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"U.S. searches for missing aviator, What Earth looks like from Artemis II, The Wisdom of Werner Herzog."

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April 3, 2026

	By Matthew Cullen

Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Friday.

U.S. searches for missing aviator What Earth looks like from Artemis II Plus, the wisdom of Werner Herzog

A U.S. Air Force F-15E fighter jet taking off from RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom in 2020. Chris Radburn/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

One of two Americans rescued after Iran downs a U.S. jet

The U.S. military launched a massive and potentially perilous search and rescue operation in Iran today after Iranian forces shot down an Air Force F-15E fighter jet carrying two American crew members who both ejected. It was the first known instance of a U.S. combat aircraft going down in hostile territory since the war began five weeks ago.

The rescue efforts recovered one of the two American aviators who were in the downed jet. The fate of the other one was unclear. An American helicopter was hit during the search operation but managed to escape safely. Follow here for the latest updates.

Videos verified by The Times show U.S. military aircraft flying low over southwestern Iran, apparently part of the search and rescue effort. The easily spotted aircraft, and the troops aboard, are potential targets. An Iranian broadcaster read a statement today calling on residents to capture the “enemy’s pilot or pilots” and turn them over in return for a reward. The U.S. aviators were trained to try to evade capture.

Just days ago, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran’s air defenses were so degraded that the U.S. was sending lumbering B-52 bombers over the country. The downing of the much more agile F-15E suggested that Iran’s weakened military could still fight back.

Another U.S. warplane, an A-10 Warthog attack plane, also crashed near the Strait of Hormuz around the same time, and the lone pilot was safely rescued, officials said.

For more on the war:

Israel says it will occupy much of southern Lebanon after its ground invasion. Here’s what the Israeli military presence there looks like now. U.S. intelligence found that Iran has been able to quickly repair many of its missile bunkers. We talked to American farmers who have been pushed to the brink from the war’s economic fallout. Two Iranians kept diaries of the war’s first three weeks for The Times.

A student checks a mannequin at Seton Hall University last year. Amir Hamja for The New York Times

Job growth rebounds

The labor market significantly outperformed expectations last month, according to a new government report. U.S. employers added 178,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.3 percent, a robust showing after a run of weakness.

The health care sector continued to lead the job gains, adding 76,000 positions. Manufacturing, which had been trending down, added 15,000 jobs and construction grew by 26,000.

Doug Mills/The New York Times

White House asks for significant increase in military spending

President Trump’s new budget request, which was sent to Congress today, calls for about $1.5 trillion in funding for the military in the 2027 fiscal year. The request would amount to a roughly 40 percent increase.

Trump also called for $73 billion in cuts across many domestic programs, including those focused on health, housing and education. “It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all of these individual things,” Trump said at a private lunch before releasing the plan. “They can do it on a state basis.”

Presidential budgets, however, are advisory: Congress is very likely to come up with its own priorities.

In other Trump administration news:

Pam Bondi, who was fired yesterday as attorney general, wanted a graceful exit. Trump wanted her gone. A top FEMA official said he was once teleported by God to a Waffle House in the town of Rome, Ga. Employees, customers and a physicist The Times talked to were skeptical.

Reid Wiseman/NASA

NASA releases the first Earth photos from Artemis II

The astronauts aboard Artemis II awoke this afternoon for the third day of their journey toward — and eventually around — the moon. Hours earlier, NASA released images of Earth taken by the mission’s commander. One shows green streaks of aurora in the atmosphere.

“You look amazing, you look beautiful,” the pilot said of our planet. When this newsletter was sent, the spacecraft was 117,223 miles from Earth.

More top news

Syria: A Times investigation found that abductions of women and girls from the Alawite minority were more common and brutal than the government has acknowledged. Immigration: Changes to the H-1B visa system, which attracts skilled foreign workers, has some considering leaving the U.S. We interviewed three who are affected. Politics: The left is creating new, obscure nonprofits for wealthy, hidden donors to use dark money for influence campaigns. Here’s how it works. Census: India began a yearlong effort to count all of its 1.4 billion residents for the first time since 2011. Wisconsin: ICE arrested the head of the state’s largest Islamic group. Candy: After a grandson of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup inventor complained about a chocolate-flavored substitution, Hershey’s said it would return to classic recipes. Sports: The women’s basketball Final Four begins tonight. Here’s who to watch for.

DRUNK WITHOUT DRINKING

Octavio Jones for The New York Times

Mark Mongiardo left his job as a high school athletic director after colleagues repeatedly told him that players could smell alcohol on him. Soon after, he was twice penalized for driving while intoxicated. Even his family noticed that he often seemed drunk.

But Mongiardo hadn’t been drinking. He only later found out that he had auto-brewery syndrome, a mystifying condition where someone’s gut can produce alcohol — and cause intoxication — without them having a single sip. Here’s what to know about the syndrome.

TIME TO UNWIND

Nintendo and Illumination/Universal Pictures, via Associated Press

Can Mario strike box-office gold again?

Last time Mario and Luigi teamed up on the big screen, it resulted in one of the highest-performing animated movies of all time. Now, the directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic are hoping to recapture some of that magic in the sequel, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which arrived in theaters this week.

The film reintroduces a princess named Rosalina who was first introduced in a 2007 Wii game. She is part of Nintendo’s effort to gradually introduce more depth to its sparse cast of female characters. Read our review.

Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Traveling many miles to learn from Werner Herzog

Earlier this year, the acclaimed filmmaker Werner Herzog hosted an 11-day workshop on São Miguel, a remote North Atlantic island with more cows than people. Fifty artists flew in from around the world to learn from an icon and face questions like “How will you get a cow up the steps and into the church?”

Herzog’s advice boiled down to something like this: Take your camera, get the shot, forgo storyboards, don’t overdo it and, above all else, do the doable. For many this advice was, if not groundbreaking, certainly liberating. My colleagues were there to talk to the participants and see what it was like.

Anna Morrison and Leonardo Leiva Rivera designed an A.D.U. with a roof that creates a deck on the connected building. via Anna Morrison and Leonardo Leiva Rivera

Dinner table topics

These tiny homes are now encouraged in New York City backyards. Which is your favorite? Marriage, for many, has lost its luster. Here’s why. The novel will never die. The latest book from the writer Ben Lerner shows us why.

WHAT TO DO THIS WEEKEND

Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Cook: For Easter brunch, try this baked croissant French toast with blueberries.

Sip some great yet affordable wine with these tips.

Watch these movies and shows coming to Netflix this month.

Read “This Land Is Your Land” or one of our other top picks from this week.

Write a letter by hand. Here’s where to begin.

Test yourself: Take this week’s news quiz.

Play: Here are today’s Connections, Wordle and Mini Crossword. Find all our games here.

ONE LAST THING

Yuvraj Khanna for The New York Times

This Off Broadway show gives ‘run time’ a new meaning

“Burnout Paradise” is a frantic and frequently unhinged Off Broadway show, where the performers attempt various tasks — like making pasta, writing a grant proposal, putting on lipstick or re-enacting childhood dance routines — while running on treadmills.

It’s a nail-biter for the audience, too. The actors track their total running distance throughout the 75-minute show, and if they fail to collectively beat their record, everyone in the crowd is entitled to a refund. They usually fail, but some audience members are so pleased with the absurd show that they don’t ask for their money back.

Have a fun weekend.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow — Matthew

Scott Ball was our photo editor.

We welcome your feedback. Reach us at evening@nytimes.com.

Writer: Matthew Cullen Editor: Whet Moser

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