NPR News: 03-30-2026 5AM EDT

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Mattingley.

President Trump says Iran is promising to allow 20 oil tankers through the Strait of

Hormuz, as indirect talks between the two countries to end the war continue.

At the same time, NPR's Emily Fang says Iran appears to be making more demands of the

Trump administration after pushing back on the president's 15-point proposal for ending

U.S. and Israeli air strikes.

A hard-line Iranian newspaper that is funded by the Office of Iran's Supreme Leader

published nine more demands in order to end the war, and among those are dismantling

military bases the U.S. uses in the Middle East.

That's NPR's Emily Fang reporting.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says church leaders will be able to pray in

Christianity's holiest site in Jerusalem during the Easter Holy Week.

Police blocked the Catholic Church's highest representative in Israel from holding a private

prayer service on Palm Sunday, sparking widespread criticism as NPR's Kerry Khan reports.

World leaders, including Italy and France's Prime Ministers, condemn the police action in Jerusalem.

Officials there Sunday stopped cardinal Pierre Baltista Pizzabala and another leader from

entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where many Christians believe Jesus died and was

resurrected. Lifelong Jerusalem resident and Armenian Christian Kigambalyan tried to get close

to the Church, but was stopped by a locked gate. He says the closing at the start of the Holy

East Week in Christianity is a tragedy.

It's a grave injustice and an insult to the concept of the freedom of religion in this country.

On social media, Prime Minister Netanyahu says he told authorities to let the cardinal

quote, hold services as he wishes. Kerry Khan and Pierre News, Jerusalem.

TSA agents at airports across the US are expected to receive their first paychecks in more than a

month this week. Still, as NPR's Windsor Johnston reports, it could take a while before airline

passengers stop seeing long lines to get through security.

Passengers have been facing long and unpredictable weights at security checkpoints,

with some lines stretching into airport parking lots. The delays have been driven in part by TSA

officers working without pay since mid-February, leading to staffing shortages and hundreds of

resignations. Johnny Jones is with the union representing TSA agents.

Even though they're going to get paid, this is not going to make them whole because many of my

colleagues are deep in the hole. And so we're advocating for a $10,000 bonus for all TSA officers.

President Trump signed an executive action allowing the government to resume pay for

roughly $50,000 TSA workers, even so officials warned that it could take time for staffing

levels at airports to recover. Windsor Johnston and Pierre News, Washington.

As early as Wednesday, weather could be an issue. The National Weather Service is forecasting

clouds and a chance of showers around Cape Canaveral midweek. The Artemis-2 mission is slated to

cover nearly a half million miles. The final four teams are set for this year's NCAA men's

basketball tournament. Topseeds, Michigan, and Arizona will square off in Indianapolis,

as well Illinois and Yukon. As Greg Ecklin reports, Yukon advanced after rallying to beat Duke

73 to 72 yesterday in the final second of the game. Yukon Freshman, Braylon Mullins,

took a pass from teammate Alex Carroban and hit the game winning shot from 35 feet with four

tenths of a second left. I had the ball, and I know AK had just hit one, so I threw him at four

seconds left, and man, he just threw the ball back to me. I knew I had to put one up, so man,

I'm just happy that was that was the one that went down tonight. It was the only three point shot

Mullins made in the game. The Huskies and Michigan Wolverines join Arizona and Illinois as the

four national semi-finalists. For NVR News, I'm Greg Ecklin. The championship game will be played

a week from tonight. The sci-fi film Project Hail Mary was number one at the North American

box office for the second consecutive week. The movie took in close to $55 million in ticket sales

over the weekend. I'm Dave Mattingley in Washington.