Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst.
President Trump cancels plans to send negotiators to Pakistan for peace talks with
“Iran today after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Al-Ragchi, who was in Islamabad for talks”
with Russia, Oman and Senior Pakistani leaders, left the city. And here's Kat Launstorf has been following the talks from Bay Route Lebanon. She says it appears that Iran and the U.S. are at an impasse. Other side seems to be buddhine. Defense Secretary Peg Seth said yesterday that the U.S. will maintain the blockade around the street for, quote, "as long as it takes," the U.S.
says it's intercepting any ships coming to or from Iranian ports more than 30 so far. You know, that's as Iran has maintained its military control of the street itself, keeping most commercial ships from passing through.
So basically, most ships are stuck in Piers' Kat Launstorf reporting.
ensible voting was held in occupied West Bank under tight control of Israel and the Palestinian authority. And Piers' Eleanor Bearsley reports a voter turnout is expected to be low for several reasons.
“One of the reasons is the difficulty of movement across the West Bank, where Israeli military”
occupation and daily violence by Jewish settlers makes voting difficult, if not dangerous. The U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs documented 925 checkpoints, barriers or roadblocks that prevent or restrict the movement of 3.4 million Palestinians, including in East Jerusalem. The second reason is there's only one party on the ballot.
The official aim was to bar Hamas, but Fatal, led by 90-year-old Mamud Abbas, is accused of corruption and authoritarianism, elected in 2005, Abbas has blocked opposition at a time when
he's never been so widely rejected.
The last general elections won by Hamas date back to 2006, Eleanor Bearsley in Piers' News, Tel Aviv. The officials say they're expanding the federal death penalty and adding more execution methods, such as a firing squad and electrocution. To our tale from Member Sation, W.F.I.U. reports.
“The U.S. government has executed 16 federal prisoners in the modern era, and all by lethal”
injection. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says relying on that method is no longer tenable. Company, most recently, supplying the U.S. with Pinto Barbatal, stopped making it a mid-pressure from death penalty opponents. Blanche told prison officials to start bringing back older methods, including firing squads.
Monica Foster is executive director of the federal defenders office in Indianapolis. She says the new directive is paradoxical. "So, they want to grease the skits, they want to kill people, but they want to make it as easy on themselves as they possibly can." And one big obstacle to that, there's nobody to execute.
Only three federal prisoners have active death sentences and all are years away from completing their appeals. For MPR News, I'm George Hale in Bloomington, Indiana. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is embracing a statue at once-capped at Arms Lang, bringing
a bronze figure of Rocky Bell Boa inside for the first time.
And rising up, Rocky and the making of the monuments exhibit explores how the fictional fighter became a global symbol of struggle and resilience. For decades, the museum tried to remove the statue, but it's now a pilgrimage site drawing millions of people a year. Once the exhibit closes, that statue will move to a permanent spot on the museum's steps.
Members of the Screenwriters Union almost unanimously agreed to ratify a new four-year agreement with Hollywood Studios and Streamers, and Pierre's Chloe Veltman reports the process this time around was quick compared to the fraught negotiations of 2023, which involved a prolonged strike. In an online statement, writers Guild of America lead a set around 90% voted in favour of
the deal with the alliance of motion picture and television producers. The new contract secure sustainable health benefits and provides modest compensation increases. It also strengthens protections for writers against exploitative practices. For example, production companies must give the Union written notice if they license writers work to train commercial AI systems.
In an online statement, the alliance of motion picture and television producers said the deal, quote, "reflects a collaborative approach that supports both writers and the industry's long-term stability. It will now shift to negotiations with the actors and directors unions, Chloe Veltman and Peonus, and I'm Janine Herbst, and you're listening to NPR News from Washington."
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?
