Line from NPR News and Washington, I'm Core of a Coleman, Iran is suggesting ...
charge ships that sail through the Strait of Hormuz.
“NPR's Fatima Al-Kasab reports and British officials held a multinational meeting yesterday”
to discuss ways to reopen it. Putting more diplomatic pressure on Iran, including via the UN, and rejecting any attempt by Iran to impose tolls on ships passing through, they said they explored the option of sanctions to bear down on Iran if the straight stays closed, but they didn't agree on anything concrete.
They also talked about working with the International Maritime Organization to try to help about 20,000 sailors and thousands of ships that are currently stuck in the Strait. NPR's Fatima Al-Kasab reporting. President Trump says Pam Bondi is out as U.S. Attorney General.
He said she was a patriot and a loyal friend and moving to the private sector, writing
online, Trump says Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanch will become the acting AG. Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth has forced the Army's top general to step down and retire immediately.
“NPR's Greg Mayary reports that Heggseth has ousted many senior military leaders without”
explanation. The Army's Chief of Staff General Randy George served more than four decades, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was expected to remain in his current post for another year and a half, but defense secretary Heggseth abruptly forced him to resign.
This is according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said General George was retiring, effective immediately no reason was given. Heggseth has ousted many top generals and admirals in the past year.
He is not offered reasons for the individual dismissals, but has been sharply critical of
the way the military was run before he took over the Pentagon. Greg Mayary MPR News, Washington.
“Federal panel has approved President Trump's plan to build a 90,000 square-foot ballroom.”
It's supposed to be constructed where the White House's east wing once stood. But MPR's Frank Langford reports a federal judge says the plan still needs approval from Congress. William Sharp, chair of the National Capital Planning Commission, said opposition to changing the White House complex is nothing new.
Practically, every change, every modification, every addition, and indeed every feature that we now celebrate as an iconic aspect of the White House was randomly and viciously condemned in its day. Commissioner Phil Mendelssohn agreed the White House needs a ballroom, but opposed the plan. I'm trying to be nice here, it's just too large, it's just too large.
In fact, the ballroom would be more than one-and-a-half times larger than the White House residents. A judge ruled last week that Trump has no authority to build the ballroom, the administration is appealing, Frank Langford and PR News, Washington. And you're listening to "NPR News" from Washington. The Trump administration and others are appealing a judge's temporary ruling about artificial
intelligence company, Manthropic. The company does not want its AI used for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of Americans. The Pentagon says that US military gets to decide that the federal judge is temporarily blocking President Trump from punishing Anthropic. Separately Anthropic says it accidentally leaked a significant chunk of its internal source code.
It says this was by human error, but this leak can give rivals a close look at how Anthropic is building its AI tools. Taxes on sugary drinks are not effective in reducing consumption. That's according to a study in the journal "Plus Medicine," and PR's Alice in Aubrey reports researchers analyze data from a major fast food retailer.
Researchers studied several years of transactions from Taco Bells, including from drive throughs in Chicago, Oakland, California, Philadelphia, and Seattle. These are all places that had adopted soda taxes aimed at reducing sugar consumption and encouraging healthier habits. But the study finds that the small tax on soda did not appear to influence decision-making.
Other studies show that a soda tax can lead to decreased sales in grocery stores, but this doesn't seem to be the case in fast food. Researchers say it's possible that taxes too low for consumers to notice. Alice in Aubrey and PR news. Stock markets ended mixed in yesterday's training.
Wall Street is closed today for the Christian observance of Good Friday. This is NPR.
