Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst.
There are reports Iran has closed the straight of her moves again because Israel continues
to attack Lebanon.
“But Israel says Lebanon was never part of the two-week ceasefire that's underway.”
The White House has reports of the state's closure aren't true. Meanwhile NATO Secretary General Mark Ruda is meeting this hour with President Trump at the White House amid Trump's repeated threats to withdraw from NATO. Secretary Schultz has more. Mark Ruda is one of a few European leaders who've spoken out in favor of the U.S.
Israeli-led war on Iran, part of the NATO chiefs ongoing efforts to flatter Trump enough that he doesn't withdraw U.S. support for the military alliance. Linus Kojala is the director of the geopolitics and security studies center in Vilnius Lithuania. He says while some NATO countries are now mostly allowing the use of their military bases
and airspace, damage has been done. Even the emotional atmosphere is extremely tense, and unfortunately the political emotions matter more sometimes than the operational reality. Now Ruda, whom Trump calls a great person, must use his personal relationship to try to keep Trump from walking away, for MPR news, I'm Terry Schultz in Brussels.
“The ceasefire has crude oil prices trading lower, but as MPR Scott Horsley reports,”
it'll take a while for drivers to see any savings. Ruda oil prices drop sharply, on hopes the wartime bottleneck in the Strait of Hormuz might begin to unwind. There was no immediate relief at the gas pump, though. Triple A says the average price of gasoline continued to climb overnight to $4.16 a gallon.
The energy department warns restoring normal flows of oil will take months, even after the Strait reopens. Airlines are having to pay more for jet fuel than some are responding with higher prices for check bags. Delta's raising its fees by $10 to $50 per bag.
United in jet blue announced their own fee hikes last week. Scott Horsley, MPR News, Washington. The foreign astronauts onboard Artemis II are on their way home after looping around the moon, and their schedule to splash down to Earth on Friday. MPR's Katie A. Riddle reports among other things they're doing in space, exercise.
Exercise is essential in space.
That's because without the usual gravity from Earth, the human body can quickly atrophy.
“That's why engineers designed the flywheel.”
It's a small piece of equipment that astronauts can strap their feet into, and then use much like a rowing machine. Astronaut Reed Weissman had this recent report from space after using the flywheel. "It is a really good piece of gear, and we can actually get a nice workout. I look forward to the next time I get to try a resistance workout."
The flywheel allows for both cardio and resistance workouts. Some of the scientists who designed it say it could set a precedent for exercise equipment even back on Earth. Katie A Riddle, MPR News. Wall Street's trading higher this hour, the Dow is up 1,128 points, the NASDAQ up 534 for
both of them, it's up 2.4%. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. In Georgia, Republican Clay Fuller, who was back by President Trump, won Marjorie Taylor Green's former U.S. House seat. Fuller, who vows to be a "warrier" for Trump, be Democrats Sean Harris, who put on a
strong showing in the heavily Republican district, Green quit in January after breaking with Trump over Jeffrey Epstein and other issues. And in Wisconsin, Liberal Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor want to see it on the state's Supreme Court. It's the fourth victory for Liberal Court candidates since 2020, the Justice has served
10-year terms on that non-partisan court. The Trump administration is acknowledging ICE used spyware to intercept encrypted messages as part of its efforts to disrupt trafficking of fentanyl. And here's Jude Joffie Block has more.
ICE is acting director Todd Lyons described for the first time his agency's use of spyware
in a letter last week to Democratic House members. It was a response to questions, the lawmakers had sent six months ago. Lyons said he greenlit ICE's use of tools to address challenges posed by transnational criminal groups and fentanyl traffickers using encrypted communications. Privacy and civil liberties advocates say there are not sufficient regulations and transparency
protocols to ensure ICE does not abuse spyware. Foreign governments have used graphite in the past to target journalists and activists and access their encrypted messages. Jude Joffie Block and PR News. And less than an hour to go through the closing bell on Wall Street, the Dow is up 1,133 points
than as like up 529, the S&P 500 is up 140 points. I'm Janine Herbst and PR News in Washington. You know, I heard this really interesting thing on an economic spotcast the other day. Oh, well, that actually reminds me of something I read the other day in an economics book. I am proletist.
Yeah, I read it in the Planet Money book. It's like a podcast, but we're impressive when it sits on a shelf.
