NPR News: 04-25-2026 8AM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. The White House says it's preparing to send a U.S. delegation to Pakistan today for another round of peace talks with Iran. But it's still not clear whether negotiations will take place. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Arachi arrived in Islamabad overnight, but the Iranian foreign ministry says he will not speak directly with the U.S. Betsy Joel's reports from the Pakistani Capitol. In addition to Islamabad, Arachi said in a post on X that he'll also visit Muskat and Moscow. For discussions, unquote, bilateral matters. Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement that Arachi would hold meetings with its senior leadership. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt told Fox News that Jared Kushner and Steve Whitkoff would travel to Pakistan on Saturday for talks. Arachi did not say if he would participate in talks with the U.S. in Pakistan. For NPR News, I'm Betsy Joel's and Islamabad.

1:01Violence is continuing despite a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon with Israeli strikes in clashes still being reported in the South. Fadi Alama is the chairman of the Lebanese Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. He spoke to the BBC a day after Israeli air strikes killed six people in the South. It's maybe called a slight de-estation of what we have seen. It's almost a full-blown war in the South. So you've got ongoing military activities happening, especially within the stretch of eight kilometers that the Israelis declared as a yellow zone. So where do you see destruction? You see demolition of homes and towns? The truth, brokered earlier this month, was meant to pause fighting. But officials say it's been repeatedly tested by ongoing military activity. With both sides accusing each other of violations, there are growing doubts about how long the ceasefire can actually hold. The police departments in Dallas and Houston are changing their policies on how officers

2:02interact with federal immigration agents. The shift comes after pressure from Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Houston Public Media's Dominic Anthony Loss reports the changes are already taking effect. Police officers in Houston and Dallas were forbidden from detaining people or prolonging traffic stops due to civil immigration warrants. Abbott threatened to revoke public safety grants unless the policies changed. Houston had more than $110 million on the line while Dallas faced the loss of more than 30 million on top of public safety funding for the FIFA World Cup in nearby Arlington. After the threat, both cities gave officers more discretion to hold people for immigration warrants. Civil rights advocates criticized the changes while Abbott says he expects other cities to follow suit. I'm Dominic Anthony Walsh in Houston. This is NPR News in Washington. This weekend marks 40 years since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine, the worst in history.

3:07The accidental explosion at the Soviet era plant sent radioactive material across much of Europe, forcing mass evacuations and long-term health concerns. In recent years, the area has taken on new significance after Russian forces briefly occupied the site during the war in Ukraine. The White House correspondent's dinner will not be hosted by a comedian as in years past. Instead, mentalist O's Perlman will appear to read the minds of those in the room, which include President Trump. Perlman rose to fame on America's Got Talent in 2015. He often goes viral on social media, appearing to guess the ATM pin codes and innermost thoughts of various celebrities. His audience on Saturday is a room full of political journalists, government officials, and Trump, who plans to attend the correspondent's dinner for the first time as president. Perlman told NPR his job is to bring people together. You're going to leave the room in a better mood than you walked in, and I think as a

4:11country, we need that at times. In such a divisive political moment, that may take a magician's touch. Rachel Treesman and P.R. News Members of the Screenwriter's Union have approved a new four-year contract with Hollywood studios. Union leaders say it includes gains in health coverage and increases in minimum pay. Actors, though, are still negotiating their own contract. I'm Winsor Johnston and P.R. News in Washington. This week on the NPR Politics Podcast, for decades, the Southern Poverty Law Center has tracked and even infiltrated hate groups. But the Justice Department now alleges the way they funded that work amounted to bank fraud. Is it an honest pursuit of justice or just the latest example of the Trump DOJ targeting the president's political opponents? Listen this week to the NPR Politics Podcast.