"Live from MPR news, I'm trial Snyder.
President Trump continues to press allies to join U.S. efforts to secure the strategic
“straight-of-war moves, but its MPR's deepest shiver on reports, so far no other countries”
have publicly committed to helping." Trump says, "Numerous countries have told him they're on the way to help the U.S. police the straight-of-war moves, but he didn't specify which countries. Despite the President insisting that U.S. attacks on Iran have been successful so far, the straight still poses a concern."
"Literally, a single terrorist can put something in the water or shoot something or shoot a missile, a small missile, and it's fairly close range because it is a tight area,
which is one of the reasons they've always used that as a weapon."
Iran's ability to threaten slow-moving oil tankers in the straight has become a headache for the Trump administration. 20% of the world's oil supply relies on the passage and prices have increased since the war began. Deepish Ivaram and PR news, the White House. "I've had a meeting in Brussels to stay European Union foreign ministers appear cool to
President Trump's call for help to protect shipping through the straight-of-war moves. A number of U.S. allies, including Germany, Spain and Italy, say they have no immediate plans to send warships to reopen the straight."
“A judge has blocked key parts of the Trump administration's controversial changes to federal”
vaccine policies, here's in PR's Rob Styne. District Court Judge Brian Murphy and Boston issued a preliminary ruling in a lawsuit
filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups.
It puts a hold on a series of changes made by Health Secretary Robert of Kennedy Jr. and an influential CDC vaccine advisor, a committee that he stocked with members who share his anti-vaccine views. That includes a decision to slash the number of vaccines that the federal government recommends that children receive routinely. The Health and Human Services Department says the government plans to appeal the ruling.
Rob Styne and PR news. "A America's democracy rating has plunged by nearly 25% since President Trump's return to office, that's according to a leading report on global democracy, as impairs Frank Langford reports." The report by the V-Demonstitute, which is based in Sweden, so the U.S. fell in its annual democracy ranking from 20th to 51st out of 179 countries.
“V-Dem scholars downgraded America based on everything from Trump's concentration of presidential”
power to his attacks on the media. Staffan Lindberg is the Institute's founding director. "Under the Trump administration, democracy has been rolled back, as much during just one year as it took modia in India and out of one in Turkey ten years to accomplish." Lindberg is referring to Indian Prime Minister Nurendra Modi and Turkish President
Resept Type Erdogan, who have undermined democracy in their countries over time. NPR reached out to the White House for comment, but is yet to hear back. Frank Langford and PR news. "This is NPR." The energy crisis in Cuba is deepening. Officials say millions are without power amid the third major blackout in Cuba over
the past few months on Friday, on Friday, Cuba's President warned that his country had not received oil shipments in more than three months. In January, President Trump warned of tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. A Utah woman who wrote a children's book about coping with grief, following her husband's
death has been convicted of murdering him. Prosecutors say Corey Richens, poisoned her husband Eric with fentanyl, Jersey Park City also found Corey Richens guilty of fraudulently claiming insurance benefits. Visits to the country's national parks, dips slightly last year from the record breaking crowds a year before the mountain West News Bureau's Rachel Cohen reports.
National parks historic sites monuments and recreation areas saw 323 million visits in
2025, about 3% less than 2024. With the National Park Service says visits were made high despite the longest ever government shutdown last fall, which lasted 43 days. During the shutdown, the Trump administration kept parks mostly open, but with sparse staff and services.
Great Smokey Mountain's National Park Straddling North Carolina and Tennessee remained the most popular with 11.5 million visits. Zion National Park Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon and Yosemite, rounded out the top five. The Grand Canyon fell one spot in the rankings as a wildfire destroyed a historic lodge and forced closures.
For MPR News, I'm Rachel Cohen. And I'm Jail Snyder, your listening to MPR News. As the war in Iran continues, get the latest in just a few minutes every weekday, from MPR's State of the World podcast. We have reporters throughout the Middle East giving you the facts on the ground.
And Pair News, Dubai, Bay Route, Tel Aviv. In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, on the Turkish Iranian border, "Listen to state of the world on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts."
