NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-08-2026 1AM EDT

Episode Date: April 8, 2026

NPR News: 04-08-2026 1AM EDTTo manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Live from NPR news, I'm Jail Snyder. U.S. and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire. President Trump says he'll hold off on striking Iran as long as Iran agrees to the complete and immediate opening of the Strait of Pormuz to transport oil. NPR's Deepa Shivron reports. Trump said just hours ago that, quote, a whole civilization would die if Iran didn't reach a deal to reopen the strait by 8 p.m. But negotiations facilitated by Pakistan apparently moved.

forward after Pakistan asked Trump to hold off on increased attacks for two weeks and asked Iran to reopen the strait. Trump says he received a 10-point proposal from Iran and says it's a workable base point for negotiations. He says the two-week pause will allow for the agreement to be finalized. Trump has extended the deadline for Iran to reopen the strait before. He's relenting this time because he says the U.S. has exceeded military objectives and that the agreement will lead to long-term peace in the region. Deepa Shiveram and PR News, the White House. It's not clear when the ceasefire will begin. There have been attacks across the Gulf region since it was announced. President Trump, meanwhile, is casting the ceasefire as a big day for world peace. And in a midnight post on social

media, he said the U.S. will be helping build up traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, saying big money will be made and that the U.S. will be hanging around to make sure everything goes well. crude oil prices dropped dramatically after President Trump announced that two-week ceasefire with Iran. Brent Crude, the global benchmark, is now trading in the mid-90s after plunging from around $110 a barrel. Here's Camilla Dominovsky reporting. The near closure of the Strait of Hormuz has massively disrupted global oil trade. The ever-present hope that the Strait could reopen has made prices volatile, responding sharply to the headlines. What exactly happens next in the strait isn't clear.

President Trump posted that the ceasefire was conditional on a, quote, complete, immediate and safe opening, while Iranian leaders said via state media that the U.S., quote, has accepted Iran's control over the street. The Energy Information Administration estimates that full restoration of the world's oil flows will take months. Camila Dominovsky, NPR News. Republican Clay Fuller is heading to Capitol Hill, according to a race. case call by the Associated Press. Fuller won Tuesday's special runoff election in Georgia for the House seat vacated by Marjorie Taylor Green. The grassroots heart of Northwest Georgia was not going to allow the far woke left to take this congressional seat away from us. Fuller speaking to

supporters, he is a former district attorney who had President Trump's endorsement, Green, resigned from Congress after a public split with Trump. And you're listening to NPR News. The Artemis 2 astronauts are on track to return to Earth later this week. NASA officials say the crew is back within the influence of Earth's gravity and on schedule to splash down in the Pacific off San Diego on Friday. On Tuesday, NASA arranged a ship-to-ship call between the Artemis capsule and the seven crew members of the International Space Station. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has acknowledged using spyware that can intercept encrypted messages as part of its effort to disrupt fentanyl drug traffickers and PR's two Jaffe Block reports. ICE's acting director, Todd Lyons, described for the first time his agency's use of spyware in a letter last week to Democratic House members.

It was a response to questions the lawmakers had sent six months ago. Lyons said he greenlit ICE's use of tools to address challenges posed by transnational criminal groups and fentanyl traffickers using encrypted. communications. Privacy and civil liberties advocates say there are not sufficient regulations and transparency protocols to ensure ICE does not abuse spyware. Foreign governments have used graphite in the past to target journalists and activists and access their encrypted messages. Jude Jaffe Block and PR News. Grammy winner Ray Stevens is recovering at home after breaking his neck during a fall late last month. A statement on social media confirmed that Stevens was briefly hospitalized, but now fully mobile and in good spirits. Stevens is 87 years old. His hits include the

novelty song The Streak about the 1970s craze for running naked in public. He has an album due to be released on Friday. I'm Giles Snyder in PR News.