Live from NPR news in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton.
Two US Air Force combat planes were shot down today, and 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. It's NPR's Tom Bowman explains. Defense Secretary Pete Heggsett said the US has control of the skies over Iran, and now able to fly in the lumbering B-52 aircraft for bombing runs.
Last month, a 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 US 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 state of Hormuz during”
a joint briefing today. The leaders did not elaborate on how they would help reopen the state. 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, and PR's Windsor Johnson 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 analysts 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 what they do now, that we're going to start”
seeing absenteeism increase again. That can lead to inconsistent staffing levels and airports making wait times harder to predict. Windsor Johnson and PR news, Washington. Unemployment dropped slightly in March as businesses added more jobs and economists expected and PR's Scotland Horstly 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 return 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, 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%, that was largely because almost 400,000 people dropped out of the workforce. Scott Horstly and PR News Washington. This is NPR News from Washington.
After crashing his SUV last week in Florida, pro-Golfer Tiger Woods told a deputy "I was just talking to the president," that's according to body camera footage. That'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 Dr. Who, and
PR's Chloe Veltman reports the 1965 episodes were found at a private collection. In the nightmare begins, William Hartnol is the doctor, gleefully incapacitates and uninvited guest on his spaceship, The Tardis. What is it? The series story arc focuses on the threat of the Daleks, terrifying robots, hellbent on
conquering the universe. 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 and PR News.
Chuck Talk, 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 I, they volunteered to fight for the U.S. before Native Americans were recognized as citizens, their work paved the way for the Navajo cold-talker code talkers in World War
II. It's NPR.
