The topic Iran reviews U.S. proposal. And, Rubio to meet Pope Leo after Trump’s criticism is drawing steady attention: readers, analysts, and industry watchers are all tracking how the story may unfold in the days ahead.
This is taking place in a fast-moving context — product cycles, platform shifts, and competitive moves can reshape the outlook quickly, so the details below are worth a careful read.
What follows is a clear walkthrough of the main facts and angles you need to make sense of the news.
Iran is evaluating the Trump administration’s latest proposal to end the war, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said yesterday. President Trump says the U.S. is on the verge of a deal, and the Iranians are desperate to make one. But there has not yet been a definitive Iranian response to the U.S. proposal.
A container ship sits at anchor as a small motorboat passes in the foreground in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, on May 2.
Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP
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Big oil companies are beginning to report their quarterly earnings, which show they have been significantly affected by the war in Iran and its impact on oil prices. The U.S. intervention in Venezuela has also played a major role. So far, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Chevron have shared their reports, with more companies set to follow.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican today. His visit comes after weeks of attacks from Trump against the first American pope. Leo has strongly criticized the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran, advocated for diplomacy and warned against the use of force. Last month, Trump labeled Pope Leo as “weak” and “terrible on foreign policy.” On Monday, Trump said that the pope was “endangering a lot of Catholics” by opposing the war.
Campaign staffers are making thousands of dollars by betting on their own candidate on prediction markets using private polling data. A campaign staffer, speaking on the condition of anonymity out of fear for their future employment, told NPR they doubted the results of an unreleased poll showing their candidate up by a lot in a tight race. The staffer knew the poll would shake up the prediction markets and that it didn’t align with the campaign’s internal numbers. The staffer and others started making bets before the poll came out. The staffer’s bet was verified by prediction market data reviewed by NPR. In recent weeks, the popular prediction market Kalshi has banned and fined several political candidates for placing bets on themselves. These wagers raise concerns about how campaign operatives might exploit private information for quick financial gain amid an unsettled legal landscape.
The Mariachi Brothers Antonio, Joshua, and Caleb Gámez-Cuéllar stand in front of Gruene Hall ahead of their performance as an opening act for country singer Kacey Musgraves in New Braunfels, Texas on May 4, 2026. The three brothers were recently detained by ICE along with their parents and held for 13 days at the detention center in Dilley, Texas.
Brenda Bazán for NPR
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Mariachi brothers Antonio, Caleb and Joshua Gámez-Cuéllar are living a dream shared by five generations of their musical family. But their journey to this point wasn’t smooth. Federal immigration authorities detained the young brothers and their parents earlier this year after a required check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They were released following bipartisan outcry from Texas politicians. The family came to the U.S. from Mexico in 2023 through a Biden-era program called CBP One, which allowed them to remain legally in the U.S. while their asylum claims were considered. Now, as they wait for a new immigration court date, the brothers have opened for eight-time Grammy Award winner Kacey Musgraves. The country singer heard about their story and invited them on the Texas leg of her Middle of Nowhere tour. Listen to snippets of the trio’s performance and read more about their story.
Setting low-grade fires, known as prescribed burns, can help clear out overgrown brush and dead material that fuels more extreme wildfires. In 2025, controlled burning fell by almost half under the Trump administration.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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The U.S. Forest Service is entering this year’s fire season with significantly less work completed than in previous years to manage the dry, flammable vegetation that can lead to catastrophic fires. Last year, the Forest Service reduced vegetation on almost 1.5 million fewer acres than in 2024, according to the data an analysis of the agency’s data by NPR and firefighting experts. This is a significant decrease from more than 4 million acres of hazardous vegetation work completed during the last year of the Biden administration. As conditions have grown hotter, the buildup of dense vegetation has fueled extreme fires that have torn through vast stretches of land. The Forest Service lost 16% of its workforce as of last summer as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the government’s size.
On June 1, 1980, Ted Turner launched CNN at a converted Jewish country club in Atlanta.
Rick Diamond/Getty Images/Archive Photos
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