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A
Good morning. The U.S. has seized an Iranian tanker as it enforces its blockade.
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Vacate your engine room. Vacate your engine room. We're prepared to subject you to disabling fire.
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The Associated Press explains how it could impact potential talks. Trump faces Republican resistance as he tries to get his pick for Fed chair in place. And meet the humanoid robot that just smashed the half marathon world record. It's Monday. Monday, April 20th. I'm Yasmeen Khan and this is Apple News.
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Today,
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it was another bewildering weekend of back and forths in the Middle East. On Friday, the Strait of Hormuz was briefly declared open, exciting energy markets only to close again. Then on Sunday, President Trump announced that the military had acted against Iran near the strait. That's the sound of the US Navy firing shots at Iran's vessel.
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This is the first interception we've known about since the blockade of Iranian ports began last week.
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Michelle Price is a White House reporter for the Associated Press.
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Trump said that the ship was warned by a US Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman to stop, but it did not. And he said then that the Navy stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room and that U.S. marines have custody of the vessel and are looking at what's on board.
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Iran said that the cargo had been traveling from China and warned the US it would retaliate. Its first vice president wrote on social media that, quote, the choice is clear, either a free oil market for all or the risk of significant costs for everyone.
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D
And this all comes as the White House has said, that there will be talks with a US Team arriving in Pakistan for a second round of in person talks with Iran to try to move forward here and maybe extend the ceasefire or maybe resolve this war. But Iran has so far not said publicly whether they will participate in these talks. And now with this ship being seized on Sunday, there's a real question about whether this has escalated things and if these talks will even happen.
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His delegation is due in Pakistan today, and officials in Islamabad lock down the city in preparation for potential negotiations. But even if they go ahead, there are no signs that either side has moved from their fundamental positions since the talks failed last week. And Trump continues to continued to vacillate on diplomacy over the weekend.
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D
The President has kind of gone back and forth throughout this war from acting like there might be a deal at hand, suggesting that the war may be close to ending, that things are moving positively, and then at the same breath, almost offering new threats to try to push Iran to make Some of these deals. And earlier on Sunday, the president repeated threats he's made before against Iranian infrastructure, saying that if Iran does not agree to a U.S. proposed deal, that the United States is going to, quote, knock out every single power plant and every single bridge in Iran.
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The pressure to open up the strait remains acute. Last week, the International Monetary Fund made grave warnings about the global economy as energy supplies dry up. And yesterday CNN's Jake Tapper asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright about the timeline for average gas prices to drop back under $3 a gallon.
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C
I don't know. That could happen later this year. That might not happen till next year, but prices have likely peaked and they'll start going down. Certainly with a resolution of this conflict, you'll see prices go down. Prices across the board on energy prices will go down, but it might not be under under $3 a gallon until 2027. Under $3 a gallon is pretty tremendous in an inflation adjusted terms.
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D
There's a lot of political pressure in the US to wrap up this war, that the longer it goes on, it continues to drive up gas prices, that there's pressure in the US for the president to turn his attention back toward domestic affairs, toward the looming mid in November, that it is not politically good for him to have this continue. So there's kind of some push and pull for the president here.
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A
The ceasefire is due to expire this coming Wednesday. This week could shape the future of the country's most important economic institution, the Federal Reserve. All eyes will be on two men, one hoping to lead America's central bank and another standing in his way. On Tuesday, President Trump's pick to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell will face the Senate's Banking Committee. That pick is Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor and prominent critic of recent Fed policy. It'll be his chance to indicate how he might manage an economy with continued threats of inflation on the horizon. But his confirmation is not going to be straightforward. That's nothing to do with Warsh's credentials. Instead, overshadowing his day on Capitol Hill is the Justice Department's investigation into Powell. It's led one Republican senator to withhold his crucial vote.
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I've tried to make it very clear that I have no intention of supporting any confirmation of any Fed board member, chair or otherwise, until this is resolved.
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Thom Tillis is refusing to blink in his standoff with Trump over the criminal probe of Powell. The North Carolina senator is not seeking reelection and he has the power to hold up Warsh's appointment indefinitely.
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From the time of the Tuesday confirmation hearing. There's just 24 days until the current chair, Jay Powell's term is over, so that's not a lot of time to get somebody confirmed and to resolve this standoff between President Trump and Thom Tillis.
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Nick Timiros is the chief economics correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and an author of a book on recent Fed history. He told us that if Tillis doesn't back down, it threatens a new standoff between Trump and Powell.
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Trump is essentially saying, Jay Powell, if you do not jump, I will push you. And Powell has already said, I'm not leaving the Fed as long as this investigation continues, and if my successor isn't confirmed, I will stay as chair.
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Pro temporary the DOJ's investigation stems from Powell's testimony to the Banking Committee over renovations to the Fed's headquarters. The Republican chair of that committee said he didn't think any crimes were committed that day. The government's own prosecutor admitted they had no evidence of wrongdoing, and courts have blocked the administration's subpoenas. But none of that has persuaded Trump to drop it. He says there has been criminality in the building's overhaul. Prosecutors made an unannounced visit to the headquarters construction site last week, only to be turned away upon arrival. Timuro said that if the investigation were dropped, Warsh likely has the votes he needs to advance along party lines. But he must still field questions tomorrow on his approach to monetary policy, and his answers could be revealing.
