Up First from NPR
NPR's Up First is the news you need to start your day. The three biggest stories of the day, with reporting and analysis from NPR News — in 10 minutes. Available weekdays at 6:30 a.m. ET, with hosts Leila Fadel, Steve Inskeep, Michel Martin and A Martinez. Also available on Saturdays at 9 a.m. ET, with Ayesha Rascoe and Scott Simon. On Sundays, hear a longer exploration behind the headlines with Ayesha Rascoe on "The Sunday Story," available by 8 a.m. ET. Subscribe and listen, then support your local NPR station at donate.npr.org. Support NPR's reporting by subscribing to Up First+ and unlock sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org/upfirst
Episodes
U.S. forces boarded a tanker carrying sanctioned oil after a two-week chase across the Atlantic, as the Trump administration expands plans to take control of Venezuela’s oil sales indefinitely.
And Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s new dietary...
Facing tough midterm elections in 2026, Trump tells House Republicans he’s struggling to understand voters and leans into culture-war issues rather than cost-of-living concerns.
And European leaders rally around Greenland, pushing back on Trump’s renewed cl...
Lawmakers are divided after a classified congressional briefing on Venezuela, with Republicans insisting the president acted within the law and Democrats asking what comes next.
And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scales back routine ch...
Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodriguez shifts from defiance to calls for cooperation as the White House ramps up pressure and threatens further action.
And Nicolás Maduro is set to appear in a New York courtroom, facing drug trafficking, weapons, and narco-terrorism charges that could test the reach...
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is in a federal prison in Brooklyn, New York, awaiting trial on charges of narcoterrorism, cocaine-importation conspiracy and weapons charges. The operation to capture Maduro happened in the middle of the night as U.S. troops enjoyed the element of surprise. The U.S. says Maduro is not the legitimate president of Venezuela and accuse him of being the leader of a violent drug c...
The U.S. bombed the Venezuelan capital Caracas and other areas of the country, and captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. President Donald Trump said Maduro is being flown to the U.S. and Attorney General Pam Bondi says he will be indicted in the Southern District of New York. The events come after months of escalating U.S. pressure, sending troops and warships to the Carribean.
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The Justice Department misses its deadline to release the Epstein files, fueling confusion and conspiracy theories as heavily redacted and unreliable documents trickle out.
And Switzerland begins days of mourning after a deadly New Year’s Eve fire rips...
The Trump administration freezes child care funding nationwide after targeting Minnesota over unproven fraud claims tied to Somali-run day care centers.
And New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is sworn in at midnight as he prepares to take office.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the da...
Iranian authorities shut down cities and security forces move in to contain growing protests as anger over inflation and sanctions boils over.
And the flu is spreading fast across the U.S., with a new strain driving cases higher just as vaccination rates slip and hospitals brace for w...
Ukraine’s president presses the White House for decades-long U.S. security guarantees as part of a proposed peace deal with Russia.
And a year after DOGE’s push to shrink government, agencies are smaller, spending is higher, and millions of Americans’ data remains in play.
Israel’s prime minister is in Mar-a-Lago today as pressure mounts over Gaza, Iran, and what comes next in Trump's ceasefire deal.
And anti-poverty groups warn funding chaos is forcing cuts just as more Americans need help.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a lit...
To hear more of Anthony’s reporting on people who reinvented themselves late in life, check out his series "The Third...
NPR’s Ron Elving has been thinking about the state of U.S. politics since President Donald Trump returned to power. Also, several countries in South America elected conservative and even far right leaders in 2025, marking a political and ideological shift in the region. And, we’ll have the highlight reel from the year in sports.
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President Trump has announced the U.S. launched a number of strikes against Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria. Congress started 2025 with an ambitious legislative agenda, but 12 months later has ceded much of its power to President Trump and has passed a record low number of bills. And, shoppers spent a record amount of money this holiday season even as polling finds Americans are feeling glum about the e...
After two years of not celebrating because of the war in nearby Gaza, Christmas festivities have returned to Bethlehem. Election officials in Honduras have named the winner of the country’s presidential election, after more than three weeks of counting the votes. And, in a year of record breaking immigration enforcement, deportations and detentions are separating families and in some cases that means the oldest childre...
The Justice Department released about 30,000 pages of new documents related to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against the Trump administration to block the deployment of National Guard troops to the Chicago area. And, the U.S. economy grew faster than economists had predicted, in July through September.
(00:00) Introduction<...
President Trump has announced the Navy will begin building a new class of warship named after himself. A federal judge has ruled the deportations of more than 100 Venezuelan men to El Salvador were illegal. And, a number of staff members have left the think tank behind Project 2025 to join a group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence.
(00:00) Introduction
(04:03) Trump Announces 'Golden Fleet'
The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in the Caribbean that it says has links to Venezuela. The Department of Justice has released a limited number of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And, an analysis by NPR finds thousands of immigrants without legal status aren’t showing up to immigration court, leading to a rise in deportation removals.
(00:00) Cold Open
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The Justice Department releases a vast trove of documents relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Also, Congress left Washington D.C. for its holiday break without reaching a deal on health care. Millions of Americans will face price hikes on their insurance premiums. And surviving the holiday season, we’ll have tips on what can be a stressful time of the year.
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