Iran rejects U.S. peace plan. And, jury finds Meta, Google to blame in addiction trial

## Summary
LISTEN & FOLLOW NPR App Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music iHeart Radio YouTube Music RSS link Iran rejects U.S. peace plan. And, jury finds Meta, Google to blame in addiction trial March 26, 2026 7:16 AM ET By Brittney Melton Iran Rejects US Peace Proposal, Troop Deployment, Social Media Trial Listen · 13:25 13:25 Toggle more options Download Embed Embed < iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/g-s1-115289/nx-s1-mx-5761456-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Good morning. Majid Saeedi/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Majid Saeedi/Getty Images 🎧 While the U.S. and Iran have made their demands known , Israel wants to keep fighting , NPR's Daniel Estrin tells Up First . Megan Varner/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Megan Varner/Getty Images I have never traveled with the goal of standing in airport security lines.

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Iran rejects U.S. peace plan. And, jury finds Meta, Google to blame in addiction trial
March 26, 2026
7:16 AM ET
By
Brittney Melton
Iran Rejects US Peace Proposal, Troop Deployment, Social Media Trial
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13:25
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Today's top stories
The Iranian government rejected President Trump's proposal to end the war.
In the 15-point proposal, the U.S. offered sanctions relief in exchange for Iran ending its nuclear program. Iran
vowed to continue fighting
until a list of its own conditions are met. Iran's demands include war reparation payments and recognition of Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.
A woman looks out from her destroyed apartment in the remains of a residential and commercial building in the Shahrak-e Gharb neighborhood of Tehran, Iran, on March 21. The building was hit on March 16 amid U.S. and Israeli attacks and resulted in several deaths.
Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
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Majid Saeedi/Getty Images
🎧
While the U.S. and Iran have made their demands known
, Israel
wants to keep fighting
, NPR's Daniel Estrin tells
Up First
. Two military officials informed Estrin that Israel hopes to continue fighting Iran for several more weeks. A person briefed on the operation informed NPR that the Israeli military is
ramping up its targeting on Iran
over the next 48 hours, focusing on hitting Iran's arms factories. One of Iran's ceasefire conditions is for Israel to stop attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, a demand that Israel doesn't want to meet.
🎧
Trump is weighing whether to seize Kharg Island
, which is considered essential to the Iranian economy due to more than 90% of the country's oil exports funneling through it. The Pentagon ordered thousands of paratroopers and Marines to the Middle East, making a U.S. attempt to take the island increasingly likely, according to NPR's Jackie Northam. Northam spoke with Caitlin Talmadge, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who focuses on U.S. military strategy and operations in the Persian Gulf. Talmadge says it's
unclear why Iran would buckle
to pressure over Kharg Island when it has already withstood a large-scale bombing campaign for the past month.
A California jury yesterday found Meta and Google negligent in a social media case.
The jury determined that the tech giants were responsible for a woman's depression and anxiety, stemming from her early compulsive social media use. The jurors concluded that the woman, known only as Kaley, should be
awarded with $6 million
, making for a rare verdict holding Silicon Valley accountable for its role in fueling a youth mental health crisis. The verdict included $3 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages, with Meta responsible for 70% of the total.
🎧
Suing tech companies has been challenging for decades due to Section 230
, a federal law that protects their content. However, this trial took a different approach by focusing on features of Google's YouTube and Meta's Instagram and Facebook, such as the algorithms, infinite scroll and beauty filters, NPR's Bobby Allyn says. Kaley told jurors the features kept her glued to her phone and led her down some dark paths. Her lawyers argued that the apps should be seen as defective products that contributed to Kaley's mental health struggles. In a separate case, a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for failing to protect kids from online predators. While this amount won't collapse the $1.5 trillion company, critics say it could signal a
turning point for Silicon Valley
, suggesting that more legal challenges may follow.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is again searching for a new leader
, as yesterday
marked 210 days since
the last CDC director, Susan Monarez, was ousted. That time period is the limit for how long someone can serve as acting director under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. The rule is intended to prevent a president from bypassing the Senate confirmation process for positions that require it. The Trump administration plans to have Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who became acting director in February, continue managing the CDC without the official title.
Behind the story
by
Milton Guevara
,
Morning Edition
producer
Travelers move through the South TSA checkpoint at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on March 25, 2026, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Megan Varner/Getty Images
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Megan Varner/Getty Images
I have never traveled with the goal of standing in airp

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
- Talmadge says it's unclear why Iran would buckle to pressure over Kharg Island when it has already withstood a large-scale bombing campaign for the past month.

### Implications
- The jurors concluded that the woman, known only as Kaley, should be awarded with $6 million , making for a rare verdict holding Silicon Valley accountable for its role in fueling a youth mental health crisis.
- Her lawyers argued that the apps should be seen as defective products that contributed to Kaley's mental health struggles.
- While this amount won't collapse the $1.5 trillion company, critics say it could signal a turning point for Silicon Valley , suggesting that more legal challenges may follow.
- That time period is the limit for how long someone can serve as acting director under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers iran, lines, npr topics. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1378.