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Today's top stories
In the last few days, the U.S. military buildup has achieved a critical mass in the Middle East and could be ready to sustain a bombing campaign against Iran. A second aircraft carrier is moving into the Mediterranean and 50 additional fighter jets are arriving. President Trump remains non-committal about using force.
- 🎧 The U.S.' moves exceed what is needed to pressure Iran in nuclear negotiations and appear capable of sustaining a fight for weeks, NPR's Greg Myre tells Up First. Trump hasn't spelled out what he hopes to achieve with these actions. However, he does want Iran to effectively give up its nuclear program and make other concessions. Iran has long resisted these demands. Iran expert Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute tells Myre that Iran predicts that there will be a military conflict with the U.S. that will be bigger than the 12-day war it had last summer with Israel, but not anything like the U.S.' invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Yesterday, at the first-ever Board of Peace meeting, Trump's team unveiled ambitious plans for Gaza's coastline: high-end condos and skyscrapers. The president formed the group to oversee his ceasefire plan in Gaza. Trump announced that member states have pledged $7 billion for the area's reconstruction, and the U.S. would commit $10 billion to the board. Some world leaders are raising concerns that the Board of Peace could upend world order.
- 🎧 Trump is eyeing his Board of Peace as a way to help with numerous global conflicts, not just rebuilding Gaza, NPR's Franco Ordoñez says. Some world leaders are worried this potential narrative could lead to the board rivaling or sidelining the United Nations. The U.N. has provided a platform for smaller nations to have a voice in major international resolutions. Ordoñez says the world leaders are concerned about the world's biggest power and biggest contributor to the U.N. setting up an alternative system.
Authorities released King Charles' brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor yesterday after he spent the day in police custody. Officials are investigating whether the former prince sent sensitive government information to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mountbatten-Windsor is still under investigation. Today, police are searching the homes of the British royals. Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest marks the first time in nearly four centuries a royal has been taken into custody.
- 🎧 The former prince has neither been charged nor exonerated at this time, NPR's Lauren Frayer says. Mountbatten-Windsor is suspected of misconduct in public office, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted. King Charles said yesterday that "law must take its course." Frayer says he might have to distance himself from his brother in an attempt to save the monarchy.
An internal email obtained by NPR reveals a striking divide over the future of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. While Trump publicly outlined a grand revamping of the iconic venue, the leaked plans showcase more modest refurbishments. Earlier this month, the administration announced the center would close to the public starting this summer. The center's closure came after a wave of high-profile cancellations by artists who say the Trump administration had politicized the arts.
Living better
Living Better is a special series about what it takes to stay healthy in America.
Participating in brain training could help you stave off Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia for at least 20 years. A study of older adults who participated in a cognitive exercise experiment in the 1990s, which aimed to increase the brain's processing speed, came to this conclusion. The federally funded study of 2,802 people found that those who completed eight to 10 roughly hour-long cognitive speed training sessions, along with at least one booster session, lowered their risk of a dementia diagnosis over the next two decades by about 25%.
- 🧠 The ACTIVE study includes exercises that boost memory and reasoning skills. Participants in speed training were less likely to be diagnosed with dementia. This is because this form of brain training appears to trigger implicit learning, or the process of acquiring unconscious skills.
- 🧠 An online program called BrainHQ provides the same speed exercises used in the ACTIVE study.
- 🧠 BrainHQ's speed-training exercise challenges users to watch a computer screen. The premise of the exercise is for users to identify the correct vehicle and remember the location of the road sign. As the game progresses, vehicles become harder to tell apart.
Weekend picks
Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:
🍿 Movies: Chris Hemsworth stars as a virtuoso jewel thief in the thriller Crime 101. Mark Ruffalo plays the detective tracking him down.
📺 TV: Three messy longtime friends work together to solve a mystery from their youth in the new part mystery, part comedy series How To Get To Heaven From Belfast.
📚 Books: Michael Pollan's A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness explores consciousness, both personally and technologically.
🎵 Music: Jill Scott's return after a long absence and Brent Faiyaz's attempt at a mid-career pivot offer opposing visions of artistic advancement with their R&B albums, both released the same day.
🎭 Theater: In the new off-Broadway comedy BigFoot! The Musical, the protagonist is really anyone who has ever been othered, co-producer Amber Ruffin tells NPR.
🍽️ Food: Presidents Day might be over, but that doesn't mean you still can't eat like a president. Check out these recipes from the former heads of the U.S. (via WBUR)
3 things to know before you go
- Amazon has dethroned Walmart as the world's biggest company by sales. The two companies reported a difference of around $3 billion in year-end revenue.
- Galen, the famous Greek physician of ancient Rome, wrote a medicinal recipe two millennia ago. Researchers say there's chemical evidence that it contains a blend of human feces and fragrance.
- Work on the Gateway tunnel will resume next week after New York and New Jersey sued the Trump administration to release $205 million in frozen funds allocated for the project. (via Gothamist)
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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