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Police stand at a road block on the road to RAF Fairford after an incident, in Whelford, England, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, Ben Birchall/PA via AP hide caption

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Ben Birchall/PA via AP

British authorities have arrested five men near RAF Fairford, a U.K. air base used by U.S. forces in the war against Iran. Three suspicious vehicles were stopped near the base, and investigators are examining several possible motives and connections.

• 🎧 NPR's Lauren Frayer tells Up First what we know about the investigation so far. Police say a possible Iran link is only one line of inquiry, while British officials are also weighing the broader threat from hostile states. Frayer notes that RAF Fairford has also been a target of anti-war protests. The suspects can be held for up to 14 days without charge under U.K. terrorism laws.
• 🎧 Listen on Morning Edition for analysis from national security expert Juliette Kayyem on how investigators assess a suspected plot and why U.S. and British officials may be describing it differently.

President Trump says he rejected an Iranian offer for a seven-day pause in fighting and an immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran had sought relief from the U.S. naval blockade on its oil exports and access to billions of dollars frozen abroad in exchange for reopening the waterway.

• 🎧 NPR's Aya Batrawy tells Up First that oil is moving through the strait, but not at prewar levels. Recent Kpler data shows flows averaging about 13 million barrels a day last week, compared with roughly 15 million to 17 million before the war. "There is an absence of peace in the Gulf," Batrawy says, with Washington's Gulf allies "paying the heavy price" of that continued uncertainty.

CNN is back in the White House TV pool after a dayslong dispute over press access. The pause meant major moments, including Trump's U.N. appearance and Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit, went without the usual pooled television coverage.

• 🎧 NPR's Mara Liasson reports that fights with the media may play well with Trump's media-skeptical base, but they can also cost him the wall-to-wall coverage he typically seeks. She says the dispute fits a broader question about why Trump is taking positions that run against majority public opinion just weeks before the midterms.
• Meanwhile, in a strange twist, CNN is getting new owners with close ties to Trump. NPR's David Folkenflik reports on the unease inside the network as Paramount moves to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN's parent company.

Mass shootings across South Africa have killed nearly 40 people in recent days. The attacks in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban struck a restaurant, tavern and house party, and police have not announced motives in the latest cases.

Artist Sliman Mansour at his home in Jerusalem on Nov. 18, 2025. Afif Amireh for NPR hide caption

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Afif Amireh for NPR

Born in 1947, the year before Israel's creation, Sliman Mansour said he didn't always think of himself as Palestinian. "In the early 1970s, I started to discover I'm a Palestinian," he told NPR. "So my art took a 90-degree turn."

Living under Israeli occupation, he said, made politics impossible to escape. But he also believed beauty was part of how art reached people: "If you don't speak to the hearts of the people, if you don't speak to the feelings of the people, then you don't reach people."

Beauty, he said, was "an important way to reach these hearts."

Mansour died on Aug. 24 at 79 and was buried in Bir Zeit, in the occupied West Bank, near the olive groves of his ancestors. Listen to an in-person interview with him, and see some of the art here.

Andee Tagle/NPR

Being a parent can be overstimulating. Therapist and mom of three Cassidy Freitas says finding small moments to reset can help regulate your emotions. In her new book, Mom Needs a Moment, she offers a few techniques:

😤 In moments of high stress, pause and take a few intentional breaths before considering what is really driving your emotions.
😤 When parental guilt sets in, think about what you would say to a friend in the same situation - and offer yourself the same grace.
😤 Every parent loses their cool sometimes. Acknowledge what happened, own the mistake and take time to reconnect with your child.

Tanystylum kiixin, a new species of sea spider, with round eggs inside its legs. Cormac Toler-Scott/The University of British Columbia hide caption

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Cormac Toler-Scott/The University of British Columbia

• Scientists in Canada discovered two new sea spider species in the Salish Sea — the first found there in more than a century.
• Stanford professor Bryant Lin spent years studying lung cancer before becoming a Stage IV patient himself — just as new treatments are changing the disease's outlook.
• D.C.'s Rat Rangers lead nighttime safaris through trash-strewn alleys to teach residents a simple lesson: If you want fewer rats, start with human behavior.

This newsletter was edited by Yvonne Dennis.