Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dave Maddock-Lay.
President Trump says U.S. and Israeli air strikes against Iran are nearing completion
“little more than a month after they began.”
Speaking from the White House last night, Trump said Iran will be hit extremely hard over the next two to three weeks as the U.S. completes its military objectives. Trump added more strikes could be necessary in the future to deal with Iran's nuclear capabilities. Regarding Iran having largely blocked commercial ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz,
Trump called on other countries to take action. The countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage. They must cherish it. They must grab it and cherish it.
They can do it easily. We will be helpful, but they should take the lead and protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on.
Trump spoke for about 20 minutes in his first formal address to the American public sense
operation Epic Fury began. Bahrain has taken over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council and is pushing for a resolution that calls on Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz. NPR's Michelle Kelleman says Bahrain watered down the language in the draft to try to get it through.
Bahrain's ambassador, Jamal Faris O'awaii, says his country cannot accept what he calls "economic terrorism."
“That's how he describes Iran's moves to shut down the Strait of Hormuz in response”
to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. He says it is of "paramount" importance for the Security Council to vote on a draft resolution to protect commercial shipping. As he took over the UN Security Council presidency, the Bahrain ambassador blasted Iran for continuing to launch drones and missiles at Gulf countries despite a security council
resolution that he sponsored last month that called on Iran to stop such attacks. Michelle Kelleman and P.R. News, the State Department. NASA says the Artemis-2 moon mission is proceeding as scheduled following yesterday's launch of four astronauts from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NPR's NL Greenfield Voice was there for lift off.
The rocket is just arcing up into the sky, there's a tremendous noise and just a bright, right star like freaking star in the sky as it goes up and up the sound was like physical.
“You could feel your body shaking and there's a long, straight cloud, white cloud coming”
down from the rocket which is still very visible, high up in the blue sky, there's
four astronauts on board and it's amazing to think that they're on top of this thing and
they're just going up and up and up and up and we can still hear it. It's like a very loud, flag-flaping sound and all eyes are on this thing. That's NPR's NL Greenfield Voice. The astronauts will travel around the moon and back on a mission lasting about 10 days. This is NPR News from Washington.
A medical examiner in New York State says the February death of a 56-year-old visually impaired Rohingya refugee in Buffalo was a homicide. The man had been dropped off at a donut shop by U.S. border patrol agents and sub-freezing temperatures. Ryan Zoner with Buffalo Toronto Public Media reports on the rule, I mean, Shah Alam.
Health officials say Alam died on a cold downtown street in February of a ruptured ulcer which developed from hypothermia and dehydration. The county's health commissioner notes the homicide definition includes negligence or inaction, not intent. The homicide ruling has hit Alam's Rohingya community in Buffalo hard.
They are a stateless ethnic group who have faced atrocities in Myanmar for decades. Community organizer Imran Faisal says his people fled Southeast Asia to escape danger. "There must be accountability and the justice must be served to honor his life. The strategy has created deep fear within our community." The eerie county district attorney says they are "committed to seeking the truth and upholding
justice." For NPR News, I'm Ryan Zoner in Buffalo. Damage and at least one death are being reported in northern Indonesia after a strong earthquake struck their earlier today. The undersea quake had a magnitude of 7.4, it toppled buildings and sent people fleeing from
their homes. All street is coming off a positive day for stocks that now added 224 points yesterday, the S&P gained 46, the NASDAQ closed up more than 1%. I'm Dave Madingly in Washington.
