Iran war; Trump; Student loans to Treasury; Hamas : NPR
Good morning. You are reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to receive it in your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.
Today’s best stories
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel acted alone when it struck an Iranian gas complex earlier this week. President Trump said he was not informed in advance of the attack. But a person briefed on the matter told NPR that the United States and Israel are coordinating on all targets. Netanyahu said Trump had asked Israel to suspend any future attacks. As the war enters its third week, the Pentagon is asking Congress for approval of an additional $200 billion to help U.S. defense.
Two women and a child holding an Iranian flag head to the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque on Friday to attend Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran.
Vahid Salemi/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Vahid Salemi/AP
- 🎧 NPR’s Carrie Kahn is in Tel Aviv, where she reports First that the atmosphere is tenseeven though many people in the Middle East observe the first day of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Tension in Israel increased after police deployed tear gas against Muslim worshipers heading towards Jerusalem’s Old City. Authorities closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque at the start of the war, citing security concerns due to the arrival of missiles and a lack of shelter. Mustafa Abu Sway, a member of the mosque’s management authority, says the claims are just a pretext for increased Israeli control over the holy site.
- 🎧 Trump met with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterdaywho joined five other US allies in supporting a coalition to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Takaichi offered no military support to help Trump achieve his goals. The near-total halt to traffic crossing the strait has had a catastrophic effect on the global energy market. Here’s why it’s so difficult for world leaders to lower oil and gas prices.
- ➡️ Foreign policy often comes at the bottom of American voters’ concerns. But military action gone wrong often puts presidents in danger and leads to irreversible political consequences. The longer the war in Iran drags on, the worse things could be for Trump, if the history of previous presidents is anything to go by.
Three major reports this month reveal that Trump has rapidly undermined American democracy. since his return to the White House. Bright Line Watch, which surveyed more than 500 American academics, concluded that the United States now stands halfway between liberal democracy and dictatorship. The organization’s co-directors spoke exclusively to NPR ahead of the survey’s release next week. An annual report from V-Dem dropped America’s democracy rankings from 20th to 51st out of 179 countries. A Freedom House report released yesterday says that among free countries, the United States experienced one of the largest declines in political rights and civil liberties last year.
Mediators presented Hamas with a formal proposal to surrender their weaponsa senior U.S. official told NPR. The plan calls on Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza to give up their weapons, placing responsibility for all weapons in the hands of a new government authority. A Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the written document a “take it or leave it” offer and said the group would wait to see the outcome of the war in Iran before making a decision.
The Trump administration yesterday announced a three-phase transition moving a significant portion of management of the nation’s federal student loan portfolio from the Department of Education to the Department of the Treasury. The interagency agreement obtained by NPR shows that in the first phase, Treasury will regain control of the collection of defaulted student loans. The announcement marks the latest move in Trump’s effort to shut down the Department of Education.
Behind the story
by Adriana Gallardo, Morning edition editor
Cesar Chavez, farm worker, union organizer and leader of the California grape strike, is seen in a California company office in 1965.
George Brich/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
George Brich/AP
My phone kept ringing Wednesday afternoon with text messages from different friends, each wanting to exchange thoughts on what seemed like the second death of Cesar Chavez.
His first death occurred on April 23, 1993. He was 66 years old and died of natural causes. More than 50,000 people attended his funeral in Delano, California.
At that time, I was in elementary school in the suburbs of Chicago, far from California. That’s when I first heard about Chavez and his movement’s strenuous efforts to achieve better wages and working conditions for farm workers. As the daughter of janitors and factory workers, I knew what better pay and the right to a union meant to people like us.
Chavez’s second death came Wednesday after a The New York Times The investigation revealed that he had been accused of sexual abuse and rape.
For several years before joining Morning edition as an editor, I covered sexual violence for ProPublica, an investigative newsroom. My job there was often not to catch the bad guys, but rather to listen to the people they hurt. Consistent with the statistics, the perpetrators I spoke about were often family members, bosses, clergy, or others in positions of power.
This week, many of the victims’ voices I spoke with recalled the experiences of New York TimesThe investigation revealed recounting the sexual abuse that Ana Murguia, Debra Rojas and Dolores Huerta shared with the publication. I was grateful to learn the names of Murguia and Rojas alongside the much more familiar name of Huerta, the civil rights icon in his own right who co-led the United Farm Workers movement that made Chavez famous.
I learned that justice for many means the world recognizing the wrong done to them – and the difficult work they have done to no longer live like that. And I learned that sharing their stories is sometimes a way to prevent future harm.
Maybe my friends and I will be a hero this week. But we gained two new heroines in Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas, who, alongside Dolores Huerta, showed us that it’s never too late to speak up. In fact, it might be the only way out for them and others.
Weekend Picks
Find out what NPR watch, read and listen this weekend:
🍿 Movies: Cillian Murphy returns as gangster Tommy Shelby in the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. In this cinematic sequel, Shelby decides to break her isolation when her son’s carelessness forces her hand.
📺 Television: Steve Carell stars as a down-on-his-luck writing professor at a small college in the comedy series Rooster. Her daughter, also a teacher, is the subject of campus gossip because her husband has just left her to become a student.
📚 Books: That of Roger Bennett We are the world (Cup) is a love letter to the game that explores how past World Cups have met cultural and geopolitical moments.
🎵 Music: The first full-length album from R&B singer Jill Scott in over a decade, Who it may concernembraces various iterations of herself, including her current role as a family caregiver and her eighth-grade self.
🎭 Theater: The Martha Graham Dance Company is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year with an international tour. Graham founded his company in the 1920s with the revolutionary idea of using dance to tell American stories.
❓Quizzes: From food-centric news to a football star’s milestone achievements, a good memory of this week’s events, along with a few good guesses, could take you far in this week’s current affairs quiz.
3 things to know before you leave
The Food and Drug Administration is reconsidering stricter regulation of tanning beds.
Adventure_Photo/E+/Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Adventure_Photo/E+/Getty Images
- The FDA this week abandoned a long-standing proposal that would have banned tanning beds for people under 18 and required users to periodically sign forms acknowledging skin cancer risks.
- Planned Parenthood of Illinois will pay $500,000 to end a government investigation into accusations of discrimination related to its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
- Twenty-five years ago, Julia Labes suffered greatly in the emergency room. A woman in the waiting room recognized Labes’ signs of shock and demanded that the receptionist treat her immediately. The next morning, her doctor told her that if she had waited another hour for treatment, she would have died. Labes credits his unsung hero with saving his life.
This newsletter was published by Suzanne Nuyen And Green Treye.
