NPR News: 04-25-2026 4AM 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 Argachi 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 year. Iran, however, says the foreign minister will be holding other meetings in Islamabad, but none with the U.S. Iran, meanwhile, has resumed commercial flights from Tehran's international airport for the first time since the conflict with the U.S. and Israel began two months ago. State-run TV reports that flights departed Saturday to Istanbul, Muscat, and Medina. The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a Chinese oil refinery and almost 40 other shipping firms and vessels involved in transporting Iranian oil.

1:02Reporter Sheree's Fem has more. The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday that it sanctioned a major oil refinery in China because it was helping sustain Iran's oil economy. The department is also targeting dozens of other shipping firms and vessels that it said are part of a clandestine network of tankers working on behalf of Tehran to bypass international sanctions. Treasury Secretary Scott Becent said in a statement that any person or vessel buying and moving Iranian oil, quote, risks exposure to U.S. sanctions. China has previously said it opposes what it calls illegal unilateral sanctions. For NPR News, I'm Sheree's fam in Hong Kong. The U.S. Justice Department is moving to expand death penalty executions by reinstating lethal injection. It's also offering other options, including by firing squad. NPR's Jacqueline Diaz has more. The federal Bureau of Prisons is being directed to also consider electrocution and lethal gas as methods of execution. The DOJ announced these and other changes that officials say are meant to strengthen the

2:03federal death penalty and to speed the process up. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has already authorized prosecutors to seek death sentences for nine people. The Biden administration put a pause on federal executions during his time in office, but Trump ran on a promise to restart the death penalty for federal offenses. The DOJ plans to make other policy and rule changes in the coming months that the agency says will further streamline the process for seeking death sentences. Jacqueline Diaz and PR News. A federal appeals court Friday blocked an executive order from President Trump to suspend a silent access at the southern border Trump issued that order on his first day in office. Two wildfires are continuing to burn in Georgia at this hour in rural Brantley County, Governor Brian Kemp says some 87 homes have been burned. That's the largest number of homes burned in a wildfire in that state's history. You're listening to NPR News. A bill proposing allowing terminal deal adults in England and Wales to end their lives failed

3:05to pass Parliament on Friday. Lawmakers in the House of Lords held a filibuster by filing more than 1,200 amendments to prevent the bill's passage. The measure had passed the House of Commons last June. The bill is expected to be reintroduced to the next parliamentary session. While many heads turned towards Skyward for the historic mission to the moon this month, researchers also discovered a new species of moon jellyfish deep in the Gulf, used in public media's Juliana Washburn reports. It was a happy coincidence that researchers at Texas A&M at Galveston found a new species of moon jellyfish while astronauts were preparing for a trip to the moon. Moon jellyfish are one of the most well-studied jellyfish in the world, named for their translucent moon-like bell. Associate Professor Maria Pia Megliata helped identify the new species. We're still discovering these species in this very well-studied group and so this indicator little we know about the biodiversity in general of these animals and a lot of animals.

4:06It indicates that we've only just explored the ocean. With this discovery, there are now four known moon jellyfish species in the Gulf. For NPR News, I'm Juliana Washburn in Galveston. The world number 210 star Carlos Alcarez says he will not be playing for a third successive French open title. He heard his right wrist during the Barcelona Open earlier this month. He made his decision following more medical tests on Friday. He also said he would not play in the Italian Open, which he also won last year. I'm Dale Wilman, NPR News.