Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst.
The White House says U.S. negotiators are planning to head to Islamabad Pakistan for talks this weekend with Iran this after President Trump extended a ceasefire in the U.S. Israeli war in Iran indefinitely. White House press secretary Caroline Levitt. The President was flexible in granting an extension of the ceasefire throughout this time.
The President has decided to dispatch a special envoy with cough and Jared Kushner back to Islamabad. The Iranians want to talk. They want to talk in person. But Tehran says foreign minister Abbas Iraqi, who's already in Islamabad, is there
“for talks with Russia and Oman along with seeing your Pakistani officials?”
And a ministry spokesperson says on X tonight that there are no planned meetings between the U.S. and Iran, the White House hasn't commented. Meanwhile both Iran and the U.S. continue their blockade of the straight of Hormuz, the
critical waterway where some 20% of the world's oil travels through.
The Trump administration has extended a waiver of the Jones Act through the end of August, it's an attempt to help with domestic supplies of gas and other refined oil products. If here's Camilla Dominozki reports, waving the act makes it easier to move fuel around, but it doesn't significantly affect prices. The Jones Act requires good shipped from one U.S. port to another to be sent on a U.S.
build ship with a U.S. crew. The requirement boosts the domestic shipbuilding industry, but creates a headache for other industries. There just aren't very many ships that qualify. The initial 60-day waiver of the Act was meant to help companies adapt to the global
“disruption and oil supplies caused by the Iran War.”
Experts say it does make it easier to ship fuels from U.S. refineries to U.S. customers, but the effect on gasoline prices for consumers is minimal. By some estimates, as little as a fraction of a penny, Camilla Dominozki and pianos. The Food and Drug Administration is now speeding up its review of psychedelics for treating mental health issues and is giving priority status to several psychedelic drugs which companies
have been studying for depression and PTSD. And here's Will Stone has more. Three companies are submitting drug applications to the FDA to offer suicide in the active ingredient in magic mushrooms for treating depression.
The third is for a drug that's similar to MDMA, which has shown promise for PTSD.
FDA is giving out special vouchers that are intended to expedite the agency's review of the drugs. It does not mean the drugs are FDA approved yet. This comes on the heels of an executive order from President Trump that directs federal
“health agencies to prioritize research on psychedelics.”
Scientific interest in these drugs for treating mental health has grown substantially in the last few years, though an effort to get MDMA approved for treating PTSD fell short in 2024. Will Stone and PR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. And appeals court today blocked President Trump's executive order, suspending asylum
access at the Southern border. The court says federal laws allows people to apply for asylum at the border and that Trump can't bypass it. On inauguration day 2025, Trump declared the border situation and invasion and suspended asylum.
But the court found that the Immigration and Nationality Act doesn't give a president authority to override asylum procedures. The White House says the asylum ban was within Trump's power and the Department of Justice plans to seek further review.
For the first time in decades, worship attendance at congregations in the US is on the rise.
If you're adjacent to Rose reports, that's among the findings of a major new study out today. Median in-person weekly attendance has risen to 70 people. That's up significantly from the pandemic low of just 45 and slightly higher than right before COVID restrictions. The study draws on surveys from nearly 7,500 houses of worship and was done by the Hartford
Institute for Religion Research. It found that volunteering, giving and clergy well-being, are also up. The survey included Catholic Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu congregations among others. Researchers cautioned these changes don't make up for a decades-long decline. The median US congregation is about half the size it was in the year 2000.
Jason D'Rose and PR News. Wall Street was in mixed territory by the closing bell. The dial was down 79 points. The S&P-5556, the NASDAQ, up 398, for both the NASDAQ and the S&P-500, record closes. I'm Janine Herbst and PR News in Washington.
For decades, the Southern Poverty Law Center has tracked and even infiltrated hate groups. But the Justice Department now alleges the way they funded that work amounted to bank fraud. Is it an honest pursuit of justice or just the latest example of the Trump DOJ targeting the President's political opponents?
