1A

President Donald Trump told PBS News this week that his offensive in the Middle East has a “very good chance of ending.” Just days later though, the U.S. traded fire with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, threatening an already fragile ceasefire. The U.S. is still hoping for a “serious offer” from Iran on a proposal to end the war, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, even as the threat of escalation looms.Donald Trump isn't on the ballot in the upcoming Indiana primary. But his agenda certainly is. In late 2025, GOP state lawmakers resisted efforts by the White House to redraw Indiana's congressional map. Now, Trump allies are running to unseat them.The Trump administration has opened an investigation into Smith College, a women-only institution of higher education, over its 2015 decision to admit trans women as students.And, in global news, the fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran was tested this week when American forces launched “self-defense strikes” in the Strait of Hormuz after Iranian forces targeted three Navy destroyers, though none were struck.These strikes come as Iran reviews the latest U.S. proposal to end the war which American officials hope will result in a “serious offer” from Iran, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.President Donald Trump claimed this week that the U.S. will be taking over Cuba “almost immediately.” The backlash from the island nation was swift, with Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel calling the American administration fascist.On Monday, and despite the ceasefire, Israeli attacks killed 17 people in southern Lebanon.We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

One drug is at the center of the current legal battle over abortion: mifepristone.Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, mifepristone has become the dominant method of abortion in the United States, filling the gap left by clinic closures in states with abortion bans. And the number of abortions has actually risen nationally as a result.That's a problem for abortion access opponents. Now, they're taking aim at one of the main ways it's prescribed – via telehealth. And last week, they scored their first big win.A federal appeals court blocked remote prescription of mifepristone. Louisiana sued the FDA, arguing that mail access undermines the state's near-total ban on abortion. But two days later, the drug's manufacturers went to the Supreme Court and it temporarily restored telehealth access while it considers the case. But that stay is set to expire soon.So, what's next in this legal battle? And what does it mean for patients and reproductive health providers?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

Last November, Calvin Duncan won an election to serve as the chief records keeper for the criminal courts of the parish that covers New Orleans.He received 68 percent of the vote, beating out a powerful incumbent. He has some personal experience with Louisiana courts. He was incarcerated for a murder conviction for 28 years. He studied criminal law to advocate for himself, and a judge eventually found him innocent. He was freed in 2011.But now, the Louisiana state legislature has moved to eliminate his position. State officials voted to combine his office with another in a move that state senators said was meant to save money. Duncan is taking legal action and a lawsuit over his role is now making its way through the courts. This situation is part of a larger trend across the nation where state legislatures are more and more often undoing decisions made by local officials.“State preemption” describes steps a state government can take to tell a local city or town council it can't do something. Legislators in states like Florida, Missouri, California, West Virginia, Michigan, and Louisiana have been using it to influence events and regulations in their communities.What's leading to more frequent, and public, fights between state legislatures and local governments? And what could defuse these fights?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

Power is at the center of Americans' lives. It lets us cool our homes, keeps them lit, and charges our electronics.But the more things we plug into our aging power grid, the more strained it becomes. And electricity use in the U.S. is rising for the first time in more than a decade.What happens when our grid can't keep up? We sit down with a panel of experts to find out.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

Last week, in a six-to-three ruling along ideological lines, the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.That's the landmark Civil Rights era law designed to prevent racial discrimination in an election. The law was passed to unravel Jim Crow era policies that limited or blocked Black Americans' access to the ballot.The decision in Louisiana v. Callais struck down Louisiana's congressional map as an “unconstitutional gerrymander.”But the ruling goes further. It effectively rewrites the rules for how the Voting Rights Act can be used to challenge discriminatory maps, making it much harder to do so going forward. It's the latest in a string of rulings making the last all but moot.We tackle the race to redistrict across America and we talk about how this hugely consequential ruling changes an election season already in full swing.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

The Supreme Court this week struck down a voting map in Louisiana that created a second majority-Black district, ruling it an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. In doing so, the majority also struck an enormous blow to the landmark Voting Rights Act, and fueled GOP redistricting efforts before the midterms.Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth headed to Congress, where things got testy as lawmakers grilled him over the war with Iran. Pentagon officials put a price tag on the conflict so far: $25 billion. And gas prices hit a four year high, with a national average of $4.30 a gallon.Federal prosecutors formally charged the alleged gunman at the White House Correspondents' Dinner with attempting to assassinate the president. He will remain in custody despite an appeal for a pre-trial release.We cover the most important stories from around the country in the domestic hour of the News Roundup.And, in global news, the United States and Iran extend their dueling blockades in the Strait of Hormuz as President Trump rejects the Islamic Republic's proposal to reopen the critical waterway.Israel ramps up attacks on southern Lebanon, while claiming it did not break a temporary U-S brokered ceasefire.And uncertainty over the global oil supply causes markets to spike once again, the same week energy companies report massive profits.We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

