Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Amy Held.
16 days into the widening war in the Middle East, some 1,200 civilians have been killed in Iran, according to authorities there, 13 U.S. service members have lost their lives.
The White House says the war has cost $12 billion so far.
The price of oil rising to a three and a half year high.
“President Trump is calling on nations to protect the straight-up or moves a key passage”
way for oil supply. NPR's Anthony Cune reports from Seoul that's causing a dilemma for U.S. allies, Japan, and South Korea. South Korea's presidential office, as it will carefully consider how to respond to President Trump's request without elaborating.
Trump's request will likely top the agenda as Japan's Prime Minister, Sunai Takaychi, visits the White House on Thursday. Japan's laws strictly limit overseas military deployments, and Tokyo has suggested that operations in the straight-of-hormous might not pass legal muster.
The U.S. has strained its alliances with both Seoul and Tokyo by asking both to help
the U.S. counter-China. The U.S. has also triggered local concerns by reportedly withdrawing Marines from Japan and missile defense batteries from South Korea to send to the Middle East, although neither
“has been officially confirmed by the U.S. Anthony Cune in PR News Seoul.”
Lebanon's president is proposing ceasefire talks with Israel, but Israel was not publicly weighing in. It has term reports from Tel Aviv. Speaking with reporters at the side of an Iranian missile strike in North and Israel, foreign minister Gidon Tsar would not comment on the reports.
But the person familiar with the matter not authorized to speak publicly, tells NPR that "Rondermer, a confident of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been appointed to lead potential negotiations with Lebanon." This comes after a weekend of heavy rocket fire from Lisbale Tower north and Israel. Israel has responded with large-scale air strikes across Lebanon, and officials say they
are not ruling out an Israeli ground campaign in Lebanon. Lebanon's authorities say the fighting has displaced around 800,000 people, for NPR news and the United States turn in Tel Aviv. The war is unpopular among U.S. voters, the latest NPR-PBS mayor's poll showing 56% do not approve of military action in Iran, and that includes some in the president's
own base. NPR's Danielle Kurtz-Lavin reports Trump appears worried about perception of U.S. actions. President Trump has been angrily criticizing press coverage of the war. In one social media post he said the news media quote "actually wants us to lose the war." So then yesterday, when FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened the licenses of broadcasters
running as he put it, hoaxes, and news distortions. It was easy to connect that to the president's anger at war coverage. Watched our groups say such a move revoking a broadcast license would violate free speech and censorship laws. This is NPR news.
In Budapest today, supporters of rival candidates to lead the country took to the streets ahead of next month's selection. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban faces an unprecedented challenge to his 16-year rule by opposition candidate Peter Majar. The lizard warnings blanketing the central U.S. much of Iowa, Minnesota Wisconsin and Michigan
dealing with heavy snow and high winds, but to the southwest and early heat wave is worsening.
Most of Texas and New Mexico are under red flag warnings for critical fire danger.
meantime, a cold front is sweeping eastward, bringing the chance of severe weather to parts of the mid-Atlantic by tomorrow, and that includes tornado risk. The night is the 98th annual Academy Awards, Steve Futterman reports two films have a strong chance to win the top prize, best film. Throughout the Hollywood award season, two films have stood out repeatedly capturing
the top awards. And the winner is one battle after another, which tells the sometimes quirky story of a group of revolutionary immigrants trying to stay in the U.S. and thinner. Sinners, which depicts supernatural events in the 1930s, Black South. One battle after another is the favorite, but Sinners has seen a surge in support in recent
weeks. The store of Sinners Michael B. Jordan is the favorite to win best actor, while Jesse Buckley is the overwhelming favorite to win best actress for her portrayal of Shakespeare's wife and Hamlet. This is NPR News.
“How could your favorite NPR podcast get any better?”
What if it had bonus features such as extended interviews and zero sponsor breaks? There is a remarkably easy way to turn that fantasy into reality, it's called NPR Plus. It gets perks across more than 25 NPR podcasts while supporting the teams that make them. It's great podcasts even greater by visiting plus.npr.org.
