Live from NPR News in New York City, I'm Duahli Sae-Kiao-Tao.
The U.S. Israeli war on Iran is now entering its third week, with the U.S. threatening
“more possible attacks on a Persian Gulf Island, a place where 90% of Iran's crude exports”
are handled and appears Kerry Con has the latest. An official in the region who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly told NPR that Israel is estimating one more week of fighting in Iran. The official said Israel is working on preparing the public here to accept the government's
new line that this will not be a war leading to Iranian leadership change, but a war that puts Israel in a much better security situation. And here is Kerry Con in Tel Aviv. U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces successfully struck 90 Iranian military targets on the Hark Island. Meanwhile Defense Secretary Pete Hex has says the U.S. obliterated Iran's
Navy and is near total control of Iran airspace. A controversial al-Qud today rally in support of Palestinians when ahead in Toronto on Saturday, as done Carpenshek reports, that was after a judge throughout an injunction
“request from the Ontario government to prevent the rally from taking place.”
The judge's decision came Saturday afternoon, less than an hour before the Al-Qud's rally was set to begin. Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government filed an application seeking to block the rally. Ford said he was extremely disappointed with the ruling. On Friday, Ford had said the Al-Qud's day has long been a venue for anti-Semitism, hatred,
intimidation, and the glorification of terrorism. There were some tense moments, especially during a counter-demonstration, but a heavy police presence appear to prevent any major confrontations, at least two people were arrested. A lawyer for the rally, organizers said the injunction application was an absurd attempt to abrogate the rights of freedom of speech in assembly.
For MPR News, I'm Dan Carpenshek, in Toronto. The first train in six years that departed Beijing to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang started running again this week, and Paris Emily Fang reports China State Airline will also begin flights again to North Korea. In 2020, North Korea closed its borders to fend off the then-neese and COVID-19 pandemic.
That shot of access to the Hermit Kingdom, even the neighboring China, which is a close economic and political partner of North Korea's. But this week, trains will run between Beijing and Pyongyang again four times a week in Air China will resume flights to North Korea at the end of March. Both countries are run by autocratic communist rulers.
And North Korea and China have had a close economic, though sometimes politically strained relationship for decades.
The two countries still do about $2 billion worth of trade each year, much of it passing
through the Northern Chinese border town of Thendong separated only by the Yellow River from North Korea, Emily Fang and Pyongyang. This is NPR. A spacecraft, the size of a large box of cereal, should soon start helping to answer a big question, whether there is life on planets outside our solar system, Jopalka reports.
The spacecraft is called Sparks, an acronym for "Star Planet Activity Research Cube Set." Cube sets are a class of tiny inexpensive probes that can still do significant scientific research. Sparks has an ultraviolet telescope that will be used to study solar flares coming from stars that might have planetary systems.
“Understanding those flares is key to understanding whether an orbiting planet might have”
an atmosphere that could sustain life. Sparks was built and is operated at the Arizona State University. It launched in January. Ground controllers have now checked out its instruments and say it's ready to start making scientific measurements.
For NPR News, I'm Jopalka. The Pentagon has outlined new editorial guidance for stars and stripes that independent military newspaper for U.S. service members stationed overseas, but the eight-page memo which now bars some syndicated features bars comics and limits the use of wire services is being criticized as a threat to the first amendment.
The paper's editor-in-chief Eric Slavand told NPR that he's concerned for his staff reporters who could be court-martialed for possible violations of what the defense department might not like. The news so-called modernization changes were released days ago and just weeks after a Pentagon spokesman accused stars and stripes of "woke distractions."
This is NPR News. Kenny Boen just hired a new chef who is very consistent.
So for he never came late, I asked him for overtime he never said no to me.
Does he never complain? Never come to late. That new hire is a robot. Robots are coming for the restaurant industry. What that means for the food we eat, listen to planet money on the NPR app or wherever
