Up First from NPR

A key member of Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet says Israel should set a date for elections. NATO is marking 75 years since its founding — and it remains an alliance that worries about Russia. And an NPR investigation asks why Baltimore's Key Bridge didn't have more protection from passing ships.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Mark Katkov, Nick Spicer, Barrie Hardymon, Alice Woelfle and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Kaity Kline. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Zac Coleman.

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A massive 7.4 magnitude earthquake has struck Taiwan, the biggest quake to rock the Asian island in 25 years. rotest votes in Wisconsin's primary — against President Biden and Donald Trump. And a controversial Texas immigration law is back in court for a crucial test.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macias, Padma Rama, Alfredo Carbajal, Alice Woelfle and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Kaity Kline. We get engineering support from Josephine Nyounai, and our technical director is Zac Coleman.

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Two airstrikes in the last 24 hours are drawing new scrutiny to Israel's military actions in the Middle East. Florida's Supreme Court has pretty much ensured that abortion will be the issue on the state's November ballot. And it turns out Google's "incognito" web browsing mode hasn't been incognito after all.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Ryland Barton, Mark Katkov, Uri Berliner, Alice Woelfle and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Kaity Kline. We get engineering support from Phil Edfors, and our technical director is Zac Coleman.

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The United Nations' main judicial body says Israel must allow more aid into Gaza, but can the court's order be enforced? Many California fast food workers get a big raise Monday, but restaurant owners say the increase to $20 an hour puts them in a bind. And March Madness does it again: a Cinderella Final Four men's team, and an epic women's showdown Monday night.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Mark Katkov, Pallavi Gogoi, Alice Woelfle and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Kaity Kline. We get engineering support from Phil Edfors. And our technical director is Zac Coleman.

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In China, a man has been playing the piano outdoors, often in places of great sadness—the epicenter of an earthquake, a dam that submerged villages, a street emptied during a COVID lockdown.

He plays just one song: "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence," by the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.

In the fall of 2022, one of his performance videos goes viral, tapping into years of unexpressed collective grief. In this episode of The Sunday Story, NPR correspondent John Ruwitch asks: who is the piano man, and why has he chosen this path?

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Some car companies are looking for workarounds to get their vehicles from ships to dealers after the Baltimore bridge collapse. Demonstrations turn violent in Europe as farmers protest European Union environmental policies and cheap Ukrainian imports. Chocolate lovers will have to pay more for treats as cocoa prices skyrocket.

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If you paid enough money Thursday night, you could get your picture taken with three presidents — all at once. Reopening the Port of Baltimore will be a Herculean effort, as crews must clear six million pounds of steel out of the Patapsco River. And Russia's government isn't trying to hide that the four suspects on trial for last week's Moscow terrorist attack have been tortured.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Dana Farrington, Russell Lewis, Nick Spicer, Alice Woelfle and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Milton Guevara. We get engineering support from Carleigh Strange. And our technical director is Stacey Abbott.

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We now have an initial timeline — minute by minute — of how a massive cargo ship came to crash into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge. Sam Bankman-Fried, the Crypto Wunderkind convicted of fraud, will be sentenced Thursday to a prison term that could last decades. And the Walt Disney Company and Gov. Ron DeSantis appear to have both realized that Florida is a small world after all.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Russell Lewis, Julia Redpath, Alice Woelfle and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Milton Guevara. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

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At the site of Baltimore's Key Bridge, rescue efforts have turned to recovery. In Gaza, families are so desperate for food that 12 people drowned trying to retrieve airdropped aid boxes from the sea. And after a newsroom revolt at NBC, the network has ousted its newest contributor, former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Eric Westervelt, Mark Katkov, Pallavi Gogoi, Alice Woelfle and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Milton Guevara. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

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A one-and-a-half mile bridge in Baltimore has collapsed a large container ship crashed into it and caught fire, with several vehicles falling into the waters below. Israel has canceled a high-level delegation to Washington, after the U.S. declined to block a United Nations resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza. And a challenge to FDA regulations that make abortion pills more accessible reaches the Supreme Court.

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Today's episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macias, Mark Katkov, Krishnadev Calamur, Alice Woelfle and Ben Adler. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Ben Abrams and Milton Guevara. We get engineering support from Phil Edfors. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.

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