Middle East war; Fed cuts; Markwayne Mullin; Kalshi : NPR
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Today’s best stories
Iran launches series of missile attacks on Israel after confirming the deaths of two senior officialsAli Larijani and Gholamreza Soleimani. The Revolutionary Guards announced today that they had launched several nuclear-tipped missiles targeting the Tel Aviv area. Israel also carried out an attack on central Beirut overnight, killing 10 people. The Israeli military said it aimed to target Hezbollah militants and their facilities.
Volunteers clear debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on Sunday.
Vahid Salemi/AP
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Vahid Salemi/AP
- 🎧 NPR’s Arezou Rezvani reports First that she spent a few hours at the Haji Omeran border post questioning people who left Iran and entered Iraq. During that time, she says one of the most striking things she noticed was how afraid people were about speaking. Rezvani spoke with a woman in her 60s from a border town in Iran who asked to remain anonymous for fear of government reprisals, even outside the country. The woman avoided talking about the war, but told Rezvani she wished airstrikes on her town would kill her, expressing how unbearable her life had become. Iran has been facing an intense internet outage in recent weeks, making it difficult to contact people inside the country. Iranians who have managed to connect to the Internet report seeing a proliferation of checkpoints in their cities and towns, where security forces check their phones for apps used to bypass the outage.
- ➡️ Yesterday, Joe Kent, director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, became the first a senior Trump administration official to resign over the conflict with Iran. Kent is an Army veteran who has completed 11 combat deployments in the Middle East and elsewhere. In his resignation letter, he said he could not “in good conscience” support the war, that Israel had pushed the United States into the conflict with a pressure campaign aimed at “deceiving” Trump, and that Iran “poses no imminent threat to our nation.”
Federal Reserve policymakers prepare to keep benchmark interest rate steady today amid undeniable signs of a labor market slowdown. Meanwhile, the ongoing war in Iran continues to drive up prices. Policymakers find themselves in a difficult situation, balancing the need to encourage hiring with pressure to curb inflation.
- 🎧 The labor market initially seemed to be stabilizingbut that changed when the February jobs report showed a loss of 92,000 jobs. Normally, that might prompt the Fed to lower interest rates to stimulate the economy, but stubbornly high inflation complicates that decision, especially with the energy shock triggered by the war in Iran, says NPR’s Scott Horsley. Today’s Fed vote on interest rates may not be unanimous, just like previous meetings. At the latest meeting, two of the dozen policymakers pushed for a quarter-point rate cut, citing concerns about a weakening labor market rather than rising prices. Today’s vote will reveal whether the Fed’s balance of risks has shifted in light of February’s disappointing jobs report and the recent surge in gasoline prices.
Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma will answer senators’ questions today during his confirmation hearing to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Trump chose Mullin after removing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as head of the agency. The change in leadership follows months of scrutiny from DHS. A wave of immigration enforcement in Minnesota has sparked protests and led to the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal agents. The agency is currently closed as Democrats push for reforms to how immigration agents operate.
Arizona Attorney General Charges Kalshi With Running Illegal Gambling Businessmarking the first criminal charges against the popular prediction market site. Users of the site bet billions of dollars each week on everything from how many rate cuts the U.S. will see this year to what politicians might say in public appearances. State prosecutors say New York-based Kalshi operated without a gaming license, allowing residents to bet on sports and elections without approval from Arizona regulators. Sports gambling is regulated by the Arizona Gaming Commission and betting on elections is illegal in the state.
Deep dive
Colombian President Gustavo Petro (left), Brazilian Federal Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes and Francesca Albanese, United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, have all been sanctioned by the Trump administration.
Oliver Contreras, Evaristo Sa and Bastien Ohier/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
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Oliver Contreras, Evaristo Sa and Bastien Ohier/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
After Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez condemned U.S. attacks on Iran as a violation of international law, Trump tasked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent with responding to the criticism, telling him to “end all relations with Spain.” Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said targeting his country through the Treasury Department would make “no sense” and would harm the entire European Union. Since Trump began his second term, his administration has imposed and lifted Treasury sanctions in ways that deviate from historical norms, according to former State Department officials. Traditionally, the Treasury Department imposes sanctions on individuals who pose a serious threat to the United States and their own countries.
- ➡️ Under Trump, the agency lifted sanctions it previously imposed on people accused of crimes and corruption, despite former U.S. ambassadors citing a lack of clear evidence of a change in behavior.
- ➡️ Sanctioned foreigners may face serious consequences. Their U.S. assets could be frozen, their right to enter the United States or use U.S. financial services could be barred, and U.S. companies could be barred from dealing with them.
- ➡️ Trump’s Treasury Department lifted sanctions on individuals who U.S. ambassadors and senators said did not address the agency’s initial concerns, including Milorad Dodik, the former president of Republika Srpska. The United States had already sanctioned Dodik for “reaching[ing] stability of the Western Balkans region through corruption and threats to long-standing peace agreements. » Dodik has since taken advantage of his renewed access to the United States to meet with a Trump administration official.
Listening of the day
Rebecca Gayheart-Dane speaks on stage at the 16th Annual Chrysalis Butterfly Ball on June 3, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for the Chrysalis Butterfly Ball
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Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for the Chrysalis Butterfly Ball
Actor Eric Dane, who played Dr. Mark Sloan in Grey’s Anatomydied last month at the age of 53. Dane was diagnosed with ALS last April, a disease that attacks the nerves in the brain and spinal cord, robbing a person of their ability to walk, breathe and often speak. His widow, Rebecca Gayheart Dane, told NPR she felt devastated as she saw his voice weaken. It is now partnering with ElevenLabs, an artificial intelligence company creating synthetic voice software. The company developed a program to help people with permanent voice loss, including Eric, recreate their voices. All things considered host Juana Summers interviewed Gayheart Dane about her role as a caregiver to her late husband, how she thinks Eric will be remembered, and her complex feelings about artificial intelligence.
3 things to know before you leave
A U.S. Postal Service worker sorts packages behind a mail truck in Los Angeles in 2020.
Kyle Grillot/AFP via Getty Images
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Kyle Grillot/AFP via Getty Images
- Postmaster General David Steiner told lawmakers this week that the U.S. Postal Service could run out of cash to pay its employees and suppliers within about a year, which could force it to stop deliveries.
- About 3,800 workers at the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colorado, one of the largest in the United States, began a strike Monday, according to union officials. This is the first walkout at a beef slaughterhouse in the United States since the 1980s. (by RCR)
- An extensive review of cannabis studies over the past 45 years found that there is little evidence that the drug helps with anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, or depression.
This newsletter was published by Suzanne Nuyen.