American farmers are being squeezed. Tariffs are raising the cost of equipment and services. And now the war in Iran is driving up the cost of fertilizer and fuel.And the Farm bill — the sweeping, traditionally bipartisan legislation that shapes everything from crop insurance to food aid – hasn't been reauthorized since 2018.Next week, the House will try again.What's in the bill and why the coalition that supported it for years seems to be falling apart.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

In 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was a presidential hopeful running under the banner of “making America healthy again.”Among his most fervent supporters: vaccine skeptics and cynics, nutrition-focused parents and anti-pesticide activists.After dropping out of the presidential contest and endorsing Donald Trump, Kennedy emerged as the president's foremost pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.Now, many in the so-called “MAHA coalition” are disappointed with Secretary Kennedy for what they describe as a failure to deliver key reforms to the nation's health and food systems.And, we discuss what the rise in measles and other infectious diseases means about the state of our public health. Secretary Kennedy has repeatedly downplayed recent measles outbreaks and given deeply mixed messages on vaccination.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how we run cities. It has the potential to make life more affordable, efficient, and safe. But with little oversight and policy, what are the risks to residents?As tech changes our communities, it's often mayors who are leading the way. More than 500 of them are meeting in Madrid to share their best ideas as part of this year's Bloomberg CityLab, a global cities summit from Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with the Aspen Institute … and 1A is there.The mayors of San Antonio, Texas, Nairobi, Kenya and Bogotá, Colombia join us for a discussion about how local leaders are using artificial intelligence to aid them in running their cities — and how they are balancing residents' concerns about privacy, the environmental impact, and what an increased use of AI could mean for the job market.They're among 10 founding mayors of the Mayors AI Forum launched Tuesday in Madrid by Bloomberg Philanthropies and Johns Hopkins University.“Mayors have often been early leaders on global challenges – even as national and international responses lagged,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg L.P., and three-term mayor of New York City. “Now, the Mayors AI Forum will help put them – and the communities they serve – at the forefront of conversations about the future of AI.”Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

A growing number of states are looking at implementing a wealth tax to fund social services.California is among them, with a billionaire tax set to be included on its November ballot. And this month, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, and Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul introduced a proposed tax on luxury second homes in the city. In March, Washington passed its first ever income tax – which has already been met with a legal challenge.All this comes as the wealth gap in the U.S. grows to its widest point in three decades – and only looks set to keep increasing. In this installment of “If You Can Keep It,” we look at how tax codes have contributed to a growing inequality in the country, how to fix it, and what this wealth gap means for the health of our democracy.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

President Donald Trump is giving Iran a short window to unify behind an offer for peace in the Middle East after negotiations between Tehran and Washington recently broke down — or the ceasefire he extended Tuesday ends.Donald Trump's labor secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, is leaving the agency amidst accusations of misconduct. She's now the third cabinet member to leave during the second Trump administration.Elsewhere, Virginia voters approved a new congressional map on Tuesday that could help Democrats pick up seats in the House during the midterms later this year. But a state judge blocked the map from being certified just a day after its passage.And, in global news, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad, Pakistan, tonight for another round of peace talks with the U.S.A top Trump administration envoy floated the idea to FIFA this week to replace Iran with Italy at this summer's World Cup. The swap was likely suggested as an effort to repair ties between President Donald Trump and Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni amid rumors they've fallen out over the presidents attack on Pope Leo XIV.The Trump administration is reportedly in talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo to send as many as eleven hundred Afghan refugees there, including more than 400 children.We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

Just a few decades ago, human immunodeficiency virus, also known as HIV, was a death sentence for those who contracted it.However, over the past 35 years, more effective medication and widespread access to AIDS drug assistance programs have helped those with the virus live longer and healthier lives.But in the coming months, tens of thousands of people living with HIV in the U.S. could lose access to that medication. That's because states around the country are trying to save money by making cuts to programs that pay for HIV meds and care.In March, more than 16,000 people lost coverage when Florida slashed ADAP eligibility overnight. Weeks later, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law allocating $31 million to keep thousands of those who lost coverage on their meds.But that money is only slated to last through June. And this isn't just a problem happening in Florida. Some 23 states and Washington, D.C. have implemented or are considering implementing cuts to their own HIV medication and care programs to help balance their budgets.We sit down with a panel of experts to discuss.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

