NPR News: 04-03-2026 12AM EDT

Live from NPR News, I'm child Snyder.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is out at the Justice Department President Trump made the announcement

Thursday.

NPR is Ryan Lucas.

In his social media post announcing this, Trump offered a couple of kind words for Bondi.

He said she had done a tremendous job overseeing what he called a massive crackdown on crime.

He said, quote, we love Pam.

And he said she'll be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private

sector.

He didn't say what that would be, only that it would be announced later.

And he also said that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch is going to step in as acting

Attorney General.

Andy Zalster follows months of scrutiny over the Justice Department's handling of the

Epstein files and Bondi's handling of cases against President Trump's perceived political

enemies.

Benaganchi, Pete Hegseth has forced the Army's top general to step down and retire immediately.

Hegseth has ousted many senior military leaders without explanation as impuers Greg

Myry reports.

The Army's chief of staff, General Randy George, served more than four decades, including

tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He was expected to remain in his current post for another year and a half.

But Defense Secretary Hegseth abruptly forced him to resign.

This is according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said General George was retiring effective immediately.

No reason was given.

Hegseth has ousted many top generals and admirals in the past year.

He has not offered reasons for the individual dismissals, but has been sharply critical

of the way the military was run before he took over the Pentagon.

Greg Myry, MPR News, Washington.

NASA's Artemis II mission with its crew of four astronauts now bound for the moon,

the Orion spacecraft left Earth or of it Thursday, putting the astronauts on track for a lunar

fly by early next week.

The global benchmark price for crude oil currently at around $109 a barrel and U.S.

prices even higher.

Prices went up after President Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night about the war in

Iran, and indicated the U.S. does not need any oil from the Strait of Four Moos.

Here's in Piers Camila Domenoski.

Since the war in Iran began, markets have been hoping for a quick resolution.

One month then, President Trump did not give a clear exit path out of the conflict in

a prime time address.

The President emphasized that the U.S. does not need oil imported through the Hormuz

Strait, and it's true that these days, the U.S. imports almost no oil from the region.

But as American drivers have experienced these past few weeks, that does not insulate

the U.S. from global price shocks.

U.S. oil prices are currently nearly double what they were in December.

Camila Domenoski, MPR News.

With oil prices elevated, stocks in Asia, largely losing ground, although Japan's

knee-cage share average seems to be trimming losses for the week, up 9.10% of a percent.

You're listening to MPR News.

The President of Wisconsin's largest mosque has been detained by federal immigration agents.

The Islamic Society of Milwaukee says Salas Asura was taken into custody on Monday by

nearly a dozen ICE agents.

Asura is a Palestinian-born legal, permanent resident.

He has lived in the U.S. for more than three decades.

If you don't like your Gmail user name, you may soon be able to change it.

MPR's John Ruich reports it would be the first time since Google launched the service

in 2004.

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, tweeted about the new feature.

2004 was a good year, but your Gmail address doesn't need to be stuck in it, he wrote.

The company has been planning the new policy since last year, and according to a statement

online, it's pretty easy to change your Gmail address.

You can do it right in the personal info section of your account.

Once you change your username, Google says the old one will still be there as what they

call an alternate account.

In other words, you'll still get emails sent to your old Gmail address.

This will come as a relief to some.

The inability to change user names has been a source of frustration for a slice of the

three billion users Google says rely on Gmail, like people who may have signed up years

ago with user names that are inaccurate now, or inappropriate, or just cringeworthy.

John Ruich and MPR News.

Authorities in the Netherlands say a priceless ancient Romanian helmet has been recovered.

Under police guard, prosecutors unveiled a 2,500-year-old helmet during a press conference

Thursday.

Considered a cultural icon of Romania, it was on loan to a Dutch museum when it was stolen

more than a year ago.

This is MPR News.

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