Today’s Big Story

A ‘Terrible Spiral of Escalation’

World braces for intensifying Iran-Israel conflict

Urgent, international calls for restraint appear to be falling on deaf ears as the world braces for intensifying conflict in the Middle East. Right now, it seems, all eyes are on the White House, as President Donald Trump weighs carrying out direct military strikes on Iran. According to the Washington Post, the president will wait as much as two weeks to decide whether to attack Iran’s nuclear program, the White House said Thursday, dialing back rhetoric about Iran having missed its window to reach a deal.

In a statement read by his press secretary, Trump said he believes there is now a “substantial chance of negotiations” with Iran. White House officials are watching European talks with Iran scheduled for today as Trump suggested that he would wait to let discussions unfold.

Meanwhile, as the conflict enters its second week, Israel and Iran continue to exchange fire. An Israeli hospital was hit by an Iranian missile. Israel says it struck 100 targets in Iran, including the heavy-water reactor in Arak and a site at Natanz it says was being used for nuclear-weapons development. And the U.S. has been beefing up its forces in the region. A third U.S. Navy destroyer entered the eastern Mediterranean Sea and a second U.S. carrier strike group is heading toward the Arabian Sea. The Pentagon says the moves are defensive.

Axios reports that Trump has benefited from asking advisers: If the U.S. joins Israel’s war and drops its massive bunker busters, will they actually work? He wants to make sure such an attack is really needed, wouldn't drag the U.S. into a prolonged war in the Middle East—and most of all, would actually achieve the objective of wiping out Iran's nuclear program. Israeli officials believe Trump will decide in favor of a U.S. strike, but contend they could cause significant damage to the Fordow uranium enrichment site—which is built into a mountain south of Tehran.

The Kremlin warned Thursday that U.S. intervention in Iran would set off a “terrible spiral of escalation,” while Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Reuters that the world is “millimeters” away from nuclear catastrophe. Russia is currently mired in its own war in Ukraine, which also involves a fight over a major nuclear power plant.

Trump Can Keep National Guard in L.A.

The appeals court’s ruling was a win for the president as he aims to use military to protect immigration agents

A federal appeals court on Thursday cleared the way for President Trump to keep using the National Guard to respond to immigration protests in Los Angeles, declaring that a judge in San Francisco erred last week when he ordered Trump to return control of the troops to Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

In a unanimous, 38-page ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the conditions in Los Angeles were sufficient for Trump to decide that he needed to take federal control of the National Guard—rejecting arguments pushed by Newsom that Trump had violated federal law when he seized control of part of his state’s militia. According to CNN, the panel of judges is comprised of two Trump appointees and an appointee of former President Joe Biden.

On social media, Trump hailed the decision as a “BIG WIN” and suggested that it would open the door for other such deployments across the United States should local law enforcement “be unable, for whatever reason, to get the job done.” But more legal wrangling over how Trump is actually using the guardsmen on the ground in Los Angeles is expected to continue during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer (who directed the president to relinquish control of the guardsmen last week) set for later today.

Understanding How Tylenol Works

How one of the world’s most common drugs works was kinda a mystery … until now

It’s a common over-the-counter drug. Tylenol. Its main ingredient, acetaminophen, has long been used to relieve pain, but exactly how it works has been something of a mystery. Now, a new study suggests that a key byproduct of acetaminophen may block pain signals at the nerves—before they can reach the brain.

That’s a new finding on the old painkiller from researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The findings were published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA). According to the study’s background material, acetaminophen’s active metabolite, AM404, “shuts down specific sodium channels in pain-sensing neurons” so that the pain signals don’t even reach the brain. The release said the discovery “not only reshapes our understanding of how one of the world’s most common painkillers works, but also opens the door to developing safer, more targeted pain treatments.”

While the findings may not change how acetaminophen is currently used to treat pain, they could influence the development of next-generation painkillers that are potentially safer, researchers said. Acetaminophen overdoses can damage the liver and are responsible for 56,000 emergency visits a year in the U.S. Looking ahead, they hope to design improved versions of AM404 that are more chemically stable and optimized to work in the peripheral nervous system, they added. The team also plans to test whether these compounds can help with chronic or nerve-related pain, where standard treatments often fall short.

A Weekend Pairing

‘The Waterfront’ + a Single Malt Whisky

Most Car Factories, Like Ford or Tesla, Reportedly Build One Car Per Minute. Isn’t It Time We Do That for Houses?

Take the shot.