Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

🎧 NPR’s Daniel Estrin tells Up First that one major question about the war is whether it will end with Iran still in possession of its highly enriched uranium, which it could use to build a nuclear weapon. Iran says it is buried under the rubble of last year’s war. While Iran’s military is weakened, the regime remains intact and capable of causing global disruption. Meanwhile, Israel’s plans continue to shift. Today, a military spokesperson revealed that operations in Iran are set for the next three weeks. In Lebanon, Israel is ramping up its military presence and making attempts at diplomacy. A person briefed on the matter tells Estrin that Israel is pushing for direct ceasefire negotiations with Lebanon. 
🎧 As gas prices soar, global markets struggle and polls show that Americans are skeptical of the war, Trump's administration is pushing a message of victory. The administration at first struggled to provide clear justification for U.S. involvement in this war, leaving it politically vulnerable, NPR’s Franco Ordoñez says. Jenny Stromer-Galley, who studies political messaging at Syracuse University, tells him that the focus on winning aims to shift the narrative towards a theme of collective strength and vision. The president is repeatedly using simple, strong language as a branding tool, which Stromer-Galley says is an attempt to convince people of something their eyes cannot see. His criticism of the media has also intensified. The FCC chair has threatened to revoke broadcast licenses over stations' coverage of the war.

🎧 The bill would require a photo ID that proves U.S. citizenship, like a birth certificate or passport, in order to register to vote. Millions of Americans don’t have easy access to those documents, NPR’s Miles Parks says. As the vote approaches, it is increasingly likely that Trump will be disappointed with the results. Senate Democrats are firmly opposed to the bill. To pass the legislation, it needs 60 votes to break the filibuster threshold, but Republicans only hold 53 seats. Trump has insisted he doesn't want a watered-down version of this bill. But Parks says that if it were narrower and possibly focused solely on photo ID, it might have garnered more support from both parties. 

🏆 Celebrated director Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another) finally won best director after three previous nominations. He also brought home best adapted screenplay.

🏆 Michael B. Jordan won a rare best actor award for what is very much a genre film — the vampire horror drama Sinners. He beat performers from much more traditionally awards-friendly films.

🏆 Amy Madigan won best supporting actress for her deeply unsettling and entirely singular performance in Weapons, which is even more fully a horror movie than Sinners.

🏆 Cassandra Kulukundis won the long-overdue, first-ever Academy Award for casting, for One Battle After Another. The biggest problem in the category was that everybody couldn't win. 

🏆 Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who won best cinematography for her work on Sinners, was only the fourth woman, and the first woman of color, to be nominated in the category. She is the first woman to win.