Israel and Iran Drawdown and More

In our lead story today, we return to the Middle East, where after a week of ratcheting tensions, mutual escalation, the nations of Israel and Iran have settled back into a bitter standoff.

It's not good news exactly, but it's an entirely welcome development after the better part of a month spent on the precipice of outright war between two of the region's most powerful players. In the morning hours, local time, of Friday the 19th of April, the Iranian city of Isfahan went on high alert.

At first, both would inside Iran and across the globe was vague on the threat, indicating only that something was happening to demand a military response. Flights were diverted across Iranian airspace, Iranian air defense batteries fired in several provinces, and Iranians on the grounds, in and around Isfahan reported hearing explosions.