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NPR News: 04-23-2026 3PM EDT

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EN

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Libby Casey.

Peace talks between Israel and Lebanon scheduled for this afternoon in Washington are being moved to the White House. Meanwhile, there are no signs of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. Today, President Trump said the U.S. is intensifying its efforts to clear minds in the straight-of-form moves, writing on social media that the U.S. military will shoot to kill.

Yesterday, the Iranians attacked three cargo ships in the straight and captured two of them, calling it retaliation for the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports. NPR is Jeneraph as an among Jordan and says it's hard to separate out aggression from posturing. President Trump has threatened to shoot to kill anyone on Iranian gunboats, laying minds in

that straight-of-harmews, and that does sound severe. But as for what's been happening out there on those waters, there have been more incidents.

But we have to remember that the U.S. is blockading the straight-of-harmews, but it's

not in the straight-of-harmews. So it's unclear whether we're much closer to a confrontation. Earlier today, the U.S. military said it seized a second-tanker associated with smuggling Iranian oil in the Indian Ocean.

A new national poll about youth from Harvard University finds that just 13 percent of 18-29

-year-olds believe the country is on the right track, and PR's Elena Moore reports. 46 percent of young Americans say rising prices and inflation are an urgent crisis, and many feel increasingly doubtful about their economic future. Just 29 percent believe they'll be better off financially than their parents. While 26 percent say they'll be worse off, it's a three-point difference.

Five years ago, it was a 21-point difference, skewing toward better off. It's more, folks are down on the political system, giving both parties roughly the same low approval rating of about 25 percent.

Respondents were also more likely to say politicians care more about the interests of

the elite over people like themselves, by an 11-point margin for Democrats and a whopping 41-point margin for Republicans. Elena Moore and PR News

The nation's second-largest school district voted to limit screen time for all grade

levels and worked towards eliminating it for the district's youngest students. And PR's Sequoia Carillo reports. The Los Angeles Unified School District switched course on its technology policy this week, with a unanimous vote to curb screen time for all of its students. Last year, the school district instituted a cell phone ban, following suit with many

states around the country. But LAUSD remained committed to using technology for instruction, and until 2024 was developing an AI chatbot for students and parents. The move comes after significant parent pressure.

The board hopes to implement the new rules in the next school year.

Sequoia Carillo and PR News You're listening to NPR live in Washington. Globally, people are leaving the Catholic Church to become either Protestant or leave religion altogether, and PR's Jason D'Aros reports on the findings of a new study from Pew Research. Catholicism has lost more people than it's gained in nearly all of the 24 countries

that Pew looked at in the analysis. And Protestantism has seen a net gain due to people switching religions. People from Europe and Latin America who switched tend to disaffiliate from faith groups altogether, while in places such as Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and the Philippines former Catholics tend to join Protestant churches.

Pew found the biggest losses for Catholicism were in traditional strongholds of the faith, including Spain, Chile, France, Brazil, and Italy. Meanwhile, Catholicism grew in Hungary and South Korea. Jason D'Aros and PR News Four-time world soccer champion Italy says it is not interested in replacing Iran at the upcoming

world cup. An envoy to President Trump told the financial times he suggested it to the international soccer governing body. Iran has not withdrawn from the world cup, and an Iranian government spokesperson says the team is preparing to play its group stage games in California and Seattle as planned

in June. Iran's ability and willingness to go to the world cup has been unclear since the US and Israel launched military attacks nearly two months ago.

Italy failed to qualify for a third consecutive world cup, and its sports minister says

replacing Iran is "not a good idea." At last, Czech US stocks are falling with the Nasdaq and the Dow Down more than 200 points each. This is NPR News in Washington. Want to hear this podcast without Sponsor Bricks?

Amazon Prime members can listen to NPR News now, Sponsor Free through Amazon Music, or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get NPR Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.

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