Lauren Frayer
Appearances
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-23-2025 4PM EDT
At St. Peter's Basilica, mourners have begun filing past the Pope's casket to pay their respects ahead of Saturday's funeral in St. Peter's Square. Pope Francis died Monday at the age of 88 following a stroke. NPR's Lauren Frayer has more from Rome.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-23-2025 4PM EDT
On Wall Street, major market indices have closed up 1% to 2.5%. It's NPR News. European Union regulators are fining Apple and Meta hundreds of millions of dollars for what they say are violations of Europe's digital services laws. Terry Schultz reports the U.S. tech giants are the first to be fined under the 2022 law aimed at increasing competition in the sector.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-23-2025 4PM EDT
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant says the U.S. wants to remain a leader in the global economy even as President Trump's tariffs cast a cloud over worldwide trade. NPR's Scott Horsley reports Besant spoke this morning on the sidelines of a global economic summit.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-23-2025 4PM EDT
YouTube's 20 today. It boasts 2.5 billion active users worldwide, 500 hours of videos uploaded every minute. The first person to reach a million subscribers, remember that, Lucas Cruikshank, creator of the viral sensation known as Fred.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-23-2025 4PM EDT
But Jimmy Donaldson, aka Mr. Beast, remains the platform's most popular creator.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-23-2025 4PM EDT
A federal judge has given the Trump administration a deadline to answer questions about the illegal deportation of a Maryland man. NPR's Joel Rose reports a judge is accusing the administration of intentionally flouting her order.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-14-2025 7AM EDT
April was 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than average globally, compared to records going back to 1850. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, that puts it second to April of last year, which remains the hottest ever recorded. Snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere was also the smallest recorded, tying with last year.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-14-2025 7AM EDT
As humans emit greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, the planet is steadily heating up. The hottest 10 years in modern record-keeping have all been in the last 10 years. But NOAA doesn't expect 2025 to come in as the hottest. That's because a shift away from the natural climate pattern of El Nino has a slight cooling effect on the planet. Lauren Sommer, NPR News. This is NPR.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-12-2025 8PM EST
After an Israeli airstrike destroyed their home in Gaza, a Palestinian couple and their four children applied to come to the UK, where they have relatives. And they were ultimately granted permission to settle here on appeal through a special visa scheme designed for Ukrainians.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-12-2025 8PM EST
Conservative opposition leader Kemi Badenach told Parliament a judge was wrong to allow this family into Britain. And the centre-left Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he agrees.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-12-2025 8PM EST
The UK has special visa programs for people fleeing from Ukraine and Hong Kong, but not for Palestinians. Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-19-2025 6PM EST
In 1964, one of Queen Elizabeth's senior courtiers, her private art collector, confessed to being a Soviet spy. But the monarch wasn't told for nine years. Aides apparently saw no advantage and didn't want to worry her. The man was later stripped of his knighthood. This is one of several tidbits in a trove of documents declassified ahead of an upcoming exhibition at Britain's National Archives.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-19-2025 6PM EST
Other documents show how British secret agents lobbied for an honorary knighthood for J. Edgar Hoover, the notorious FBI director, and then tried to get him listed in a who's who almanac to boost his ego and U.S.-British relations after another Cold War spy scandal. Lauren Frayer, NPR News, London.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-19-2025 7AM EDT
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who voted against Brexit in the 2016 referendum, calls this summit a reset of British relations with the EU. It includes a deal to extend European fishing rights in UK waters. It does not include freedom of mobility, the idea that EU citizens can live and work freely in Britain.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-19-2025 7AM EDT
But officials are working out details of a limited youth mobility scheme, under which British students and 20-somethings may be able to work short-term jobs in Europe and vice versa. The UK and EU are also working together on the continent's security and defence, boosting defence spending and bolstering aid and weapons shipments to Ukraine. Lauren Frayer, NPR News, London.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-10-2025 3PM EDT
from northern England says the concern is now ecological. One of the ships involved in the collision is a U.S.-flagged tanker that was carrying jet fuel for the U.S. military, fuel which is now leaking into the sea. TV footage shows thick black smoke, firefighting helicopters and lifeboats.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-10-2025 3PM EDT
