Up First NPR

On the morning of August 21, 1991, a group of Cuban detainees took over a federal prison in Talladega, Alabama, and demanded their freedom. But how did they get here? And what became of them after? In the new season of NPR's White Lies, hosts Chip Brantley and Andrew Beck Grace unspool a decades-long story about immigration, indefinite detention, and a secret list. In the first episode, Brantley and Beck Grace search for answers to the questions raised by a single photograph.

A Chinese surveillance balloon floating over U.S. airspace leads to diplomatic tensions. And U.S. employers added more than half a million jobs to the market in January, which is great for wages, but bad for fighting inflation. Plus, two suspected gang members are arrested in a California in connection with the murders of 6 people, including an infant.

Antony Blinken prepares to meet with Xi Jinping soon after officials spotted a Chinese spy balloon over the U.S., ex-Guantánamo prisoner released to Belize, the Great Salt Lake at risk of drying up.

The U.S. expands its military presence in the Philippines with an eye toward Taiwan, the FBI finds no classified documents at Biden's vacation home, House Republicans hold an immigration hearing.

President Biden meets with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to discuss the debt ceiling, thousands expected to attend Tyre Nichols' funeral in Memphis, the Fed's latest move to tamp down inflation.

Antony Blinken meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, cutting water use along the Colorado River, evidence is presented on Trump's role in paying hush money to Stormy Daniels.