Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Up First briefing: Iran-U.S.; Congress returns; Hussam Abu Safiya The U.S. and Iran exchanged fire over the weekend amid tensions over the Strait of Hormuz. And, Congress returns from recess facing tight deadlines. Special Series Up First Newsletter All Up First Stories Up First Podcast Morning Edition LISTEN & FOLLOW NPR App Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music iHeart Radio YouTube Music RSS link Sign up for the [TITLE] Newsletter Get perks with [Podcast Title]+ Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed.
By
Brittney Melton
Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.
Strikes between the U.S. and Iran stretched into early today, marking a third straight weekend of fighting. Iran responded to U.S. attacks by striking U.S. allies in the region. The U.S. weekend attacks came after Iran announced the closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz.
A man holds a poster of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a gathering commemorating him at a square in Tehran on Saturday. Vahid Salemi/AP hide caption
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., died at 71. The D.C. medical examiner's preliminary findings identified aortic dissection due to a type of heart disease as the cause of death. Graham served nearly 25 years in the Senate and became a key ally in advancing President Trump's policies and staffing priorities.
Prisoners can file complaints about mistreatment, but retaliation often follows, according to an investigation by NPR and The Marshall Project. In 2023, fewer than 2% of grievances filed in federal prisons were approved, with most rejected for procedural errors or closed for other reasons. Court records, lawsuits, and interviews revealed that many cases go unreported because the same officers accused of abuse often silence those seeking help.
A prominent Palestinian doctor, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, is close to dying in an Israeli prison after being held for 18 months without charge or trial, according to his lawyer, who says he has endured daily beatings from Israeli prison guards. NPR's Emily Feng tells Morning Edition that reports of his treatment led to a small protest in Israel and a petition calling for the release of Dr. Abu Safiya and 13 other Palestinian doctors.
Victor "Marka27" Quiñonez, Mexican-born, Brooklyn-based visual artist in his studio in Ridgewood, Queens, on May 14, 2026. Laila AnnMarie Stevens for NPR hide caption
Victor "Marka27" Quiñonez's art exhibition "Ni De Aquí, Ni De Allá" features vibrant resin sculptures that look like playful pop art but contain items like handcuffs, replica guns and old rosaries. The show, reflecting the artist's Mexican American background, opened at the University of North Texas before administrators closed it over concerns about what art could be displayed under Trump administration policies. Take a look at the artwork and read more here.
by Andrea Hsu, NPR's labor and workplace correspondent
Kwame Crockett started working at the plant a few days a week but now he works full-time hours. Julie Holder for NPR hide caption
Flexible work is something that I've followed closely since the pandemic. Remote work exploded, then was rolled back. The tantalizing idea of a four-day workweek has become a reality in pockets of the country.
But through all this reporting, seldom do I hear about flexibility in a blue-collar job. In fact, I often hear quite the opposite. In 2022, freight railroad workers nearly went on strike as they protested strict attendance policies that kept them away from family events and even doctors' visits. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain's pitch for a four-day workweek for assembly workers was brushed aside as a pipe dream.
So I was intrigued when I heard from folks at GE Appliances that they had opened the doors to part-time, flexible work at a couple of their plants. It sounded so unusual that I had to go see it myself. I traveled to the company's kitchen appliance plant in LaFayette, Georgia.
Tony Gabbert, director of manufacturing operations, told me the idea began during COVID when workers were staying home just as demand for ovens and ranges was soaring. Some days, Gabbert himself had to work on the line to keep things moving. Amid this crunch, he learned about a staffing company called MyWorkChoice, which recruits part-time workers who could fill in as needed, picking their own shifts through an app.
His boss thought the idea was crazy. Letting outside folks just drop in for a few hours at a time was unheard of in an industry that runs on consistency. But it paid off. Today, about 450 flexible workers join full-time employees on the assembly line each week. Together, they keep the factory humming.
Gabbert says they've discovered that there's an entire population of people out there who don't want to work the traditional 40-hour workweek and don't need or don't care about the benefits that come with full-time jobs. They're often retirees, mothers with young children and people with other jobs or passion projects.
With a push to bring more manufacturing back to the U.S., the workers have to come from somewhere. For GE Appliances, this has proven to be a viable solution.
Entrepreneur David Huang tests out a VR headset while conducting demonstrations of the social dance lesson app Dance Guru at the Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, Calif. June 17, 2026. Chloe Veltman/NPR hide caption
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen and Majd Al-Waheidi.
Sponsor Message
Become an NPR sponsor