Good morning. An illumination on the Washington Monument displayed 250 years of U.S. history over the New Year holiday, but it omitted a lot of the story. Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep explores the administration's portrayal of the nation. Here’s the news we’re following today:
President Trump said yesterday that he is imposing a 25% tariff on countries doing business with Iran. This is the president’s latest move to turn up the pressure on the country as it deals with growing unrest. Trump says he continues to receive hourly reports of violence against protesters. According to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, over 600 Iranians have died in the violence. Trump previously warned that the U.S. was "locked and loaded" and would rescue the protesters if the killings continued.
John MacDougall / AFP via Getty Images
🎧 Trump isn’t known for human rights initiatives, NPR’s Franco Ordoñez tells Up First. During Trump’s first administration, he ordered military strikes on Syrian targets in response to chemical attacks by the Assad regime. However, the president really wants a deal that permanently prevents Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Matthew Kroenig, who worked on the Iranian file at the Pentagon, says the Iranian supreme leader may agree to a zero enrichment deal if he thinks it helps the regime to survive.
Minnesota officials are suing the Trump administrationin an attempt to end its immigration crackdown across the state. The lawsuit comes less than a week after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Macklin Good, who was in her car. Protests across the U.S. have grown over the past week. NPR station photographers and freelance photographer Evan Frost documented the action on the ground.
🎧 State officials are accusing federal agents of arresting peaceful bystanders, detaining U.S. citizens and firing irritants at protesters. The lawsuit also claims agents have racially profiled people — an allegation the administration denies. Joel Keleekai, a permanent U.S. resident, tells NPR’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán that he had to show agents proof that he was a resident while charging his electric vehicle in a parking lot. Martínez-Beltrán says it is unclear why agents decided to question Keleekai and others in that lot. They are all people of color and showed documentation that they are in the U.S. legally.
The Supreme Court hears arguments today in two cases that test laws banning transgender girls and women from participating in women’s sports at publicly funded schools. To date, 27 states have enacted laws barring transgender athletes from participating in sports.
🎧 Transgender issues now play a large role in public debate, likely fueled by Trump’s rhetoric around the topic in his 2024 presidential campaign, NPR’s Nina Totenberg says. Supporters of the bans say the laws ensure fair competition by preventing those assigned male at birth from gaining an advantage in women’s sports. Opponents of the laws say they discriminate based on sex, violating federal statutes and the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.
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Ari Daniel
Microbes are little alchemists that perform chemical reactions that could help solve the world’s biggest crises. After launching a nonprofit to try to harness those abilities, a team of microbiologists is now looking for the microbes living inside people’s homes. By studying the rather extreme environments of shower heads, drip pans and hot water heaters, NPR science reporter Ari Daniel takes Short Wavelisteners on a treasure hunt in miniature.
Macy Castañeda-Lee
Filipino photographer Macy Castañeda Lee’s new photo series reconstructs the mundane task of laundry into a striking portrait of Cambodia’s rural economy. With a camera in hand, Castañeda Lee documented varied loads of laundry and, in the process, uncovered the community’s deeper connection to the chore: "Laundry is a symbol for Cambodian and Khmer people of their economic and health standards." By photographing invisible workers near the Siem Reap River, Castañeda Lee was able to spotlight the people who sustain Cambodian tourism by washing tourists’ clothes for hours each day. Take a close look at the chore and the community that performs the task with these images.
Two countries have blocked X’s chatbot, Grok, and several more are launching investigations after it started generating sexualized images of women and children.
Nearly 15,000 nurses began a strike at hospitals across Manhattan and the Bronx yesterday after contract negotiations with the hospitals faltered over the weekend. (via Gothamist)
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