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to Pakistan, meet with Iran's foreign minister in hopes of reviving peace talks. White House
“press spokesperson Caroline Levitt says the two will meet with the boss Argachi on Saturday.”
We've certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days. Again, the president has made the decision to send Steven Jared to hear the Iranians out. And so we'll see what they have to say this week. Iran, however, says the foreign minister will be holding other meetings in Islamabad, but none with the US. Iran, meanwhile, has resumed commercial flights from Tehran's
international airport for the first time since the conflict with the US and Israel began
two months ago. State-run TV reports that flights departed Saturday to Istanbul, Muscat, and Medina. The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a Chinese oil refinery and almost 40 other shipping firms and vessels involved in transporting Iranian oil. Reporters Sharish Fem has more.
“The US Treasury Department said on Friday that it sanctioned a major oil refinery in China”
because it was helping sustain Iran's oil economy. The Department is also targeting dozens of other shipping firms and vessels that it said are part of a clandestine network of tankers working on behalf of Tehran to bypass international sanctions. Treasury Secretary Scott has sent a statement that any person or vessel buying and moving Iranian oil, quote, "risks exposure to US sanctions." China has previously said it opposes what it calls illegal
unilateral sanctions. For NPR News, I'm Sharish Fem in Hong Kong. The US Justice Department is moving to expand death penalty executions by reinstating lethal injection. It's also offering other options, including by firing squad. And Paris Jacqueline Diaz has more. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is being directed to also consider electrocution and lethal gas as methods of execution. The DOJ announced these and other changes
“that officials say are meant to strengthen the federal death penalty and to speed the”
process up. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch has already authorized prosecutors to seek death sentences for nine people. The Biden administration put a pause on federal execution during his time in office. But Trump ran on a promise to restart the death penalty for federal offenses. The DOJ plans to make other policy and rule changes in the coming months. That the agency says will further streamline the process for seeking death sentences. Jacqueline Diaz
and PR News. A federal appeals court Friday blocked an executive order from President Trump
to suspend asylum access at the Southern Border Trump issued that order on his first day in
office. Two wildfires are continuing to burn in Georgia at this hour in rural Brantley County, Governor Bryan Camps is some 87 homes have been burned. That's the largest number of homes burned in a wildfire in that state's history. You're listening to NPR News. A bill proposing allowing terminal to yield adults in England and Wales to end their lives failed to pass Parliament on Friday lawmakers in the House of Lords held a filibuster
by filing more than 1200 amendments to prevent the bill's passage. The measure had passed the House of Commons last June. The bill is expected to be reintroduced to the next parliamentary session. While many heads turned towards Skyward for the historic mission to the moon this month. Researchers also discovered a new species of moon jellyfish deep in the Gulf. Houston Public Media's Juliana Washburn reports. It was a happy coincidence that researchers at
Texas A&M at Galveston found a new species of moon jellyfish while astronauts were preparing for a trip to the moon. Moon jellyfish are one of the most well-studied jellyfish in the world, named for their translucent moon-like bell. Associate Professor Maria Pia Megliata helped identify the new species. We're still discovering new species in this day-washing group, and so this indicates a little winner about the biodiversity in general of these animals and
top of a lot of animals. It indicates that we still need to explore the ocean. With this discovery, there are now four known moon jellyfish species in the Gulf. For NPR News, I'm Juliana Washburn in Galveston. The world number two tennis star Carlos Alcaras
says he will not be playing for a third successive French open title. He heard his right
wrist during the Barcelona open earlier this month. He made his decision following more medical tests on Friday. He also said he would not play in the Italian open, which he also won last year. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News. This week on the NPR Politics podcast, 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? Listen this week to the NPR Politics podcast.
