Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.

A federal judge in Manhattan is denying the Trump administration's request to release

grand jury transcripts from the Justice Department's investigation into convicted sex offender,

Jeffrey Epstein. That's the one's powerful financier who died by suicide in 2019. The DOJ argues

that the transcripts should be released because of public interest in the Epstein case.

Here's NPR's Ryan Lucas. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman says the government has failed to show

any special circumstance that would justify making public grand jury transcripts that are normally

secret. Berman says the grand jury materials requested total 70 pages of summary testimony from a

single FBI agent, one PowerPoint exhibit, and four pages of call logs. And that, Berman notes,

pales in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of pages of Epstein files in the government's possession.

And he says the government's files would better inform the public than the grand jury materials.

Berman is the third of three federal judges to deny the administration's requests to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts.

Ryan Lucas NPR News, Washington.

Top military officials from NATO countries met today in a previously unscheduled virtual session

as discussions advance on potential security guarantees for post-conflict Ukraine.

Terry Schultz reports European governments are considering whether and under what circumstances

they'd be willing to commit resources to such a mission should Ukraine and Russia agree to a peace deal.

NATO's top military commander called the 32 chiefs of defense together for an update on the security situation in Ukraine and its implications for Europe.

Following the session, Admiral Giuseppe Kavidugonez said unity among the allies was tangible

and that their priority remains a just credible and durable peace for Ukraine.

The extraordinary session comes after President Trump said the U.S. may be willing to provide air support

to a European-led coalition expected to deploy to Ukraine once there's a ceasefire to monitor,

...