Iran Talks And Strikes, Senate Opportunities For Democrats, Ebola Outbreak Epicenter
Up First from NPR
NPR
4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 28 May 2026
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
Texas now has one of the most competitive Senate races in the country after Republicans nominated Ken Paxton, giving Democrats an opportunity to flip a seat in the midterms as they map out their path to controlling the Senate.
And the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo is worsening with more than a thousand suspected cases and over 200 suspected deaths, as Canada bans travelers from the region and the U.S. sets up a facility in Kenya for Americans who may have been exposed.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macias, Megan Pratz, Tara Neill, Mohamad ElBardicy and Lindsay Totty.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Zo van Ginhoven. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
And our deputy Executive Producer is Kelley Dickens.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:53) Iran Talks And Strikes
(05:39) Senate Opportunities For Democrats
(09:29) Ebola Outbreak Epicenter
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The U.S., Iran, and Israel keep opening fire in a regional war that was supposed to have stopped. |
| 0:07.2 | President Trump is still pursuing peace and throws in a passing threat against Oman. |
| 0:12.1 | At what point would we say the war is back on? |
| 0:14.4 | I mean, Ortiz. That is Steve Inskeep, and this is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:20.8 | A U.S. Senate race in Texas went from safely Republican to uncertain. This is up first from NPR News. |
| 0:25.0 | A U.S. Senate race in Texas went from safely Republican to uncertain. |
| 0:27.8 | Republicans nominated the scandal-plagued State Attorney General. |
| 0:32.7 | They overwhelmingly rejected the incumbent senator who had easily won the seat in the past. |
| 0:35.6 | What does that mean for the party's chances of keeping control of the Senate? Also, the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo is getting worse. |
| 0:38.9 | What is life like in the city of almost a million people |
| 0:41.7 | that's at the center of the outbreak? |
| 0:43.7 | Stay with us. |
| 0:44.4 | We've got the news you need to start your day. |
| 0:52.6 | At what point would we say the Iran war is back on? |
| 0:56.8 | Yeah, peace talks continue between the U.S. and Iran, but so do exchange as a fire. |
| 1:01.5 | We're tracking attacks spanning from Lebanon to the Strait of Hormuz and even in Gaza, |
| 1:05.8 | where despite a ceasefire there, Israel is ramping up strikes. |
| 1:09.4 | NPR international correspondent A. Abatrawi is following all of this from Dubai. Hi there. Hey, ramping up strikes. NPR international correspondent Aibatrawi is following all |
| 1:12.6 | of this from Dubai. Hi there. Hey, good morning. Let's start with the situation in the Gulf. What's |
| 1:17.6 | happening? Well, U.S. Central Command says its forces shot down Iranian drones around the Strait of |
| 1:23.6 | Hamuz and struck an area along Iran's coast overnight. This morning, Iran's |
| 1:28.5 | Revolutionary Guard says it responded to that U.S. attack on Bandar Abbas by targeting, quote, |
... |
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