1A - The News Roundup For May 16, 2025

The Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a case about President Donald Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship. House Republicans unveil a bill to cut congressional spending.

The U.S. and China hammer out a trade deal that reduces tariffs for 90 days. President Donald Trump visits the Middle East, announcing a slew of economic deals and partnerships. But back home, a luxury jet from the Qatari government takes over the headlines.

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Up First from NPR - Birthright Citizenship Arguments, Trump’s Mideast Trip, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Trial

The U.S. Supreme Court seemed divided as justices heard arguments debating how lower courts should handle President Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship. Trump heads back to Washington after four days of pomp in the Middle East. The first week of the federal criminal trial of Sean Combs featured testimony alleging a pattern of control and violence.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Krishnadev Calamur, Jacob Ganz, Roberta Rampton, Ally Schweitzer and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ana Perez, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis, and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

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NPR's Book of the Day - ‘The Golden Road’ and ‘The Lucky Ones’ examine India’s ancient and recent history

In light of the latest conflict between India and Pakistan, today's episode focuses on two books that examine India's ancient and recent history. First, ancient India was home to the exchange of goods and ideas that transformed the world, including the number system, heliocentrism, and Buddhism. In his book The Golden Road, historian William Dalrymple makes the case for India's centrality to the story of human civilization. In today's episode, the author speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about why this history isn't a larger part of our popular imagination. Then, we hear from Zara Chowdhary about The Lucky Ones, her first-person account of anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat. In today's episode, she speaks with Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes about the aftermath of the Godhra train burning, Prime Minister Modi's role in the incident, and the dangers of releasing her book in this political moment.

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The Indicator from Planet Money - Brain-controlled iPhones, a Japanese asset buy-a-thon, and Trump tax cut debt

It's ... Indicators of the Week! Our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news.

On today's episode: Japanese asset buyers make it rain, an iPhone ... powered by the brain?! And, how are we going to pay for these Trump tax cuts? We explain!

Related episodes:
What's going to happen to the Trump tax cuts? (Apple / Spotify)
Slender Starbucks, Medicaid at risk, and the gold card visa (Apple / Spotify)

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Fact-checking by
Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.

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Short Wave - Orange Cat Lovers, Rise Up!

Approximately 80% of orange cats are males, including the four orange cats owned by the Short Wave team. Scientists have long suspected that orange color was a sex-linked trait — hiding somewhere on the X chromosome. Now, scientists at Stanford University and Kyushu University in Japan have characterized the mutation responsible for orange cat coloration. Both groups published their results in the journal Cell Biology this week.

Have a question about the animals all around us? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

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Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Consider This from NPR - Birthright citizenship goes to the Supreme Court

President Trump's order that would end automatic citizenship for the children of many categories of immigrants has been blocked from going into effect by three separate federal judges. Those injunctions have been upheld by three separate appeals courts.

So Thursday's case at the Supreme Court was really about two questions: Whether the constitution guarantees birthright citizenship and whether judges can issue nationwide injunctions against federal policies.

University of Virginia law professor Amanda Frost, author of the book You Are Not American: Citizenship Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers, followed the arguments and breaks down clues that point to the Justices' thinking.

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1A - The State Of The Supreme Court

June is around the corner. It means the end of the Supreme Court's term, and with it, decisions on its most high-profile, high-stakes cases.

That's the "what" of the Court's work – but how does the Court decide its cases today? One book tries to answer that.

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State of the World from NPR - The U.S. Has a New Plan for Gaza Aid

The Trump Administration has a new plan for delivering aid to Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has blocked all food, fuel and medicine for more than ten weeks, accusing Hamas of stealing aid meant for civilians. The U.S. says their plan will address those concerns, but experts worry the plan could set a bad precedent. We learn more.

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Up First from NPR - Syria’s Relationship With Israel, Birthright Citizenship, Trump’s Big Bill

President Trump did not make normalizing relations with Israel a condition for dropping sanctions against Syria, raising questions about how the two neighbors must navigate an unclear future. The Supreme Court hears historic arguments in a case challenging the constitutional provision guaranteeing birthright citizenship. House Republicans are still negotiating the details of a wide-ranging legislative package they hope to advance by the end of next week.

Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Krishnadev Calamur, Carrie Kahn, Kelsey Snell, Ally Schweitzer and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ana Perez, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis, and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

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