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House Speaker Mike Johnson is playing hardball with the Senate. He told Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer this week that he can't pass any funding for Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasions through the House unless it was paired with immigration reforms.Meanwhile, leaked audio of Israeli hostages previously held by Hamas details their anger with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Audio of a meeting between them and the prime minister reveals their disapproval of the government's conduct while handling their situation.A former U.S. diplomat was charged this week with espionage. Ex-ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha is accused of spying for Cuba.And Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was heckled as he attempted to apologize for the deaths of British citizens during the pandemic. We cover the biggest headlines during the News Roundup. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find out how to connect with us by visiting our website.

Plants and animals across the world are struggling for many reasons. Most of those reasons are caused by human activities. But within the last 50 years, we've taken some steps to try and ease that. Some places like Gorongosa National Park have the world's most hopeful stories of wildlife recovery. And that recovery is just as important to wildlife as it is to the community.There are a few international bodies dedicated to biodiversity conservation: IPBES, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP 15), CITES. Those organizations don't include each country's own plan for conservation.For this episode of our series, "SOS: Save Our Species." We take a closer look at how these organizations work together. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find out how to connect with us by visiting our website.

A million species are under the threat of extinction, scientists say.Since the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, 11 species on that list have been declared extinct in the United States. One tool being used to combat the extinction crisis is species reintroduction — the process of re-establishing a species population in an area they've been driven out of. Reintroduction has been successful in the U.S. before, with a variety of species, including black-footed ferrets, which were once among the rarest mammals in the world.We discuss how decisions over reintroductions are made and check in on the battle over a gray wolf release program in Colorado.This episode is part of our series, "SOS: Save Our Species," which takes a closer look at the Endangered Species Act and its impact 50 years later. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find out how to connect with us by visiting our website.

What do bison, beaver, wolves and sea otters all have in common?They're keystone species. That means they have an outsized impact on their ecosystem. It took humans driving some of these to near extinction to realize just how important they are.Now animals like the American Bison and North American Beaver are some of the Endangered Species Act's most notable success stories. As part of our series marking the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, we're taking a closer look at the efforts to save keystone species.Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find out how to connect with us by visiting our website.

Scientists predict that more than 1 million species could go extinct in the coming decades. It's been 50 years since Congress passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973 to protect plants and animals in the U.S. from extinction. Over 99 percent of the more than 1,600 species listed as endangered or threatened have survived.But the work to protect our nation's biodiversity is far from over. Just last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it was delisting 21 species from the act due to extinction. It included one species of bat and 10 kinds of birds. We discuss what the Endangered Species Act has accomplished in 50 years and how we should think about the next 50 years of conservation.Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find out how to connect with us by visiting our website.

New York Rep. George Santos' time in Congress could come to an end this week. A vote to expel him is expected on Friday. He had already previously refused to resign.Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger died this week at the age of 100. He played a part in some of the darkest moments of the Cold War.Meanwhile, the war resumed between Israel and Hamas on Friday, after the last truce extension expired. And in the West Bank four people, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed as the Israeli Defense Force raided the Jenin refugee camp this week.The Department of Justice charged a man accused of taking payment from the Indian government for the assassination of a Sikh leader and U.S. citizen in New York.We cover all these headlines and more during this week's News Roundup. Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find out how to connect with us by visiting our website.