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Today's top stories
The U.S. has evacuated diplomats across the Middle East and shut down some embassies today as the war with Iran enters its fourth day. The U.S. is telling citizens to evacuate more than a dozen countries. Limited flights out of the Middle East resumed yesterday, but hundreds of thousands of travelers remain stranded at aviation hubs in the region. Israeli warplanes are striking Tehran in Iran and Beirut in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Iranian drones hit the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia. At least six U.S. service members have died in action. Trump said his administration expects the conflict to go on for "four to five weeks, but we have the capability to go far longer than that." The Iranian Red Crescent Society reports at least 555 Iranians have been killed since the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign began on Saturday.
- 🎧 Today, the Israeli military said it is prepared for weeks of war. An official in the region, speaking anonymously, tells NPR's Daniel Estrin that Israel believes it can achieve its war goals in just two weeks. But Estrin says there are mixed messages about those goals. Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News that regime change is the objective. In contrast, U.S. officials yesterday walked back the idea that this war was about regime change.
- 🎧 Trump administration officials briefed top congressional lawmakers yesterday about the war. Congress is set to vote this week on measures that would limit the president's ability to intervene further in Iran without congressional approval. NPR's Barbara Sprunt tells Up First that the lawmakers are expected to vote largely along partisan lines, despite most Americans' disapproval of the war. But Sprunt says there are some outliers. A small number of Republicans plan to curb the president's actions, while some Democrats fear the resolution restricts the flexibility needed for real-time threat response.
- ➡️ The recent conflict between the U.S. and Iran is hardly the first time the two nations have clashed politically and militarily. These are seven key historical points in their relationship since 1953.
- ➡️ The Trump administration's justification for the war is testing the president's "Make America Great Again" voters' ideology on what "America First" truly means.
Today is the last day for voters to cast their ballots in North Carolina and Texas' primaries. The outcomes will help determine control of Congress in the fall and reveal what voters want for the latter half of Trump's second term. Both states have expensive Senate primaries that offer a preview of each party's direction. This is what you need to know.
- 🎧 Because both states redistricted last year, there are even fewer competitive House races than usual. The Senate races are really where the fight is, NPR's Ashley Lopez says.
- ➡️ Keep up with the live primary election results for North Carolina, Texas and Arkansas.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is expected to testify before the Senate today. The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for nearly a month after lawmakers failed to reach a funding deal and agree on changes to how immigration officers operate. Noem is expected to tell Senate Judiciary Committee members about the toll the funding pause has had on Americans, including making air travel more challenging as Transportation Security Administration employees work without pay.
House Republicans have released video of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's depositions regarding the Epstein files. The Cluntons sat for hours last week for separate closed-door testimonies after the committee threatened them with contempt charges. They had both asked for public hearings. During the interrogation, both Clintons denied any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes prior to his pleading guilty in 2008 to state charges in Florida for soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
Deep dive
In the early days of modern electric vehicles, drivers worried that EVs would require expensive battery replacements within a few years. Everyone knows the painful reality of a dying smartphone battery. EV batteries were designed to last longer than smaller, cheaper batteries. Even though batteries come with warranties, the warranties often expire before the car does. If a high-voltage battery fails halfway through a car's life, drivers must replace it, facing a price tag of $5,000 to $20,000. But there's good news. As the EV fleet ages on the road, new data gathered from tens of thousands of vehicles clearly shows that these batteries are lasting longer than anyone expected.
- 🔋 Electric vehicle battery tests underestimated their lifespan because real-world driving is gentler. Unlike testing, driving involves stops and starts. Each start draws the battery's energy down a bit, while each stop allows a slight recharge.
- 🔋 Engineers who developed modern EVs designed systems that actively manage temperature to improve battery lifespan and software to constantly monitor battery health.
- 🔋 EV owners can extend battery life by parking their vehicles in the shade and reducing fast charging. Fast charging is the biggest stressor that can lead to faster-than-usual degradation.
Picture show
Last month, Madison, Wis., hosted its 14th annual Frozen Assets Festival. During the winter months, the city, which was built on a thin strip of land between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, embraces its frozen lakes. People commonly engage in ice fishing, skating, ice sailing and snowshoeing. Historically, people in the area valued ice for other purposes, like ice harvesting. Frozen lakes mattered so much to the city that records of when the ice froze each year go back more than 100 years. Today, people take part in a contest to guess the day Lake Mendota will freeze. Take a look at this year's festival, which features kite flyers, skydivers, ice hockey and the only 5K that takes place solely on ice.
3 things to know before you go
- Tomato clownfish appear capable of adjusting when they lose their stripes, a new PLOS Biology study reveals. The study suggests that young fish may alter their physical appearance to help them find a foothold (or finhold) in the local social hierarchy.
- Yesterday, the Supreme Court intervened in New York's redistricting process, blocking a lower court decision that would likely have flipped a Republican congressional district to a Democratic one.
- This week, the Getty Villa Museum in Los Angeles begins offering a rare look at its ancient Egyptian "Book of the Dead" scrolls. The collection of 19 manuscripts includes one that dates back nearly 3,500 years. (via LAist)
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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