Up First from NPR

Todd Blanche squeaks past a confirmation vote from the Senate. Private prison companies are making record profits from ICE detentions. Regal Cinemas announces support for the mega merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers.  Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org . See pcm.adswizz....

The Supreme Court struck down the last attempt by the president to limit birthright citizenship. Now President Trump is trying again. This time with two executive orders that are narrower in scope. Iran has released details of an agreement it is finalizing with Oman, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The critical waterway wouldn’t be open to American and Israeli ships. And Trump’s public messaging a...

President Trump has claimed several times that a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is close. Now Iran is saying it too, but in a deal that is being negotiated directly with Oman. Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed eked out a primary victory for a Michigan Senate seat. He now faces former GOP Congressman Mike Rogers in November. And President Trump traveled to Las Vegas, where he claimed the eco...

Votes in Michigan’s highly anticipated Democratic Senate primary are still being counted. But what do the results in Tuesday's other races tell us about November's election? The U.S military is running short of ammunition. NPR has learned that the Army is running out of long-range attack missiles. And the Food and Drug Administration is deciding whether to approve the first flu vaccine using mRNA...

The Senate Judiciary Committee votes today on Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general. What concerns lawmakers about the record of the president’s former personal lawyer? And five states hold primaries today. Voters in Michigan must decide between two Democrats vying for a Senate seat. What does the race reveal about the direction of the Democratic party? Plus, a man is arrested on arson ch...

Todd Blanche, President Trump’s nominee for attorney general, is rescinding an order to create a $1.8 billion fund for Trump’s political allies. Is that enough to persuade senators who blocked his nomination to back him? And President Trump is backing off additional attacks on Iran as negotiations resume today. Why is Trump willing to give diplomacy another go? Also, are progressive candidates poi...

President Trump has repeatedly warned that the communists are coming for America. And he’s not talking about China or North Korea. He’s talking about Democratic Socialists like Zohran Mamdani and recent Congressional candidates. This week on The Sunday Story, we bring you a conversation from our colleagues at The NPR Politics Podcast . They argue that as the midterms near, crying “communism” may b...

The president’s media company is offering investors early access to his Truth Social feed for up to $100,000 a month. Arizona, California, and Nevada share steep cuts to Colorado River water over the next decade. FIFA's plan to sell stakes in the World Cup collapses. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening....

President Trump claims to have reached a breakthrough in efforts to disarm Hamas in Gaza. Hamas says it will only give up its weapons if Israel withdraws first. On the domestic front, Trump floated the idea of temporarily withdrawing his nominee for attorney general until two Republicans holdouts leave office. And a new report from the Commerce Department shows that economic growth slowed in the s...

The U.S. launched a wave of airstrikes on Iran overnight. This was in retaliation to a foiled surprise attack on U.S. forces in Jordan. Dr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment during a contentious Senate hearing on Wednesday. And a new Trump administration rule is making it even harder to seek asylum. Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Sub...

President Trump hosted two foreign leaders at the White House on Tuesday. Both, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, are dealing with war at home. While Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu has been increasingly strained, his ties with Zelenskyy have steadily improved. And in France, raging wildfires have force hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Want more...

President Trump is meeting with two world leaders separately at the White House on Tuesday. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu are seeking Trump’s support amid ongoing conflicts. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians and thousands of Syrians who are in the U.S. legally are facing deportation. And new research shows that an increasing number of Americans say corruption is a p...

At least three people are dead after a shooting at a food festival in Seattle. Four others are injured, including a 2-year-old boy.  Police say a suspect is in custody, while another is on the loose. After nearly two weeks of intense airstrikes, the U.S. and Iran have paused their attacks and started exchanging messages again. And with fewer than 100 days left until election day, some key races ac...

Thirty-six years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, guaranteeing civil rights for millions of Americans. But the movement that made that day possible began years earlier. One pivotal victory was won by a small, often-forgotten group of activists in Denver known as the "Gang of 19." On The Sunday Story , NPR’s Joseph Shapiro and Colorado Public Radio’s Stephanie Wolf trac...

A recap of President Trump’s hour-long speech at the rescheduled White House Correpondents’ Dinner. Ukrainian drones have targeted Russia’s airfields and oil refineries and are now going after Wildberries, Russia’s large e-commerce retailer. Young people’s protests in India over entrance exams have resulted in the resignation of the country’s education minister today. See pcm.adswizz.com for infor...

Oil topped $100 a barrel for the first time in two months after Iran-backed Houthi rebels struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, opening a new front in the shipping war as President Trump says he's weighing a massive attack on Iran. One of Trump's global tariffs expired overnight and he replaced it within the hour with a new one hitting 59 countries and the European Union, built on a different l...

Saudi Arabia is getting American nuclear reactors and a path to enrich its own uranium, the same technology the U.S. has spent months bombing Iran to stop, which has Israel warning about a nuclear arms race. President Trump is asking Americans to be patient about what the war is costing them, promising Iran will pay for itself the way he claims Venezuela has, but his own supporters are getting har...

President Trump travels to Dover Air Force Base today to receive the bodies of service members killed in the Iran war, as he insists Iran is desperate for a deal. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth got a grilling from both parties on Capitol Hill as he asked for billions more to fund a war Congress never voted to authorize, with 18 troops now dead and nearly 500 wounded. And Arizona has picked its can...

The war between the U.S. and Iran keeps widening as Yemen's Houthi rebels announce a blockade of Saudi Arabia that would choke off another key oil route, even as Iran signals it may be open to talks. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth heads to Capitol Hill today to ask lawmakers for a nearly 90 billion dollar funding boost for the war with Iran, in a rare chance for senators to question him after the...

A third U.S. service member has been killed since Friday as the U.S. bombs Iran for a ninth straight night, with Iran vowing not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz while the attacks continue. House Republicans have one week left before the August recess as Speaker Mike Johnson tries to advance defense funding, a stock trading ban for lawmakers, and President Trump’s election inte...

What defines a family? For a group of strangers, that question took on a profound, unexpected meaning after DNA tests revealed a hidden, decades-old deception. They discovered they were all half-siblings conceived through artificial insemination in the mid-20th century. Their biological father was not the man who raised them, but Dr. Charles Charny, a Philadelphia fertility specialist. In this wee...

Hunter Biden says he has nothing left to hide. He’s been all over the internet in recent months, including appearances with some of his harshest critics, such as ultra-conservative podcasters Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes. In May, he reactivated his long-dormant X account, writing, “You've never actually heard from me.”  Since then, he’s posted an average of 23 times per day — weighing in on poli...

The latest on two fatal shootings involving federal immigration officers in Texas and Maine. An unprecedented rescue mission to save a valuable space observatory before it burns up in Earth's atmosphere. A preview of the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey between Spain and Argentina. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage you...

President Trump gave a primetime address on election integrity, releasing documents he said proved widespread fraud in the 2020 election, but experts say there’s nothing new, just a rehash of old claims. Trump used his speech to pressure Congress on a bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote, while also laying the groundwork to question the legitimacy of the midterms if Republicans underperform...

Most senators didn't question Todd Blanche's qualifications to lead the Justice Department at his confirmation hearing, they questioned whether the man who spent years as President Trump's personal lawyer would serve the president or the country. President Trump notified Congress that the U.S. is back at war with Iran, starting a new 60-day clock for military action, though the clock that may matt...