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Chapter 1: What are President Trump's proposals regarding Gaza?
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. President Trump is hosting Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House today. Their meeting taking place against the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire and hostages for prisoners agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Yesterday, Trump proposed a ceasefire be canceled if Hamas does not release all remaining hostages.
taken since the start of the war. Trump has also promoted Israel hand control of Gaza to the United States and relocate the Palestinian people to other parts of the Middle East, an idea strongly opposed by Arab governments across the region. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the central bank's not in a hurry to continue cutting interest rates.
Chapter 2: What is the Federal Reserve's stance on interest rates?
We know that reducing policy restraint too fast or too much could hinder progress on inflation.
Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee today, Powell says inflation is still somewhat elevated over the Fed's 2 percent goal, but has eased significantly over the past two years. U.S. embassies are struggling to oversee humanitarian aid the Trump administration is allowing to go through. That's according to the inspector general of the embattled U.S. Agency for International Development.
Chapter 3: How is USAID handling humanitarian aid under current administration policies?
Here's NPR's Michelle Kellerman.
Chapter 4: What are the challenges faced by USAID in overseeing foreign aid?
When the Trump administration came to office, it put most foreign aid on hold, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has allowed for emergency humanitarian relief to continue. The trouble is, USAID staff around the world have been getting mixed signals, losing access to their emails and being put on administrative leave before a judge temporarily halted that.
Now, USAID's inspector general is reporting that the agency has limited ability to oversee what aid is going through. There's food aid at risk of spoilage, according to the report, and a concern that there's not enough staff to vet partners in the Middle East to make sure U.S. taxpayer money is not benefiting terrorist groups. Michelle Killeman, NPR News, the State Department.
Chapter 5: What weather events are predicted in the coming days?
The first of three predicted storms packing a little bit of everything winter has to offer is on the move. NPR's Giles Snyder with details.
The first storm is moving east out of Kansas, where Governor Laura Kelly has declared a state of emergency. The storm will bring significant snow and ice accumulations to the mid-Atlantic. Winter storm warnings extend from Kentucky to southern New Jersey. And Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has also declared an emergency amid warnings of treacherous travel conditions and potential power outages.
On the heels of the first storm, another round of heavy snow from a second storm is expected from Kansas and Missouri into the Great Lakes and will be on the East Coast by Thursday morning. A third significant storm is expected to bring the threat of flooding to California, especially to areas devastated by last month's wildfires around Los Angeles. Giles Snyder, NPR News.
The Dow is up 45 points. The Nasdaq is down 94. You're listening to NPR News. Vice President J.D. Vance delivered a keynote speech at an AI summit in Paris where he promoted the Trump administration's support for less regulation. of the artificial intelligence industry as U.S. allies in Europe pursue tighter regulation. Vann says AI systems developed in the U.S.
would be free from ideological bias. The vice president also is scheduled to attend a security conference in Munich, where he's expected to discuss Russia's war against Ukraine and press for more ally commitments to NATO. The head of the European Union, Ursula von der Leyen, warns of backlash if U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum take effect March 12.
She says a levy will set off tough countermeasures from the 27-nation bloc. The European Space Agency's unveiled photos of a rare phenomenon encircling a galaxy millions of miles away from Earth. NPR's Shonda Lee Suster has more.
The bright ring of light surrounding the galaxy is called an Einstein ring. It is created when light from a distant galaxy bends and forms a ring that looks aligned with another galaxy or massive object. It is the first time the ring of light is detected by Euclid, a space telescope on a mission to create a map of the universe.
Jacqueline McCleary, a professor of physics at Northeastern University, says scientists were able to find the ring because of the telescope's high-resolution instruments. With other previous generations of telescope, this Einstein ring was essentially drowned out. by the light of this big galaxy. Astronomers hope the telescope will discover more Einstein rings in the future.
That's Shondalee Stester reporting. It's NPR.
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