Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton.
Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez of Texas says he will retire from Congress as he
faces bipartisan calls to expel him.
“Gonzalez admitted to an affair with a former staff member who later died by suicide in”
a statement he says "there is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all." And California Democrat Eric Swallwell is resigning from his seat in Congress as he faces growing backlash to allegations of sexual assault in misconduct. As NPR's Alina Moore reports his decision comes just one day after he suspended his campaign for California governor and in the face of a potential vote to expel him from
the house over the allegations. Swallwell has been at the center of controversy since last Friday. After at least four women spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN about experiences ranging from unwanted sexual advances by Swallwell to allegations of rape. NPR has not independently verified the allegations, and Swallwell has forcefully denied
them. He repeats that in his latest statement, but goes on to say it's "wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties."
“Just one week ago, the seven-term Democrat was seen as a front-runner in the California”
governor's race, Alina Moore and PR News. The U.S. military's imposing a blockade on Iranian ports in the state of Hormuz, a day after
ceasefire talks between Washington and Tehran failed to produce a breakthrough.
The price of rent crude is again hovering around $100 a barrel, and PR's Greg Mayerie has the latest. The U.S. Navy has a substantial presence in the region, and President Trump says it won't take long for the U.S. to "clean out the straight." Still, the blockade comes with risks.
Iran has believed to have placed mines in the waterway, also Iran says that if any of its ports are attacked, it will respond by attacking ports belonging to Arab Gulf countries. Iran has effectively closed the waterway for the past several weeks, aside from a small number of friendly or neutral commercial ships it allows through.
“It's not clear if any of those ships will attempt to challenge the U.S. blockade.”
Greg Mayerie, in PR News, Washington. A number of religious leaders are expressing concern about the dispute playing out between President Trump and Pope Leo, and PR's adjacent to Rose reports the response comes after Trump called the "Pope Week" for criticizing the Iran War. Leo says he's not afraid of the President and notes that he's not a political figure,
but rather a religious leader concerned with the gospel. Cardinal Joseph Tuben, the archbishop of Newark, has issued a statement saying "Pope Leo will continue to speak clearly against the war and other offenses against human dignity and to call for dialogue." The Council on American Islamic Relations also put out a statement saying it stands in solidarity
with the Catholic community. It goes on to say, quote, "The President's mockery of religion is both deranged and insulting." Jason Derose and PR News. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. More than 1,000 workers have organized a protest in Haiti's capital to demand a higher
minimum wage as the conflict of Iran deepens and drives up oil prices. Workers shouted when we are hungry, we don't mess around, Haiti's government increased diesel prices by 37% and gasoline prices by 29% earlier this month. San Francisco's Presidio, a 1,500-acre national park at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, is without a governing board, KQED's Ayah Ali Ahmad reports.
Trump fired all six Biden-appointed Presidio Trust Board members last Wednesday acting on
a year-old executive order targeting the agency, but that order never took effect.
The trust argued it had no federal budget to cut and kept operating. San Francisco's supervisor, Stephen Cheryl, who's district includes the Presidio, says he's watching closely for who comes next. "We want to see people who love the Presidio who believe in conservation, who have strong fiscal management, and who really loves San Francisco and understand the importance of the
Presidio to not only San Francisco's, but to the 7 million visitors nationwide who come through the gates." No replacements have been named yet. For NPR News, I'm Ayah Ali Ahmad in San Francisco. Baseball's new automatic ball strike system could be making games a little longer so far
this season with the time of a 9-in-in-game creeping towards 2 hours and 42 minutes through this weekend. That's up four minutes from last season, and that's all after the league successfully brought down the length of games at 2023 by introducing a pitch timer and other rules. This is NPR.
