Struggle on Iran; Democrat elections; Minnesota Medicaid : NPR

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As we speak’s high tales

As we speak, the Home is predicted to vote on a measure to constrain President Trump’s authority to wage battle in Iran, at some point after an analogous decision did not advance within the Senate. Senators voted 47-53, largely alongside get together strains. The U.S. and Israel are persevering with to assault Iran because the battle heads into its sixth day. Iran says the U.S. will “bitterly remorse” torpedoing an Iranian warship yesterday off the coast of Sri Lanka. The assault killed a minimum of 87 individuals.

Individuals wave flags in mourning of the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei through the U.S.-Israeli army marketing campaign in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday. The Iranian authorities in the end postponed public mourning rituals for the supreme chief.

Majid Saeedi/Getty Pictures

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Majid Saeedi/Getty Pictures

• 🎧 NPR’s Ruth Sherlock, who’s in Turkey, tells Up First that she has spoken to traumatized Iranians crossing the border. She says everybody was too scared to offer their names as a result of talking to Western media has gotten individuals arrested in Iran. A health care provider described to Sherlock the fear of being engulfed in smoke and witnessing many civilian casualties. Sherlock provides that Iran’s retaliatory strikes aimed toward U.S. army bases and belongings within the Gulf area have crippled these international locations’ economies. Qatar’s prime minister stated yesterday that they like diplomacy, however the aggression “can’t go unanswered.”
• 🎧 A panel of clerics in Iran is deciding who will substitute Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by an airstrike at the beginning of the battle. There are 4 frontrunners into consideration. The main contender is Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah. In line with NPR’s Jackie Northam, Mojtaba can be seen as a established order possibility, however analysts inform her Iran’s present system can’t maintain itself. They are saying that Iran, which has been weakened by battle, protests and a battered financial system, wants to remodel to have legitimacy.
• 🎧 China is sending envoy Zhai Jun to the Center East to assist mediate within the battle, NPR’s Jennifer Pak says. The overseas ministry did not say particularly the place he would go to. Pak says there are two causes China is stepping in: financial pursuits within the area and a diplomatic alternative to behave as a peace seeker. China has not prolonged any army help to Iran up to now. Pak says different international locations might query whether or not it’s strategically worthwhile to associate with China if it is not offering safety safety within the battle.
• ➡️ For the reason that battle started, visitors has slowed down within the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway by which about 20% of the world’s crude oil and pure gasoline passes. Try this animation to see the distinction between Feb. 28 and March 3.
• ➡️ A precision airstrike on an Iranian army complicated on Saturday hit a neighboring elementary faculty on Saturday, killing some 165 individuals, lots of them schoolgirls. An NPR assessment of satellite tv for pc imagery suggests the varsity might have been struck resulting from outdated concentrating on info.

This yr, greater than 80 Gen Z and millennial candidates are difficult or working to succeed Home Democrats 65 and older, in line with a report by Democratic fundraising platform Oath, first obtained by NPR. This marks a large spike from the earlier cycle, which noticed 24 Democratic candidates underneath 50 difficult older incumbents. Whereas veteran politicians sometimes coast to reelection, this yr’s midterms present cracks within the longtime dynamics. Incumbent challengers have historically struggled to lift cash. However this yr, some younger challengers are additionally breaking by on that entrance, in line with an NPR evaluation of marketing campaign finance knowledge.

Minnesota sued the Trump administration this week, accusing the federal authorities of weaponizing Medicaid towards the state as “political punishment.” The dispute facilities round roughly $250 million that the state spent on Medicaid final summer time. The administration is withholding matching funds, citing allegations of fraud. Medicaid is the general public medical insurance program for low-income individuals. It is a state and federal partnership — for each greenback a state spends on Medicaid, the federal authorities matches it. For months, right-wing media and politicians have hammered Minnesota with claims it has fraud-ridden social companies, main the state to publish its personal fraud fact-check web page. Well being coverage consultants say the federal authorities’s actions to withhold and defer funding break with regular fraud-handling precedent.

As we speak’s pay attention

NPR’s 2026 Faculty Podcast Problem finalists’ faculties and universities.

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LA Johnson/NPR

The NPR schooling crew listened to a whole lot of compelling pupil tales from 75 campuses throughout 35 states to pick out the finalists of their fifth annual NPR Faculty Podcast Problem. A pupil’s private narrative about incomes a university diploma whereas elevating a toddler and a glance again on the wealthy sounds of a New York Metropolis neighborhood by the recollections of a recording artist are two of the compelling tales they chose. Within the coming days, the judges will choose the Grand Prize winner from the highest 10 podcasts. Within the meantime, you’ll be able to take heed to the finalists.

If you cannot get sufficient of those pupil podcasts, the crew has additionally chosen a number of honorable mentions.

Deep dive

Prosecutors are anticipated to argue that Stay Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, have engaged in anticompetitive practices that profoundly hurt musicians, venues and ticket consumers.

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NurPhoto/NurPhoto by way of Getty Pictures/NurPhoto

The federal antitrust trial towards Stay Nation, one of many world’s largest leisure firms, started earlier this week. Prosecutors argue that Stay Nation and its subsidiary Ticketmaster use anticompetitive practices that deeply hurt musicians, venues and ticket consumers. The Justice Division filed the lawsuit in 2024, however requires ticketing reform have been rising for years. This trial is the most important authorized motion towards the corporate but, with essentially the most potential to vary the stay leisure trade’s established order. Here is what it’s essential know:

• 🎫 Stay Nation manages greater than 400 artists and owns or controls greater than 265 North American venues. Ticketmaster controls about 80% of main ticketing. The federal government alleges that artists are pressured to make use of Stay Nation and Ticketmaster’s promotional companies to carry out at its venues.
• 🎫 If discovered responsible of violating antitrust legal guidelines, the DOJ may break up Ticketmaster and Stay Nation. The DOJ authorised the merger of the 2 firms in 2010.
• 🎫 If Stay Nation and Ticketmaster separate, followers will seemingly really feel the distinction as a result of a market with extra competitors will exist. A wider array of choices may decrease costs and costs, in line with Brian Berry, govt director of the Ticket Coverage Discussion board.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA – JULY 01: In an aerial view, houses are seen underneath building at a brand new housing improvement on July 01, 2025 in Richmond, California. In line with a report by the U.S. Commerce Division’s Census Bureau, U.S. building spending fell 0.3% in Could as larger mortgage charges and rising stock impacted single-family housing initiatives. (Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Pictures)

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Justin Sullivan/Getty Pictures

1. About 7% of recent single-family homes are actually out there for lease reasonably than sale, which might decrease costs for renters and consumers. Builders accomplished greater than 10 instances as many “build-to-rent” houses within the U.S. in 2024 as a decade earlier.
2. Mifepristone, a medicine used for first-trimester abortion and miscarriage administration, faces a significant authorized problem. The go well with challenges the FDA’s 2023 rule permitting it to be prescribed by telemedicine and mail supply. NPR desires to listen to about your expertise with the drugs.
3. On this week’s Far-Flung Postcard, NPR’s Claire Harbage plunged underwater for an journey in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat islands, a vibrant marine biodiversity hotspot.

This text was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.