Jeffrey Epstein; State of the Union; El Mencho : NPR

[ad_1] Good morning. You are studying the Up First e-newsletter. Subscribe right here to get it delivered to your inbox, and hear to the Up First podcast for all of the information you must begin your day.

Right now's prime tales Thousands and thousands of pages of Epstein recordsdata have been launched to the general public, however an NPR investigation reveals a spot: The Justice Division has eliminated or withheld dozens of pages associated to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor a long time in the past. The Justice Division declined to reply NPR's questions on the report about these particular recordsdata, what's in them, and why they aren't printed.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2400x1350+0+125/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa6%2F07%2F4a3c789f4a109783cfa9dfa57b9f%2Fepstein-collage-copy.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2400x1350+0+125/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa6%2F07%2F4a3c789f4a109783cfa9dfa57b9f%2Fepstein-collage-copy.jpg" class="img" alt="An NPR investigation finds the Justice Department has removed or withheld Epstein files related to sexual abuse accusations that mention President Trump." loading="lazy"/> An NPR investigation finds the Justice Division has eliminated or withheld Epstein recordsdata associated to sexual abuse accusations that point out President Trump. Division of Justice and Getty Pictures/Collage by Danielle A. Scruggs/NPR disguise caption

toggle caption

Division of Justice and Getty Pictures/Collage by Danielle A. Scruggs/NPR 🎧 NPR's Stephen Fowler tells Up First that an NPR evaluate of the recordsdata discovered an FBI electronic mail from final July itemizing varied claims and ideas it acquired about Trump. One report accused Trump of sexually abusing a minor round 1983, when Jeffrey Epstein additionally allegedly abused her. A subject workplace investigated the report, and the data present the FBI interviewed the accuser 4 occasions. Solely one of many accuser's interviews was made public, nevertheless it would not point out Trump. In line with the DOJ's monitoring system, the Justice Division didn't make not less than 50 pages of the recordsdata public. The White Home and the Trump administration have persistently said that nothing within the paperwork incriminates the president.

Chaos erupted after Mexico's army killed a person generally known as El Mencho, the nation's strongest drug lord. Now, the nation's cities are slowly returning to regular. Companies are set to reopen immediately, and faculties within the state of Jalisco will reopen tomorrow. However large questions stay about what El Mencho's loss of life means for Mexico's battle towards organized crime.

🎧 NPR's Eyder Peralta says the scene in Jalisco's capital, Guadalajara, is eerie and feels much like the COVID lockdown. Streets are empty, and a few streets have burnt-out autos on the medians within the aftermath of the violence that erupted after the drug lord's loss of life. Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has repeatedly stated she would not wish to spark a brand new conflict towards organized crime, because it has usually led to bloodshed. As an alternative, she says the best way to sort out the difficulty is to handle root causes akin to schooling and jobs. Trump is pressuring Mexico for a extra frontal battle towards the cartels and has threatened to take unilateral army motion to handle it. Trump will take heart stage tonight to handle a joint session of Congress for the primary State of the Union tackle of his second time period in workplace. The prime time tackle provides the president a possibility to tout his agenda and form his celebration's messaging forward of this 12 months's midterm elections. Trump is anticipated to start out talking at 9 p.m. ET. If historical past is any indication, it's best to put together for a protracted night time. This is what else you must know forward of tonight's speech.

A brand new federal class motion lawsuit alleges federal brokers are unconstitutionally retaliating towards observers recording immigration enforcement. The nonprofit Shield Democracy and the legislation corporations Dunn Isaacson Rhee and Drummond Woodsum filed the go well with, alleging that federal brokers are gathering details about observers and labeling them as "home terrorists" after telling them they might be added to a "watchlist." After the lawsuit was filed yesterday, the Division of Homeland Safety advised NPR that it would not have a database for home terrorists. DHS additionally stated that it follows the U.S. Structure in its legislation enforcement strategies.

Watch this <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd9%2F0e%2F22629a724f71bc9e6a8a1c9ee627%2F20260223-newsom-promoimg.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/1920x1080+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fd9%2F0e%2F22629a724f71bc9e6a8a1c9ee627%2F20260223-newsom-promoimg.jpg" class="img" alt="Newsom in conversation with NPR host Ailsa Chang." loading="lazy"/> Newsom in dialog with NPR host Ailsa Chang. Bronson Arcuri/NPR disguise caption

toggle caption

Bronson Arcuri/NPR From the most important names of their fields to consultants on probably the most urgent subjects of our time, NPR is breaking down the tales that matter by our in-depth interviews. Immerse your self in these conversations in your favourite NPR platforms — together with the NPR App and NPR.org.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been spending his remaining 12 months in workplace touring the U.S. and rallying voters for the midterm elections. Newsom, who hasn't dominated out a run for president in 2028, actively challenges Trump, typically mocking the president's aggressive type on social media. "I am placing a mirror as much as President Trump and I am preventing fireplace with fireplace and I'm punching a bully again within the mouth," he tells NPR. Concurrently, Newsom has additionally engaged main right-wing figures like Steve Bannon and Ben Shapiro, drawing criticism from his personal celebration. The governor just lately spoke with All Issues Thought of forward of the discharge of his memoir, Younger Man in a Hurry. He mentioned how his struggles with dyslexia formed his life, his technique for coping with Trump and the way the Democratic Celebration ought to meet this political second.

