NPR News: 04-23-2026 11PM EDT

0:00Live from MPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. Serious storms are moving through the middle of the country tonight. Local television is showing video of a massive tornado and says storm as I'd rather homes have been flattened near the city of Enoch and Northern Oklahoma near Vance Air Force Base. Fatalities and injuries are unclear, but KOCO TV is reporting that authorities in Garfield County have launched search and rescue operations for people who may be trapped and eat debris. The National Weather Service says the threat of sphere weather through the weekend stretches from Oklahoma to Minnesota. President Trump says he does not want to be rushed into making a deal with Iran. I want to make the best deal. I could make a deal right now. Do you know that if I left right now, we had a tremendous success. It would take them 20 years to rebuild, but I don't want to do that. I want to have it everlasting. Trump took questions today in the Oval Office, where Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met for a second time in a week. And announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire between Israel and

1:02Hezbollah. The initial 10-day ceasefire was due to expire on Monday. Trump says he expects to meet at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aon in the next couple of weeks. Earlier today, Trump ordered the Navy to quote, shoot and kill any boat trying to lay minds on the straighter four moves. Shipping through the waterway has virtually stopped over the fear of minds and Iranian attacks and pierce Jackie Northam reports. There are no reliable numbers as to how many minds are in and around the straighter four moves, but the threat of one hitting a ship is enough to keep some vessels anchored. The Washington Post reported that a classified Pentagon assessment shared with Congress says it could take up to six months to clear the straight, and that such an operation wouldn't begin until after the war. President Trump dismissed that assessment and said in a social media post that U.S. mind sweepers had already started clearing the straight. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy boarded a second ship carrying oil from Iran that was bound for China. Jackie Northam in PR News.

2:06The Justice Department is reclassifying medical marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The department says some move will pave the way for more research into safety and use some medical treatment at St. Piar's Ryan Lucas reports. The Justice Department says it is immediately rescheduling FDA approved and state licensed marijuana from what's known as a Schedule I drug, the same group as heroin, to a Schedule III drug, like Tylenol with coding. The move does not legalize marijuana under federal law, but it does recognize that marijuana has medical applications and opens the door to research the effects of cannabis. The department is also ordering a new hearing to begin in late July to fully reschedule the drug. The move by the Trump administration comes after years of debate in Washington about reclassifying marijuana. Ryan Lucas in PR News, Washington. And you're listening to in PR News. Police in Baton Rouge say Thursday shooting inside the Maul of Louisiana was not

3:06a random act of violence, but a disagreement between two groups. One person was killed in five-bore wounded when gunfire broke out in the food court. Lafayette Parish officials say at least three of the victims are high school seniors. Baton Rouge police say five people have been taken into custody for questioning. The department is appealing to witnesses for any video of the shooting. Routine childhood vaccination rates are recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. In PR's Jonathan Lambert reports a major push by the World Health Organization and others delivered more than 100 million inoculations to kids and dozens of countries. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a major wrench in routine childhood vaccination programs for diseases like measles and polio. In 2021, more than 25 million children missed at least one vaccination, as clinics closed and resources were diverted to fighting the pandemic. In response, global health leaders launched the big catch-up in 2023.

4:08It was a major effort to get vaccines to kids aged one to five who'd missed doses. As the three-year program winds down, the WHO reports that it reached more than 18 million young kids in 36 countries, roughly in line with the original goals. But millions of kids are still missed by vaccine programs, roughly 14 million in 2024. In the face of declining foreign aid worldwide, officials' worry vaccination rates could worsen again. Jonathan Lambert and PR News. I'm Giles Knighter. This is MPR.