Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Hurst.

President Trump canceled plans to send negotiators to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran today

after Iranian foreign minister Abbasaragchi, who was in Islamabad for talks with Russia,

Oman, and senior Pakistani leaders left the city.

And here's Katlansdorf has been following the talks from Beirut, Lebanon.

She says it appears that Iran and the U.S. are at an impasse.

Neither side seems to be budging. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said yesterday that the U.S.

will maintain the blockade around the street for, quote, as long as it takes.

The U.S. says it's intercepting any ships coming to or from

Iranian ports, more than 30 so far. You know, that's as Iran has maintained its military control

of the strait itself, keeping most commercial ships from passing through. So basically,

most ships are stuck. And Pierce Kat-Lonsdorf reporting. Municipal voting was held in occupied West Bank

under tight control of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. And Pierce-Eleaner Beardsley reports

voter turnout is expected to be low for several reasons. One of the reasons is the difficulty

of movement across the West Bank where Israeli military occupation and daily violence

by Jewish settlers makes voting difficult, if not dangerous. The UN Office for the Coordination

of Humanitarian Affairs documented 925 checkpoints, barriers, or roadblocks that prevent or restrict

the movement of 3.4 million Palestinians, including in East Jerusalem.

The second reason is there's only one party on the ballot. The official aim was to bar Hamas,

but Fatah, led by 90-year-old Mahmoud Abbas, is accused of corruption and authoritarianism.

Elected in 2005, Abbas has blocked opposition at a time when he's never been so widely rejected.

The last general elections won by Hamas date back to 2006.

...