More than 70 million Americans live with a disability. That's roughly one in four adults. And any of us can join that number at any point in our lives. Through an injury, illness, or simply getting older.Disabled people are one of the largest minorities in this country. Yet there's one part of their lives that almost never gets discussed: sex.Today, that silence is being challenged – by disabled people themselves – online, in film and television, and in conversations happening in bedrooms and doctors' offices across the country.In February, we brought you 1A's first sex week – about sex across our lifespans. And you told us you wanted more about sex and disability.How do we express our needs in the bedroom, especially when the sex we want doesn't match common ideas of what sex – and the people who have it – can look like?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

Towns across the U.S. are now grappling with what it means to have ICE detention centers in their backyard — even communities that overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump and support his deportation efforts.Last week, hundreds of protestors showed up outside a Maryland courtroom while a federal judge temporarily blocked the construction of a detention center in the state. That pause will remain in place as a lawsuit from the the state's attorney general plays out. And last month, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro blocked ICE's access to water and sewage systems in two different counties where warehouses were bought. Local leaders argue these warehouses would overwhelm city resources.So, what are conditions like in these facilities? And what does the future hold for this new wave of detention centers?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

Most of us would agree that access to foreign intelligence is important to national security. But whose private data gets swept up in the process?The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was first established in 1978 following Watergate. It's a key U.S. surveillance tool. Section 702 was added to the act in 2008 allowing the government to collect the communications of more than 300,000 foreign nationals outside of the U.S. without a warrant every year. And the Trump administration would like to keep it that way even though lawmakers on both sides of the aisle worry that the act violates American citizens' right to privacy.That section was set to expire today. But last Friday, the House voted to extend the expiration to April 30th. That's after House Speaker Mike Johnson failed to corral his party's support behind a long-term extension. The Senate also passed that short-term extension.So, as its future hangs in the balance, what's at risk if we lose this tool? And what are the dangers of failing to reform it?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

We start with the U.S.-Israel war with Iran — a war that President Donald Trump said would end in two to three weeks. Now, in its seventh week, the Pentagon is sending 10,000 more troops to the Middle East to pressure Iran into making a peace deal.On Sunday, Trump posted a long rant on Truth Social calling Pope Leo XIV “weak on crime, and terrible for foreign policy.” Then, later that night, Trump posted an AI-generated photo that appeared to depict him as Jesus Christ.Rep. Eric Swalwell was a front-runner for the seat of California governor just weeks ago. Now, he's out of the race and out of Congress after numerous sexual assault allegations were leveled against him.And, in global news, Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz completely open to commercial vessels. This move is expected to lessen severity of the growing global energy crisis and bring the possibility of a peace agreement between Iran and the U.S. closer to becoming a reality.New reporting from Axios indicates that U.S. and Iranian negotiators made progress in new peace talks on Tuesday. On Thursday, Pakistan's foreign ministry said a second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran will be held in Islamabad. But no date has been announced yet.And it's the dawn of a new era in Hungary this week. For the first time in 16 years, Viktor Orbán will no longer lead the nation from Budapest, having lost the election for his position as prime minister to conservative rival Peter Magyar.We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

For over 75 years, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has bolstered American power and shaped the world order as we know it. But under President Donald Trump, its future is uncertain.The United States has spent the better part of a year telling its allies they're on their own. Trump has threatened to annex Greenland – the sovereign territory of NATO ally, Denmark. He skipped the Munich Security Conference. And he launched the war in Iran without consulting NATO allies.Now, the president is asking for help securing the Strait of Hormuz. And European countries are saying no.How is the war in Iran testing the alliance? And how would a U.S. withdrawal from NATO reshape global power dynamics?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

