NPR News: 04-13-2026 12PM EDT

LIE, from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh. The US military's blocking ships from entering or exiting Iranian ports absent a peace agreement. The blockade was due to take effect two hours ago. US Central Command says the action will not quote, impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports. All this is happening on the heels of historic peace talks between the US and Iran over the weekend that produced no agreement toward ending the conflict. Robert Malley was a lead negotiator for the US in the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and spoke to NPR about the latest talks. Listening to what President Trump has said and what some of the background briefings have indicated, it sounds like the US went in and said, here are red lines. And the red lines were things that we should have known that Iran would not have accepted it. They didn't accept them before the war. They're not going to accept them now having to do with no enrichment, the spandling of all the enrichment facilities among a long list. Malley on NPR's morning edition. The landslide defeat of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gives Hungary a chance to improve its relationship with the European Union. Relations suffered under Orban's anti-EU pro-Russian stance. From Brussels, Terry Schultz reports on expectations now from the block for a new start. The man likely to be Hungary's next Prime Minister, Peter Madiar, has pledged to improve ties with the European Union after years in which outgoing leader Viktor Orban vetoed aid to Ukraine and forced the block to soften penalties on Moscow for its full-scale invasion. Zhuzhane Vege of the German Marshall Fund Think Tank says reversing this should be one of Madiar's top priorities. The Hungarian government under Orban has not been using the veto to protect Hungarian interests. It was using the veto to protect Russian interests. So that very clearly will need to stop. As Magyar's TISA party won more than two-thirds of parliamentary seats in Sunday's vote, he will have the political weight to push through real change. For NPR News, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels. Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell is suspending his campaign for California governor. Former staff member says lawmakers sexually assaulted her. At least three other women accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct. Scott Schaefer, member of station KQED, has more. Within hours of those reports, nearly all of his major endorsers abandoned him. On X, Swalwell apologized for mistakes in judgment but denies the allegations. He's now facing calls from fellow Democrats in California to resign his House seat. Meanwhile, at their statewide convention over the weekend, Republicans failed to endorse any candidate. Despite winning support from President Trump, Fox News host Steve Hilton finished behind Sheriff Chad Bianco. Both fell short of the 60% needed for an endorsement. It all leaves the campaign with no clear leaders less than two months before the primary. For NPR News, I'm Scott Schaefer in San Francisco. It's NPR News. There's just two days left to file those tax returns, NPR Stephen Basaha reports. Filers are likely to get a bigger refund this year because of the 2025 tax cuts. So far, the average refund is about 11% higher than this time last year, about $350 more according to data from the IRS. Michael Pierce with Oxford Economics expects that average will go up. That's because higher income filers typically procrastinate on filing and seem to be benefiting more from the new tax changes. But our forecast is that the average refund will end up being something like 20% bigger this time around. So something like $3,800 per household. While the deadline to file is Wednesday, you can request an extension and move the deadline until October 15th. But you should still pay any taxes you think you'll owe Wednesday to avoid having to pay penalties. Stephen Basaha, NPR News. World Cup tickets are getting even pricier. FIFA, the international governing body for professional soccer, is adding a more expensive tier, a ticket for a front category one seat at the US Opener against Paraguay in Inglewood, California in June. Costs more than $4,100 according to the Associated Press. Last week, FIFA asked for a top price of $2,735 for category one tickets for the match before it added new front category pricing. The World Cup will be held from mid-June to mid-July in the US, Mexico and Canada. The Dow is down 225 points. It's NPR News. Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon Prime members can listen to NPR News now, sponsor free through Amazon Music. Or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get NPR Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.