Learn extra about Newsom's dialog with NPR's Ailsa Chang or watch the interview. You can even take a look at the dialog on NPR's YouTube web page, Contemplate This and the NPR App.

Behind the story <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4176x2349+0+218/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F43%2F34%2F53fa35524d958197d32bbb09d1da%2Fgettyimages-2260888040.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4176x2349+0+218/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F43%2F34%2F53fa35524d958197d32bbb09d1da%2Fgettyimages-2260888040.jpg" class="img" alt="Local residents inspect damaged cars at the site of a Russian attack in Odesa on Feb. 13, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. " loading="lazy"/> Native residents examine broken vehicles on the website of a Russian assault in Odesa on Feb. 13, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP by way of Getty Pictures disguise caption

toggle caption

Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP by way of Getty Pictures 4 years in the past, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. NPR's Ukraine correspondent Joanna Kakissis and Russia correspondent Charles Maynes mirror on what it has been like reporting on the conflict and the toll it is taken on residents.

We've got documented Russia's full-scale conflict on Ukraine because the starting: the terrible human price, the hundreds of lacking Ukrainian kids, the exhausted entrance line cities, the best way this conflict has modified trendy warfare and geopolitics, in addition to Ukrainian and Russian society. An invasion that the Kremlin — and lots of within the West — predicted would finish with Ukrainian capitulation inside days has now lasted 4 years, with huge casualties on each side, in line with British and U.S. sources.

Ukrainians are exhausted. They've adjusted their lives to fixed Russian drone and missile assaults, to the turmoil and grief of defending the nation in a protracted conflict. Many flinch when praised as resilient, as if, they are saying, there may be one other alternative. "We've got paid too excessive a value to surrender," says Olha Chupikova, from the southern front-line metropolis of Kherson. Her son, a soldier, was killed in motion final 12 months. Volodymyr Mykolayenko, a former Kherson mayor who got here dwelling final fall after years in Russian captivity, is skeptical that talks sponsored by the Trump administration will truly finish the conflict. "We used to see America as a defender of democracy," he says. "Now they selected [Russian President Vladimir] Putin as their good friend."

No matter Trump's diplomatic purpose, it hasn't been sufficient to persuade Putin to cease his assault. Russians' hope that Trump might ship peace has light as Putin rejected even probably the most beneficiant phrases on provide. Regardless of Kremlin claims on the contrary, Western sanctions are taking their toll on the economic system. State repression was once aimed squarely on the political opposition. Now, even the invasion's most ardent supporters have been focused. Authorities restrictions now more and more attain into the digital and cultural area — with bans on films, music and social media affecting almost everybody. Open criticism of the conflict was criminalized early on. But there is a rising sense that amid a battle without end, the state's want for management, too, is limitless.

3 issues to know earlier than you go <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6336x3564+0+330/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F85%2F8d%2F989d0d2c43e39d68f9a03b789545%2Fgettyimages-2263000972.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6336x3564+0+330/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F85%2F8d%2F989d0d2c43e39d68f9a03b789545%2Fgettyimages-2263000972.jpg" class="img" alt="LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 22: John Davidson attends the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards at The Royal Festival Hall on February 22, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski/Getty Images)" loading="lazy"/> LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 22: John Davidson attends the 2026 EE BAFTA Movie Awards at The Royal Pageant Corridor on February 22, 2026 in London, England. (Picture by Dominic Lipinski/Getty Pictures) Dominic Lipinski/Getty Pictures/Getty Pictures Europe disguise caption

toggle caption

Dominic Lipinski/Getty Pictures/Getty Pictures Europe The British Academy of Movie and Tv Arts Awards (BAFTAs) launched an apology yesterday after the BBC aired a delayed broadcast of the ceremony that included a person with Tourette syndrome shouting a racial slur.Scientists found a brand new species of enormous, horned, fish-eating Spinosaurus dinosaur — the primary in over a century. The dinosaur species dates again to the Jurassic interval, over 140 million years in the past.Because the conflict in Ukraine enters its fifth 12 months, NPR's Far-Flung Postcards brings you to Kyiv, the place candles are the final choice throughout wartime blackouts. This text was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.