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Today's top stories
President Trump has frozen the $4 billion that President Biden set aside to keep the Colorado River flowing. The river supplies around 40 million people with drinking water, is the foundation for a massive agricultural economy across the Southwest, and generates significant hydroelectric power.
- 🎧 Climate change is shrinking the river to record lows. As a result, the Biden administration told farmers if they paused growing some crops, the government would give them money to help replace income lost by leaving some water in the reservoirs, says Alex Hager of NPR's network station KUNC. Some impacted by the funding freeze are confused because it doesn't seem related to the Trump administration's stated priorities. Steady demand for the dangerously low reservoirs will likely continue without money to incentivize water savings.
Trump's administration has been shifting course on Ukraine, leading European allies to break with the nation at a United Nations vote. The U.S. opposed a resolution demanding Russia withdraw from Ukraine and instead put forward yesterday a resolution calling for peace without blaming Russia. The Security Council approved this resolution, with votes in favor from the U.S., Russia, and China. Britain and France chose to abstain.
- 🎧 The U.S. says this is a first step to support a peace resolution that will include everyone, NPR's Michele Kelemen tells Up First. The Trump administration's resolution was drafted after Ukraine and its European allies wanted the U.N. to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion by voting on a longer statement calling on Russia to pull out. Kelemen says the U.S. resolution is mostly symbolic because it didn't actually demand anything of anyone. It just called the conflict awful and implored a swift end to it.
- ➡️ Here are five developments over the last few weeks that highlight the growing distrust between the U.S. and Europe.
A massive child abuse trial against a once-respected surgeon has commenced in the west of France this week. Joël Le Scouarnec, now 74, admitted to abusing hundreds of minors over decades, most of whom were under anesthesia at the time. The trial is expected to last four months. Advocates for the victims hope it will prompt a thorough examination of the systemic failures that allowed such abuse to occur.
- 🎧 Le Scouarnec, who specialized in appendectomies, abdominal and gynecological surgery, is accused of abusing 299 of his patients, both boys and girls, of the average age of 11, according to NPR's Eleanor Beardsley. He was flagged in 2004 for possessing child pornography. However, a French judge imposed a four-month suspended sentence with no restrictions on his medical practice and no mandated therapy. He served many hospitals and continued his abuse until 2017, when he was arrested for coaxing his 6-year-old neighbor into his backyard and abusing her. He is serving 15 years for that and faces another 20 for the new abuse cases that have come to light due to the meticulous diaries he kept.
Today's listen
"When I first heard this, I honestly could not believe what I was hearing," Morning Edition host Michel Martin said to Abel Selaocoe during a recent interview. This was my exact thought when listening to snippets of his new album, Hymns of Bantu. In the songs, South African musician and composer Selaocoe plays the cello, chants, throat sings and more. He says it is like being muted if he doesn't sing. "The way I view all of music is extremely malleable and fluid sonic spaces." He says sound can be molded, and that's the freedom he fights for as he tries to escape being labeled a classical or African musician. Listen to Selaocoe talk about his musical journey and hear some of his music.
Living better
Living Better is a special series about what it takes to stay healthy in America.
Sometimes, scrolling on your phone can feel compulsory and never-ending. I say this from experience. Researchers conducted a study where people agreed to block the internet from their smartphones for just two weeks. The results: 91% of participants felt better after the break. Researchers were surprised that the decrease in depressive symptoms was on par or even more significant than the reductions documented in studies of people taking antidepressant medications. If you are interested in scaling back your screen time, here are some helpful tips:
- 📱 Begin with baby steps. Start with 30-minute breaks here and there and work your way up weekly.
- 📱 Try connecting more face-to-face. Choose one day a week when you and your family power down, except for needed communication.
- 📱 Turn off app notifications and limit your time on certain social media.
Check out more details about the research findings here.
3 things to know before you go
- American Mikaela Shiffrin made history Sunday in Italy by becoming the first Alpine skiing athlete to win 100 World Cup races. This comes after her first attempt at the title ended in a serious fall in November 2024.
- Singer Roberta Flack, best known for ballads such as "Killing Me Softly With His Song" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," died yesterday at 88. Her cause of death has not been shared.
- Beyond the Gates, the first new daytime soap opera on network TV in 25 years, debuted on CBS yesterday. It features a family living in a wealthy D.C. suburb.
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
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