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NPR News Now

NPR News: 04-18-2026 4PM EDT

18 Apr 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What recent developments have occurred in the Strait of Hormuz?

0.925 - 24.8 Nora Rahm

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Rahm. Iran has reversed its decision and is again imposing restrictions on ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. British officials say three commercial vessels came under fire today. They say the attacks caused damage, but no fires or casualties. It's day two of a 10-day ceasefire to pause the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

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25.501 - 32.77 Nora Rahm

The agreement seems to be holding amid several incidents of violence, but many in Lebanon are not convinced it will lead to lasting peace.

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33.451 - 48.769 Kat Lonsdorf

NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reports from Beirut. 46-year-old Abir Mohammed al-Masri has been living in a tent in a parking lot with her six kids for nearly seven weeks. She says she'd much rather be in their apartment in the southern suburbs, but...

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48.749 - 51.954 Matt Bloom

I don't trust the ceasefire, she said.

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52.294 - 64.113 Kat Lonsdorf

It's more of a truce than a ceasefire. We can't go home yet. Many of the more than one million people displaced in Lebanon during this war have headed back to the south, where much of the fighting was happening, despite warnings not to.

64.613 - 79.637 Kat Lonsdorf

But Israel is still occupying about 10 percent of the country after destroying whole villages to create what it calls a buffer zone to keep Hezbollah from firing rockets into Israel. Lebanese people from those villages cannot return. Kat Wansdorf, NPR News, Beirut.

80.238 - 90.775 Nora Rahm

A federal judge has blocked the proposed $6.2 billion merger between Nexstar and Tegna pending the outcome of an antitrust lawsuit. NPR's Matt Bloom reports.

91.055 - 91.336 Matt Bloom

U.S.

Chapter 2: How is the ceasefire affecting civilians in Lebanon?

91.356 - 110.242 Matt Bloom

District Court Chief Judge Troy L. Nunley in Sacramento issued a preliminary injunction on the deal late Friday. and came in response to a complaint from eight Democratic attorneys general and DirecTV. The plaintiffs argue the merger could raise consumer prices and lead to the consolidation of local news stations.

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110.763 - 134.973 Matt Bloom

The deal, valued over $6 billion, could create a company that owns 265 TV stations across 44 states. President Trump has endorsed the deal publicly, and the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice have already approved it. Next star in a statement says the merger will make local stations stronger and that it will appeal the judge's block. Matt Bloom, NPR News.

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135.373 - 147.709 Nora Rahm

Severe weather, including suspected tornadoes, swept through the Midwestern U.S. yesterday. No deaths were reported. Mark Chouinard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, says several states were affected.

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148.59 - 165.136 Unknown

Oklahoma. Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin. So a lot of those states did have pretty widespread severe weather yesterday. Wind and hail were the most common reports, a lot of large hail, a lot of strong winds. But there were also several tornadoes scattered about within that corridor as well.

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165.156 - 169.163 Unknown

So definitely an active day of severe weather yesterday across the middle part of the country.

169.403 - 193.65 Nora Rahm

He said there's a threat of more severe weather today, most likely in the eastern part of the U.S., You're listening to NPR News in Washington. An 85-year-old widow detained by U.S. immigration authorities for 16 days is home in France. She had married an American military veteran last year who has since died. She was detained after she overstayed her visa.

194.271 - 211.966 Nora Rahm

The French foreign minister wouldn't comment on her specific case, but said some ICE methods are not in line with French standards. The U.S. has announced new sanctions aimed at those it says are recruiting Colombian forces to fight in the conflict in Sudan. Michael Koloke has more.

212.246 - 231.888 Michael Kaloki

The U.S. Treasury Department has put in place sanctions targeting five companies and individuals involved in recruiting former Colombian military personnel to fight on behalf of the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. Among those sanctioned are a former colonel in the Colombian army as well as a Colombia-based employment agency.

232.309 - 252.653 Michael Kaloki

Clashes involving the RSF and the Sudanese armed forces have been going on for three years. The U.S. has called on both warring sides to accept a three-month humanitarian truce. Scores of civilians caught up in the conflict are being killed and uprooted from their homes in what aid groups say is the world's worst humanitarian crisis. For NPR News, I'm Michael Kaloki in Nairobi.

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