"Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Skivone.
Iran's media is reporting that the U.S. and Israel have begun striking its Natan's nuclear
enrichment facility in the central part of that country. At the same time, thousands of U.S. Marines are being deployed to the region. The U.K. has accused Iran of recklessly lashing out after to emerge that two ballistic missiles
“were fired at an important base used by British and American forces in the Indian Ocean.”
The missiles failed to reach Diego Garcia at the island as nearly 4,000 kilometers from Iran. John McDonald, as a member of Parliament for the British Labor Party, he spoke to the BBC." "The problem with these wars is that it is those small steps that eventually get you onto an escalator into a serious conflict.
And that's what I'm worried about. And for me, what's happening is that decisions have been taken by Trump and Netanyahu, which we're not part of. And as a result of that, they then expect us almost automatically to back them up."
Meanwhile, the spring equinox, the first day of spring, has arrived in Iraq, Iran, and other
countries. This is an important cultural celebration.
“NPR's Jain Iraq was in the Kurdistan region of Iraq in the ancient town of Okre, where”
the annual fireworks dancing and fire, marked Kurdish resilience and renewal. It's pouring rain here, but there are hundreds and hundreds of people carrying lit torches and making their way up the mountain. This celebration marks the first day of spring, but it also references mythology in which the tyrant was defeated.
And the flames are a symbol of the victory of light over darkness. It's a tradition that's much, much older than the countries in which it's celebrated. And more than anything, as war rages around the region, it's a symbol of the endurance here of Kurdish identity. Jain Iraq and PR-news, Akre, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
The Republican elections bill now being considered by Congress doesn't appear likely to pass, but as NPR's Miles Park reports, Republican controlled states are passing their own bills.
“Republican lawmakers have worried about non-citizen voting for years, but the issue is taken”
on new urgency, with President Trump's claims ahead of the 2024 election that non-citizens would vote in mass to influence that race. There's no evidence that happened or has ever happened in American elections for that matter, but states are still passing new restrictions to protect against the possibility. Bills with new voting requirements have now passed or are about to pass in Florida, South
Dakota, and Utah, and similar laws passed in recent years in Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming, according to the Voting Rights Lab, which tracks election policy. Miles Parks and PR News, Washington. This is NPR News. A federal judge in Oregon ruled against health and human services secretary Robert F. Kennedy
Jr. this week in a case about gender-affirming care for youth. NPR Solina Simmons' Duffin reports add issue, as a declaration that Kennedy signed in December. The declaration stated that treatments for transgender youth, like hormones, puberty blockers, and rarely surgery, are unsafe and ineffective and failed to meet quote standards of healthcare.
That contradicts the position of major medical groups. A group of democratic state attorneys general sued, arguing that Kennedy can't unalad really change medical standards. On Thursday, a federal judge in Oregon ruled against Kennedy. The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to NPR's query.
Kennedy also proposed that all Medicare and Medicaid funding could be withheld from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to youth. Many hospitals have already shuddered their programs. Solina Simmons' Duffin and PR News.
Vacuation warnings are up across the Hawaiian Islands as a second powerful storm dumps
heavy rain, north of Honolulu rising waters, behind the 120-year-old, while Hewad Dam are raising alarms that the dam might fail. Hawaii's governor urges residents to seek safety. After nearly a century of operations, CBS News is shutting down its radio division. Dozens of people will be part of the company's overall layoffs decision starting in May.
In 1927, CBS Radio News was the precursor of the entire CBS News operation as a currently exists. I'm Louise Skivone and PR News, Washington.
