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In the news today: Iran’s fragile two-week ceasefire is already under strain; Pam Bondi won’t appear for a House deposition in the Epstein investigation; and West Virginians feel the pain of rising electricity costs. Also, lovable woodcocks go viral with their strut through New York City.

People inspect the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in Beirut, Lebanon on Thursday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

WORLD NEWS

Iran ceasefire at risk with possible mines in Strait of Hormuz

A tentative ceasefire staggered Thursday under the weight of Israel’s intense bombardment of Beirut, Tehran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, and uncertainty over whether negotiators can find common ground on a range of other differences. Read more.

What to know:

• Iran and the U.S. — which both declared victory in the wake of the ceasefire announcement — appeared to try to pressure each other. Semiofficial news agencies in Iran suggested forces have mined the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for the world’s oil whose closure has proved Tehran’s greatest strategic advantage in the conflict. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, warned that U.S. forces would hit Iran even harder than before if it did not fulfill the agreement.
  
  

• What the agreement means remains in deep dispute. Beyond whether Lebanon is included, there are questions over what will happen to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, how and when normal traffic will resume through the strait, and what happens to Iran’s ability to launch missile attacks in the future.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• What the Iran ceasefire deal means depends on which side you talk to
  
  
• Iran’s proposal to collect tolls in the Strait of Hormuz violates trade norms
  
  
• The world’s most important 21 miles: How the Strait of Hormuz powers a huge part of the global economy
  
  
• WATCH: Search and rescue efforts to find survivors after Israeli strikes kill at least 182 in Lebanon
  
  
• After Trump’s Iran ultimatum and a fragile ceasefire, Iranian Americans brace for what’s next
  
  
• Trump complains NATO ‘wasn’t there when we needed them’ after talks with alliance leader Rutte
  
  
• Trump’s Iran war widens rift with European nationalists once viewed as MAGA allies

POLITICS

Bondi won’t appear for House deposition next week in the Epstein investigation

The Department of Justice has indicated that former Attorney General Pam Bondi will not appear for a scheduled deposition next week before a House committee investigating how the government handled its investigations into Jeffrey Epstein. Read more.

Why this matters:

• Bondi has faced scrutiny for how the Justice Department handled what are known as the Epstein files, and the Republican-led committee subpoenaed her in a bipartisan vote last month. The department’s release of millions of case files on Epstein, the late financier who sexually abused underage girls, contained multiple errors and ran behind a deadline set by Congress.
  
  

• Some Republicans who had joined Democrats to subpoena Bondi said they would insist on having her appear before the committee. GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, who initiated the motion to compel her appearance, said on social media Wednesday that “Bondi cannot escape accountability simply because she no longer holds the office of Attorney General.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• RFK Jr is launching a podcast to expose ‘lies’ that have made Americans sick
  
  
• Appeals court rebuffs Anthropic in latest round of its AI battle with the Trump administration
  
  
• EPA head tells climate skeptics to ‘celebrate vindication’ after repeal of baseline climate rule
  
  
• States are struggling to meet their clean energy goals. Data centers are to blame

US NEWS

Trump promised to cut electric costs in half. Bills in energy-rich West Virginia now top mortgages

President Donald Trump, as part of his campaign pitch to “make America affordable again,” promised to cut Americans’ electricity bills by half during his first year to 18 months in the White House. It hasn’t worked out. Instead, electricity increased 4.8% in February nationwide and piped natural gas prices rose 10.9%, both compared with a year earlier, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index. That surpassed inflation even before the attacks on Iran by the U.S. and Israel sent energy costs ballooning. Read more.

Why this matters:

• Cost concerns are expected to surface during midterms this fall, potentially in states where Republicans have strong support. In West Virginia, all 55 counties voted for Trump in 2024. Thousands of residents have been posting screenshots of their monthly power charges. West Virginians are angry and perplexed over soaring utility costs that are surpassing rents and mortgages in one of the most energy-rich, yet poorest, corners of America, where some families have been forced to choose between paying for food or heat.
  
  

• “Lowering electricity prices is a top priority for President Trump,” said White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers, blaming former President Joe Biden for the problem. “He is aggressively unleashing reliable energy sources like coal and natural gas.”

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

• Photos of this corner of Appalachia struggling with soaring utility costs
  
  
• WATCH: West Virginians share how high living costs affect their lives

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