This is happening in a busy North Sea waterway with shipping traffic between England, the Netherlands and Germany.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-07-2025 2PM EST
In a video posted to social media, King Charles sits at a big wooden desk at Buckingham Palace with a vintage radio on-air sign lit up, talking about his love of disco, reggae and afro beats.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-07-2025 2PM EST
The video then cuts to a military marching band outside playing Bob Marley. This playlist fit for a king is called The King's Music Room. The palace says it's the soundtrack of King Charles' life, from 1930s standards to Kylie Minogue.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-04-2025 6PM EDT
Baby tortoises are adorable. Our tortoises here are about the size of a tennis ball right now.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-04-2025 6PM EDT
The animals that come from the wild, we make the assumption that they're unrelated to the other animals in our population. And so genetically, she is unique. So she's incredibly important.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-04-2025 5PM EDT
She says, Every little piece that can be revealed tells us more about his work as a songwriter and as a singer.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
Good morning.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
There have been. Today, the Israeli military issued a map of 10 border villages where it says civilians are prohibited from going, even if they're residents going home. But people have been going home nevertheless and posting video of themselves with Israeli tanks in their villages. The Israeli military confirms it has fired on people who have gone into this zone.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
It accuses them of violating the conditions of this ceasefire. A handful of people have been wounded by either tank or gunfire in different areas and different incidents, including journalists who say they too were shot at by Israeli soldiers. Incidentally, there's also been a lot of celebratory gunfire, which in itself is dangerous and could certainly lead to misunderstandings.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
So there have been several incidents, but so far they don't appear to be jeopardizing the wider ceasefire agreement.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
So this is a 60-day truce. Within that time, Israeli troops have to withdraw from Lebanon, and Hezbollah has to withdraw its fighters and weapons from a zone close to the Israeli border. The Lebanese army is moving in alongside UN peacekeepers, and those movements are underway.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
At one point yesterday, I was at a gas station in southern Lebanon, and someone told me, take a right, not a left, up here because Hezbollah is moving some of its weapons around the corner.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
Yeah, so I drove south from Beirut, where the mood has been jubilant here. People celebrating the ceasefire, piling into cars, heading home, singing victory songs. And as I drove south, the destruction became more and more apparent and the mood became more somber. I saw a lot of buildings burned, destroyed. I saw a crater the size of a swimming pool on a promenade along the Mediterranean coast.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
And then I headed inland to the city of Nabatea, where not a single building is still standing on the main street in town. I met a business owner named Hamada Mansour. He showed me what's left of his store called Mansour Nuts. He sells nuts and dried fruit. And here he is taking me through the destruction.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
He said an Israeli airstrike hit right across the street from his shop and destroyed everything for a block in either direction. I also saw a funeral underway in a cemetery in Nabatea, presumably for what we hope will be one of the last victims of fighting there.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
So while there's been this rush back to homes on the Lebanese side, there has been no similar rush on the Israeli side. The Israeli government says there will be a one or two month period of rebuilding before people will return. Many local mayors on the Israeli side opposed this ceasefire agreement. They thought it was a bad deal. They still feel unsafe.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
They're worried about the resumption of Hezbollah rocket fire or worse.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
I mean, the hope is that all efforts now can go toward getting a similar truce with Hamas in Gaza. Israel is staying hush about reports today that an Egyptian delegation is there trying to kickstart ceasefire talks for Gaza, and we'll be watching those.
Up First from NPR
Displaced Lebanese Return Home, Thanksgiving Travel, Holiday Health Tips
You're welcome. Happy Thanksgiving.
Up First from NPR
The Contours of a Ceasefire in Gaza, Preventing Future Wildfires In LA
Yeah. You know, in a lot of ways, L.A. is a leader on wildfires because there's a lot communities can do ahead of time to reduce the chances that houses will burn. And, you know, L.A. realized how vulnerable it was back in the 1960s. Design for disasters. This is a documentary from the Los Angeles Fire Department that it made after the Bel Air fire in 1961.
