NPR News: 04-17-2026 7PM EDT
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What recent developments occurred in the Strait of Hormuz?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst. Iran says the Strait of Hormuz is now open to commercial vessels, while the fragile temporary ceasefire with the U.S. is in place. And ships have to coordinate their transit through Tehran. But the White House says the U.S. blockade also 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. Congress has approved a short-term extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. NPR's Claudia Grisales reports the controversial law was set to expire on Monday.
Congressional leaders had sought to extend the key national intelligence tool for five years. However, members from both sides of the aisle thwarted that plan as they sought more stringent privacy protections for U.S. citizens. Now, members must go back to the drawing table to come up with a compromise before... the new April 30th deadline. The tool is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows targeted warrantless surveillance. The government says the intelligence collected underpins a huge share of the president's daily intelligence briefings. But critics, both Democratic and Republican, have long been concerned about the government reviewing Americans' private information gathered as part of the surveillances.
Claudia De Salis, NPR News.
Early voting ends tomorrow for a special election in Virginia Tuesday that could allow Democrats to create four more favorable congressional seats for the party. NPR's Ashley Lopez reports it's part of a nationwide redistricting battle started by President Trump last year.
Virginia is one of several states that has an independent redistricting commission, so voters would need to approve a measure allowing state lawmakers to circumvent the commission in order to create new seats that favor Democrats. Polling shows that voters in the Commonwealth narrowly approve of the measure, but both parties have been spending millions of dollars in a race that could potentially be quite close. If passed, Virginia would be the latest state to redraw its congressional lines ahead of the midterms. This battle started last year when President Trump asked Texas Republicans to create five more seats that favor Republicans in the state. Since then, several states have changed their maps.
Ashley Lopez, NPR News.
Wall Street higher by the closing bell. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. If you've ever driven long distance in an electric vehicle, you know how much of a hassle it can be to juice up. If you're lucky, it's just a half an hour. But often, that's not the case. It's often longer. In China, it can be as fast as filling a gas tank. NPR's John Rewich got the story from the backseat of a car.
I'm sitting in an SUV made by the company NIO. We're parked by a small structure that looks kind of like a one-car garage without walls, or like those places where you might get a quick oil change. But there's no oil. The car is about to get a fresh battery. No more waiting to charge up. NIO has recognized that long charge times are one of the main reasons keeping people from buying EVs. So it's installed nearly 4,000 battery swap stations around the world. Most are in China, of course. NIO executive Jason Wu says in February, the company hit a milestone, completing 100 million battery swaps since the service was first rolled out in Beijing eight years ago.
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