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He had a view last year when he was positioning himself to get the nomination, that the Fed should be cutting interest rates. Things look a little bit different now because of the war in Iran and and because inflation has picked up a little bit even before the war. So the first question investors and Fed watchers will be paying close attention to is, has Kevin Warsh changed his view around the ability or the appropriateness of interest rate cuts in this environment? Second, there are a number of questions around Fed independence. And so it seems possible Warsh will be asked, what is your view of the separation that the central bank should have from the White House?
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Foreign.
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It's been two months to the day since the Supreme Court struck down President Trump's global tariffs. The federal government collected more than $200 billion in revenue from businesses in 2025 alone. But after the high court deemed those taxes illegal, more than 150 billion is now eligible to be refunded. Today, businesses will get their chance to submit for those refunds as the federal government's portal to file a claim goes live. As NPR puts it It'll be America's hottest website, and there's no question that businesses appear to be lining up to get access.
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As of April 9, there was about 56,000 filings prepared to go live when the portal opens.
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Tim Appel covers economics and manufacturing for Reuters.
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The Supreme Court did overturn the tariffs, but they didn't really tell the government what they had to do about it. So the Court of International Trade directed Customs of Border Patrol to set up a refund portal, and that has taken about 45 days to get that up and running.
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The government said it completed work on the portal last Tuesday. Appel reports that about 330,000 businesses paid tariffs on 53 million shipments of imported goods to the U.S. but even though businesses will get a shot at getting some of their money back, the process could be complicated.
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You have so many different claims that have to be processed, and the concern was that the government might make it very burdensome to do this one by one. Instead, companies have been able to set up spreadsheets and collect all of their tariff claims from the past year, and they'll be able to submit those all in one spreadsheet and also expect to get one refund payment through the process.
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It could take up to two months before any cash gets back to businesses. Appel spoke to executives like Jay Foreman, the CEO of Basic Fun, which sells well known toys like Tonka trucks and Care Bears. He said there are serious concerns with so many companies looking for refunds and there's no telling if the portal can keep up with demand.
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I think the total amount he's seeking is about $7 million, which is significant for any business. And some of these importers that have very narrow margins, it can be, you know, quite significant. And the toy industry is notoriously a tough business. So last year, while these tariffs were being implemented, Basic Fund was already importing toys under agreements of prices that had been set months earlier. And so they are an example of a company that was left totally holding the bag for paying for the tariffs.
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There's also a possibility the administration could step in with a last minute appeal. The government has until early May to object to the refund process. A Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told Reuters the system will, quote, efficiently process refunds pursuant to court order for importers and brokers who paid. The one group that has been left out of the entire equation, however, is consumers. Appel says because the order applies to the importer or their reps who processed their tariffs, the whole system is pretty far removed from individual people who might have paid paid more at the register and aren't eligible to get any money back.
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Even if it was possible to identify those amounts, there's not really a way to identify how to get that back to the consumer. I think the best chance consumers have is if some of these companies feel pressured to make price reductions or do special actions that indicate that they're at least delivering some of this back to their ultimate customers.
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A
And finally, a few other stories were following. In Shreveport, Louisiana, a domestic violence shooting left eight children dead. Shreveport police say the mass shooting occurred at two different homes in the early morning hours Sunday. The children who died were between 3 and 11 years old. Two women, one who was the suspect's wife and another, who's believed to be his girlfriend, suffered serious injuries. The suspect has since been identified as Shamar Elkins. Seven of those children were the suspect's own children, according to a police spokesperson. He had tried to flee the scene carjacking a vehicle, but was chased down and killed by police. Shreveport's mayor, Tom arSeneault, spoke to CNN.
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It not only rattles the community, it rattles the entire city. This is something that when something like this, it affects us all. We are one Shreveport. I think there are people trying to organize a prayer vigil. So it's a, it's a major, it is a major deal.
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It was the deadliest mass shooting in the US in two years. Domestic violence shootings can receive less attention, but the Washington Post reports that in most mass killings that involve guns, the shooters know at least some of their victims. The Department of Justice is trying to obtain all of the 2024 election ballots from a Detroit county as President Trump continues his EFF to investigate unproven voter fraud claims. An assistant attorney general sent a letter to the clerk for Wayne County, Michigan, demanding the ballots be handed over to the federal government. The letter suggested they were needed to ensure federal laws were followed and cited a history of fraud convictions and other allegations against Wayne county election procedures. The state's attorney general said she would fight any attempt to interfere with Michigan elections. This is the latest effort by Trump to investigate elections where he claims fraud occurred. In January, the election offices of Fulton County, Georgia, were raided by the FBI. Fulton county, like Wayne, is a Democratic stronghold in a battleground state, and runners will be competing in the Boston Marathon today, a test of strength and endurance for anyone, no matter what shape you're in. But in China, crowds gathered to witness a race that instead showcased human engineering. That's Lightning, the humanoid robot beating the half marathon record in a Beijing event. The bot finished the race in under 51 minutes, clearing the human record by more than six minutes. The race showed off the rapid advances in robot capabilities. Last year's event was beset by embarrassing tech failures, with many of the metal competitors crashing to the ground and failing to finish. So if you're watching the marathon today, enjoy it, because the robots are coming. 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 Atlantic set out to see which restaurant in America has the best free bread, and after thousands of miles traveled and countless carbs ingested, one singular loaf rose above the rest. If you're listening in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News Narrated to find that story. And we'll be back with the news tomorrow.