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Today's top stories
Today marks the last day of the U.S. Supreme Court's current term, and major rulings are expected. Two key cases involve bans on transgender athletes. The court's possibly most anticipated ruling focuses on birthright citizenship. The case questions whether the U.S. should automatically grant citizenship to children born here, particularly in light of President Trump's executive order to deny citizenship to children whose parents entered the U.S. illegally or are on temporary visas. At the heart of the issue is the 14th Amendment, which states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
- 🎧 A ruling today in favor of Trump could overturn over a century of legal precedent and create logistical challenges for millions of mixed-status families, NPR's Ximena Bustillo tells Up First. A ruling against Trump would be a setback for one of his many immigration-related campaign promises. The administration aims to restrict the ways people can legally be in the country. Last week, the Supreme Court gave the administration more power to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, particularly for Haitians and Syrians. There are TPS recipients with children who are U.S. citizens at the center of the debate over birthright citizenship, Bustillo says. Even if the court supports birthright citizenship, immigrant advocates say families may still have to make difficult decisions about whether to stay together. The administration's policies have been narrowing legal migration, and the fact that these cases are being litigated in the high court highlights that message, Bustillo says.
- ➡️ A slew of Supreme Court decisions came down yesterday. Justices upheld grace periods for mail-in ballots, took a sledgehammer to much of the federal government's regulatory framework, cemented the president's power to remove members of independent agencies at will, limited law enforcement's use of geofencing warrants to see who was near the scene of a crime, and rejected Trump's attempt to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve governing board.
The United States and Iran have sent delegations to Qatar, after exchanging attacks in recent days. The White House said that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff were on their way there for talks about a long-term peace agreement. Iranian officials have made it clear that they will not meet with them. For Iran, this meeting appears to be more focused on discussing with Qatari officials the release of approximately $6 billion in frozen assets. The release of this money, which is about half of the assets frozen in Qatar, was included in a memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran.
- 🎧 Both countries' haste in these talks seems to stem from a lack of trust, NPR's Ruth Sherlock says. Iranians, in particular, are concerned that the Trump administration might go back on its commitments, especially given the history of failed talks. Iran is also furious about a separate deal brokered by the U.S. between Israel and Lebanon on a road map to end the war. Israel is still fighting the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. The Israel-Lebanon deal stipulates that Hezbollah must disarm, and it makes Israel's withdrawal from the large areas of land it occupies contingent upon Hezbollah disarming first. Hezbollah, which was not part of the agreement, has rejected the deal outright, calling it a "surrender of Lebanese sovereignty."
Last week, the U.S. deported 146 Venezuelans from Texas to Caracas. Passengers on that plane, which included women and children, were being processed in a guarded hotel when two powerful earthquakes struck, according to family members. The hotel was reduced to rubble, and there are conflicting accounts of how many of the 146 deportees survived. It's unclear if the Trump administration will continue to deport Venezuelans post-earthquakes. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment from NPR.
The national murder rate in the United States is nearing a record low. Crime data analyst Jeff Asher says that the country in 2025 likely experienced the lowest murder rate ever recorded. Asher shared this prediction in late May, using data he collects from about 600 police agencies for his site, The Crime Index. This nationally representative sample indicates that murders dropped by 18.7% in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year. All violent crime decreased by 6.4%. An important caveat is that this would be the lowest murder rate since the FBI started publishing national murder numbers in the 1950s. There are some older records of national rates of homicide (a larger category than criminal murder) kept by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
From the NPR Network
by Juliana Kim, general assignment reporter
Even before the games began, World Cup tickets racked up a flurry of controversies — from sky-high prices to seating chart confusion.
Now add missing game tickets to the list.
John McNicholas, 65, from New Jersey, was one of the heartbroken ticket buyers. He spent over $1,200 on two seats through StubHub to attend Scotland vs. Morocco in Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. His friend traveled from England to be his plus one.
The day of the match, McNicholas recalled standing outside the stadium — one ear tuned into the cheers of fans inside and the other pressed to a phone with StubHub customer service.
"We hung around because we thought, well, somebody may be able to solve it at the last minute," he said. "But nothing occurred."
Many of the complaints have been aimed at StubHub, one of the biggest platforms for ticket resales. So, what's the issue? Depends on who you ask. StubHub blames FIFA, claiming its "ticketing infrastructure" has "significant performance issues."
Meanwhile, FIFA says it has "no visibility over, or control of" ticket transactions on third-party platforms.
StubHub offers refunds to fans whose tickets never arrive, but it's cold comfort for many soccer lovers.
"They really have destroyed somebody else's dream and that's really what upsets me out of the whole thing," McNicholas said.
Read more on the resale ticket fiasco here.
Video highlights
Click through to watch the latest Soccer Edition video clips from across the NPR Network.
Podcast highlights
⚽ From But Why? A Podcast for Curious Kids: Why is soccer called football in other countries?
For years kids have been asking Vermont Public's podcast But Why the same question: Why is it called soccer in some countries and football in others?
In this episode, host Jane Lindholm meets up with reporter Meg Linehan, women's sports lead for The Athletic, to ask her all your soccer-related questions, including about the origin of the sport's name; plus, the story behind the very first World Cup.
🎧 Listen to the full episode in the NPR App
What to watch for this week
💰 The economic impact of hosting is starting to come into focus: Small businesses in Kansas City, which has so far hosted a number of big matches that have attracted international fans, feel like their efforts haven't paid off when it comes to driving sales. In fact, there's been a drop in foot traffic to their businesses. Meanwhile, Dallas is projecting at least $1.5 billion in "economic impact" for the region, but as KERA reports, experts seem skeptical. And in Massachusetts, economists expect that World Cup betting will be what brings major tax revenue to the state.
🍻 World Cup visitors seem to prefer beer to weed: Leading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Washington Department of Health warned visitors: The cannabis here can be more potent than what they're used to, so go slow and don't overdo it. That caution, however, may have been a bit overblown: A majority of Seattle dispensaries told KUOW that football fans looking to get high haven't been beating down their doors. The beer though? The British betting company William Hill predicts that soccer fans will throw back more than 5 million pints of beer in stadiums and fan zones during this year's World Cup. Plus, a trio of craft breweries from the global soccer event's three host nations are using the tournament to brew something increasingly rare: cross-border solidarity.
Picture show
Ukraine's military has used drones that can travel between 800 and 1,200 miles to target oil refineries and depots deep inside Russia, including locations in Moscow and Siberia. The drones are manufactured by Fire Point, a Ukrainian defense technology company. On June 18, Ukraine launched its largest drone offensive to date on Moscow, striking an oil refinery. In recent weeks, Ukrainian drones have targeted supply routes for Russian troops, railroad bridges, ferry crossings and oil refineries. Ukraine's strike campaign started out earnestly in 2024 but has significantly intensified this year, helping Ukraine gain momentum in a grueling war of attrition that has persisted for more than four years since Russia's full-scale invasion. NPR recently visited a secretive strike unit known as the First Separate Center of Unmanned Systems and observed the team launching deep strikes at Russian targets.
3 things to know before you go
- Clergy sexual abuse survivors reached a nearly $400 million settlement with the Archdiocese of San Francisco, advocates announced. The agreement affects around 530 individuals who have filed abuse claims against current or former members of the city's Catholic clergy. (via KQED)
- A judge postponed Luigi Mangione's federal trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO until January, saying it would be "impossible" for it to proceed as planned in November. (via Gothamist)
- Michigan State Police are investigating the death of a newborn baby found Sunday in a porta-potty at the Electric Forest music festival. (via WGVU)
This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.
Copyright 2026 NPR
