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As we speak’s high tales
President Trump introduced yesterday that the U.S. will impose a naval blockade on Iranian ports. The U.S. navy’s Central Command mentioned {that a} blockade on ships touring to or from Iran will begin as we speak at 10 a.m. ET. The choice got here simply hours after U.S.-Iran peace talks failed to supply a breakthrough. When requested in regards to the key subject that led to the negotiation breakdown, Vice President Vance mentioned: “The straightforward truth is that we have to see an affirmative dedication that they won’t search a nuclear weapon, and they won’t search the instruments that will allow them to rapidly obtain a nuclear weapon.”
A cargo ship carrying automobiles sails by means of the Arabian Gulf towards the Strait of Hormuz within the United Arab Emirates on March 22.
AP
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AP
- 🎧 Iran is utilizing the Strait of Hormuz’s closure to its benefit, irritating Trump and pushing international oil costs greater, NPR’s Greg Myre tells Up First. Whereas some oil nonetheless flows from Iran, the nation costs overseas ships as much as $2 million to cross by means of the essential waterway. The Trump administration’s blockade would not enhance prospects for potential peace talks. Myre says Trump seems to hope the elevated strain will drive Iran to make concessions, whereas Iran appears to really feel it’s in a reasonably robust negotiating place, because it has withstood weeks of heavy U.S. and Israeli bombing.
- 🎧 Trump’s blockade announcement is threatening an already shaky ceasefire. Violence continues in Lebanon, the place Israeli forces are concentrating on Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters. Lebanese authorities say there have been greater than 100 fatalities, together with a Crimson Cross paramedic, throughout this weekend’s assaults. Hezbollah held a rally this weekend that stuffed a number of metropolis blocks in Beirut, in accordance with NPR’s Lauren Frayer. Whereas some Lebanese folks assist Hezbollah, some additionally blame the group for dragging them into yet one more conflict. Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors are set to have ceasefire talks in Washington tomorrow. It will likely be the primary direct government-to-government talks between the 2 nations since 1983.
- ➡️ In a 40-minute interview, a wounded Hezbollah commander gave NPR a uncommon glimpse into the militant group’s capabilities, new command construction and contemporary techniques for evading Israeli surveillance.
Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has conceded defeat to his challenger, 45-year-old conservative Péter Magyar, ending 16 years in energy. Voters turned out within the highest numbers for the reason that fall of communism within the Nineties to reject Orbán’s Fidesz get together. Simply days in the past, Trump, an ally of Orbán’s, despatched Vance to Budapest to attempt to give the Hungarian prime minister an electoral enhance. Regardless of these efforts, Magyar and his center-right Tisza Occasion received by a landslide.
- 🎧 Orbán’s defeat has paved the way in which for Magyar and his get together to grab greater than two-thirds of the seats within the Hungarian parliament, NPR’s Rob Schnitz says. This supermajority will enable Magyar to advance his agenda of redemocratizing Hungary and rolling again Orbán’s modifications to Hungary’s structure. Though Hungary is a small nation of simply 9 million, it wields important energy and affect in Europe. Beneath Orbán’s management, Hungary leveraged its European Union membership to dam round $100 billion in assist to Ukraine. The nation additionally vetoed budgets and harsh penalties on Russia.
- ➡️ Critics have lengthy accused Orbán of corruption. Now, sightseers are flocking to his hometown. Teams are actively elevating consciousness about what they are saying are the chief’s excesses.
New information from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers present important fluctuations in naturalization functions in 2025 and a drop within the variety of folks accredited to grow to be residents. Immigration consultants say the tendencies present how Trump’s restrictive immigration insurance policies, heightened deportation efforts and elevated scrutiny have impacted folks on the tail finish of their authorized immigration journey. The yr started with excessive charges in citizenship functions submitted. By the top of 2025, fewer immigrants had been making use of to grow to be residents — and even fewer had been granted entry to this remaining milestone, in accordance with the information.
U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell has suspended his marketing campaign for governor of California amid allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. 4 ladies gave accounts starting from accusations of Swalwell assaulting them after that they had been consuming to sending inappropriate images, in accordance with the studies in The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN. NPR hasn’t independently confirmed these allegations. A few of these ladies had been his workers, and the accusations spanned from 2019 to final yr. Swalwell denies these accusations, however acknowledged that he “made errors in judgment in my previous.” He introduced yesterday that he’ll struggle these claims outdoors of his marketing campaign. Swalwell was seen as a possible frontrunner within the crowded discipline of Democratic candidates vying with Republicans in a heated major in June.
America in Pursuit
This 12 July 1988 file photograph exhibits jazz legend Dizzie Gillespie who died of pancreatic most cancers at Englewood Hospital in New Jersey 06 January, 1993. He was 75.
Recordsdata/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
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Recordsdata/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
250 years in the past, the Declaration of Independence boldly heralded the start of the US of America — a brand new nation based on the democratic promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. NPR’s collection America in Pursuit explores what that promise has meant and what it means as we speak.
Dizzy Gillespie revolutionized jazz within the Nineteen Forties along with his trumpet and iconic puffed-out cheeks, bringing in edgier, sooner and extra advanced rhythms known as bebop. The State Division enlisted him as a Chilly Conflict jazz ambassador. Regardless of dealing with racism at residence, he was tasked with profitable hearts overseas. In 1955, after performing to an built-in viewers with Ella Fitzgerald in Houston, authorities arrested the 2 musicians on trumped-up playing costs. Regardless of such challenges, Gillespie remained charming and playful onstage. Take heed to extra about Gillespie’s affect.
Residing higher
Sample of white rest room paper rolls on yellow background. Idea of going to the lavatory, cleansing and pooping and peeing.
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DBenitostock/Second RF/Getty Pictures
Residing Higher is a particular collection about what it takes to remain wholesome in America.
Forty p.c of Individuals expertise uncomfortable bowel signs that interrupt their every day lives, in accordance with the American Gastroenterological Affiliation. However Dr. Trisha Pasricha says folks on the opposite finish of the spectrum expertise what she calls “poophoria”—her time period for a state of being through which doing your enterprise is worry-free and painless. In her e-book You have Been Pooping All Mistaken, Pasricha shares practices and habits that may easy your relationship together with your strong waste.
- 💩 Eat extra fiber. It feeds the microbes in your colon that produce short-chain fatty acids, which cut back intestine irritation.
- 💩 Keep away from spending greater than 5 minutes on the bathroom. Sitting suspended over the bathroom bowl for too lengthy can improve the danger of hemorrhoids.
- 💩 Take a motion break if you end up perched within the rest room for greater than 5 minutes with out outcomes.
- 💩 Steer away from meals with synthetic sweeteners as a result of they’re recognized to trigger diarrhea and bloating.
3 issues to know earlier than you go
Artist renderings and diagrams for President Trump’s proposed “Triumphal Arch” launched by the U.S. Fee of Positive Arts on April 10, 2026.
Jon Elswick/AP
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Jon Elswick/AP
- Trump has unveiled official architectural renderings for the triumphal arch he plans so as to add to the Nationwide Mall in Washington, D.C. The proposed monument would stand 250 toes tall.
- Asha Bhosle, a Bollywood playback singer who gave voice to a whole bunch of film characters, died yesterday at age 92.
- Gen Z has an answer to assist with doomscrolling: an analog bag. The bag, normally a canvas tote, is full of screen-free actions to maintain you away out of your telephone.
This text was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
