NPR News: 04-13-2026 8PM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton.
What recent actions has President Trump taken regarding Iran?
President Trump says the U.S. has begun a blockade of Iranian ports. He's trying to get Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz and accept a deal to end the war. Iran responded with threats on U.S. allied ports in the region. That poses a serious risk for the global economy and the nearly week-old ceasefire, as NPR's Tom Bowman reports.
It's possible that fighting could start again if Iran starts hitting U.S. warships or commercial ships trying to transit through the Strait of Hormuz or attacking the energy sector of Gulf allies. The Iranians have said they have major untouched levers to pull in response to the blockade, but we don't know what that means. At this point, it's an economic war trying to get Iran back to negotiating table. NPR's Tom Bowman reporting.
Pope Leo has arrived in Algeria on an 11-day tour in Africa. He'll also travel to Equatorial Guinea, Angola, and Cameroon. The trip comes in the wake of a sharp public attack from President Trump amid tensions over the war in Iran. NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu reports.
Pope Leo is the first pope to arrive in Algeria, Africa's largest country. Catholics are a tiny minority among the largely Muslim population. But Algeria is the birthplace of the Order of St. Augustine, to which Pope Leo belongs. The trip, however, comes amid escalating tensions with the White House over the war in Iran, criticized by Pope Leo. And on Sunday night, President Trump attacked the pope.
We don't like a pope that's going to say that it's okay to have a nuclear weapon. We don't want a pope that says crime is okay in our cities. I don't like it. I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo.
And while still on an aircraft landing in Algeria, Pope Leo responded.
Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there's a better way to do this.
Emmanuel Akimotu, NPR News, Lagos.
Authorities in St. Paul are investigating the arrest of a U.S. citizen by immigration agents as a possible burglary and kidnapping. As Matt Sepik of Minnesota Public Radio reports, the federal government is refusing to share information about the incident.
During the height of immigration operations in January, agents broke into Chung Lee Tao's home without a judicial warrant and forced him outside in freezing weather clad only in shorts. They released Tao an hour later after learning that he was not the undocumented sex offender they were after. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi says that he may sue the Department of Homeland Security if it continues to block his request for information.
We have, I believe, in the state of Minnesota, a sovereign right and a huge public interest to have a local investigation.
Homeland Security calls the move a, quote, political stunt to demonize ICE law enforcement. For NPR News, I'm Matt Sepik in St. Paul.
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in March to their slowest pace in nine months. The national median sales price increased 1.4 percent in March from a year earlier to more than $408,000. This is NPR News. A federal judge has dismissed President Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over a story on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
How is Pope Leo's visit to Algeria significant?
The article described a sexually suggestive letter that bore Trump's signature for Epstein's 50th birthday. Trump has denied writing the note and says he'll refile his complaint. More than 1,000 Hollywood players have signed a letter protesting the proposed merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. NPR's Mondelez del Barco reports.
The letter was signed by Hollywood directors and actors, among them J.J. Abrams and Denis Villeneuve, Bryan Cranston, Glenn Close, and Jane Fonda. As founder of the relaunched Committee for the First Amendment, Fonda has posted videos opposing the $110 million deal by media mogul David Ellison, backed by his billionaire father, Larry Ellison.
The idea of the whole entertainment industry being run by one company, that doesn't seem good.
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