NPR News: 04-22-2026 1PM EDT

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Libby Casey. President Trump is extending a ceasefire with Iran indefinitely while maintaining the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran now says it has seized two ships and fired on a third in the strait. NPR's Aya Batraoui has more from Dubai. The two vessels were seized by Iran's Revolutionary Guard in the Strait of Hormuz. That's the key waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil was passing before the war began nearly two months ago. Iran, which is blocking most ships now from transiting through the strait, says the seizure of today's vessels is in response to the U.S. seizing an Iranian cargo ship and its crew on Sunday. They called it an eye for an eye, an oil tanker for an oil tanker. The U.S. Navy is positioned in the Arabian Sea, blocking Iranian ships from entering or exiting the strait. Iran said the seizure of the ship violates the ceasefire, and there's no word yet on whether the two sides plan to meet again for another round of talks. Aya Batrawi, NPR News, Dubai. Medicaid. He's on Capitol Hill for two budget hearings today, starting with the Finance Committee, but senators are hitting on a wide range of controversial health policies. Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren pressed Kennedy on the one-off deals that the Trump administration has signed with individual drug companies, saying the U.S. needs a comprehensive approach. If these deals with Big Pharma are so great for Americans, then we should be able to see what promises have been made. You have the power to make this deal yourself. Why don't you do that? Why did you? We did this because you refused to do it. What we've got is Trump. You have a lot more power to negotiate than we do. We've got the lowest prices in history. By health care costs. And you and Donald Trump are actually making the problem worse. This afternoon, Kennedy goes before the Senate Health Committee. The big tech company Meta says it will soon begin tracking its employees digital movements to train its artificial intelligence. As NPR's Bobby Allen reports, the surveillance has been met with blowback from workers who say that's intrusive. Meta told employees new logging software will record keystrokes, mouse movements, and even take snapshots of employees' screens. Meta made the announcement to its 78,000 employees in an internal memo that was reviewed by NPR In response to employees concerns Meta leadership wrote in another internal message quote the model will not be able to memorize any of the screen content it sees, adding that all the data will be disconnected from employee names. Meta is ramping up AI across its workforce, just as it plans to lay off about 10 percent of its staff next month. The new surveillance will not apply to employees in Europe, where the practice would violate data privacy laws. Bobby Allen, NPR News. At this hour, stocks are trading up. The Nasdaq saw a surge today and the Dow and S&P 500 are both higher. NPR. 18 members of the Congressional Democratic Women's Caucus are calling on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to drop its lawsuit against a Coca-Cola bottler and distributor. NPR's Andrea Hsu reports the EEOC is suing the company over an off-site networking event for female employees. The lawsuit alleges that Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast discriminated against male employees by excluding men from the event in 2024. EEOC chair Andrea Lucas told NPR such opportunities must be provided to everybody, regardless of their sex In an open letter to Lucas the Democrats wrote that efforts to create forums for professional development are quote a measured and necessary response to the stark realities women face in the workplace The female lawmakers noted that many of them have been the only woman at the table during meetings and experienced harassment on the job. They characterized the lawsuit as a waste of resources and said it undermines the very progress the EEOC has historically helped advance. Andrea Shue, NPR News. The U.K. Parliament has passed a bill aimed at banning cigarettes for future generations. People born after 2008 would not be able to legally buy cigarettes under the new tobacco and vapes bill. The legislation awaits formal approval by King Charles and is one of the toughest anti-smoking measures globally. A two-month-old Asian elephant is making her public debut today at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington. Lin Mai is the first Asian elephant born at the zoo in nearly 25 years. She's about three feet tall and weighs 298 pounds. This is NPR.