NPR News: 04-29-2026 7PM EDT
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. The U.S.
What recent Supreme Court ruling affects the Voting Rights Act?
Supreme Court has weakened the Voting Rights Act's protections against racial discrimination in redistricting. NPR's Hansi Lo Wong reports the ruling comes out of a case about Louisiana's congressional map.
The Supreme Court's conservative majority has ruled that a second majority black congressional district that a lower court had ordered Louisiana's legislature to draw to get in line with the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. This high court ruling reinterprets longstanding protections under the Voting Rights Act Section 2 that have helped make sure racial minority voters are not shut out during redistricting in places where voting is racially polarized. In the court's majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito says that the focus of Section 2 must be banning, quote, intentional racial discrimination. which many legal experts say will be hard to prove in court. Many redistricting experts now expect Republican-controlled state legislatures in the South to eliminate at least some Democratic-represented House districts that were likely protected under the Voting Rights Act, though the timing is unclear.
Anzhi Luang, NPR News.
Iran's national rial currency has hit a record low of $1.8 million as a shaky ceasefire with the U.S. and Israel holds. Experts warn the fall of the rial is likely to further fuel inflation. Many imported goods from food and medicine to electronics and raw materials are affected by the dollar rate. The war is now in a ceasefire, but a U.S. naval blockade has continued to increase pressure on Iran's already battered economy, as NPR's Tom Bowman explains.
The U.S. has prevented more than three dozen ships from entering or leaving Iranian ports. And meanwhile, Iran is harassing shipping entering the Strait of Hormuz and that narrow waterway leading... to the Arabian Sea, of course. So as a result, the flow of oil tankers, other ships has dropped to a trickle. And that shipping clog has led to higher prices on things like fertilizer, liquefied natural gas and oil. NPR's Tom Bowman reporting.
Federal regulators are taking a closer look at broadcast licenses tied to ABC following late night host Jimmy Kimmel telling a joke on a show that alluded to Trump's death. NPR's Windsor Johnston reports the move is raising new questions about the limits of the FCC's authority over broadcast.
The FCC does regulate local stations, but Georgetown law professor David Cole says it does not have the authority to police content like a late-night joke. Instead, Cole says any attempt to revoke a license would likely face a lengthy legal fight and fail in court. But he says the pressure can show up elsewhere.
I think what they're really relying on is a hope that Disney won't fight, that Disney will cave, but because they're concerned about the government approving a merger that it might want to engage in down the line.
President Trump and the First Lady are both calling for Kimmel to be fired from ABC, arguing his remark days before an apparent assassination attempt crossed a line. Windsor Johnston, NPR News, Washington.
This is NPR News. The Trump administration is spending nearly $2 billion to get energy companies to walk away from U.S. offshore wind projects. Now Democrats in Congress are investigating. The Republican administration adopted its strategy after federal courts thwarted President Trump's efforts to stop offshore wind development. A French company is getting $1 billion if it invests the money in fossil fuel projects instead. That's essentially a refund of the company's projects off of North Carolina and New York. Taylor Swift is making legal moves to protect her voice and image. As NPR's Netta Ulaby reports, this reflects growing concern from entertainers about AI.
The voice samples Taylor Swift filed to be trademarked are brief, and both were promotions she made for a recent album. Swift has had to contend with AI-generated videos that wrongly suggested she was selling a line of cookware, as well as more salacious content.
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