War on Iran; NY protest attack suspects; Epstein : NPR

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Today’s top stories

President Trump said yesterday that the U.S. has begun striking Iran’s drone facilities and locations where Iranian missiles are made and delivered. Trump provided this update at a press conference where he answered reporters’ questions for the first time since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. The president gave contradictory messaging throughout the day, sometimes suggesting the war’s end was near and other times that it was not.

• 🎧 Rather than discuss unconditional surrender or regime change, Trump compared the situation in Iran to Venezuela, where the regime stays in place, but the leader changes, NPR’s Mara Liasson tells Up First. But Liasson says Iran is very different from Venezuela, which is a small, weak country in the U.S.’ backyard. She adds that the president didn’t give answers when pressed about whether not pushing for regime change meant he was betraying his promise to give Iranians their freedom. Iran’s biggest objective is currently survival, Liasson says. They want to make it uncomfortable for the U.S and Israel to continue the war. Iran wants the price of staying in the region to be high, and Liasson says this means they want to keep gas prices high. With U.S. oil prices nearing $4 per gallon, continuing the war could become increasingly more challenging for Trump.
• 🎧 Iranian health officials report that the U.S. and Israeli campaign has killed 1,200, while Lebanese authorities count 500 deaths. In Lebanon, President Joseph Aoun is pushing for direct negotiations with Israel and an end to the bombings, NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi says. Aoun is seeking international support to equip the Lebanese Armed Forces in their efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. Last week, Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into this war after it launched rockets into Israel. An Israeli official, speaking anonymously, told NPR that Israel views the Lebanese government’s approach to Hezbollah positively, but the war will continue.

Federal authorities have charged two Pennsylvania men, Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, with terrorism related crimes. The charges come after an attempted bomb attack during an anti-Muslim protest this weekend outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s official residence. Balat and Kayumi allegedly targeted the right-wing protesters with explosives. Federal investigators say the suspects were motivated by ISIS, a group that radicalizes young Muslim men globally.

• 🎧 Balat and Kayumi started talking to authorities after their arrest and allegedly waived their Miranda rights, according to court documents filed yesterday. The documents say the two men told police that they watched ISIS material on their phones. Balat reportedly wrote that he had “pledged allegiance to the Islamic state” and expressed a desire to execute an attack “bigger than the Boston Marathon bombing” that killed three in 2013, according to NPR’s Brian Mann. Police believe the men’s alleged actions are part of the Islamic State’s pattern of mobilizing young Muslim men using social media.

A new lawsuit filed yesterday accuses the Trump administration of violating the First Amendment by threatening to deny visas or deport noncitizens who work on or research social media platforms, fact-checking or other activities the government deems “censorship” of American speech. The suit alleges that these noncitizen academics and independent researchers are living in “pervasive fear” of immigration enforcement, which has “chilling effects” on their work. It argues that the administration’s actions amount to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.

As with politics and the arts, the fallout from the Epstein files release has been dramatic in the science world. NPR interviewed scientists and reviewed Department of Justice documents on the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to uncover how he established a network of prominent scientists. Epstein showed interest in theoretical physics, evolutionary biology and computer science. He funded conferences, research programs and individual researchers. A 2006 conference for physicists in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which included a trip to Epstein’s private island, illustrates how he used philanthropy to build relationships with scientists and academic institutions.

Deep dive

Protesters hold signs saying “COUNT ME IN” at a 2019 rally against the Trump administration’s push for a census citizenship question outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

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Win McNamee/Getty Images

A potential new front in the redistricting battle may focus on who is counted for state legislative districts. For decades, mapmakers have based district boundaries on each area’s total population. Some Republican officials are now advocating for counting only “eligible voters.” Some advocates for this form of redistricting interpret this to mean excluding non-U.S. citizens and children. This change would likely shift political influence from younger, more diverse urban areas to older, whiter rural areas. While Republicans might gain more than Democrats from this approach, a study suggests the overall impact on the balance of power in state legislatures may be minimal.

• 🗳️ The Census Bureau would need to add a question about U.S. citizenship and/or immigration status to the forms or resurrect a citizenship data project from the first Trump administration to produce this narrower population count.
• 🗳️ Trump’s first administration attempted to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census and failed. The effort led to the release of a 2015 report by a Republican redistricting strategist, which stated that redrawing state legislative districts based on adult citizens “would be advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites.”
• 🗳️ A 2021 study showed that adult citizen-based redistricting would reduce the number of legislative districts where Black or Latino voters can elect their preferred candidate in racially polarized areas. The most notable drops would likely be in Arizona, Florida, New York and Texas.

Life advice

Photo illustration by Becky Harlan/NPR

The chaos of the day can make it harder for you to fall asleep. To create a relaxing bedtime environment, consider adopting a pre-bedtime ritual, says Allison Harvey, a professor and clinical psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley. On Life Kit, sleep specialists shared evidence-based strategies to incorporate into your wind-down routine for a better night’s sleep.

• 🛏️ In the evening, turn off the overhead lights in the living room and bedroom and use dimmable lamps or ones that let you keep the lighting minimal.
• 🛏️ At bedtime, turn off your lights, including lamps. Light can disrupt your sleep even with your eyes closed.
• 🛏️ Shower or bathe before bed. Moving from a warm environment to a cool room can promote sleep. You can also turn down your thermostat.
• 🛏️ Evaluate your nighttime activities. If they are not soothing, change them up. Try small acts like hugging your partner or child.

For more tips on how to improve your sleep, sign up for Life Kit’s Guide to Better Sleep, a one-week email series. Subscribe to the Life Kit newsletter for expert advice on love, money, relationships and more.

3 things to know before you go

A lawsuit filed by the Justice Department, the District of Columbia and 39 states in 2024 accused Live Nation and Ticketmaster of unfairly wielding their power over concert promotion, artist management, venue operations and ticketing services to shut out competitors.

NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images/NurPhoto

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NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images/NurPhoto

1. The Department of Justice and Live Nation have reached a tentative settlement over a federal lawsuit accusing the company of monopolizing the live entertainment industry. The court will receive the settlement for final approval.
2. After becoming the first American to win gold in women’s single figure skating at the Olympics since 2002, Alysa Liu has begun to influence a new wave of alternative hairstyles.
3. A recent study in Biology Letters found that chimpanzees consume a fair amount of alcohol when they eat ripe, fermenting fruit. The findings may tell us something about human evolution.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.