

In the long lines of major airports because of the DHS shutdown,

are impacting the investigation into Sunday night's crash at New York's LaGuardia airport.

Jennifer Homidy is chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.

She says one of her investigators spent three hours in a TSA line in Houston.

So it's been a really, really big challenge to get the entire team here,

and they're still arriving as I speak.

Two pilots were killed in the crash between an air candidate jet and a fire truck

that had been given the okay to cross the runway.

Dozens of people were rushed to the hospital.

President Trump and Iran are sending conflicting signals.

President Trump claims Iran is eager for a deal to end the war,

and that the U.S. is talking with Inneronian leader.

Trump has extended a deadline for Iran to reopen the straighter four moves

or face attacks on power plants, however, Iran denies that it's in talks.

At least three big explosions have been heard in Lebanon's capital,

where Israel has been attacking Iran, back to Hezbollah militants.

Lebanon's government says at least ten people were killed in Israeli attacks today,

as MPR's Lauren Fraer reports from Beirut.

Lebanese state media say the latest Israeli air strikes hit homes a highway

and several bridges across the Latani river.

Israel's finance minister says that river 10 to 20 miles inside Lebanon

should be the new border with Israel.

His comments to Israeli radio are the clearest indication yet that Israel plans to take Lebanese territory.

Lebanon's president calls the targeting of bridges a prelude to an invasion.

Israel says its targeting infrastructure used by Iran backed Hezbollah militants

who have fired rockets across the border,

and that one of its latest attacks killed a commander of Iran's revolutionary guards.

Lebanon says more than a thousand people have been killed this month

than more than one million displaced in a country of less than six million.

Lauren Fraer and PR News Beirut.

This is MPR.

A California civil jury has found to build Cosby libel for sexually assaulting a woman in 1972,

following a nearly two week trial in Santa Monica.

Steve Futterman reports a jury has ordered Cosby to pay more than $19 million in damages.

On the third day of deliberations, the jury found that Cosby did sexually assault a former waitress more than 50 years ago.

Donna Mutsinger accused Cosby of inviting her to one of his shows, then drugging and assaulting her.

Mutsinger filed the lawsuit in 2023 during a period when California law

allowed sexual assault victims to file claims beyond the normal statute of limitations.

Cosby, who's now 88 denied the accusations, but did not testify at the trial.

After the ruling Mutsinger, who is now 84 said it's been 54 years to get justice.

Cosby has been accused of assault by numerous women.

He was found guilty in a criminal case and spent nearly three years in prison before the verdict was overturned in 2021.

For MPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Los Angeles.

The Defense Department is revising its controversial media policy.

Monday's announcement came after a judge sided with the New York Times.

In a lawsuit over the limits of Pentagon imposed on reporters,

a Pentagon spokesman says the new media policies are effective immediately,

but that the Defense Department will appeal the ruling.

Asian financial markets, mostly rebounding.

The benchmarks in Japan, Australia, South Korean, China, rising and Tuesday trading.

However, oil prices also rebounding.

They had eased it for President Trump said he's been talking with Iran about a potential end of the war.

This is MPR.

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