Imagine you're in a bookstore and you wander over to the fiction section. There, you find two shelves: one for human-written novels… and one for novels written by AI.That future may not be as far off as you think. Roughly 4 million books were published in the U.S. in 2025. That's a more than a 32 percent increase from 2024, according to the trade magazine Publisher's Weekly.It's unclear how many of those books were written by AI, in part because software used to detect it can be ineffective. And the literary waters were made even murkier by the fact that at least 3 million of those 4 million books were self-published. That makes it even more difficult to know if they were written by human hands (er, minds).That's not to say the self-published portion of the industry is the only part where this tech is showing up. Hachette, one the largest publishers in the U.S., canceled one of its novels, “SHY GIRL,” after allegations that its author used AI to write it.All this is marking a turning point for the publishing industry. How can authors ethically use this technology? And do readers really need new AI-authored books in a market already saturated with options?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.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

It's that time of the year again. Have you finished filing your return?Doing taxes this season has been particularly fraught – for both taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service. It's been a year since DOGE slashed federal funding and cut droves of federal employees. Those departures hit the IRS hard. Its leadership has largely turned over.Also, Republicans in Congress took back billions of dollars the agency had received to improve its systems. Then, they gave the IRS even more tax code changes to enforce.Can the IRS handle it all? And what do taxes – and a functional tax agency – have to do with the strength of U.S. democracy? We sit down with a panel of experts to find out.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

The Democrats are having a moment. They've enjoyed massive turnout for recent primaries, special elections, and local races. And voter data shows they're also gaining support among Republican and independent voters.In Wisconsin, liberal judge Chris Taylor recently won a spot on the state Supreme Court by nearly 20 points. That's nearly double the margin of victory another liberal candidate in 2025.Some Republicans are worried about what wins like these mean for the GOP's performance in the midterms. And as a shrinking job market, high inflation, and a costly war in Iran drag down the economy, Democrats are seizing the moment to capture voters.In this installment of our weekly politics series, “If You Can Keep It,” we go deep on the Democrats' recent successes. How are voters responding to a Republican party struggling to deliver on its promises?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

The U.S. and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire after President Donald Trump threatened that “a whole civilization will die” in a social media post this week. Iranian officials are temporarily reopening the Strait of Hormuz as long as the truce remains unbroken.Trump also signed an executive order this week that restricts mail-in voting, a practice he's long criticized due to his belief that it leads to fraud. There is no evidence for the president's claim.Meanwhile, the president's former attorney general, Pam Bondi, has signaled she will not appear for a scheduled Congressional deposition over the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein.And, in global news, despite the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, Israel is continuing its offensive in Lebanon meant to target the terrorist group Hezbollah.Now that the Strait of Hormuz has temporarily reopened, analysts are expecting that it will take weeks for global energy supplies to rebound.JD Vance was in Europe this week for a visit to Hungary where he repeatedly praised its president, Victor Orban, and attacked the European Union.We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

In 2019, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay governor elected in the U.S., signed a bill banning conversion therapy in the state. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that ban may be unconstitutional.Conversion therapy seeks to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity. The practice has been deemed unethical and ineffective by most major mental health groups. And a study from the Trevor Project found that young people who go through conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to have reported attempting suicide compared to those who did not.Only one Supreme Court justice dissented in this case. Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that this decision “opens a dangerous can of worms” and “threatens to impair states' ability to regulate the provision of medical care in any respect.”What's behind the Supreme Court's decision that will likely overturn this ban? And how might this decision affect nearly two dozen other states that have similar bans?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

After threatening massive attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure, Donald Trump is agreeing to a ceasefire to end the war in Iran.On Tuesday morning, the president posted on social media that “an entire civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” referring to his Tuesday night deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for trade.Tuesday evening, the president extended that deadline and agreed to a two-week pause in fighting, writing in a social media post that his decision is based on conversations with Pakistan army chief and its prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif.Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said ships will be able to pass through the strait for the next two weeks in compliance with the ceasefire. Araghchi also said Iran will stop military attacks as long as it is not attacked.Plus – hiring in most of the country is at a virtual standstill. That's according to the most recent labor market figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.The hiring rate fell to 3.1 percent in February. That's the lowest since April 2020, when the pandemic shuttered many businesses. Job openings also dropped over by the hundreds of thousands compared to January.Those losses are being felt most by young people. According to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the unemployment rate for college grads reached 5.6 percent last year, outpacing the national rate of 4.2. And a November report by the Stanford Digital Economy Lab shows a “substantial decline” in job openings for early career workers in fields most vulnerable to artificial intelligence.So, how are Americans feeling about the current job market? And how could U.S. and Israel's war in Iran make a chilly jobs market even colder?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

