Live from NPR News and Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.
The United States and Iran are expected to resume peace negotiations this week after
“talks broke down in Pakistan last weekend.”
NPR's Daniel Esthern reports the U.S. and Iranian delegations are up against the clock to reach an agreement. The hourglass is slowly running out. We are one week into the two weeks ceasefire, and the chances of any resolution are complicated by the fact that Iran wants a peace deal to include an end to the fighting
between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. NPR's Daniel Esthern reporting from Tel Aviv is real and the United States say the ceasefire does not extend Israel's ongoing military operations in Lebanon, Iran disputes that, Lebanon was drawn into the conflict after the Iranian fact militant group Hezbollah launched a tax on Israel breaking a prior ceasefire.
President Trump that renewed his threat to fire the chairman of the Federal Reserve, but his NPR Scott Horsley reports the administration's actions could backfire leaving Jerome Powell in charge of the central bank for a longer period of time. In an interview with Fox Business, Trump once again complained that Powell and his colleagues have not been more aggressive about cutting interest rates.
Powell's term is Fed Chairman and his scheduled to expire in just one month, but Trump's nominee to replace Powell, Kevin Worst, may have trouble getting confirmed by the Senate unless the Justice Department drops its investigation of cost overruns at the central bank's headquarters renovation. The Federal judge ruled there's no basis for that probe, and that it's merely designed
to intimidate the Fed.
“A key Republican Senator has vowed to block confirmation of a new Fed Chairman until”
the probe is dropped, but the administration shows no sign of moving that direction, the Wall Street
Journal first reported that Federal Prosecutors paid a surprise visit to the headquarters
construction site this week, but were turned away. Scott Horsley and Piano is Washington. It's tax day, and if you're planning to file a tax return by mail, you may want to stop by a post office in person today. As NPR's Hansi Low-Long reports, the U.S. Postal Service may not post marks some tax returns
and other mail on the same day they're sent. Driving off your fiddle income tax return in a mailbox or with a letter carry today may not be enough to file your taxes on time. That's because the IRS requires the envelope to have a postmark date that's honored before the filing deadline.
The U.S. Postal Service usually automatically stamps post marks on envelopes when a process
“is mail-etched dropped off, but exactly when that processing happens has become more complicated”
in more parts of the country. And it's because U.S.P.S. has cut back half and it picks up mail in certain areas as part of its reorganization. That means some first-class mail dropped off today may not get postmarked until tomorrow, and that could lead to the IRS applying late filing or late payment penalties.
To make sure your tax return gets a postmark for it today, U.S.P.S. recommends going to a post office and asking for a free manual postmark at the counter, Hanzi Low-Long and Pianos. This is NPR. The ongoing conflicts in the Middle East are causing a fluoride shortage in U.S. drinking water, and PPR's paying long reports on the effects.
Nearly 4 million people in Maryland will be getting reduced levels of fluoride in the tap water
according to public water utilities. It's because Hydrofluoro Solicic acid, a chemical often used for it, is in short supply. Tian Hartnett is with the association of metropolitan water agencies. As we understand it, one of the main suppliers in Israel has lost a number of their employees temporarily because they've been called up into service in the Israeli military, so they
have been precising that they haven't been able to ship it out. Israel is one of the top producers of the chemical, and it's led to shortages in the U.S., where more than 60% of the population gets fluoridated water. The water is still considered safe to drink. Many communities used to add fluoride to their water to help prevent cavities in tooth decay.
Other sources of fluoride include toothpaste, tea, and certain foods, ping-wong and PR news. A prolonged stretch of unusual heat is pushing temperatures higher across the eastern U.S. today with some cities, nearing record highs, New York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta are seen unseasonably warm weather for April. For Caster say that heat could last into the weekend, the pattern follows severe storms earlier this week across parts of the Midwest, including
Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Stocks are trading mixed on Wall Street at the sour, the Dow Jones industrial averages down 228 points, the NASDAQ composite trading higher up 264. I'm Windsor-Johnston, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington. This message comes from 48 hours.
In blood is thicker, the ferris wheel, 48 hours correspond in Peter Vansand unravels a twisted web of money, infidelity, and family secrets. Listen to the six episode series wherever you get your podcasts.
