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- [00:05]
Cecilia Lay
Good morning. Forward. Progress appears to be taking shape on peace talks between the US And Iran. The Wall Street Journal has the details. Russia has called for a temporary ceasefire with Ukraine ahead of a national holiday. The Associated Press explains whether that will happen after a week of intense fighting. And airfares are spiking due to rising jet fuel prices. The Wall Street Journal shares how that might change your summer travels.
- [00:30]
Allison Seider
If you are thinking about travel, wouldn't necessarily hold out for prices to come back down quickly.
- [00:36]
Cecilia Lay
It's Thursday, May 7th. I'm Cecilia Lay and this is Apple News. Today, After a whirlwind week of escalations and reversals involving Iran, the US And Tehran may be edging closer to peace talks. President Trump struck this familiar tone about the war at a White House event on Wednesday.
- [00:59]
Donald Trump
We're dealing with people that want to make a deal very much and we'll see whether or not they can make a deal that's satisfactory to us. We have it very much under control.
- [01:07]
Cecilia Lay
But what has changed in the past 24 hours is that Iran and the US are actively working with mediators on a framework for negotiations. Basically a bullet point list that would kickstart in person conversations and find a pathway to a long term resolution over the next month.
- [01:23]
Fakon
What's different, maybe from previous similar initiatives is the degree of details of the points to be discussed.
- [01:31]
Cecilia Lay
Fakon is a reporter with the Wall Street Journal who spoke to people familiar with the details.
- [01:35]
Fakon
It includes the idea of a gradual easing of the US Blockade on Iranian ports, the Iranian blockade on Hormuz, one step at a time, one confidence building measure at a time. Rather than kind of everything is given away. The leverage especially is given away immediately.
- [01:52]
Cecilia Lay
According to the Journal, the two sides are also working on how to deal with Iran's nuclear program. The US Continues to claim that Tehran is close to developing a nuclear weapon and use that as a justification to start the war. Fakon told us the administration is hoping the agreement would include things like a ban on underground facilities and snap inspections. At the same time, any deal on Iran's nuclear program could be seen as a concession from the U.S. that means
- [02:18]
Fakon
the Iran side could come back home. You know, similarly saying, we won. For instance, you know, originally one of the key concept for the US Side was never ever any enrichment. At one stage it sort of softened to, at the last conversation it was 20 years of suspension, which is very long for Iran. And now we're talking about potentially 12 and 15 years.
- [02:39]
Cecilia Lay
Another point of contention could be the transfer of enriched uranium.
- [02:43]
Fakon
They've been ready to discuss transfer, but not in U.S. hands, not under U.S. custody. So there's a compromise here where it could be, you know, to a country that is trusted by both sides, could be Russia, could be Pakistan, and so that could be. It's still a sticking point because the US wants it under US custody, but there is room here for a solution.
- [03:04]
Cecilia Lay
Bacon said that something interesting is happening in these discussions. There's a lot of detail, but not a huge expectation for immediate results. That's what led Vice President J.D. vance to dramatically depart from Islamabad during the last round of talks.
- [03:18]
Fakon
When there's talk of momentum that's actually not entirely overselling it. It does look realistic because it's such a detailed and realistic plan. We're no longer talking about what we saw in the past where each child would throw maximalist demands at each other with expect that obviously that will be refused.
- [03:35]
Cecilia Lay
A spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry said they were reviewing the proposal and would send the response to Pakistani mediators when their assessment is complete. News of a potential easing of tensions between the US And Iran sent oil prices lower and stocks up after a volatile day of trading. Russia on Monday declared a unilateral two day ceasefire in Ukraine for Friday and Saturday as the Kremlin prepared for its annual victory day celebration, which marks the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. The announcement comes amid a tense week between the two nations over any temporary pause in fighting. Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Russia's proposed ceasefire and called it manipulative. He then put forward his own plan. Hours before that ceasefire was set to take effect. Russia struck cities throughout eastern Ukraine. In the city of Zaporizhzhia, dozens were killed. Samiya Kulab is a Ukraine correspondent for the Associated Press. She spoke to us from Zaporizhzhia.
- [04:40]
Samiya Kulab
The attack was carried out with what are known as aerial glide bombs. They're quite deadly. Ukraine currently has no way to really intercept them once they've been launched. And they can do quite a lot of damage in frontline cities like Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and others, especially the Donetsk region. This is a daily terror for Ukrainian civilians.
