NPR News: 04-05-2026 12AM EDT

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan.

Both the United States and Iran are searching for a missing American fighter pilot whose

F-15E was shot down Friday in a mountainous region in southwestern Iran.

The other pilot on the plane was rescued.

NPR's Lorne Freyr is in Beirut, Lebanon with more.

Ron shot down those two planes over southwestern Iran that's near the street of her moves,

the waterway controlled by Iran through which much of the world's oil supply passes,

fighting there has led to really a spike in energy prices.

These are the first U.S. planes down in this war, and it could mark a turning point.

One pilot was rescued, another crew member is still missing.

So the U.S. is looking for that service member, and so is Iran.

Iran is asking residents to turn that person in and offering a reward.

Also on Friday, a single pilot, a 10 plane known as a Wardhawk, also went down the pilot

was rescued.

It's not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down, and if Iran was involved.

Security staffing at airports across the country, they're beginning to improve, but NPR's

Windsor-Johnston reports the wait times remain uncertain.

Hundreds of TSA workers resigned during the recent pay disruption and experts say it

can take months to hire and train replacements.

That means staffing levels can vary by airport and even by the time of day, creating

unpredictable wait times for travelers.

Aviation analyst Henry Hartfeld says the progress so far is uneven.

Some of the airports where we saw the worst lines, such as at Houston Bush in a continental,

Atlanta parts field Jackson International are performing much better.

But this is a day-to-day situation.

President Trump signed an executive order on Friday to pay all DHS workers, as Congress

remains deadlocked over how to fund the agency.

Windsor-Johnston NPR News, Washington.

The Artemis II astronauts are now closer to the moon than they are Earth, as NPR's

Nell Greenfield voice reports the spacecraft is more than 178,000 miles away.

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hanson said he was struck by seeing the Earth wax

and wane as they traveled through space and their view of the planet changed.

It was a half-earth, then it was a full-earth, then it was a no-earth.

What's more, Commander Reed Weisman said they've started to catch glimpses of the craters

on the side of the moon that is never visible from Earth.

As for humans who have looked at the moon our entire lives, it just looked different

out the window and that is wild.

It just really put our place in the universe in perspective.

The astronauts are now watching the moon grow bigger.

Their closest approach comes on Monday.

There'll be several thousand miles from the surface as they fly around to the far side.

Nell Greenfield voice NPR News.

Yukon will play Michigan Monday night in the men's basketball finals.

You're listening to NPR News.

Senegal has imposed travel restrictions on senior government officials

in the West African nation following a rise in global oil prices

as the Iranian war continues.

Michael Kaloki reports.

Senegal's Prime Minister Usman Tsonko has banned government ministers

from non-essential foreign official travel.

The ban also extends to other senior officials with Tsonko adding that he had cancelled

a number of his own planned trips.

The Prime Minister warned of, quote,

extremely difficult times ahead as the Iran war continues to affect oil costs.

Noting that current prices are almost double the estimates indicated in Senegal's current budget.

Several African countries have put in place measures to try and mitigate the impact

of increased oil prices, including reducing fuel taxes and increasing subsidies.

For NPR News, a Michael Kaloki in Nairobi.

President Trump's new proposed 2027 budget is calling for more passenger screening at airports

to be done by private companies instead of TSA agents, as is the case now.

The White House once smaller airports enrolled in the TSA screening partnership program

under which the TSA pays for the private screeners.

Supporters of the idea say it would ensure screeners continue to get paid during a government shutdown,

and the White House says it will save the federal government money,

and that privately operated screeners are more efficient.

However, the TSA's union, the American Federation of Government employees,

warns privatization could cut employee pay and introduce security risk into the system.

This is NPR News from Washington.

Support, listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a prime membership,

or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org.

That's plus.npr.org.