Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Corva Coleman, the shaky ceasefire, con...
hold between the US and Iran, but NPR's Jain Arab says the US and Iran are still blocking the straight of Hormuz.
“Iran yesterday fired on three ships, seizing two of them in the straight of Hormuz that”
narrow waterway between Iran and Iran. And it released video with dramatic music swelling, an Iranian gunboat and troops boarding in one of the container ships that were taken to Iranian port.
It's the first time in this war that they have seized vessels and Piers Jain Arab reporting.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon says the Secretary of the Navy is leaving and Piers Quill Lawrence reports on the departure of John Falen. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that Falen was departing the administration effective immediately. There was no explanation for the abrupt and defailants tenure just one year into the job.
The Iran war involves some of the Navy's most significant operations in decades, though the Navy's Secretary's job is more focused on training and equipping the force. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseeth has taken an unusually active role in the recent firing of many general officers, including the Army's top general over the wishes of the Army Secretary.
“Falen had been a major donor to President Trump, but had no military experience before”
he was appointed.
The Secretary of the Navy hung cow will now be acting Secretary, cows a Navy combat veteran
with decades of service. Quill Lawrence and PR News Senate Republicans have passed a budget measure overnight that funds immigration agencies in the Department of Homeland Security. The H.S. has been shut down for weeks as Democrats demand changes in how immigration agents operate.
The legislative procedure is complex, the House has been waiting for the Senate to pass funding for immigration agencies before it will take up the bills. The Trump administration says that it's effort to expand access to obesity drugs for Medicare beneficiaries has hit a snag, and PR's Sydney look in explains. Through a test program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, wanted
health plans to voluntarily add obesity drug coverage for 2027, but 80% of insurers had
to sign on by April 20th, says Julia Kubansky, a Medicare expert at the nonpartisan research
group KFF. Even at the discounted prices that CMS had negotiated with the manufacturers, it just wasn't low enough. It seems for the insurers to think that it was in their interest to participate in this model.
A separate temporary program that would allow Medicare beneficiaries to get obesity drugs for $50, will still go into effect in July, but Kubansky says it will now have to last longer and could cost taxpayers billions. Sydney, Lupkin, and Pair News. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington.
Accounting judge in Virginia has blocked a new congressional map for the state. Virginia voters and only narrowly approved it on Tuesday. The proposal is intended to redraw the state's congressional maps in a way that would benefit Democrats for this year's midterm elections. This move came after President Trump urged Republican-led states last year to redraw their
maps in favor of GOP candidates for Congress. Several states are enacting new maps, or face legal challenges. The moves mean it's hard to say, which party may get an edge in upcoming elections. Several of the candidates running for California Governor have held a broadcast debate. This comes after former leading candidate Eric Swallwell dropped out and resigned from Congress.
From Member Station KQED, Guy Marzarrotti, has more. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Havier Bacera has seen the biggest rise in the polls since Swallwell's exit. California is going through a crisis and we need someone who knows how to govern in crisis. Illinois and investor Tom Styer argued big businesses are afraid of this progressive platform.
The people raising the cost for California don't want me to be governor. Republican Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco found common ground criticizing Democratic leadership for MPR News. I'm Guy Marzarrotti in San Jose. Wildfires are burning in southern Georgia and northern Florida, and most of them are not contained.
It will say more than 50 homes have been lost to fire in southern Georgia. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service is warning of extremely dry conditions today in Georgia. This is NPR. Every episode of NPR's its been a minute podcast starts with a question about how culture
shapes our lives.
“How are we spending too much on other people's weddings?”
Is social media bad for your mental health? We're here for your right to be curious. One big question at a time. Follow its been a minute wherever you get your podcasts.
