The U.S.-Iran ceasefire grows extra distant. And, Congress faces a consequential week

Good morning. You are studying the Up First e-newsletter. Subscribe right here to get it delivered to your inbox, and hear to the Up First podcast for all of the information you could begin your day.

At this time’s prime tales

Strikes between the U.S. and Iran stretched into early right now, marking a 3rd straight weekend of preventing. Iran responded to U.S. assaults by hanging U.S. allies within the area. The U.S. weekend assaults got here after Iran introduced the closure of the important Strait of Hormuz.

• 🎧 The U.S. Central Command introduced that it has degraded Iran’s capability to assault worldwide delivery within the Strait after it hit a number of Iranian targets, NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi tells Up First. Iran reported one demise from the U.S. strikes and mentioned an agricultural water pumping station in central Iran was hit, killing a guard. The standing of negotiations stays unclear, although Iran says it is nonetheless in contact with mediators, together with Oman, Qatar and Pakistan. The struggle’s results proceed to be felt worldwide, with benchmark world oil costs leaping greater than 4% when markets opened Monday.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., died at 71. The D.C. health worker’s preliminary findings recognized aortic dissection because of a kind of coronary heart illness as the reason for demise. Graham served almost 25 years within the Senate and have become a key ally in advancing President Trump’s insurance policies and staffing priorities.

• 🎧 Graham was one of many final champions of a standard Republican perception in America because the world’s protector, NPR’s Eric McDaniel says. He had simply returned from an abroad journey to strengthen safety ties with European allies. Graham maintained a detailed relationship with Trump, appearing as a key go-between throughout important moments, together with lobbying Senate colleagues to acquit Trump after he tried to cling to energy following his 2020 election loss, McDaniel says.
• 🎧 Congress returns right now with tighter margins for Republicans following Graham’s demise and the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell. McConnell revealed yesterday {that a} fall led to his hospitalization. Senate Republicans have set a listening to for Trump’s legal professional common nominee, Todd Blanche, however the subsequent steps stay unsure because of considerations amongst some members, in line with NPR’s Claudia Grisales. Lawmakers are additionally weighing a Russia sanctions invoice that Graham championed, with some Republicans pushing to rename the invoice in his honor and advance it this week.

Prisoners can file complaints about mistreatment, however retaliation typically follows, in line with an investigation by NPR and The Marshall Venture. In 2023, fewer than 2% of grievances filed in federal prisons had been authorized, with most rejected for procedural errors or closed for different causes. Court docket data, lawsuits, and interviews revealed that many circumstances go unreported as a result of the identical officers accused of abuse typically silence these in search of assist.

A outstanding Palestinian physician, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, is near dying in an Israeli jail after being held for 18 months with out cost or trial, in line with his lawyer, who says he has endured each day beatings from Israeli jail guards. NPR’s Emily Feng tells Morning Version that reviews of his remedy led to a small protest in Israel and a petition calling for the discharge of Dr. Abu Safiya and 13 different Palestinian docs.

Image present

Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez, Mexican-born, Brooklyn-based visible artist in his studio in Ridgewood, Queens, on Might 14, 2026.

Laila AnnMarie Stevens for NPR

cover caption

toggle caption

Laila AnnMarie Stevens for NPR

Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez’s artwork exhibition “Ni De Aquí, Ni De Allá” options vibrant resin sculptures that appear like playful pop artwork however include objects like handcuffs, reproduction weapons and previous rosaries. The present, reflecting the artist’s Mexican American background, opened on the College of North Texas earlier than directors closed it over considerations about what artwork might be displayed beneath Trump administration insurance policies. Check out the paintings and browse extra right here.

Behind the story

by Andrea Hsu, NPR’s labor and office correspondent

Kwame Crockett began working on the plant a number of days every week however now he works full-time hours.

Julie Holder for NPR

cover caption

toggle caption

Julie Holder for NPR

Versatile work is one thing that I’ve adopted carefully because the pandemic. Distant work exploded, then was rolled again. The tantalizing thought of a four-day workweek has change into a actuality in pockets of the nation.

However by way of all this reporting, seldom do I hear about flexibility in a blue-collar job. In truth, I typically hear fairly the alternative. In 2022, freight railroad employees almost went on strike as they protested strict attendance insurance policies that saved them away from household occasions and even docs’ visits. United Auto Staff President Shawn Fain’s pitch for a four-day workweek for meeting employees was brushed apart as a pipe dream.

So I used to be intrigued after I heard from of us at GE Home equipment that that they had opened the doorways to part-time, versatile work at a few their vegetation. It sounded so uncommon that I needed to go see it myself. I traveled to the corporate’s kitchen equipment plant in LaFayette, Georgia.

Tony Gabbert, director of producing operations, instructed me the thought started throughout COVID when employees had been staying dwelling simply as demand for ovens and ranges was hovering. Some days, Gabbert himself needed to work on the road to maintain issues transferring. Amid this crunch, he discovered a few staffing firm known as MyWorkChoice, which recruits part-time employees who might fill in as wanted, selecting their very own shifts by way of an app.

His boss thought the thought was loopy. Letting outdoors of us simply drop in for a number of hours at a time was unprecedented in an business that runs on consistency. Nevertheless it paid off. At this time, about 450 versatile employees be part of full-time workers on the meeting line every week. Collectively, they hold the manufacturing facility buzzing.

Gabbert says they’ve found that there is a whole inhabitants of individuals on the market who do not wish to work the standard 40-hour workweek and do not want or do not care about the advantages that include full-time jobs. They’re typically retirees, moms with younger kids and other people with different jobs or ardour tasks.

With a push to deliver extra manufacturing again to the U.S., the employees have to return from someplace. For GE Home equipment, this has confirmed to be a viable answer.

3 issues to know earlier than you go

Entrepreneur David Huang assessments out a VR headset whereas conducting demonstrations of the social dance lesson app Dance Guru on the Augmented World Expo in Lengthy Seaside, Calif. June 17, 2026.

Chloe Veltman/NPR

cover caption

toggle caption

Chloe Veltman/NPR

1. Digital actuality apps like Dance Guru and Journey the Mild supply a judgment-free surroundings to be taught associate dancing, together with salsa, bachata, and the waltz.
2. As many youthful Jewish Individuals query supporting the state of Israel, an rising quantity are discovering group by way of studying Yiddish.
3. Colorado handed a brand new legislation that requires firms to recycle undesirable electrical car batteries they offered, addressing the difficulty of recycling prices exceeding the batteries’ worth.

This text was edited by Suzanne Nuyen and Majd Al-Waheidi.