August 17, 2026

Brittney Melton

up first newsletter writer

Good morning. NPR is building on its Student Podcast Challenge with the new Senior Podcast Challenge, a competition inviting seniors 65 years and older to tell their stories in audio. This is how you can enter. Here’s the news we’re following today:

Today’s top stories

President Trump speaks to reporters who are not seen in the image. He wears a dark blue suit and a lighter blue tie, and holds a set of papers in one hand.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

The USS George Washington is heading to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed for nearly nine months. Families of the sailors are decrying the conditions on board, particularly regarding mental health issues and a shortage of fresh food and supplies. Some condemned President Trump's recent comments saying that the ship had not been deployed "nearly long enough." Democrats are calling for the Pentagon to investigate the conditions. NPR has discovered that these problems extend beyond just the USS Lincoln.

🎧 Logistics issues have impacted supply lines since the beginning of the war in Iran, Steve Walsh of NPR network station WHRO tells Up First. Former Navy captain Sam Howard tells Walsh that when his son was on one of the ships in the USS Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group, he quickly faced shortages of hygiene products and other personal supplies. The crew returned to their homeport in Japan in late July, but they have yet to receive all their mail and care packages. A Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said that there’s no standard handoff period for carriers, so the Lincoln could depart soon after the USS Washington arrives in the region.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, heads to federal court tomorrow in a landmark case on children and social media addiction. Four states have accused the company of designing its social media platform to hook children, prioritizing engagement over user safety, misleading the public about the associated risks and illegally gathering data on minors. They're seeking up to $1.4 trillion in penalties and product changes under consumer protection laws they claim Meta violated. In a statement emailed to NPR, a spokesperson for Meta said that the states' claims are limited and unsubstantiated and that the financial demands are "vastly disproportionate." This case adds to a growing wave of lawsuits aimed at holding social media companies accountable for their product designs.

Jared Kushner, Trump’s envoy and son-in-law, is in Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a rare meeting with Hamas leaders in Egypt yesterday. Kushner met with Hamas to help secure a Gaza ceasefire 10 months ago, but the ceasefire has been shaky and has seen little progress. During this visit with Netanyahu, Kushner is expected to try to advance Trump’s plan for a postwar Gaza, which has support from the U.S. and Hamas but not from Israel.

🎧 Israel is 10 weeks from elections, and NPR’s Daniel Estrin says Kushner knows Netanyahu wants to avoid being seen as giving any concessions to Hamas. Such concessions would be unpopular, and Netanyahu risks losing power. Estrin says any progress Netanyahu agrees to for Gaza would be things that can be done behind the scenes. An official briefed on the talks who spoke to NPR anonymously says Kushner wants Israel to greenlight next steps, such as training a new Gaza police force, allowing an international stabilization force to enter and starting rehabilitation of certain areas in Gaza. Estrin says Israel doesn't trust in a Palestinian committee to take control of Hamas’ weapons and wants more international oversight.

Ukraine yesterday launched its largest single-day attack on Russia to date. On Sunday, Ukraine fired more than 800 drones at more than a dozen regions, primarily targeting Moscow, according to Russia's defense minister. At least 20 people have died, and dozens more have been injured as Russia and Ukraine ramped up air attacks over the weekend into this morning.

🎧 NPR's Charles Maynes says these attacks fit into a pattern of Ukraine attempting to "bring the war home" to Russians by hitting not just military installations, but softer targets like energy and logistics hubs. Kyiv wants to force Russia into peace negotiations, but Maynes says politically, it isn't working. The Kremlin insists the war is being won, and Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said on TV that Russians have "victory" in their DNA. Still, Maynes says it's clear Ukraine's efforts have added to the exhaustion from over four years of war.

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Today's listen

A black-and-white photo of Jon Batiste playing a piano to a large crowd. White lights are seen in the crowd.

Jen Rosenstein

Grammy- and Oscar-winning pianist Jon Batiste recently released three new albums all at once. In them, he draws from his early years as a classical piano student and his subsequent jazz studies at Juilliard to share his takes on Beethoven and Thelonious Monk. Black Mozart, Monk Meditations and Monk Movements are all part of a series he began in 2024 with Beethoven Blues, where he improvised on works such as Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and introduced original pieces such as "Life of Ludwig." In a conversation with Morning Edition's Michel Martin, Batiste describes the music as "a great conversation across hundreds of years." Listen to snippets from his new albums and read more about his musical influences, from New Orleans Jazz to video games.

Life advice

A surreal illustration portrait of a human head with an analog clock wrapped around the face and neck, conceptualizing the idea of time and life.

Jorm Sangsorn/Getty Images

Do you feel like you have no free time to enjoy what truly matters to you? If you reevaluate where your time is going you might find that you have more of it than you think. Psychotherapist Niro Feliciano shares some exercises with Life Kit that can help you regain control of your time and life:

🕙 Do a time audit. Make a list of what matters most to you, then take inventory of where you're spending your time each day. If these lists don’t match, look for ways you can carve out more time for the activities you value.
🕙 Cut back on the time-wasters. Create healthy boundaries around activities that might leave you feeling depleted or exhausted, such as unnecessary social media scrolling.
🕙 Learn to exist in the open space you've created. Use your newfound time purposely, with projects or activities that are meaningful to you. Get comfortable being still and giving your body time to rest.

For additional advice on reclaiming your time, listen to this episode of NPR's Life Kit. Subscribe to the Life Kit newsletter for expert advice on love, money, relationships and more.

3 things to know before you go

A journalist browses the Messina museum website, which shows a picture of the Early Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina's artwork.

Gregorio Borgia/AP

1

Italy's art scene had a rollercoaster weekend. Italian police said on Friday that they had recovered paintings stolen from a museum in March. The next day, thieves in Sicily managed to nab four more masterpieces.

2

Unexpected absences make it hard for people to hold on to jobs and can cost employers tens of thousands of dollars a month. A new app called Escalate aims to help by providing workers with last-minute transportation, food and childcare.

3

The boys saw "girl dinners" and wanted to join in on the trend. The viral, no-frills, high-protein "boy kibble" bowls of meat and rice have taken off among fitness enthusiasts, and were given their name because of their close resemblance to dog food.

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This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.

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