NPR News: 04-25-2026 1AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Wilman. President Trump has sent Steve Whitcoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to meet with Iran's foreign minister in hopes of reviving peace talks. White House press spokesperson Caroline Levitt says the two will meet with Abbas Arachi on Saturday. We've certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days. Again, the president has made the decision to send Stephen Jared to hear the Iranians out. We'll see what they have to say this week. Iran, however, says the foreign minister will be holding other meetings in Islamabad, but none with the U.S. Oil producers surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas expect only a modest increase in U.S. oil production in response to the war in Iran. As NPR's Commitle Dominozky reports, crude oil prices are currently high, but companies say they don't have enough certainty about the future to invest in more production. The Dallas Fed, which regularly surveys oil executives, asked a bonus round of questions about the Iran War, and how much the U.S. will boost domestic production.

1:02Most of the companies responding predict production growth of less than half a million barrels of oil per day. That's less than U.S. production has grown annually on average the last few years, and it's a fraction of the more than 10 million barrels per day the world is missing right now. Some exec said higher costs and shortages of staff and machines are hampering drilling, while many emphasized that uncertainty and chaos make it hard to plan. The average price of a regular gallon of gas is around $4.59 right now, California has the highest average, around $5.88 a gallon. The Justice Department is dropping its investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The decision likely paves the way for the Senate to confirm President Trump's nominee to head the Central Bank, Kevin Worsh, and PR'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.

2:04Piro 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 for 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 Worsh, 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 Worsh's nomination. Ryan Lucas and PR News, Washington. Georgia Governor Brian Camp says at least 87 homes have been burned in rural Brantley County this week by a wildfire, and he says another 35 homes have burned in another fire in Clinchon, Equals counties near the Florida state line. Ryan to say the threat of fire in the state has been amplified by drought, winds, and climate change. You're listening to NPR News. The Trump administration is placing sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and some

3:0540 shipping companies, officials say it's part of an effort to cut off Iran's oil exports. The oil refinery has been receiving oil from Iran since 2023. China says the use of sanctions undermines international trade order and rules. A zoo in central Florida has taken in 13 sloths from a detraction known as Slothworld in Orlando. The operation has never opened to the public and it recently came under fire for importing dozens of sloths that wound up dying as Molly Dureg, a central Florida public media in Orlando reports. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says 31 wild sloths imported from Guyana and Peru died between December 2024 and February 2025. This died from a cold stun after arriving at an Orlando warehouse with no water or electricity. Richard Glover is CEO of the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens. We were very excited to have the opportunity and grateful that he chose to donate them to us. There are other things he could have done with them and so we're excited to have the opportunity

4:09to give them the best possible chance for a good outcome they could have. This week Orange County issued a stop work order for the Slothworld facility which is permitted to store vehicles, not animals. For NPR News, I'm Molly Dureg in Orlando. The PGA says Jim Furek will captain the next U.S. writer-cop team. He'll be the fourth American captain to get another chance since 1979 when Europe joined the competition. Tiger Woods was in line to be captain but pulled his name from consideration after his arrest in Florida last month. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.