More than 80 million people rely on Medicaid. It's the single largest source of funding for health coverage for low-income Americans. But President Donald Trump's massive 2025 spending bill is expected to cut the program by nearly a trillion dollars over the next decade.Hospitals could be among the hardest hit. Medicaid covers about a fifth of all their spending, according to KFF Health News.And a new report from progressive think tank Public Citizen shows that more than 440 hospitals are at risk of closing or reducing services in the years ahead. More than a quarter of hospitals in states like Connecticut, California, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington are at risk of closing or cutting services.Obstetrics care could be hit especially hard. It's one of the most expensive categories of service provided by hospitals. And Medicaid funds nearly 40 percent of all births in the U.S.What does the potential loss of hundreds of hospitals mean for the quality and availability of health care in this country?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

Both Iran and the U.S. have been accused of committing or planning war crimes since “Operation Epic Fury” began in late February.Targeting electricity-generating stations, schools, and water-purifying plants is illegal under international law. Pretty much any civilian infrastructure is supposed to be off limits.But what does it actually mean to label military action a war crime in today's conflicts? We sit down with a panel of experts to talk about it.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

President Donald Trump told the nation during a presidential address that he expected the war in Iran to come to a close soon, saying that it was “nearly complete.” Meanwhile, the Pentagon is preparing for a weeks of ground operations in the Middle East.The House rejected a Senate-approved bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security this week. Now, the Senate is scrambling to get another version of its plan back to the House before the week is over.And a federal judge struck down a Trump executive order that pulled funding from National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, citing free speech violations.And, in global news, President Donald Trump told aides this week that he would consider ending the war in Iran without securing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. It's a strategy that's left some American allies a little nervous about their energy supplies, leading the president to tell them to “go get your own oil.”Meanwhile, Israel passed a law legalizing the death penalty for any Palestinian caught perpetrating a terrorist attack.Now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he and his forces are planning on widening their invasion of southern Lebanon.We cover the most important stories from around the globe on the News Roundup.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

It's been nearly four years since Roe v. Wade was overturned.Since then, abortion access across the U.S. has been in flux – and the fight around that care continues today. Now, 13 states have a total ban. And five have restricted abortion after six weeks of gestation. The latest state to do so is Wyoming.But legal challenges to such bans are swift and constant, leading to confusion and uncertainty for both those seeking abortions and those who provide them.And despite these partial or total bans, new data from the Guttmacher Institute found that the number of abortions has remained relatively unchanged from 2024 to 2025.We sit down with a panel of experts to talk about the state of abortion access in 2026.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

In 2024, many voters were frustrated with the state of the southern U.S. border.A growing share of the electorate thought the Biden administration was being too lax on illegal immigration. And Pew Research said roughly one in 10 Democrats were in favor of a national deportation effort.Over the past 14 months, President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security has launched a strict and oftentimes violent crackdown on illegal immigration.While popular at first, especially among the MAGA base, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have also detained legal residents and others with protected status as part of their efforts. Now, polls suggest most U.S. adults think the deployment of federal immigration agents into American cities has gone too far.What do we know about where voters stand on Trump's immigration enforcement? And how are Republicans and independents responding to this administration's tactics?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

If you're born in the United States – with a few exceptions – you're a U.S. citizen. That principle is called birthright citizenship and it's existed since the end of the Civil War.Some 160 years later, President Donald Trump wants to change that. On his first day back in office in 2025, he signed an executive order that tries to narrow the category of who is eligible.The Supreme Court is set to weigh in. It hears the case on Wednesday. What could the outcomes of this case mean for U.S. citizenship – for new immigrants, for their children, and for native born citizens?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