- [05:03]
Cecilia Lay
It was one of the deadliest aerial attacks of the year. Kulob told us that while no one should underestimate Russia's capabilities, their progress on the front line has slowed and comes at a huge cost.
- [05:14]
Samiya Kulab
Ukraine's strategy has been to extract as many losses as possible from Russia, and so far that's been working. Russia has not been able to really make major breakthroughs across the 1,200 kilometer frontline, despite being the more powerful army.
- [05:31]
Cecilia Lay
Something that Moscow has done is engage in a familiar pattern of declaring short ceasefires during various holidays. Most recently it was for Orthodox Easter. But as the AP notes, those suspensions haven't produced any tangible results as mistrust between the two sides has deepened. Nevertheless, Saturday's Victory Day is Russia's most important secular holiday. It typically involves a huge parade featuring thousands of Russian troops. Last year, it even hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping as a guest of honor. But this year, Russia appears worried that Ukraine might try and sabotage the occasion.
- [06:15]
Samiya Kulab
This Victory Day parade is definitely different, and that's very interesting. It's very telling. Usually the parade includes tanks, missiles, military equipment to kind of show off Russia's military might. And this year, as we understand, there will be no tanks, there won't be military equipment, equipment out on display. And even smaller parades that are normally held elsewhere across the country have also either been pared down or completely canceled.
- [06:43]
Cecilia Lay
The Kremlin also tightened security for the big day. It temporarily cut Internet access inside Moscow and shut down the capital's airports. Russian President Vladimir Putin usually attends the event, but leaked intelligence reports suggest he's become increasingly concerned about threats to his life. As Ukraine broadens its targets recently, they've been sending long range drones deep inside Russia into places previously untouched by the conflict. Ukraine hit a luxury high rise in Moscow this week and struck an oil refinery in a coastal town on the Black Sea that set off a toxic blaze. Some environmentalists said it was one of the country's worst ecological disasters since the fall of the Soviet Union.
- [07:25]
Samiya Kulab
Ukraine is targeting Russian oil infrastructure and military assets, including ammunition warehouses, heavy concentrations of forces deep in the rear of Russian territory. And sometimes these attacks take place over 1000km deep. And these attacks are being carried out with domestically produced deep strike drones and recently domestically produced cruise missiles.
- [07:51]
Cecilia Lay
For its part, the US has largely withdrawn from financially supporting Ukraine, but continues to offer intelligence and technological help. The EU finally delivered on a vital 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine last month following the defeat of Viktor Putin's ally in Hungary. Some travel experts say it may be time to throw out the playbook for your summer travel plans. The war with Iran has caused a spike in jet fuel prices, and airlines are already passing some of those costs onto travelers. The managing editor of the popular travel site the Points Guy says the typical advice is to book one to two months out for domestic flights and three to five for international trips. But with fuel and Airline ticket prices surging. They say you might want to go ahead and book your tickets for the rest of the year. Forecasts for 2026 indicated that travel demand would boost profits for airlines and require them to expand routes and open new lounges. Instead, the rising cost of fuel had left them in a precarious position.
- [08:56]
Allison Seider
They basically doubled over a matter of a couple of weeks.
- [08:58]
Cecilia Lay
Allison Seider is a reporter with the Wall Street Journal who covers aviation.
- [09:02]
Allison Seider
And the biggest problem for airlines is that the fuel prices haven't come down. Jet fue one of the biggest costs for airlines. It's probably their biggest input.
- [09:11]
Cecilia Lay
Right after labor last month, American Airlines estimated that fuel costs are increasing by $4 billion, and JetBlue says it's reviewing which routes no longer bring in enough revenue to cover the cost of fuel, maintenance and landing fees. Meanwhile, new data shared Yesterday revealed that 13,000 flights globally have been cut from May's schedule for travelers wondering about how to plan trips for the next few months. Right now, Europe and parts of Asia are facing the biggest CR Air France, Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific and Germany's Lufthansa are among those who have reduced routes. The EU assures that there's no fuel shortage yet, and some airlines say they're confident they won't need to cancel people's flights. But as Seider told us, airlines have had to make adjustments, so they're trying
- [09:57]
Allison Seider
to charge higher fares and now they're having to sort of cut back on unprofitable flights. Airlines, especially in the United States, used to hedge like they used to buy futures contracts to protect themselves against swings in oil prices. And in the last several years they've stopped doing that. So they're completely exposed to the increase in the cost of jet fuel and kind of scrambling to find ways to cover that cost so they can continue making money.
