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Chapter 1: What are the latest developments in U.S.-Iran peace talks?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Vice President J.D. Vance is on his way to Pakistan to host this weekend's high-stakes peace talks between the U.S. and Iran. Rather, Pakistan is hosting this weekend's peace talks. Before Vance boarded Air Force Two in the Washington, D.C. area today, he warned Iran to negotiate in good faith.
If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive. So we're going to try to have a positive negotiation. The president has gave us some pretty clear guidelines, and we're going to see.
Iran says before talks can start, it has conditions. Today, the country's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bakr Khalibov, posted on X that the fighting in Lebanon has to stop and a freeze on Iran's assets needs to be lifted. NPR's Deepar Vaz has more on Iran's demands involving its forces and its allies, Hezbollah, in Lebanon, where Israeli strikes have been heavy.
In a message released on Iranian state media, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Moshe Bachamenei addressed Gulf Arab states, promising them a gesture of goodwill in exchange for distancing themselves from, quote, the arrogant powers who never miss an opportunity to humiliate and exploit you.
Chapter 2: How is Iran's military strategy impacting regional stability?
The presence of U.S. military bases in countries like Qatar and Bahrain has made them targets for Iran in this war. And Iran's deputy foreign minister, Saeed Khatibzadeh, told Al Jazeera English that Iran will permit some ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, but only in coordination with Iranian forces.
Permanent control of the strait is among Iran's key demands in its negotiations with the U.S., Any restriction in the strait will prove highly problematic to oil-rich Gulf Arab nations who rely on free access to the passage for their economies. Deepa Raz, NPR News, Van, Turkey.
The war began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran at the end of February. Since then, thousands of people have died. Majority of the casualties have been in Iran and Lebanon. There are currently more than 60,000 people in immigration detention in the United States. It's the lowest it's been in six months, although the number of detainees in ICE custody remain historically high.
Here's NPR's Jasmine Garst.
Of the 60,000 immigrants who are in ICE detention, 6% have a criminal conviction. Austin Coker is a Syracuse University professor who studies ICE data.
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Chapter 3: What is the current state of immigration detention in the U.S.?
According to Coker, the average daily arrests have been going down. In January, for example, during the massive detention campaign in Minneapolis, there were 1,280 average daily arrests. As of April, the average is 930. There are more people wearing GPS ankle monitors, too. The number is now over 46,000. That's the largest amount of people in ICE history.
It's also been one of the deadliest years on record for ICE detention. This fiscal year, 27 people have died while in custody. Jasmine Garst, NPR News, New York. This is NPR News.
The United Nations has condemned a drone strike in Sudan, which killed more than 30 people at a wedding ceremony in the western region of Darfur. The strike is the latest in the nearly three-year war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary group it was formerly allied with. We have more from NPR's Emmanuel Akunwotu.
A spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General condemned the killings, adding, "...attacks using drones against civilians and civilian objects are unacceptable." Women and children were among the victims in the attack in Khutum, a town in North Darfur.
Chapter 4: What recent events have escalated the conflict in Sudan?
Local human rights groups, including the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated resistance committees, blamed the attacks on the Sudanese army and condemned intensifying drone strikes by both sides. Last week, a drone strike on a hospital in south-central Sudan killed at least 10 people.
The war in Sudan has created the world's largest humanitarian crisis and, according to some estimates, has killed as many as 400,000 people. Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR News, Lagos.
Inflation in the U.S.
Chapter 5: How is inflation affecting the U.S. economy in 2026?
spiked with consumer prices up 3.3% in March from a year earlier. That marks the largest increase in nearly two years. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.9% from February to March. Those big increases in consumer prices represent the first major data signs of how the war with Iran is affecting the U.S. economy.
Chapter 6: What insights does NPR provide on the current political climate?
Big reason for acceleration inflation is the spike in gas prices following the virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, which has sent global energy prices much higher. It's NPR News.
Right now, we are living through some of the most tumultuous political times our country has ever known. I'm David Remnick, and each week on The New Yorker Radio Hour, I'll try to make sense of what's happening alongside politicians and thinkers like Cory Booker, Nancy Pelosi, Liz Cheney, and so many more. That's all on The New Yorker Radio Hour, wherever you listen to podcasts.