In today’s newsletter: “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners” score big at the 98th Academy Awards. Why reopening the Strait of Hormuz won’t be easy. And more registered voters view Israel negatively in a shift from years past, according to an NBC News poll.
Here’s what to know today.
'One Battle After Another' wins best picture Oscar
It was a big night for Warner Bros. Discovery: Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another,” which was nominated in 13 categories, dominated the show. It took home six awards, including the coveted best picture prize. Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” which made Oscar history with 16 nominations, followed with four.
The wins come as the media conglomerate is preparing to merge with Paramount Skydance, owned by David Ellison.
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Billy Crystal took the stage early in the evening to honor his late best friend, Rob Reiner, and his wife, Michelle. His speech kicked off the extended In Memoriam segment that paid tribute to industry giants including Catherine O’Hara, Diane Keaton and Robert Redford.
Conan O’Brien helmed the evening, returning for his second year as host. He dressed as nominee Amy Madigan’s “Weapons” character, Aunt Gladys, for the opening segment, which featured a tribute to the nominated films. For his efforts, O’Brien was given the short-lived title of “host for life” in a post-awards scene.
More Oscars highlights:
- Stacked field: Michael B. Jordan, who rose from a child actor into one of Hollywood’s leading men, won his first Oscar, taking home the competitive best actor prize.
- Breaking barriers: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first woman to win best cinematography for “Sinners,” asked all the women in the room to stand up during her acceptance speech because “I don’t get here without you.”
- Glitz and glam: The red carpet became a rainbow last night — from best actress winner Jessie Buckley in a bright red and bubblegum pink gown to Barbie Ferreira in a dashing cobalt blue. It appears the stars are ready for spring.
- “KPop Demon Hunters”: The Netflix film, which follows two fictional K-pop bands, took trophies for best animated feature and best song.
- Rare tie: Two films tied for the best live-action short film Oscar — something that’s happened only six times before.
Trump wants other countries to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That might not be so easy.
Trump said U.S. allies and rivals should police the Strait of Hormuz, as Iranian threats to strike shipping on the vital trade route continue to cause chaos in global markets. The nations Trump listed — China, Japan, France, South Korea and the U.K. among them — have responded tepidly.
While it remains to be seen what actions these countries could eventually take, their lukewarm response has appeared to pour cold water on any hopes Trump may have had for a quick resolution to the blockade.
To suppress Iranian threats, one analyst told NBC News, “You need more than aerial and naval power: You’d need boots on the ground, along key areas of the coast.” Meanwhile, some countries appear to be attempting to negotiate safe passage with Iran.
Read more about the challenge of stopping ship attacks here.
Follow the latest on our liveblog.
More on the Iran war:
- U.S. oil prices soar past $100 a barrel as the Iran war shows no signs of ending soon.
- Use the stairs, work from home: Asia is already making big changes as oil prices spike.
Poll: Israel's standing plummets among Democrats, fueling primaries on the left
American voters’ feelings on Israel and the Palestinian territories have shifted dramatically in recent years. More registered voters view Israel negatively than positively, according to a new NBC News poll.
When asked whether their sympathies lie more with Israelis or Palestinians, 40% of registered voters say they side more with the Palestinians, while 39% choose the Israelis. The split stood at 13% for Palestinians and 45% for Israelis more than a decade ago.
The change has been especially pronounced among independents and Democrats, fueling divided congressional primaries in 2026 and potentially shaping the party’s 2028 presidential contest.
Now, almost 60% of Democrats and almost 50% of independents view Israel negatively, a change from when NBC News last asked this question in November 2023, shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Read more on the numbers here.
The Madness is here: NCAA Tournament brackets are set
The march to college basketball’s national championship is officially under way.
Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida are the teams to beat in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after each earned a top seed in the 68-team bracket Sunday.
The top overall seed in the women’s tournament is Connecticut, the reigning national champion and last undefeated team in the country. Joining the Huskies as No. 1 seeds are UCLA, Texas and South Carolina.
The women’s Final Four begins April 3 in Phoenix, with the title game April 5. The men’s Final Four is on April 4 and April 6 in Indianapolis.
Here’s what to know about the tournament.
Read All About It
- Long security lines are forming at airports as TSA agents miss their first full paychecks during stalled DHS funding negotiations. Plus, here’s why flying in America is about to get more expensive and less fun.
- Exclusive: Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding information about the Pentagon’s reported decision to give Elon Musk’s xAI access to classified networks.
- An Afghan immigrant who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan died less than 24 hours after being detained in Texas by ICE, a U.S. advocacy group and a family friend said Sunday.
- In next month’s election, Wisconsin liberals will seek to further expand their edge on the state Supreme Court and put the majority out of reach for conservatives for years.
- Team USA beat Canada to win a record fifth straight Paralympic sled hockey gold — the third U.S. hockey victory in the Milan Cortina Games.
- The U.S. beat the Dominican Republic’s electric offense to advance to the World Baseball Classic championship.
Staff Pick: They fled Ukraine and settled into new lives. For some, there's no going back.
Four years after escaping my country invaded by Russian forces, I now work my dream job as a journalist in London. But forced emigration has not unfolded the same way for everyone, as nearly six million Ukrainians fled the war, and many are still struggling to adapt to their new lives abroad.
I spoke with three Ukrainian refugees whose paths have taken very different turns — a mother in the U.S. who fears her children would never readjust to life back home, a businessman who lost everything in Ukraine and now works a low-skilled job in Germany, and a student who saw emigration as a chance to build a career elsewhere.
As the war drags on, all three are now confronting questions about identity and belonging, along with the growing possibility that the lives they left behind may be gone forever.
— Elmira Aliieva, NBC News intern
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