NPR News: 04-03-2026 7PM EDT

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. Two U.S. Air Force combat planes were shot down today. That's according to an official not authorized to discuss the incidents. Two crew members have been rescued, but the search continues for a third. This comes despite the Trump administration saying it has destroyed Iran's anti-aircraft capabilities, as NPR's Tom Bowman explains. Defense Secretary Pete Hegs said the U.S. has control of the skies over Iran and is now able to fly in the lumbering B-52 aircraft or bombing runs. Last month, an F-35 aircraft was struck by Iranian fire, possibly a missile. The aircraft was very damaged, but the pilot was able to land back at base so the pilot was wounded by shell fragments and required stitches. So again, this latest two aircraft down shows the skies above Iran are still dangerous for U.S. pilots. NPR's Tom Bowman reporting. French President Emmanuel Macron and his South Korean counterpart E.J. Myeong say they have agreed to work together to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. During a joint briefing today, the leaders did not elaborate on how they would help reopen the Strait. They met in Seoul after President Trump slammed allies for not supporting the war in Iran. President Trump is expected to sign an order to pay all DHS employees, as Congress remains deadlocked over funding the agency. NPR's Windsor-Johnston reports it adds uncertainty to airport security lines this weekend. Airline analysts say wait times have improved since Trump took executive action to begin paying TSA agents after more than a month. But the recovery is uneven. Hundreds of officers resigned during the partial shutdown and it can take months to train replacements. Airline analyst Henry Hartfeld says that uncertainty could quickly affect operations. This is a day-to-day situation. If the back pay isn't fully repaid and if the TSA workers are concerned that they won't be paid for work they do now, that we're going to start seeing absenteeism increase again. That can lead to inconsistent staffing levels at airports making wait times harder to predict. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News, Washington. Unemployment dropped slightly in March as businesses added more jobs than economists expected. NPR's Scott Horsley reports. U.S. employers added 178,000 jobs in March, offsetting big job losses in February. Health care saw the biggest gains, adding 76,000 jobs. About half of that reflects people who returned to work after a February strike. Construction companies, restaurants and factories also added jobs in March, while the federal government continued to lose workers. Revised figures for the two previous months were mixed. The hiring was stronger than first reported in January, but February's job losses were bigger as well. The unemployment rate inched down in March to 4.3 percent, that was largely because almost 400,000 people dropped out of the workforce. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. This is NPR News from Washington. After crashing his SUV last week in Florida, pro-Gulfer Tiger Woods told the deputy, I was just talking to the president. That's according to body camera footage. It's not clear if Woods was referring to President Trump. Woods entered a not guilty plea to suspicion of driving under the influence. The BBC has released two long lost episodes of the cult TV sci-fi series, Doctor Who. NPR's Chloe Veltman reports the 1965 episodes were found in a private collection. In the nightmare begins, William Hartnell as the doctor gleefully incapacitates an uninvited guest on his spaceship, the TARDIS. What is it? Oh, it's a little invention of mine. I call it the magnetic chair. It has a force field strong enough to restrain a herd of elephants. The series' story arc focuses on the threat of the Daleks, terrifying robots hellbent on conquering the universe. One man remains, find and destroy him, I obey. The non-profit group Film Is Fabulous found the episodes in a private collection late last year. The BBC archives then restored the reels. In the 1960s and 70s, broadcasters often deleted master tapes of shows to save storage space. 95 Doctor Who episodes are still missing today. Chloe Veltman, NPR News. Choktaw Code Talkers were recognized with a historical marker in Fort Worth, Texas this week. The 19 Native American soldiers used their language to transmit encrypted messages during World War One. They volunteered to fight for the US before Native Americans were recognized as citizens. Their work paved the way for the Navajo Code Talkers in World War Two. It's NPR.