Trump's Board Of Peace, Russia's Business Offer, Zuckerberg Defends Meta

0:02President Trump's Board of Peace meets for the first time today over Gaza. There are big questions about rebuilding the future of Palestinians in the territory and whether Hamas will disarm and Israel will withdraw. I'm Leila Faudil. That's Michelle Martin. And this is Up First from NPR News.

0:20British media report the former Prince Andrew has been arrested for suspected misconduct in public office. Police have been investigating whether Andrew shared confidential government material with his friend Jeffrey Epstein. Also, how did Mark Zuckerberg defend against accusations that Meta knew underage kids were using Instagram and didn't stop it? We'll tell you what he testified in court and why this trial could reshape social media. Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day.

0:55President Trump is convening the first ever meeting of the Board of Peace today in Washington, D.C. Now, Trump says he created the group to oversee his ceasefire plan in Gaza. And he says$5 billion for reconstruction in Gaza has already been pledged by member states. Joining us to tell us more about today's meeting and the hurdles ahead for Gaza is NPR international correspondent Aya Bertrawi. She's in Dubai. Good morning, Aya. Good morning, Michelle. So remind us of what this Board of Peace is about and who is expected to attend this meeting today. Sure. So the Board of Peace is chaired by Trump and the group was formally established only last month.

1:29And so this is their first meeting. Now, Trump will be addressing a room full of heads of states and top diplomats from around 40 countries, including also the European Union. The meeting will have dignitaries from Argentina and Hungary to places like India and Vietnam. Meanwhile, France and the UK, which have not joined the board out of concerns that Russia could be a part of this new group, will be sending observers to this meeting today. However, Israel and Arab states are part of this board and they too will be at the meeting. But there are no Palestinians on the board of peace. Now, the event is being held at the newly renamed Donald J.

2:01Trump U.S. Institute for Peace in Washington, and some fear that Trump's board of peace could be used to undermine the United Nations. Actually, a U.N. Security Council meeting on Gaza was moved a day earlier in order to accommodate diplomats being able to attend both meetings. And as you mentioned, this board was first created to oversee Trump's ceasefire plan for Gaza. So where does the ceasefire stand now? So the ceasefire that Trump pushed through last October is shaky. Palestinian health officials say more than 600 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli attacks in these four months of ceasefire.

2:35And the next steps of the ceasefire plan are still unclear. And that's why this meeting today is significant, Michelle. Countries are expected to be making some big tangible pledges. Trump has talked about$5 billion in pledges toward reconstruction. We could hear which countries made those initial pledges today, but that$5 billion is a fraction of what's needed, and it would be going toward the Trump administration's vision for a new Gaza in areas still under Israeli military control. You know, Gaza right now is split in two. Israeli forces occupy more than half of this tiny territory, and some 2 million Palestinians are living in dire conditions in a sliver along the sea where Hamas still governs.

3:13And so reconstruction funds would not be going to those areas where Palestinians are living in Israel still tightly controls the borders of what can come in regarding reconstruction materials and aid. So given everything you've just told us, Aya, how might this Board of Peace actually ensure progress? All right. So a crucial part of this next phase of Trump's ceasefire plan is the deployment of thousands of international troops to Gaza. This international stabilization force would not be policing the streets of Gaza, but it would be more of a buffer between Israel and Hamas to try to keep the peace and monitor violations of the ceasefire.

3:45Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, says it's ready to send troops. And we could hear similar commitments at today's meeting from other countries. But Israel does not want to give up control of Gaza. And it has objected, for example, to Turkey's offer to send troops. And that's also delayed Egypt signing up as well and saying that they would go in. So the other key part of the plan also hinges on Hamas disarming. Now, this is a key demand by Israel, as well as the United States and several Arab countries who don't want to pour money into Gaza without assurances that Hamas no longer rules and a war won't resume.

4:20Now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a couple days ago said Hamas must not only give up heavy weapons like rockets and mortars, but also small arms like Kalashnikov rifles. He's insisting on this even as Israel is arming rival Palestinian militias and clans that are fighting Hamas in Gaza. And this week, Israel said Hamas has just 60 days to give up all its weapons or Israel will resume full military operations, which obviously would blow up Trump's ceasefire and resume a war that has decimated Gaza and killed entire families there. So, Michelle, there's a lot to discuss at this meeting and a lot riding on this first meeting of Trump's Board of Peace.

4:55Yeah, so much to keep track of. That is NPR's Aya Bertrawi in Dubai. Aya, thank you. Thank you, Michelle.

