NPR News: 04-07-2026 8PM EDT

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. President Trump says he will hold off on striking Iran for two weeks as long as Iran agrees to the complete and immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz to transport oil. NPR's Adipa Shivaram has more. Trump said just hours ago that, quote, a whole civilization would die if Iran didn't reach a deal to reopen the Strait by 8 p.m. But negotiations, facilitated by Pakistan, apparently moved forward after Pakistan asked Trump to hold off on increased attacks for two weeks and asked Iran to reopen the Strait. Trump says he received a 10-point proposal from Iran and says it's a workable base point for negotiations. He says the two-week pause will allow for the agreement to be finalized. Trump has extended the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait before. He's relenting this time because he says the U.S. has exceeded military objectives and that the agreement will lead to long-term peace in the region. Deepa Shivaram, NPR News, The White House. A federal judge has rejected an effort by the state of Louisiana to end access to abortion medication through telemedicine nationally for now. As NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin reports, that means abortion access is staying the same. The state of Louisiana filed this lawsuit last October, arguing that telemedicine access allows residents to get around the state's abortion ban. Federal Judge David C. Joseph, a Trump appointee, was sympathetic in his ruling to the state's arguments, but he granted a request from the Food and Drug Administration to put the case on hold while the agency does a review of the safety of the medicine, Miphaprishtone. In the ruling, he wrote, quote, it is FDA, not this court, that possesses the expertise to evaluate scientific evidence and make public health judgments. The judge ordered FDA to report on its progress in six months. Miphaprishtone has been approved and available in the U.S. for more than 25 years. Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News. Lunar scientists have been pouring over the spectacular photos sent back by the Artemis II astronauts. As NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boise reports, the astronauts captured over 175 gigabytes of imagery when they flew by the moon and recorded hours of audio as they described the colors, craters, and ridges that they saw. Kelsey Young is a geologist who leads the science team for the Artemis II mission. She says several dozen scientists are in a room at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, scrutinizing the thousands of images. And there is something in every image that surprises me, right? I mean, you might think that after looking at hundreds of images taken of the lunar surface, I would get sick of it. I have not. She says NASA will release a report on all of the lunar science findings within six months after the end of the mission. The astronauts are expected to come home Friday with a splashdown in the Pacific. Nell Greenfield-Boise, NPR News. This is NPR. Taiwan's opposition leader has arrived in China in what she's calling a journey for peace as Beijing pushes for the self-governed island to come under its control. The visit is the first by a Taiwanese opposition leader in a decade and comes ahead of a scheduled meeting between in Beijing between President Xi Jinping and President Trump. A major U.S. arms sale to Taiwan and Chinese military exercises around the island have driven tensions higher in recent months. The latest forecasts for water in the Colorado River show a grim picture from member station KJZZ. Alex Hager reports low snowpack across the Rocky Mountains will lead to a tense summer for what water managers for water managers around the West. Incredibly low, seriously dry, depressing. Those are just some of the words tossed around by scientists in the latest briefing on drought conditions. Nells Bjarke is a scientist with the Western Water Assessment. There is possibility that we could experience the driest or historical low flows on record. The notion that a wet April, May, June might save us is quickly leaving the building. That shortage could send major reservoirs plummeting to record lows, adding pressure to already tense negotiations among states about sharing water. That includes Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming. If state leaders can't agree, the federal government could force major cutbacks that would likely trigger lawsuits. For NPR News, I'm Alex Hager in Phoenix. Ford is recalling more than 400,000 vehicles because the windshield wiper arms can break, causing reduced visibility and increasing the risk of a crash. This is NPR. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR News Now Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.