Is the Trump administration creating a centralized database that tracks the activities Americans? Americans who are not suspected of committing a crime?That's the question at the heart of a new lawsuit filed against the administration by the Freedom of the Press Foundation. That's an organization advocating for press freedoms.These allegations stem from an executive order signed by Donald Trump last year encouraging data sharing between federal agencies and the elimination of “information silos.” In the last year, the Trump administration has loosened restrictions around the Central Intelligence Agency's access law enforcement data. It has also allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement to access Medicaid data and given ICE access to data from the Internal Revenue Service.These instances of data sharing between agencies have led to court battles and raised concerns over the amount of access the federal government has to our personal data and what they're doing with it.We discuss the erosion of privacy protections under the Trump administration and what it means for you.A statement from Flock…“Flock does not share data on behalf of customers – agencies own and control their data and decide how it's shared. As is made clear in our Terms & Conditions, “all right, title, and interest in and to Customer Data belong to and are retained by Customer.” Agencies can opt to share 1:1, within a geographic radius, across statewide or nationwide networks, or not at all. All searches on the platform are logged in an unalterable audit trail.Any sharing with federal law enforcement must be done on a 1:1 basis; federal agencies are not part of statewide or nationwide networks. In order for an agency to establish a sharing relationship with federal law enforcement, the local agency must explicitly allow federal law enforcement to discover that they exist within the Flock system (a setting that is opt-in only and off by default); federal law enforcement must then request access to that system; and the local agency must then accept federal law enforcement's share request.Flock does not have any contracts with ICE or any DHS subagency. You can read more here.On contract renewals: law enforcement agencies nationwide use Flock to help solve serious crimes. When a tool that is actively helping solve violent crimes is removed, public safety moves backward. That has real consequences: cases will take longer to solve, organized retail theft crews will operate with fewer obstacles, an Amber Alert may not be returned home, and victims may wait longer, or indefinitely, for justice. You can read more here.”Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

The Pentagon is planning on putting boots back on the ground in the Middle East. Some 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division have received orders to deploy to the region despite President Donald Trump signaling last week that he was interested in ending his war in Iran via diplomatic means.As Democrats and Republicans continue to find themselves in a stand off over DHS funding, security lines at airports around the country continue to grow.Tech giants Meta and YouTube were found negligent in a landmark case concerning the companies' creation of addictive online platforms that harm users' mental health and wellbeing.And, in global news, Iranian officials confirmed this week they received a 15-point plan from the U.S. to end the war that's killed thousands of Iranians and several American service members. Tehran, however, is signaling its found the demands contained within “extremely maximalist and unreasonable.”Meanwhile, Tehran-backed Hezbollah leaders are rejecting any notion that they're seeking an end to their conflict with Israel.And the world's attention swinging to Iran seems to have emboldened Russia, as Vladimir Putin's forces gear up for a spring offensive in their campaign against Ukraine.We cover the most important stories from around the globe on the News Roundup.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

The morning after major airstrikes by Israel on Iran's oil facilities, black rain fell in Tehran. The city of nearly 10 million people was engulfed in thick black smoke.The World Health Organization is warning that “the conflict in the Middle East poses serious threats to public health.” A new report from the Climate and Community Institute finds that the war unleashed over 5 million tons of carbon in just two weeks. That's more climate pollution than Iceland generates in a year.As the death toll grows, so does the environmental cost. We break it down with a panel of experts.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

The United States Postal Service has delivered mail for 250 years, from the busiest cities to the most remote parts of the country. But decades of money troubles have left the USPS billions of dollars in debt.Now, the postmaster general warns that the agency could run out of money by October – and is urging Congress to save it.We explore the uncertain future of USPS with a panel of experts.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

Owning a house appears further and further out of reach for many people in the U.S. The problem is a national one. The median price for an American home is now just over $400,000. On average, houses cost five years of the median salary for someone working in the U.S. In some cities on the West Coast and in parts of Florida, that ratio is now eight years of salary to buy a home.Rents have also gone up significantly. Since 2020, the nation's average rent is 27 percent higher. Some cities have seen much bigger gains – Miami's average rent is up 51 percent. Housing policy advocates point to one big cause: the U.S. has not built enough housing for a growing population. But “build more housing” is a complex problem, not a single policy fix.Congress recently turned its attention to the problem of housing affordability. The Senate passed a bill with a basket of different policies, aiming to bring down the cost of housing and encourage more building.What's in the bill specifically? And how could those policies make a dent in the housing crisis? And how has the housing crisis evolved in the past few years?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

The U.S. has a long history of getting rid of foreign leaders it doesn't like. But a new pattern has emerged in the Trump administration's dealings with its foreign adversaries.In January, the president ordered a precision military operation that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the U.S. The next month, the administration launched a high-powered bombing campaign against Iran, killing the country's supreme leader and dozens of its top officials.In both cases, Trump said the countries' fates were ultimately up to the citizens — a striking change from the nation building during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Now, the commander-in-chief has his eyes set on Cuba, telling its president his time in office is coming to a close.Our series, “If You Can Keep It,” continues with a look at what Trump's military actions in Venezuela and Iran mean for how we fight wars and what comes after.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: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