5:09King Charles' brother, the former Prince Andrew, has been arrested in an investigation into the Epstein files. Police in England say they arrested a man in his 60s for, quote, misconduct in public office. They are not naming the suspect, but British media report it is the king's brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Lauren Freyer joins us from London with the latest. Good morning, Lauren. Good morning, Layla. OK, so just tell us what's going on. So Andrew was good friends with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He settled a lawsuit with one of Epstein's underage victims, but he has said he strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

5:51He was nevertheless stripped of his royal title prints over those Epstein ties, booted out of a royal cottage on the grounds of Windsor Castle. And then this month, after the latest release of Epstein files from the U.S. Justice Department, police here in the U.K. started investigating whether Andrew passed confidential government information to Epstein when Andrew was a U.K. trade envoy. So the U.K. didn't have this information before the public drop of documents by the U.S. Department of Justice? We believe this was triggered by that latest batch of documents. And now there's been an arrest in that investigation.

6:26It's also worth noting that the king recently issued a statement saying he would cooperate with police on this if asked about his brother. We don't know, though, if police did approach him. What else do we know? UK media are showing lots of cars amassing at the Sandringham Estate this morning. That's where Andrew had recently moved after being evicted from that royal cottage in Windsor. Police later put out a statement that they arrested a man on suspicion of misconduct in public office. They're not naming him. That's completely normal whether the suspect is royal or not. Police say they're also carrying out searches of various addresses both west and east of London in Berkshire and in Norfolk.

7:05So Norfolk is where Sandringham Estate is and where this arrest happened. But Berkshire is where Winslow Castle is. And there's no confirmation on whether it's the castle they're searching or another property in that same county. That's Lauren Frayer in London. Thank you. You're welcome.

7:29Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to explain to a jury on Wednesday why Instagram targeted children under 13 for years. Because that would violate the company's own policies. And a family suing Meta says it shows the company designed social media apps with the intention of hooking young people early. NPR's Bobby Allen was in the Los Angeles courtroom for Zuckerberg's testimony in the first ever trial over social media addiction. He started to tell us more about it. Good morning, Bobby. Hey, Michelle. So what did Mark Zuckerberg say from the witness stand? Well, he was on the defensive. A lawyer for the family suing Metta drew his attention to several internal documents obtained through discovery.

8:10And one of them showed how Metta knew about 30 % of 10 to 12-year-olds in the U.S. were using Instagram. And a strategy document showed how, quote, if we want to win big with teens, we must bring them in as tweens. Zuckerberg now said his words were being taken out of context and that some of these memos were being misrepresented. But he did admit, though, that many young people lie about their age to get on Instagram and that cracking down is just really hard. Did you get a sense of how Zuckerberg's testimony was landing with the jury? Yeah, they seemed engaged, but it's hard to say for sure if they found Zuckerberg convincing.

8:47Remember, their goal in this trial is to determine if Metta's Instagram and Google's YouTube substantially contributed to the mental health issues of the plaintiff. She is a 20-year-old California woman who says she got addicted to social media apps as a child as young as six years old. She says she developed depression and body image issues. She was also at the trial sitting in the gallery. There was a striking moment, Michelle, when her lawyer asked Zuckerberg if he had reviewed any of her Instagram posts. He said his staff had shared some of them, yes. Then five lawyers unspooled this massive poster with a collage of hundreds of selfies she posted as a child.

9:28The lawyer then asked Zuckerberg if Metta ever investigated her account for unhealthy use, and he avoided the question. Any other moments stand out to you from his testimony? Yeah, at one point, the family's lawyer brought out an internal document about how Meta's staff has pushed Zuckerberg to be more empathic and relatable and more human in public appearances and, you know, not to be fake and corporate and cheesy. These are their words, you know, during events like court appearance. And Zuckerberg responded by, you know, showing some human vulnerability. He said, quote, I think I'm actually well known to be very bad at this.

10:03Well, so where does this trial go from here? Yeah, there are four more weeks of witness testimony. Then the jury begins deliberations. This case is tied to 1 ,600 other pending cases. 1 ,600? Yeah, it's a lot. They were filed by parents, by school districts, all of them saying that social media caused all these mental health issues. They've been consolidated into one case. And depending on how this verdict in Los Angeles comes down, that could potentially shape outcomes in all these other cases, meaning there's billions of dollars in monetary damages on the line and potentially major changes to the social media landscape.

10:38That is NPR technology correspondent Bobby Allen. Bobby, thank you. Thanks, Michelle. And we should note Google, which owns YouTube, is a financial supporter of NPR.

10:51That's Up First for Thursday, February 19th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Leila Faudil. Can't get enough of the Olympics? Check out Up First Winter Games, a new video podcast from the team that brings you Up First. to find it every afternoon at youtube.com slash NPR. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Robbie Griffiths, Miguel Macias, Tina Kraja, Brett Neely, Mohamed Elbardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Zia Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hainas, and our technical director is Carly Strange. Our deputy executive producer is Kelly Dickens, and we hope you'll join us again tomorrow.

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