NPR News: 04-24-2026 4PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Libby Kasey. President Trump is sending two of his top negotiators, though not the Vice President to Pakistan, to meet with Iranian officials. As NPR's Franco-Ordonia's reports, the White House says the president wants them to hear the Iranians out. The president's on-voice Steve Wakeoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will travel Saturday to meet with Iranian officials, according to Press Secretary Caroline Levin. We hope progress will be made, and we hope that positive developments will come from this meeting. And we will see. And the Vice President, the Secretary of State, will be waiting here in the United States for updates. According to Iranian state media, they'll meet with the Iran's foreign minister. This would represent a shift in Iran's position, as leaders previously vowed that they would not attend the talks with the Americans until the U.S. blockade is lifted. Levin said the White House will be ready to send Vice President JD Vance to Pakistan, if necessary, Franco-Ordonia's and pure news to White House.

1:03The Justice Department is dropping its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The decision likely paves the way for the Senate to confirm President Trump's nominee to head the Central Bank, Kevin Warsh, and Pierre's Ryan Lucas reports. The U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Janine Piro says in a statement on X that her office is closing its investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over cost overruns in the renovations of the Fed's headquarters. Piro says instead, the Federal Reserve's Inspector General has been asked to examine the cost issues. The Justice Department's investigation into Powell generated major blowback from the Trump administration when the Probe's existence became public earlier this year. It prompted North Carolina Republican Senator Tom Tillis to threaten to block President Trump's pick to replace Powell at the Fed, Kevin Warsh, unless the DOJ dropped its investigation. Now the decision to do exactly that appears to clear the way for the Senate to move forward on Warsh's nomination. Ryan Lucas and Pierre News, Washington. Wildfires burning across parts of Georgia and Florida are being fueled by extreme drought,

2:07high winds, and dry vegetation. Georgia's governor says more than 120 homes have been destroyed in his state. Emily Jones of Member Station W-A-B-E in Atlanta says evacuation orders are being constantly updated because shifting winds are forcing the fires to change direction. Southeast Georgia is usually a really rainy and humid place. So typically when fires like this do start, they can contain them pretty quickly. But I cannot overstate how dry it is right now. We have had record low rainfall since September. And that means the trees, the underbrush, everything is just super dry. It's catching fire really quickly. And the fire officials I spoke to yesterday said it's unlikely this is going to be over any time soon. Emily Jones of W-A-B-E, there's not much rain forecast for Georgia's rural southwest, the area being hardest hit. This is NPR. A United Nations-backed report on food crises around the world finds that food insecurity and malnutrition remain, quote, alarmingly high, and that acute hunger has doubled over

3:12the past decade. NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports, This is the first time in the 10-year history of the global report on food crisis that two famines were confirmed in the same year, one in parts of Gaza and the other in Sudan. Both of these are man-made, the result of conflicts rather than environmental causes like drought. The authors of the report, experts with UN-affiliated integrated food security phase classification or IPC, find that globally in 2025, nearly 369 million people in 38 countries and territories are living one shock away from a food crisis. Ten countries, including Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen, account for two-thirds of people facing high levels of acute hunger. Conflict, weather extremes and forced displacement continue to be the main drivers for food insecurity and malnutrition in the world. Canada is seeing a surge in applications for a citizenship from Americans, after Canadian

4:16law changed in December, loosening the requirements. It opened citizenship to anyone who can prove they have a Canadian ancestor, not just a parent. Under the new law, descendants of Canadians are now considered citizens, but they must provide proof to obtain a certificate of citizenship. Immigration lawyers in the U.S. and Canada say they've been overwhelmed by clients. NPR News Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon Prime members can listen to NPR News now sponsor free through Amazon Music. Or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get NPR Plus at plus dot NPR dot org. That's plus dot NPR dot org.