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NPR News: 03-05-2026 2PM EST

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"Line," from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi, saying.

The embattled Secretary of Homeland Security, Christy Noem, is out, according to President

Trump's post on Truth Social.

Trump says he has selected Senator Mark Wayne Mullin of Oklahoma to take over at the end

of the month. It's unclear if Mullin will initially serve in an acting capacity, the cabinet position requires Senate confirmation. Trump says no will move into the role of special envoy for the shield of the Americas. He says that's a new security initiative in the Western Hemisphere.

His administration plans to announce Saturday and Florida. Noem, and by extension, the Trump administration face mounting criticism over immigration enforcement tactics, especially Minnesota, or federal agents killed to U.S. citizens. U.S. and Israeli planes continue to hit cities across Iran with air strikes and their offensive against the country's clerical regime.

The attacks are displacing many civilians from their homes, but at the Turkish border with Iran, as NPR's Ruth Sherlock tells us many Iranians, are also choosing to cross back into their country.

"A regular stream of many buses arrives at the Turkish side of this remote northern border

with Iran. They're full of Iranians who are crossing back into their country at this time of war." "It's exactly at hard times, at difficult times, that people need to go back to their country," says Jahir Ahmizai, "and be next to their loved ones. He's been working on a construction site in Turkey, but now he's on his way to Uramya, south

of the border, to be with his wife and four children. He wants to be with them, but he's also worried about leaving his job and how the family will manage without an income. Ruth Sherlock and Pian use in Turkey on the border with Iran." The U.S. Army has named the last two U.S. soldiers of six killed by Iranian drone attack

March 1.

NPR's Quil Lawrence reports they died on the basing Kuwait in the first hours of the U.S.

Israel war with Iran. "The military has identified 45-year-old Major Jeffrey R. O'Brien of Indianola, Iowa, and in an unusual announcement, the Army said the other soldier is "believe to be chief for an officer three, Robert M. Marsan, of Sacramento, who was 54. But positive identification of his remains have not yet been completed by a medical examiner.

All six of the soldiers were with a logistics company out of Des Moines, Iowa, and deployed to Port Shweba, Kuwait. The Pentagon has denied media reports that their office-on-base lacked sufficient protection. Quil Lawrence and Pianos." As oil prices continue to rise in the wake of the Iran war, U.S. stocks continue their

slide. The Dow Jones industrial average is down more than 1,000 points or more than 2%. At 47,709, the S&P's down 1.2% the Nasdaq is also down more than 1%. You're listening to NPR News. Mortgage rates rose back to 6% this week.

Rates had fallen below that mark last week for the first time in two and a half years, but

NPR's Steven Bassaha says they went back up due to the war. The war has disrupted the bond market. Investors are concerned about rising fuel prices, and the inflation that comes with it. And since mortgage rates tend to follow 10 year treasury bonds, Rates rose slightly. From 5.98% back to 6.

Not a huge jump, but enough to have people reconsidering we financing their loans. The signals are shipped away from the expectation mortgage rates will continue falling and shipped toward more economic uncertainty. Steven Bassaha and PR News President Trump's White House Ballroom Project got an overwhelming amount of negative feedback from the public.

NPR's Hammer Keith reports the National Capital Planning Commission is holding a hearing today in Washington that includes extensive public comment. The written comments received by the Commission fill more than 10,000 pages. They include lines like this one, quote, "The size and design of the proposed White House Ballroom are hideous."

White House staff secretary and Commission Chairman Will Sharf said at the top of the hearing that more than 100 people have also signed up to speak.

I think it's important that each of these people are heard as a result, we expect that

this meeting will run into tomorrow. Because of all this, Sharf said a vote on the project won't happen until the commission's next meeting in April. Timer Keith and PR News The Dow is fallen more than a thousand points or more than 2% its NPR.

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