NPR News: 04-18-2026 11AM EDT
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What recent developments have occurred in the Strait of Hormuz?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Rahm. After the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, military officials in Iran said today they are once again controlling the strait and will continue to block traffic as long as the U.S. blockades Iranian ports. President Trump says the blockade will stay in force until a deal is reached on Iran's nuclear program. Trump was asked this morning about the current situation.
But we're talking to them. They wanted to close up the strait again, you know, as they've been doing for years. And they can't blackmail us.
The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reports that two gunboats from Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired at a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz today. It says the tanker and its crew are safe. It did not identify the tanker or its destination. About one-fifth of the world's oil is shipped through the strait. Further limits could drive oil prices higher again. The ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah is being tested over two incidents today, including the killing of a French soldier. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports the French president says everything suggests, end quote, that Hezbollah was behind that attack.
President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that a French soldier serving in the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon was killed yesterday. The Israeli military says it also conducted strikes against a threatening target. Polls show more than 70% of Israelis are against pausing their fight against Hezbollah. Tel Aviv resident Sari Hafetz says a ceasefire will only allow the group to rearm. We want that this time it will be in the end, but the final end. We don't want another little war for one year later or two years later. We want quiet. She says Hezbollah is weakened and now is the time to defeat them.
Eleanor Beardsley in PR News, Tel Aviv. A new warning from the International Energy Agency this week says parts of Europe could face jet fuel shortages this summer. This could have ripple effects for Americans planning trips overseas. NPR's Windsor Johnston has more in the story.
The agency says parts of Europe could soon face short-term jet fuel shortages as global supplies remain strained. Michael Weber is an energy expert at the University of Texas at Austin. He says even when shortages are less severe in the U.S., Americans can still feel the impact.
The United States will feel good because we're a major energy producer, but we'll absolutely be affected by what's going on around the world because we're coupled to the international economic system. So it might mean our travel to Europe is more expensive. It also means the things we import from Europe or other places will be more expensive because the shipping fuels will be more expensive. So we will be affected for sure.
Weber says travelers heading overseas may also see fewer flight options, especially during the peak summer season. Windsor Johnston, NPR News.
This is NPR News in Washington. Officials and residents in northwest Illinois are assessing the damage. After a likely tornado yesterday, the storm stripped roofs off houses and brought down trees and power lines in the village of Lena, about 117 miles northwest of Chicago. There are no reports of severe injuries or deaths. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be fighting for his job when he appears in Parliament on Monday. Vicki Barker reports from London.
Starmer is expected to repeat his assertion that he only just learned that Peter Mandelson, who was fired as Britain's ambassador to the U.S. last year over revelations in the Epstein files... had actually failed a security check when appointed. But as The Guardian's political editor Pippa Crearer told the BBC, the career civil servant Starmer just fired for that alleged oversight will be testifying Tuesday. That might be a moment when that all comes to a head. He puts his side of the story and that could be damaging to the Prime Minister who has already been so damaged. by this extraordinary scandal. If Starmer is found to have deliberately misled Parliament, convention requires that he step down.
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