May 15, 2026

Brittney Melton

up first newsletter writer

Good morning. Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo will skip the Preakness Stakes tomorrow. This marks the third Derby winner in five years to skip the second leg of the Triple Crown. Here’s the news we’re following today:

Today’s top stories

Abortion-rights activists protested outside the Supreme Court. One person holds a sign over her head that shows a drawn box of the mifepristone tablet.

Jose Luis Magana/AP

The Supreme Court upheld access to the abortion pill mifepristone yesterday. The high court's order means that the medication will remain available via telehealth while Louisiana's case against the Food and Drug Administration moves through the lower courts. The Supreme Court stayed a May 1 ruling from the New Orleans-based U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals would have banned access to mifepristone by mail. The court ruling would have impacted the whole country.

🎧 The FDA's lawyers argued in the lower courts that the case should be paused while it conducts a new safety review of mifepristone, prompted by pressure from Republican lawmakers. The agency asked to complete the review first, but the 5th Circuit rejected this request. The FDA did not respond to the appeals court's ruling, which NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin says is striking because a key part of this case is about the agency's power. Simmons-Duffin says this case raises an important question: Should judges be able to reshape nationwide access to FDA-approved medications, or should FDA scientists make that determination? Former FDA leaders have urged the high court to maintain access to mifepristone via telemedicine, saying it needs a stable regulatory framework for the FDA to regulate medications in the country.

President Trump is returning to the U.S. after a two-day state visit to China. The president said that China would buy soybeans and Boeing aircraft, but nothing has been seen in writing yet. As Trump celebrated the announcement of the deal, he didn't sound completely solid, NPR's Tamara Keith tells Up First. China has made purchase promises before only for them to fall short. A year ago, a destructive trade war raged between the two countries. Last fall, Trump and China's President Xi Jinping reached a truce. Keith says the bigger picture now is that this visit further strengthens that agreement. Trump also said he and Xi discussed the Middle East, and agreed that the Strait of Hormuz should remain open and Iran should never have a nuclear weapon. Keith says it doesn't appear that the U.S. secured any commitments from China to help pressure Iran to reopen the Strait or agree to turn over its nuclear material.

After a week of political turmoil and cabinet resignations in the U.K., several people have expressed interest in challenging Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his position. Starmer and his Labour Party suffered significant losses in local and regional elections last week, highlighting the increasing unpopularity of Starmer's leadership. His tenure has been troubled by a struggling economy, backlash over his appointment of an ambassador connected to Jeffrey Epstein and a rise in antisemitism, which the government has declared a "national emergency."

🎧 When Starmer's center-left Labour party won less than two years ago, it was viewed as a return to boring stability after a revolving door of prime ministers, NPR's Lauren Frayer says. But polling shows that voters believe Starmer hasn't delivered on promises to improve government services and the cost of living. Starmer says multiple factors beyond his control, such as the war in Iran, are dragging his approval rating down. He wants more time in as prime minister, but it doesn't seem like the party is willing to give that to him, Frayer says. His party would likely replace him with one of his former allies, though none have yet filed for candidacy.

Special education teachers in the Salmon River Central School District of New York confined students with disabilities in wooden boxes, state officials say. Akwesasne Mohawk children, who make up about two-thirds of the district's enrolled students, were among some of the students who were confined. Local officials confirmed that staff had built and used at least two boxes in November and December of last year. The state's investigation revealed that at least five elementary-age students were placed in a "timeout" box, according to a report obtained by NPR. The investigation also found that the parents of these children were not notified, which is a violation of state regulations. Parents described this practice as reminiscent of past abuses in government schools that ravaged Native communities. New York's state education department has since quietly ordered sweeping reforms in the district.

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What's Eating America

Great Valley School District culinary coordinator Jenifer Halin cleans up the salad bar in the cafeteria at a high school.

Bronson Arcuri / NPR

What's Eating America is a special series exploring the intersection of food and the economy.

