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Republicans race to approve billions of dollars for immigration enforcement. And, U.S. grand jury indicts former Cuban President Raúl Castro

Plus, what you should know about the rare Ebola strain spreading in Central Africa.

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May 21, 2026

Brittney Melton

up first newsletter writer

Good morning. A historic USS Niagara replica is back in the water after nearly $7 million in restorations. Relaunched this week, it will return to its home port in Erie, Pa., just in time for America's 250th anniversary celebrations. Here’s the news we’re following today:

Today’s top stories

An individual jogs outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Heather Diehl/Getty Images

Republicans in Congress are racing to approve $72 billion in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Patrol through the rest of President Trump's term. The GOP is using a tool known as budget reconciliation to bypass Democrats who oppose more agency funding without reforms that limit officers' tactics. Trump is unhappy with the package because it doesn't include funding for the White House ballroom. Several Republicans, including Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, said they would oppose the budget if it included ballroom funding. Cassidy just lost his primary after the president backed another candidate. The senator remains a voting member of Congress until January.

🎧 Congressmembers like Cassidy have the opportunity to disrupt the status quo on their way out of their positions, NPR’s Sam Gringlas tells Up First. Other members who aim to stay in office are less likely to defy the president. So far, Cassidy has opposed the ballroom funding and cast the crucial vote to advance the Iran war powers resolution, despite having opposed it in the past. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a Republican known for frequently breaking with Trump, pointed out that the president may have forgotten that he needs Congress to advance his agenda. She added that Trump's attacks on incumbent Republicans could backfire and harm the party’s chances in November.

➡️ House Republicans and Democrats voted yesterday to pass a bill to tackle the nation's housing affordability crisis. The legislation aims to encourage homebuilding and to ban corporate landlords from buying more than 350 houses.

Trump told reporters yesterday that it might take several days to decide whether to launch another strike on Iran, but he didn't commit to a specific timeline. The president also said the U.S. is now negotiating with impressive Iranian negotiators. Iran said it's prepared for either outcome: peace or continued conflict. Israel has pushed for the war to resume, while several Gulf Arab countries oppose it.

🎧 Gulf Arab states were not consulted before the war began, and received little to no warning to prepare defenses, NPR's Aya Batrawy says. Yet they've faced the brunt of Iran's counterattacks. This week, Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a tense and contentious call. A person familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that Netanyahu railed against a proposed deal to end the war. Trump told the prime minister that he would persist in seeking a deal to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but Iran must demonstrate flexibility. Iran says that it favors diplomacy, but its military commanders are threatening to escalate the conflict if Iran is attacked again. Batrawy says Iran's continued control of the Strait of Hormuz is its most important leverage now.

The U.S. Department of Justice has secured a criminal indictment for Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old former president of Cuba. The department alleges that Castro played a key role in shooting down two U.S. planes in 1996. The attack killed four people who were part of the anti-Castro activist group Brothers to the Rescue. The Justice Department is charging Castro and other former senior members of Cuban leadership with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and four individual counts of murder, according to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

🎧 The Trump administration has intensified pressure on Cuba since the successful U.S. military operation that captured Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, says NPR’s Ryan Lucas. The administration has since ordered a blockade of Cuba, cutting off fuel shipments to the island and plunging the country’s economy into freefall. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel posted on X that the indictment was a politically motivated act without legal basis. Díaz-Canel also accused the U.S. of fabricating details to justify a military action against Cuba.

Thousands of researchers across the U.S. continue to grapple with the damage inflicted on science in 2025 during the Trump administration, despite a funding restoration earlier this year. After the Trump administration attempted to cut, freeze or suspend billions of dollars for research the previous year, some Republicans teamed up with Democrats to quietly restore portions of that funding through the appropriations process. But advocates say the money is not reaching scientists at the rate it should. They also say that the National Institutes of Health's lack of transparency is compromising the integrity and reliability of scientists’ research. NPR spoke with researchers who are feeling the consequences of having their funding previously terminated. Here's what they had to say.

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Climate Solutions Week

A long, brown beaver swims in marshy water filled with foliage. The blurry head and hand of a man are in the lower-right part of the frame.

Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

NPR is dedicating a week to stories and conversations about how communities are moving forward on climate solutions despite significant political headwinds. As the federal government halts plans to address climate change, states, cities, regions, and even neighborhoods are trying to fill the gap by cutting climate pollution and adapting to extreme weather.

Britain is taking on climate change with an unlikely partner: beavers. About 400 years ago, people hunted the species to extinction across the country. Now, they are being reintroduced, and scientists are utilizing their dam-building skills to help mitigate flooding. Until two years ago, Greenford tube station in West London frequently flooded during heavy rainfall. Conservationists received a government license to welcome a family of five beavers to a 20-acre urban park near the station. The location used to be a golf course with a creek running through it. Within weeks of them settling in, the beavers built a dam in the creek, creating a pond that retains water and prevents it from overflowing into the city. They also redirected the creek's flow into smaller tributaries, forming a wetland that can better absorb heavy rainfall. Read more on how the British beavers are helping to combat flooding.

Deep dive

Infographic showing the relative contagiousness of viruses according to their R0 value. Ebola is on the low end of the scale. Measles is at the high end.

NPR

Ebola cases are skyrocketing each day since the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency on Saturday. The latest count is more than 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths. WHO says this outbreak is caused by a rare strain of Ebola called Bundibugyo, and it could have begun months before anyone noticed. Based on past outbreaks, this particular strain seems to have a fatality rate of 30-50%, says Dr. Daniel Bausch, visiting professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute. There have been only two known past outbreaks of Bundibugyo, so there isn't much data. Here's what you should understand about this virus:

➡️ In the early stages of Ebola, the infection mimics other infectious diseases like malaria and typhoid. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea and fever. As the disease progresses, patients can experience severe diarrhea and vomiting, often with blood. Many patients die as their bodies go into shock and organs fail.
➡️ The Bundibugyo strain has no vaccines or specific treatments. This is in contrast to the Zaire strain, which has two vaccines licensed, as well as monoclonal antibodies.
➡️ The outbreak began in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region with several characteristics that can facilitate Ebola’s spread. It is remote and has an inadequate healthcare infrastructure. Ongoing violent conflicts in the area hinder effective contact tracing, leading to concerns among experts that the outbreak won’t be contained quickly.

3 things to know before you go

Stonewall National Monument in New York City. It features four white stone individuals. Two are sitting on a bench and two are standing in front of them.

Whitney Browne, National Parks Conservation Association/National Trust for Historic Preservation

1

The National Trust for Historic Preservation released its annual list of the 11 most endangered historic sites in the U.S. yesterday.

2

Meta announced it would lay off about 8,000 employees this month. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram also intends to accelerate its shift towards artificial intelligence.

3

In the latest installment of Word of the Week, NPR dives into the fascinating mystery behind the bee’s buzzy name and explores why these crucial creatures need our attention now more than ever.

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