April 17, 2026

Up First Newsletter writer

Good morning. If you're planning a long-haul vacation, you might need to increase your budget. Jet fuel prices have roughly doubled since the start of the war in Iran, leading airlines worldwide to cut routes, raise fares and add fuel surcharges.

Today’s top stories

Tracer rounds illuminate the night sky as people fire live ammunition and fireworks into the air as a ceasefire was beginning between Israel and Hezbollah, in Beirut, Lebanon, in the early hours of April 17.

Hassan Ammar/AP

A 10-day ceasefire to pause fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon begins today. President Trump announced the deal yesterday on social media after he had separate phone calls with leaders of Israel and Lebanon. Hezbollah was not involved in the ceasefire discussions. Israel has vowed to keep its forces in southern Lebanon, saying it would attack if threatened by Hezbollah. The current two-week ceasefire between the U.S., Israel and Iran is set to expire in a few days. Iran has said it would not negotiate peace with the U.S. unless Israel entered a ceasefire in Lebanon.

🎧 NPR's Kat Londsorf is in Beirut, where she says things have been relatively quiet since the ceasefire began at midnight. She says there is a little hope among people here. "A ceasefire is always welcome in war," she says. "But people also realize this is temporary, so it's a cautious optimism." About a fifth of Lebanon's population has been displaced by the violence. Both Israel and Hezbollah have told people it's still too dangerous to return home.

🎧 As the end of the two-week ceasefire between the U.S., Israel and Iran looms, U.S. defense officials say the naval blockade on Iranian ports is firmly in place. The U.S. is blocking ships from exiting or entering Iranian ports — strangling Iran's economy. Meanwhile, Iran has control of the Strait of Hormuz until U.S., European or Asian minesweepers can clear it and possibly escort ships safely through. NPR's Quil Lawrence says that blockades are an act of war, but in this case, it could be part of negotiations.

President Trump has nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz, a former Coast Guard doctor and Trump's deputy surgeon general under his first administration, to serve as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC has been without a confirmed leader for all but a month of the president's second term. If confirmed, Schwartz would work under Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She would inherit an agency in turmoil, with employees who have been affected by major cuts to staffing, budget and programs. Here's what we know about Schwartz.

🎧 The CDC is much quieter these days, and it's informing the public a lot less, NPR's Pien Huang says. The agency has recently been challenged over changes to vaccines made under HHS Secretary Kennedy. The staff that remains says they've lost trust in federal leadership. Huang says Schwartz will have her work cut out for her if she is confirmed. In testimony yesterday, Kennedy said Schwartz and others Trump named to help lead the CDC have been getting "applause from both Republicans and Democrats."

Millions of immigrants are stuck in legal limbo as a growing backlog of immigration applications leaves them vulnerable to deportation. An NPR review of data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the DHS agency that approves immigration applications, shows that nearly 12 million applications await a decision. The number of pending requests ballooned in the first three months of Trump's second administration, leaving immigrants struggling to get confirmation that their applications were received, let alone reviewed.

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Watch this

Nickolai Hammar/NPR

Go face-to-face with the person of the moment. NPR’s Newsmakers video podcast brings the biggest names in politics, business, sports, arts, and culture out of the headlines and into the interview chair to discuss the mark they’re making on the world. Follow the Newsmakers podcast or subscribe to NPR's YouTube channel to get new episodes as soon as they’re available.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani didn't realize how small his one-bedroom apartment was until he moved all of his things into the bedroom at Gracie Mansion, the mayor's residence. But he hasn't had time to think about all that space, because he spends most of his time at City Hall and around New York City. The mayor makes sure to meet other New Yorkers and "break out of the bubble" by getting around the city on foot, by bike or by train. In a conversation with NPR's Leila Fadel, Mamdani discusses his first 100 days as mayor, the future of the Democratic Party and the dehumanizing effects of the Iran war on "people across his country."

Watch the interview now on YouTube or read the article about their discussion.

Weekend picks

Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy

Check out what NPR is watching, reading and listening to this weekend:

🍿 Movies: Instead of diving into new releases this week, the Pop Culture Happy Hour hosts are making a dent in the lists of classic movies they somehow haven't seen yet, including Erin Brockovich, Enter the Dragon, Raging Bull and Flower Drum Song.

📺 TV: Season 2 of Netflix's Beef can get unwieldy at times with how many new characters and intertwining storylines there are. But it's compelling because at any given moment, each character may reveal the worst of themselves, NPR's Aisha Harris says.

📚 Books: Jump back in time with these memoirs from two figures who defined '90s culture: Grammy-winning singer Brandy Norwood's Phases and TV host Arsenio Hall's Arsenio.

🎵 Music: Los Jornaleros Del Norte is providing the soundtrack for anti-ICE protests in LA. The band plays protest songs whose lyrics reflect the hopes and struggles of undocumented workers as they evade immigration agents.

❓ Quiz: This newsletter has kept you updated on the latest Iran war news. But have you kept up with a major war in the animal kingdom? You'll need that knowledge to complete this week's quiz.

3 things to know before you go

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and fellow Republicans celebrate GOP tax policies at an event outside the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, April 15.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

1

The House approved a stopgap measure to extend for 10 days a controversial surveillance program that allows U.S. intelligence agencies to intercept electronic communications of foreign nationals located outside the United States.

2

A Texas district judge has ordered Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' camp where 27 people died in a deadly flood last summer, to preserve damaged cabins as the camp's planned reopening date approaches. (via KUT)

3

Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax shot and killed his wife before taking his own life Thursday, according to Fairfax County Police. Fairfax’s term was marked by accusations of sexual assault. (via VPM)

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This newsletter was edited by Treye Green.