Up First from NPR
The Contours of a Ceasefire in Gaza, Preventing Future Wildfires In LA
That fire also had extreme winds, and they realized it was the burning embers blown by the wind that spread that fire so fast.
Up First from NPR
The Contours of a Ceasefire in Gaza, Preventing Future Wildfires In LA
Yeah, you know, Los Angeles was one of the first major cities to ban wood roofs. And now there are strict rules about the vegetation around homes in risky areas. Every year, residents get an inspection for defensible space. Trees have to be cut back from your roof. You know, the brush has to be spaced out. The gutters have to be cleared of dead leaves.
Up First from NPR
The Contours of a Ceasefire in Gaza, Preventing Future Wildfires In LA
And in 2022, Los Angeles County did more than 58,000 inspections.
Up First from NPR
The Contours of a Ceasefire in Gaza, Preventing Future Wildfires In LA
The city or county will fine them and then hire a contractor to do the work, which the homeowners also have to pay for. Many other Western states don't have policies that are even close to this. But even in California, they're realizing it's not enough because studies show it's the area right next to a house that matters the most.
Up First from NPR
The Contours of a Ceasefire in Gaza, Preventing Future Wildfires In LA
So starting next year, there are going to be new rules for almost no vegetation within five feet of a house. And that's already causing a lot of pushback from homeowners who like to have that greenery, you know, outside their windows.
Up First from NPR
The Contours of a Ceasefire in Gaza, Preventing Future Wildfires In LA
OK, so what else could L.A. have done to be better prepared? California has tough building codes for fire prone areas that require using fire resistant building materials, you know, like the roof or the siding. But that's only for houses that have been built since 2008. And the majority of L.A. 's housing stock is older than that.
Up First from NPR
The Contours of a Ceasefire in Gaza, Preventing Future Wildfires In LA
And then getting a new roof or replacing your siding.
Up First from NPR
The Contours of a Ceasefire in Gaza, Preventing Future Wildfires In LA
Yeah, definitely. I spoke to Michael Gallner, an engineering professor at UC Berkeley, about that. And he said there are grant programs to help homeowners harden their homes, as it's known, but they're very small.
Up First from NPR
The Contours of a Ceasefire in Gaza, Preventing Future Wildfires In LA
And, you know, one other thing that L.A. could have done, both the city and county don't have community wildfire protection plans. These are plans that are commonly used in other places to identify where the big vulnerabilities are. And those are just in the early stages of being written in L.A.
Up First from NPR
Does the Military Have an Extremism Problem?
We uncovered the ideological veteran chief for the United States military, and that's Bishop Garrison.
Up First from NPR
Does the Military Have an Extremism Problem?
So who is the Pentagon's newly minted MAGA purge man? Just spend five minutes Googling Bishop Garrison.
Up First from NPR
Does the Military Have an Extremism Problem?
A man who believes all, all Trump supporters are racists and extremists.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
And I'm Lauren Frayer at St. Peter's Square in Rome. And this is Up First from NPR News. I'm live on the edge of St. Peter's Square in front of the Vatican, where large crowds have been paying their respects to Pope Francis.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
An estimated 200,000 people attended the funeral mass for Pope Francis today.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
Scott, we've just stepped into a Renaissance painting. I'm looking up at the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, etched across these deep blue skies and puffs of white clouds rolling past. This square in front of the basilica swelled with people today and with colors. Cardinals in bright red, nuns in black and white, monks in brown robes.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
The day began with bells tolling across this city and at the Basilica here, and then a homage of global leaders, royals, military men and women. The cobblestone streets of Rome have been lined with people in some places, 20 people deep, applauding as the Popemobile carried Francis out of the Vatican for the last time.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
past Roman ruins, past the Colosseum, to his final resting place in an immigrant neighborhood. And Scott, one of the things that strikes me, while these were very traditional Catholic rites, this has been a very interfaith commemoration. There have been Muslim clerics here. I saw a person in a Native American feather headdress, European royals with medals pinned on their coats next to
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
Mourners gathered today for Pope Francis' funeral in Vatican City.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
Latin American nuns next to African leaders in military dress, a very global send-off for Pope Francis.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
And our colleague NPR's Ruth Sherlock has been wading through the crowds of faithful all day today. Ruth, what are people telling you out there?
