Iran-U.S. talks; Larry Summers; Cuba gunfight : NPR

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Right this moment’s high tales

Officers from the U.S. and Iran are set to satisfy right this moment in Geneva to debate Tehran’s nuclear program in what seems to be the final alternative to keep away from warfare. The event comes after President Trump claimed, with out offering proof, in his State of the Union handle that Iran was growing missiles that would attain the U.S. The U.S. army buildup within the Center East is presently at its highest stage for the reason that U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003.

• 🎧 The U.S.’ threats towards Iran and the potential for Iranian retaliation have raised the danger of a wider warfare, placing all the area on excessive alert, NPR’s Jane Arraf tells Up First. Forward of the 2 nations’ assembly, Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi mentioned that there’s a foundation for an settlement with the U.S. on the nuclear concern, however made it clear that ballistic missiles are off the desk. Arraf says no breakthroughs are anticipated right this moment; nevertheless, scheduling extra talks would sign progress. In the meantime, a number of nations within the Center East, resembling Lebanon, are advising residents to go away whereas they nonetheless can due to the danger of the battle widening if Iran is attacked.

Distinguished Harvard professor and economist Larry Summers introduced his resignation from instructing later this 12 months. His assertion comes after a brand new revelation about Summers’ relationship with the late convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein. Summers is one in all Harvard’s most well-known figures, serving as its president for 5 years beginning in 2001. He was additionally Treasury secretary below President Invoice Clinton. Harvard continues to analyze Summers and others for his or her ties to Epstein.

• 🎧 Summers maintained communication with the late financier even after Epstein’s first conviction in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution, Suevon Lee from NPR’s community station WBUR says. The professor’s private correspondence with Epstein continued till 2019, shortly earlier than Epstein’s arrest on federal expenses of intercourse trafficking minors. Summers hasn’t confronted any felony accusations, however the emails reveal his closeness to Epstein, Lee says. Lee says that some workers members have applauded Harvard’s choice to reopen investigations into Epstein’s ties to professors for the reason that emails got here to gentle in November. Harvard is just not the one tutorial establishment with ties to Epstein. Lee says among the many names within the Epstein recordsdata are at the least a handful of professors and one school president.

Cuban border troops engaged in a gunfight late Wednesday with a ship registered in Florida, in response to Cuban officers. The federal government says troopers killed 4 folks on board the boat, and 6 others had been injured. Cuba says the boat was carrying “terrorists making an attempt to infiltrate the island.” Officers recovered assault rifles, handguns and Molotov cocktails from the vessel, in response to Cuba’s inside ministry.

• 🎧 The federal government confirms that the lads on the boat had been recognized to them. They had been Cubans residing within the U.S., and the Cuban authorities had designated a few of them as terrorists, NPR’s Eyder Peralta says. Amijail Sanchez Gonzalez, who runs Auto Defensa del Pueblo, or the folks’s self-defense group, is likely one of the survivors, in response to the Cuban authorities. Gonzalez’s buddy Kiki Naranjo instructed Peralta that they run the group and have been recruiting Cubans from the island over the previous few years to construct a clandestine society to sabotage the Cuban authorities from the within. Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned the U.S. would examine the matter, however would not leap to any conclusions. Michael Bustamante, who research Cuba on the College of Miami, tells Peralta that he believes the Trump administration desires to escalate issues with Cuba past some extent, however doing so may result in mass migration or regime change, triggering a U.S. army intervention that Trump would not need.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers won’t patrol polling places throughout this 12 months’s midterm elections, a Division of Homeland Safety official mentioned yesterday on a name with high state voting officers. Kentucky Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams confirmed the promise in a social media submit. The declaration comes because the president has continued to push false claims of noncitizen voter fraud, as not too long ago as in Tuesday evening’s State of the Union handle.

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Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt leads Oklahoma, a state that gave Trump 66% of its vote in 2024. Stitt has publicly diverged from the president a number of instances this 12 months. Most elected Republicans keep away from direct criticism of the president, voting for his insurance policies even when they could disagree with them. Stitt has made his disagreements clear, notably difficult Trump’s dedication to take away everybody with out authorized standing from the U.S. For his half, Trump has described Stitt as a “wiseguy” on social media, amongst different issues. On the sidelines of the Nationwide Governors Affiliation assembly in Washington, D.C., Stitt mentioned his imaginative and prescient for the Republican social gathering’s post-Trump future and extra with Morning Version host Steve Inskeep.

Hearken to the interview, learn the article about their dialogue and watch the complete video. You can even take a look at the dialog on NPR’s YouTube web page, a particular Up First podcast episode and the NPR App.

Image present

Sgt. Misha Varvarych, 28, an eightieth Airborne Assault Brigade commander delights within the ocean waters of Daytona Seashore FL on January 28, 2023. To stay with pleasure and hope has turn out to be a weapon towards warfare.

He faces a profound new battle – to stroll once more.

He and his fiancé Ira Botvynska, 19, traveled to the US to obtain rehabilitation and state-of-the-art prosthetics with help from the nonprofit Revived Troopers Ukraine. They navigate an altered future after he misplaced each legs preventing throughout the Russian invasion amid a rising variety of warfare wounded amputees. Their unflinching romance speaks not of life interrupted however relatively tailored and embraced.

The nonprofit, based by Irina Vashchuk Discipio has introduced troopers to the US to heal since there’s a scarcity of specialists in Ukraine and hospitals are additionally below assault. Just a few weeks was 4 months on the Prosthetic & Orthotic Associates middle.

Carol Guzy for NPR

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Carol Guzy for NPR

Very similar to the rising variety of war-wounded amputees, Sgt. Mykhailo “Misha” Varvarych, a Ukrainian eightieth Airborne Assault Brigade commander, navigates an altered actuality after he misplaced his legs throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion. In January 2023, Varvarych and his companion, Iryna “Ira” Botvynska, traveled to Orlando, Fla., to go to Revived Troopers Ukraine, a nonprofit group that helps Ukrainian troopers. There, they obtained rehabilitation and state-of-the-art prosthetics. Collectively, Varvarych and Botvynska’s romance showcases a life marked by the modifications of those years, from prosthetic fittings to a wedding proposal. Their choice to stay with pleasure and hope has turn out to be a weapon towards warfare. These pictures seize how Varvarych has tackled life head-on.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

This 12 months marks Lauryn Hill’s first time showing on the Rock Corridor shortlist.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Photographs

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Kevin Mazur/Getty Photographs

1. The Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame yesterday introduced its shortlist for the 2026 class of inductees, together with Melissa Etheridge and the Wu-Tang Clan.
2. The prediction market app Kalshi has suspended an editor who works for YouTube creator MrBeast and reported the editor to federal regulators for insider buying and selling, in response to firm officers.
3. NPR’s Jane Arraf remembers a mid-February go to to Jordan’s Wadi Rum desert, the otherworldly Star Wars filming location, on this week’s Far Flung Postcard.

This article was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.