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Right this moment’s high tales
President Trump convenes the first-ever assembly of the Board of Peace at this time on the Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute for Peace in Washington. The president says he created the group to supervise his Gaza ceasefire plan and that member states have already pledged $5 billion for Gaza’s reconstruction. At at this time’s occasion, Trump will deal with heads of state and high diplomats from round 40 nations, together with the European Union.
Individuals snap pictures outdoors the USA Peace Institute, with the just lately added identify of President Trump.
Allison Robbert/AFP through Getty Pictures
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Allison Robbert/AFP through Getty Pictures
- 🎧 Right this moment’s assembly is important as a result of the subsequent steps within the ceasefire deal that Trump pushed by final October stay unclear, NPR’s Aya Batrawy tells Up First. Moreover, officers might unveil which nations made the preliminary pledges for reconstruction efforts. The $5 billion dedication is just a fraction of what Gaza wants. The cash would go towards the Trump administration’s imaginative and prescient for a brand new Gaza below Israeli management and to not the realm the place Palestinians reside, Batrawy says. At the moment, Israeli forces occupy over half of Gaza, leaving some 2 million Palestinians in dire situations in a sliver by the ocean that Hamas governs. Among the many subjects that nations might focus on at this time is a essential step in Trump’s ceasefire plan, which entails the deployment of 1000’s of worldwide troops into Gaza.
U.Okay. police have arrested a person in his 60s on suspicion of “misconduct in public workplace.” U.Okay. media studies that this man is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, previously generally known as Prince Andrew. Police have investigated whether or not Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential authorities info together with his late buddy, convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, whereas he was U.Okay.’s commerce envoy. Mountbatten-Windsor admits to ties to Epstein and settled a lawsuit with considered one of Epstein’s underage victims, however denies wrongdoing. The media noticed a number of autos on the royals’ Sandringham property this morning, NPR’s Lauren Frayer, who’s in London, confirms. Mountbatten-Windsor turns 66 at this time. He has been dwelling on the property since being evicted from his royal cottage on the grounds of Windsor Citadel.
The U.S. has concluded one other spherical of talks in an effort to finish the struggle in Ukraine. Whereas the White Home pressures Kyiv to make concessions, it’s negotiating with Moscow. Right this moment, Russia’s negotiator provided $14 trillion in offers if the U.S. drops its sanctions.
- 🎧 Russia is tempting the White Home with large potential earnings as a result of the Kremlin is aware of the Trump administration views diplomacy by a enterprise lens, NPR’s Charles Maynes says. Moscow means that lifting sanctions and attaining “peace” would unlock American funding in uncommon earth minerals, power, and mining. Russia continues to insist its victory in Ukraine is inevitable, regardless of the glacial tempo of its positive factors and heavy battlefield losses. Russia’s speaking factors are designed to persuade Trump that Ukraine’s give up serves everybody’s pursuits. Ukraine continues to refuse calls for to give up territory.
Trump is demanding billions of {dollars} from his personal authorities by submitting a number of claims towards the Justice Division. He argues that previous investigations and the leak of his tax returns years in the past harm him. Now, he has compelled his personal political appointees to determine whether or not to pay their boss with taxpayer funds. These claims quantity to unfinished enterprise for the president, says a White Home official, who was not approved to talk on the file.
Deep dive
President Trump talks with reporters on his stroll to Marine One on the South Garden of the White Home on Feb. 6.
Heather Diehl/Getty Pictures
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Heather Diehl/Getty Pictures
President Trump’s Reality Social account just lately posted a picture depicting former President Barack Obama and former first woman Michelle Obama as apes. The motion prompted outcry over the racist trope. The White Home deleted the put up, and Trump deflected the blame to an aide. Students and civil rights advocates, steeped within the language and aesthetics of white nationalism, discover the put up to be a part of an overtly racist trope. They are saying it matches a year-long sample the place extremist rhetoric, visible materials and different media have discovered their means into public messaging from federal companies.
- ➡️ The Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) is behind essentially the most notable examples of extremist themes in federal messages, some extremist researchers say. The company has generated a physique of propaganda in its effort to recruit giant numbers of recent federal brokers.
- ➡️ Researchers cite the characterization of immigration as an “invasion,” federal calls to “defend the homeland” and the promotion of “remigration” as examples the place the administration has mainstreamed once-fringe ideas.
- ➡️ The Trump administration dismissed connections between its messages and white nationalist actions. A DHS spokesperson instructed NPR is “manufacturing outrage” when responding to questions concerning the connections.
Right this moment’s pay attention
Marcus Mumford performs throughout the SiriusXM Constructed With Audio occasion at Storied NYC on Oct. 6, 2025, in New York Metropolis.
Cindy Ord/Getty Pictures for SiriusXM
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Cindy Ord/Getty Pictures for SiriusXM
After a seven-year hiatus between albums, British folk-rock band Mumford & Sons is again. Lead singer Marcus Mumford was in denial about his id as a songwriter when he acquired a pep discuss from Oasis’ Noel Gallagher. He informed Mumford he needs to be writing songs daily. Their dialog lit a hearth below him. Now, Mumford & Sons are about to launch Prizefighter, their second album in simply seven months. The album consists of a number of visitor appearances, together with Hozier on a observe referred to as “Rubber Band Man.” Take heed to snippets of the brand new music and listen to Mumford focus on the musical selections he made for the band’s newest album.
3 issues to know earlier than you go
Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad (93) and United States’ JT Miller (10) chase the puck throughout the third interval of a males’s ice hockey quarterfinal recreation on the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Picture/Hassan Ammar)
Hassan Ammar/AP/AP
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Hassan Ammar/AP/AP
- The U.S. males’s hockey crew superior to the Olympic semifinals yesterday, guaranteeing them an opportunity to play for what can be the crew’s first medal since 2010.
- On this week’s Far-Flung Postcard, NPR’s Greg Dixon takes us to Cairo, Egypt, as Ramadan begins. There, conventional lanterns referred to as fawanees don the busy streets as buyers prepare for the vacation.
- Barbara Alvarez misplaced her husband in 2017, simply earlier than their daughter left for faculty. Alvarez was struck onerous by the belief she was a single mother when she noticed mother and father serving to different college students on the dorms. A dorm corridor minister helped them unpack. The unsung hero’s help gave Alvarez hope, and her impression nonetheless resonates at this time.
This text was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
