NPR News: 04-17-2026 10PM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst.
What recent developments have occurred in the Strait of Hormuz?
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz is now open to commercial vessels and ships have to coordinate their transit through Tehran during the fragile ceasefire with the U.S. But the White House says the U.S. blockade remains in place. Wall Street liked the news that sent crude oil prices tumbling and stocks soaring. NPR's Scott Horsley has more.
If the Strait remains open long term, and I will underscore if, that would remove a sort of cloud of uncertainty that's been hanging over the economy. You know, when families or businesses are making plans, they like to have some idea of what to expect. And it's really hard to make a big purchase or plan a vacation or make an investment or hire a new worker now. if you don't know what your energy bill is going to look like in the next month or two. The good news is, even as gas and diesel prices soared over the last six weeks, we didn't see people cutting back very much in other spending.
NPR's Scott Horsley reporting. The White House is pitching Congress on the largest defense budget request in U.S. history. NPR's Claudia Grisales reports the $1.5 trillion figure doesn't include costs from the war with Iran.
The administration is also on track to ask Congress for a supplemental war funding plan that could near the $100 billion mark. Betty McCollum, top Democrat on a House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, told Army officials this week they need a full picture to conduct oversight.
That's the only way we can do our job properly to do the oversight that we are tasked with, to be clear. The size of the request for defense spending is shocking.
Trump officials are calling the $1.5 trillion defense budget request so far a paradigm-shifting investment. Claudia Gonzalez, NPR News.
The Tufts University student detained by ICE last year for writing a pro-Palestinian op-ed in her student newspaper has settled with the government on her immigration and federal cases. GBH's Sarah Bettencourt has more on the case of Rumeysa Ozturk.
Ozturk, who spent over six weeks in detention, and her attorneys have agreed with the government to dismiss her pending Board of Immigration Appeals case in another federal case. She's graduated and has already returned to Turkey. Jesse Rossman of the ACLU of Massachusetts was one of Osterk's attorneys.
Louisa can now move forward in her career without devoting another ounce of energy to the Trump administration's baseless campaign against her.
There is no financial component to this settlement. Once the cases are dismissed officially, Osterk will have no pending immigration issues against her. The Department of Homeland Security told NPR, it's glad to see Osterk self-deported. in that visas are a privilege, not a right. For NPR News, I'm Sarah Bettencourt in Boston. Wall Street Hire by the closing bell.
You're listening to NPR News from Washington. Lawmakers in India have defeated a controversial bill to redraw party lines based on gender population. NPR's Omkar Kandikar reports it's the first time in 12 years the ruling BJP party failed to amend the Constitution.
Earlier this week, India's ruling party introduced a bill to amend a landmark act that guaranteed women at least 33% seats in the legislatures. As per this amendment, the women's quotas would come into force after redrawing of voter constituencies based on a 15-year-old population survey data. India's opposition said this would disproportionately increase parliament legislators from North Indian states, which tend to vote for the BJP. With the bill now defeated, the process to increase the number of women lawmakers will be delayed. It will now depend on redistricting based on the upcoming population survey, which is scheduled to be completed only next year. Omkar Khandekar, NPR News, New Delhi.
Fans heading to the World Cup matches in New Jersey need to be prepared for a hefty train fare, $150 round trip. That's more than 10 times the normal cost for the 15-minute ride from Manhattan's Penn Station to the stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
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