"Ly, from NPR News, I'm Lakshmi Singh.
As Israel and the United States continue their offensive in Iran, the World Health Organization
“says, "An estimated 100,000 people have led the Iranian capital to Iran.”
Some people have made their way overlanded Turkey, and Pierre's Ruth Sherlock is at the border crossing." "The people coming out of Iran look gray-faced and pallid from the terror they've experienced this past week. They bring with them stories of airstrikes hitting close to their cars as they journeyed
out of the country of intense bombardments in the cities that they've come from. Many with stories of civilian casualties, saying these airstrikes are landing in dense residential neighbourhoods.
There are also many people going back into Iran.
Scared, of course, they say, to go back into a country at war, but with communications largely down, they need to know if their loved ones are safe.
“And going back is the only way to reach them.”
Ruth Sherlock and Pierre News on the Turkish Iranian border." Amid concerns about the stock of weapons available to the U.S. military, and Pierre's Frank Ordoni as tells his White House officials plan to meet with some of the biggest U.S. defense contractors today. White House officials are expected to press its contractors to accelerate weapons production
as the U.S. expands its war in Iran.
The White House and Pentagon say the U.S. military is already hit more than 2,000 targets.
President Trump says the war may last four to five weeks. And Defense Secretary Pete Heggsett says strikes will accelerate in the coming days. U.S. officials who were not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that they're concerned about a lack of missile interceptors and may have to draw from other stockpiles. The Pentagon, though, has pushed back saying they have sufficient precision munitions.
And that once they gain more control of Iranian airspace, they'll be able to rely on less sophisticated weapons, Franco, Ordoniaz, NPR News. A public memorial service for the late Reverend Jesse Jackson is under Wayne Chicago this hour. He died last month at the age of 84.
Here's NPR's Jason D. Rose. It still does Reverend Jackson's homegoing, and kicked off with a rousing him honoring the civil rights leader. And made by the legacy mass choir. Speakers at this service include three former presidents, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and
Bill Clinton, along with former vice president Kamala Harris, as well as Christian Jewish and Muslim leaders from across the country. A smaller private memorial service takes place Saturday, Reverend Jackson will be laid to rest at the historic Oakwood Cemetery in Chicago, Jason D. Rose and PR News. This is NPR.
Spending at stores and restaurants declined about two tenths of a percent in January.
“It's a key economic measure of retail sales tracked by the Commerce Department, showing”
spending was essentially flat for two months straight and PR's Alina Seljuke has to tails. Retail sales data continues to be more than a month behind because of the historic government shut down late last year. So looking at January data, it's showing that spending dipped slightly compared to December.
That's not too uncommon as shoppers often feel less spending the month after the holidays. Sales dropped six percent at department stores. People also spent notably less on autos and auto parts and at gas stations as gas prices took down in January compared to a year before spending in January was up three and a half percent.
This data came as the labor department separately reported an unexpected loss of jobs in February, continuing to show a volatile and uncertain labor market, Alina Seljuke and PR News Washington. About two dozen states are legally challenging President Trump's latest global tariffs, Democratic attorneys general leading the suit, alleged Trump is overstepping his authority. The tariffs are a central part of President Trump's economic agenda and he argues a
levees a restore protections U.S. industry's loss under previous trade agreements. However, the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down Trump's tariffs policy under an emergency power's law. The President then imposed duties under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. The doubt is down nearly 550 points or more than 1% its NPR News.