As Israel and the U.S. continue to fire missiles at targets within Iran, the American military and President Donald Trump are weighing the costs and benefits of putting U.S. boots on the ground in the Middle East once again.Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin's Department of Homeland Security confirmation hearing saw him clash with his fellow congresspeople. Despite the meeting's testy tone, the committee cleared Mullin by a single vote, sending his confirmation to the full Senate.A federal judge ruled this week that Voice of America must reinstate more than 1,000 employees after the Trump administration placed them on leave last year.And, in global news, Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, announced this week that the Strait of Hormuz wasn't technically closed to all traffic, just to ships controlled by the country's enemies. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is leaning on Japan to send warships to the passageway, to counteract Iran's efforts to control the flow of trade.New reporting from The Guardian indicates that before the U.S. began bombing Iran, security officials from U.S. allies judged that, as talks between Washington and Tehran progressed, a peace deal was in reach.The U.S. eased sanction on Russia and Venezuela this week to unlock more viable sources of oil as energy prices rise and the war with Iran continues.We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Cases of colorectal cancer in young people have risen nearly 60 percent since the early 2000s. That's according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and the National Cancer Institute. And a new study out this month by the American Cancer Society found that colorectal cancer is now the deadliest kind for those younger than 50.But this rise isn't being felt across all generations in the same way. People born around 1990 are four times more likely to develop rectal cancer than those born around 1950. And for those 65 and older, colorectal cancer rates have actually decreased.So, what's going on? And what can you do to protect yourself and your gut health? For those answers and more, we turn to a panel of experts.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Big changes are coming to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.With Kristi Noem out at the Department of Homeland Security, all eyes are on FEMA to roll out millions of dollars in stalled federal funding for disaster responses. That's especially true in North Carolina, where the western part of the state is still grappling with the effects of Hurricane Helene.We sit down with a panel of experts to find out what the future holds for FEMA in the Tar Heel state.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Wars are fought by militaries — but they're usually ended by diplomats. So, what happens when diplomacy is sidelined?Officials from Washington and Tehran engaged in talks for weeks, trying to avoid war before the U.S. and Israel fired missiles targeting Iran weeks ago. Now, as President Donald Trump publicly muses about why the military is engaged in another conflict in the Middle East, experts are wondering why talks were abandoned in the first place. And about the off ramps for all sides involved.We look at the role diplomacy plays once a war is already raging — and what happens when negotiations, expertise, and international alliances are weakened.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

President Donald Trump and his administration and allies have sent mixed messages about the war with Iran in the first two weeks of the operation. The Secretary of Defense called it war. Now, the Speaker of the House said thus conflict with Iran is not a war.Whatever the president decides to call the joint U.S.-Israeli campaign – it's cost the lives of 13 American troops and more than 2,000 people in the Middle East, both civilians and military personnel.Congress has voted on a resolution to limit the president's power to continue this campaign – but that effort failed. And the president hasn't indicated he wants Congress to weigh in. Many Republican members appear unbothered by that fact. At least in public.What does Trump owe Congress as far as buy-in on war? And how have past presidents involved the legislative branch when deploying the military?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Two weeks into the war with Iran, the United States has spent more than $10 billion dollars. The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Iranians and seven American service members. Those numbers are likely to grow if there are boots on the ground, a possibility that Trump Administration officials refuse to rule out.The president traveled to Kentucky and Ohio this week where he went on the defensive, justifying the increase in gas prices and touting the drop in drug prices.Americans' faith in the future of fair elections is at an all time low, according to new PBS/NPR/Marist poll.And, in global news, early findings from a Pentagon investigation indicate that the U.S. may be at fault for a missile strike on an Iranian school. That attack killed at least 175 children, teachers, and other staff.Israel is widening strikes into Lebanon and threatening to invade the southern portion of the country. The Tehran-backed Hezbollah group has been sending missiles into Israel since the attacks on Iran began nearly two weeks ago. Lebanon is appealing to Israel's allies to stop the campaign.And as the world's attention swings to Iran, how is Hamas regrouping in Gaza?We cover the most important stories from around the world in the News Roundup.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Waging war is not cheap. Experts estimate that the U.S. has already spent more than $10 billion launching missiles at Iran in the past few weeks.Meanwhile, thanks to fighting in the Strait of Hormuz disrupting the global energy supply trade, the price of oil is rising sharply worldwide. With no clear end in sight, how will Congress wrangle the high price tag of the war – economically and politically?We try and make sense of the cost of war, especially as more and more Americans feel the squeeze in their budgets at home.Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy