Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston. Vice President J.B. Vance is expected to arrive in Pakistan today ahead of high-stakes talks aimed at ending the war in Iran. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reports. Delegations from Washington and Tehran are set to meet in Islamabad on Saturday with pressure mounting for a breakthrough.

A big goal is to make sure the street of Hormuz is open, but that straight doesn't appear to be fully open right now, even after the ceasefire.

And where things stand there has been really unclear. Trump this week even floated the idea of the U.S. and Iran together charging fees for ships to pass through, though he didn't explain any further how that would work. And that said, though, yesterday on social media, Trump posted that Iran better not be his words charging tankers right now to pass through.

That's NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben reporting.

At least seven ships passed through the straight on Thursday, far below the nearly 140

daily transits.

A federal judge says the Department of Defense has violated his order to restore access for

credentialed reporters at the Pentagon.

The case was brought by the New York Times.

NPR's David Fulkenflick reports the department had removed journalists who refused to agree

not to pursue information that top officials had not cleared for release.

U.S. Judge Paul Friedman started and ended his opinion by stressing the importance of the First Amendment and of a free press.

The rest of it was just as heavy sledding for the Defense Department.

The judge knocked down new rules requiring reporters to work from a remote annex and to be accompanied by an official escort at all times.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the new policy addressed every

element of the judge's prior ruling and that the department would appeal. Ted Butros, the trial

attorney for the New York Times, called the decision both a vindication of the court's authority

and of the First Amendment's protections of independent journalism. David Fulkenflick and PR News.

The Venezuelan government has passed a new law which is likely to open up the country's

mining sector to private and foreign investment.

Katie Silver reports the White House has long supported the move.

In Caracas, the National Assembly, which is controlled by the ruling party,

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