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- [00:01]
Synchrony Bank Announcer
This message is from Synchrony bank who wants to remind you to stay flexible, not the yoga bending circus performing kind of flexible, financially flexible like with their high yield savings account. Stay flexible. @synchrony.com NPR member FDIC
- [00:18]
Jeanine Herbst
live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jeanine Herbst. Iranian state TV confirms that Israel killed two of its top officials overnight. Eli Lerajani was the head of the country's supreme National Security Council and acted as the country's de facto leader. He was also a close confidant of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. NPR's Emily Fang has more on what his death means for the U. S. Israeli war in Iran.
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Emily Fang
There are fears that in his absence, his replacement might be even more hardline than Lara Jani. Lara Jani was seen as very, very pragmatic, someone who could work with outside powers while still being very, very loyal to the supreme leader, to the office
- [01:01]
Jeanine Herbst
of the Ayatollah and Piers Emily Fang, Israel also killed Brigadier General Soleimani, the head of the powerful militia that's aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. President Trump is pushing back against claims by Director of National Counterterrorism Joe Kent about his motivation to attack Iran. Kent quit today, saying he can't in good conscience back a war that he believes is Israel's doing. Trump says Iran is a tremendous threat. As head of the center. Kent, a former Green Beret and political candidate with connections to right wing extremists, was in charge of an agency tasked with analyzing and detecting terrorist threats. He was a Trump supporter because Trump said he opposed wars in the Middle east to keep foreign bad actors like terrorists and drug traffickers out of the country. The federal government often imposes financial sanctions. Anyone on the sanctions list is barred from doing business here. But as NPR's Robert Benicasa reports, the Treasury Department's sanction programs have taken a new direction under pressure.
- [02:07]
Robert Benincasa
The Treasury Department under Trump has sanctioned people after they've criticized the president or his political allies. For example, shortly after Trump took office, he sanctioned judges and prosecutors at the International Criminal Court after the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on war crimes allegations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called the international court's actions politicized. But critics of the administration's use of sanctions make the same claim. David Pressman, a former US Ambassador to Hungary, says sanctions should reinforce the country's strategic interests and not, quote, advance personal vendettas. Robert Benincasa, NPR News, Washington.
- [02:47]
Jeanine Herbst
Dr. Mehmet Oz, the head of Medicare and Medicaid, is asking Florida officials to explain how they root out health care fraud, saying the state's long been a hotspot for that kind of fraud. This a day after President Trump signed an executive order creating an anti fraud task force for federal benefit programs. Florida is at least the fifth state Oz has targeted, but it's the first Republican led one to get questions from Oz. U.S. futures contracts are trading lower at this hour. You're listening to NPR News. The Vatican appeals court declared a mistrial today in the conviction of a cardinal and several other people for financial crimes. The appeals court ruled the late Pope Francis and prosecutors made procedural errors, nullifying the original indictment. The court set a new trial date in June. The case is about the Vatican's $413 million investment in London property. Prosecutors alleged brokers and monsignors fleeced the holy sea of millions of dollars in fees and commissions to acquire that property and then extorted the church to relinquish control of it. A new study of diet and disease finds the more ultra processed food a person eats, the higher the risk of developing heart disease and and peers. Allison Aubrey has more.
- [04:05]
Allison Aubrey
The study included more than 6,000 adults aged 45 to mid-80s and found that with every additional serving of ultra processed foods people reported as part of their typical diet, the higher the odds of a heart attack or stroke. Dr. Amir Haider of UT Southwestern authored the study.
- [04:22]
Dr. Amir Haider
If you were in the top 20% of those who consumed the most ultra processed foods, which was about nine servings per day, you had a 67% higher risk.
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Allison Aubrey
The study looked at several ethnic groups, including Asian, black and Hispanic participants. Heider says prior research shows junk foods have been more heavily marketed toward minority populations, which is one factor that may help explain the more pronounced relationship with black Americans. Alison Aubrey, NPR News.
- [04:51]
Jeanine Herbst
And I'm Jeanine Herbst. And you're listening to NPR News from Washington.
- [04:57]
Synchrony Bank Announcer
This message comes from Synchrony bank, who can help you get your do nothing savings off the couch and working hard. No more sleeping late and eating all the chips. Time to start earning your keep in a big way with their high yield savings account that has a great rate, easy access to your funds and no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. Put your lazy savings to work. Go to synchrony.com NPR member FDIC.