- [10:22]
Cecilia Lay
Delta recently announced that it would be eliminating food and beverage services from some short haul flights. That move wasn't explicitly linked as a cost cutting measure, but it was announced after Spirit Airlines closed down. At a bankruptcy court on Tuesday, Spirit's lawyers said that the rising cost of fuel gave the airline no choice but to shut down. The pain has been particularly acute for budget airlines like Spirit, which operate on tighter margins.
- [10:49]
Allison Seider
Some of these smaller airlines don't have the same tools in their toolkit that some of the bigger airlines like United and Delta and American do, where they have really lucrative co branded credit card programs or, you know, vast international networks and, you know, lots of business class flyers who are going to travel no matter what.
- [11:04]
Cecilia Lay
In April, budget airline executives met with the transportation secretary and the head of the Federal Aviation Administration as part of a financial wellness check in. They asked for $2.5 billion to deal with the higher fuel costs.
- [11:18]
Allison Seider
I think a lot of people in the industry are sort of watching to see if there will be more bankruptcies or more mergers as airlines kind of try to pair off in order to protect themselves.
- [11:26]
Cecilia Lay
For now, travelers should probably expect higher check bag fees, continued pressure on ticket prices, and maybe fewer Biscoff cookies on. And finally, here's a few other stories we're following. On Wednesday, a federal judge released a purported suicide note written by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. It was found and kept by his former cellmate, Nicholas Tartaglione, who said he discovered it tucked inside a book. He claims he found it after an incident in July 2019 where Epstein was found unresponsive in his cell. Epstein survived that incident but was found dead weeks later. The note had been sealed for years as part of Tartaglion's criminal case. The New York Times had petitioned the court last week to unseal the document and had published a report about how the note came into the cellmate's possession. The publication hasn't authenticated whether Epstein wrote it. The Washington Post reports no court or investigative agency has vouched for the note's authenticity. Marco Rubio is at the Vatican today to meet with Pope Leo. The secretary of state says the visit is about discussing a number of urgent matters. But the trip is also being viewed as an opportunity for the White House to make nice with the pope. Trump has criticized the pontiff for opposing the war in Iran, and he accused him of being weak on crime. In a press briefing this week, however, Rubio insisted his visit wasn't about making amends with the Vatican.
- [12:58]
Marco Rubio
I mean, it's a trip we had planned from before, and obviously we had some stuff that happened. And no, look, there's a lot to talk about with the Vatican. I'll give you one example. The pope just returned from a trip to Africa, where the church is growing very vibrantly. And we have shared concerns about religious freedom, religious freedom in different parts of the world. We'd love to talk to them about that.
- [13:16]
Cecilia Lay
Trump's criticism of the pope could have political implications ahead of the midterms. Roughly one fifth of US Adults practice Catholicism, and they're a key voter group. In response to Trump's attacks, the pope has said he won't be intimidated for, quote, speaking out loudly of the message of the gospel as USA Today notes Rubio could be a key peacemaker. In addition to diplomatic reasons, he has personal incentive to mend the rift as a devout member of the faith and have you noticed that chicken Caesar wraps have become incredibly popular, at least on social media? People love to review them, post themselves eating the wraps, or share their pursuits of the next great ccw, as they're called. The humble but delicious chicken Caesar wrap has been a lunchtime staple for office workers, and Vox reports that the meal has now entered its millennial obsession era, becoming vital comfort food to true believers in its so called magic. Some say that they're the taste of adulthood. Before the 2008 financial crisis, one 41 year old man told Vox that the wraps heal the wounds of elder millennials and that quote, the culture is crushing us. We had all this promise back in the day and the world was supposed to be nice. It allows him to think of simpler times. Vox says it's the nostalgia that could explain why chicken Caesar wraps have become viral and why some people are willing to wait in line for hours to get one. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next. The Los Angeles Times tells the story of an extraordinary episode in US Immigration history when Americans tried to stop fellow Americans from crossing state lines. If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News plus Narrated to find that story and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.