School districts in the U.S. are concerned that it could get even more expensive to prepare meals under new federal dietary guidelines. In January, the Trump administration overhauled the national dietary guidelines. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has urged Americans to choose high-quality, nutrient-dense protein and to avoid highly processed foods. These guidelines set federal nutrition standards that schools in federal meal programs must follow. Many districts still depend on processed, premade foods and protein remains the most costly ingredient on the cafeteria plate, school nutrition experts say. The administration has also cut programs that help schools buy food from local farmers.

🍎 The Department of Agriculture is still updating the nutrition standards required for institutions participating in the School Breakfast Program and National School Lunch Program, which fed 30 million children last year.
🍎 Animal protein in school food is one of the most highly processed components, says Mara Fleishman, CEO of the Chef Ann Foundation, which works to help schools cook more meals from scratch. Chicken nuggets, which contain around 35 ingredients, are found in nearly every U.S. school district, she says.
🍎 Districts that want to prepare chicken strips from scratch could make them using six to seven ingredients, but it can be challenging, Fleishman says. They have to consider the financial, labor and waste implications of cooking from scratch.
🍎 Education administrators and child nutrition advocates have said for years that school cafeterias face tight budgets partly due to insufficient federal reimbursements. Reimbursement rates are adjusted annually based on the consumer price index. School nutrition directors say that the increases are not enough and Congress needs to rethink the reimbursement formula as meal program costs rise.

Saving money on food can be challenging. NPR's latest newsletter journey will help you choose, plan and cook three affordable meals over four weeks. The guide will also give you tips on dining out. Sign up for the How to Cut Your Food Bill here.

Weekend picks

Isabel Leonard as Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and Carlos Álvarez as her husband and fellow artist, Diego Rivera, perform in a scene from Gabriela Lena Frank's “El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego.”

Marty Sohl/Met Opera

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

🍿 Movies: Martin Short's long career in comedy is celebrated in the new documentary Marty, Life Is Short. The film reveals how frequently he has endured the loss of family members.

📺 TV: Amadeus focuses on 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a genius who uses music to express what he cannot articulate. The limited series tells a fictionalized story of the rivalry between Mozart and the court composer Antonio Salieri.

📚 Books: Eve J. Chung's The Young Will Remember tells the story of Ellie Chang, a Chinese American war correspondent. Stranded in an unfamiliar area that she’s known as enemy territory, Chang must rely on strangers to find her way back home.

🎵 Music: Tomorrow, the 25 countries that made it through to Eurovision's Grand Final will get to perform their songs. Peacock and YouTube will stream the event in the U.S. Check out the top 10 best songs in the competition, according to NPR's Glen Weldon.

🎭 Theater: The opera El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego sees late Mexican painter Frida Kahlo leaving the underworld on the Day of the Dead to reunite with her husband and fellow artist, Diego Rivera. Audiences can see it at the Metropolitan Opera in New York through June 5, or check it out live in theaters on May 30.

❓Quiz: This week’s test includes a fun addition: a fill-in-the-blank-option. Need a hint? The answer to that question is related to a discovery about Neanderthals included in yesterday’s newsletter.

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3 things to know before you go

Eileen Wang, now the former mayor of the city of Arcadia, seen from the shoulders up in a brownish top.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

1

The now former mayor of Arcadia, Calif., Eileen Wang has reached a deal with federal prosecutors after admitting to acting as an illegal foreign agent for China, court documents unsealed this week reveal.

2

In this week's edition of Far-Flung Postcards, NPR's Miguel Macias takes readers to Seville, where it is snail season. The Caracoles found in southern Spain differ from the well-known French escargot in that they are smaller and eaten directly from the shell.

3

Adidas has created a unique ball for each FIFA World Cup since 1970. This year’s design features graphics for the three host countries: a blue star for the U.S., a red maple leaf for Canada and a green eagle for Mexico. (via KNKX)

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