Up First from NPR

President Trump canceled planned strikes on Iran citing progress in negotiations and says a deal that reopens the Strait of Hormuz could be signed within days, capping a week of whiplash that saw the U.S. bomb Iran three nights in a row and Trump threaten to seize an Iranian island. The UFC holds seven fights on the White House lawn Sunday for America's 250th birthday, one of a growing list of sid...

The U.S. unleashed a second straight night of strikes on Iran with President Trump saying Iran is taking too long to negotiate, as Iran fires back at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan and Trump reveals U.S. efforts to help oil tankers slip past the Iranian blockade.  Inflation jumped to its highest level in more than three years last month, largely driven by soaring gas prices since the war...

Iran launched attacks on Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan overnight after the U.S. struck Iranian targets in retaliation for an Iranian attack that downed a U.S. helicopter, raising fears of an escalation spiral that could derail any deal. Primary results are in from Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina, with Maine's high-stakes Senate matchup now set between Democrat Graham Platner and Republ...

Israel and Iran both pulled back after trading missile fire at the urging of President Trump, but each side is setting conditions that could quickly reignite the fighting and derail U.S. efforts towards a deal with Iran. It's primary day in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, and South Carolina, with Maine Democrats picking a candidate to challenge longtime Senator Susan Collins in a race critical to con...

Israel and Iran trade direct strikes following an Israeli attack on Beirut's southern suburbs that defied a U.S. request to stand down, further complicating U.S. efforts to reach a deal with Iran. President Trump abruptly walked out of an interview on Meet the Press after being pressed on his anti-weaponization fund and his repeated false claims that the 2020 election and last week's California pr...

The World Cup is back in North America for the first time in over 30 years. It’s the most popular sporting event on the globe and with 16 additional teams competing this year, it will be the biggest World Cup to date. But in Trump’s America, visa issues and geopolitical tensions are creating additional challenges for the teams and the fans.  Today on The Sunday Story , we bring two of NPR’s bigges...

Decisions are coming in several major Supreme Court cases, from birthright citizenship and immigration to the president's power to fire federal officials. Posts about prediction markets are latest way for influencers to sow doubt about election results in California. Mexican host city of Guadalajara wrestles with welcoming tens of thousands of tourists to the World Cup, when violence permeates dai...

Senate Republicans worked through the night to pass President Trump's $72 billion immigration enforcement bill, but voted not to block the president’s anti-weaponization fund. A handful of Republicans are breaking with President Trump over the war in Iran, his anti-weaponization fund, and his pick to lead national intelligence, raising the question of whether his grip on the party is starting to s...

President Trump says he'll nominate acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to permanently lead the Department of Justice, even as his now-scrapped anti-weaponization fund continues to complicate a major immigration enforcement bill in Congress. President Trump confirms he cursed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called him crazy in a heated call that halted planned strikes on Beirut,...

Republican voters in Iowa rejected President Trump's pick for governor in last night's primary, a rare moment of pushback as voters in six states set up key November matchups including House races that could decide control of Congress. The Justice Department is scrapping President Trump's nearly $1.8 billion dollar anti-weaponization fund after sustained bipartisan backlash, though the DOJ says pa...

The Justice Department says it will abide by a court order temporarily blocking President Trump's anti-weaponization fund, even as Senate Republicans push the White House to abandon the nearly two billion dollar program entirely amid bipartisan backlash. The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is barely holding as Israel keeps expanding its war in Lebanon, with Gulf states watching nervously as Pr...

Anti-establishment candidate Graham Platner seemingly came out of nowhere to become the presumptive Democratic nominee for the Senate seat in Maine. But his campaign has been dogged by controversies. There were the old, deleted Reddit posts in which he made racist comments and blamed sexual assault on victims. There was a now-covered tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol. And most recently, the  Wall St...

Israeli forces captured a 900-year-old castle in southern Lebanon in their deepest incursion into the country in 26 years, complicating U.S. efforts to reach a deal with Iran even as the two sides traded more strikes over the weekend. Congress returns from its Memorial Day break facing a stalled immigration funding bill that has become tangled up with President Trump’s push for an anti-weaponizati...

Scientists say that sitting is the new smoking. The average American adult now sits for 9-10 hours per day. What’s the least amount of movement someone can do to offset the harms of our modern sedentary lifestyle? Manoush Zomorodi, host of NPR’s TED Radio Hour podcast, has spent the last several years trying to answer that question. After collaborating with Columbia University Medical Center on a...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth talks Pacific security, the government reviews E. Jean Carroll's civil cases against President Trump, Costco and Walmart are selling more gasoline. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

Vice President Vance says the U.S. is very close to a deal with Iran to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but Lebanon remains the main hurdle as Israel bombed Beirut again and is also expanding its control over Gaza.  The Justice Department is investigating writer E. Jean Carroll and the major Democratic donor who helped pay some of her legal bills against President Trump, part...

Even as peace talks continue, the U.S. struck Iran near the Strait of Hormuz and Iran retaliated against a U.S. base in Kuwait, while Israel expanded its assault in Lebanon by issuing evacuation orders for the southern city, Tyre. Texas now has one of the most competitive Senate races in the country after Republicans nominated Ken Paxton, giving Democrats an opportunity to flip a seat in the midte...

Ken Paxton defeated four-term Senator John Cornyn in the Texas Republican primary by nearly two to one, setting up what could be the most competitive Senate race in the state in decades as Democrats see an opening. South Carolina Republicans blocked President Trump's push to redraw the state's congressional map, with some in the party warning the nationwide redistricting effort is energizing Democ...

The U.S. launched fresh strikes on Iran, targeting missile sites and boats laying mines, even as Secretary of State Marco Rubio says negotiations to end the war could still take a few more days, with Israel warning the emerging deal is a bad one as it escalates attacks in Lebanon. Russia carried out one of its largest attacks on Ukraine, hitting every district in Kyiv over the weekend while Ukrain...

President Trump says a deal with Iran is “largely negotiated” after weekend talks with Gulf leaders and Israel. The preliminary agreement is expected to gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz while leaving the nuclear program for a later round of talks. Some Republican senators are already calling it a disaster. Gulf countries are pressing hard for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict with Iran...

For people working to address climate change in the U.S., the last year has been a hard one. The Trump administration has been rolling back rules and regulations aimed at reducing planet-warming pollution. But some cities and states are moving forward on climate action. On today’s episode of The Sunday Story , NPR’s Julia Simon brings us local solutions to this global problem.  To hear and read mo...

Washington ratcheted up the pressure on Havana this week. A federal judge in Tennessee dismissed criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Electricity costs are rising as the U.S. enters warmer weather, likely meaning higher utility bills for consumers. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship pref...

Republicans left for recess without passing President Trump’s top immigration enforcement package after he pushed for funding for his White House ballroom and a controversial anti-weaponization fund, raising new questions about growing GOP pushback against the president. The Democratic National Committee has released its long-delayed 2024 election autopsy report, a nearly 200-page document filled...

Republicans in Congress are racing to pass a $72 billion immigration enforcement package using budget reconciliation, but President Trump is furious that funding for his White House ballroom was blocked, escalating tensions with GOP lawmakers still recovering from his primary challenges. President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a tense call Tuesday over the direction of t...

President Trump ousted Republican Congressman Thomas Massie in last night's primary in Kentucky, the latest GOP lawmaker to lose his seat for crossing the president, and Democratic voters turned out in force across six states that held primaries on Tuesday. President Trump said he was "an hour away" from launching new military strikes on Iran this week before calling them off and he's now giving T...