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
Plus, the UN's Food Agency says it has delivered the last of its food supplies in Gaza, which remains under Israeli blockade.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
Ruth, you followed Pope Francis' funeral cortege across Rome to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he's now been laid to rest. What's the scene there?
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
Thank you, Scott. Thanks so much.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
Israel says the blockade and bombardment are intended to compel Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal and return the remaining hostages.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
And that's Up First for Saturday, April 26th, 2025. I'm Lauren Freyer.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
Andrew Craig produced today's episode with help from Gabe O'Connor, Fatima El-Kassab, and Sarah Ventry.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
Michael Radcliffe is our director, with support from technical director Andy Huther and engineers David Greenberg, Zach Coleman, and Arthur Halliday-Lorent.
Up First from NPR
Pope Francis's Funeral Ceremony; Gaza Goes Hungry Under Israeli Blockade
Tomorrow on the Sunday Story, a whistleblower inside the federal government says Doge representatives appear to have taken sensitive data and then covered their tracks. Tune in to hear more about their efforts and what such potential breaches could mean for the private data of millions of Americans.
Up First from NPR
Supreme Court Blocks Deportations; Imprisonment in El Salvador; US-Iran Nuclear Talks
Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Up First from NPR
Supreme Court Blocks Deportations; Imprisonment in El Salvador; US-Iran Nuclear Talks
That's how you get a job at Waffle House.
Up First from NPR
Supreme Court Blocks Deportations; Imprisonment in El Salvador; US-Iran Nuclear Talks
The worry is that once someone is sent outside of the jurisdiction of the United States, it becomes much more difficult to protect and enforce their constitutional rights.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
Yeah, I went into areas of southern Lebanon that saw the fiercest fighting of the war. In some cases, Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah militants were fighting inside crusader castles. I saw Byzantine fortifications of a walled old city destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, churches and mosques that had been hit. These are some of the iconic sites you see on postcards of Lebanon.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
But Israel accuses Hezbollah of hiding weapons and fighters in some of them. In mid-November, the United Nations added 34 sites in Lebanon to its list of protected cultural properties, hoping to prevent damage to them.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
No. I mean, at least not for all of them. I went to a 3,000-year-old castle in a place called Tibneen near the boundaries of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. One of its Crusader-era walls had crumbled. I climbed to the roof. It was littered with debris from Israeli airstrikes on homes nearby. And I was with a municipal official named Ali Fawaz.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
He was seeing the damage for the first time, and he was emotional. He said he felt very sad.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
This castle's been the pride of his community literally for centuries, and to him, this damage is priceless.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
Lebanon's six UNESCO World Heritage Sites are marked with this blue and white symbol that signifies UN protection. It's even painted on the roof of the ticket office so that it's visible by warplanes. I visited three of the six UNESCO heritage sites.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
The monuments themselves are still standing, but for example, an Israeli airstrike left a crater in the tourist parking lot right next to some Greco-Roman temples in Baalbek. Archaeologists have yet to x-ray the columns for hairline fractures from the force of explosions all around them. There's also damage to historic stone houses, ancient markets.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
Joanne Farshuk-Bajali is a specialist in heritage architecture who's been going around to properties on Lebanon's National Register of Historic Places to literally see if they're still there.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
You know, she sees this damage as an Israeli attempt to erase Lebanon's claim to its history and its own land. Israel, of course, denies that. Just like in Gaza, it says its intention has not been to lay waste to residential areas, only that it's responding to militant attacks that come from these same areas.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
I mean, the World Bank estimates that in Lebanon, the cost of damage and economic losses from the war to be about $8.5 billion. So rebuilding will be a huge years-long project. This is a country that the economy has already been in shambles before this war. And that rebuilding can't begin in a lot of these areas until Israeli troops withdraw. And that hasn't finished yet.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
There are areas still where civilians cannot get home in Lebanon and where they can't reach antiquities either. Right.
Up First from NPR
Biden Death Row Clemency, Long COVID Research, Lebanon Antiquities Damaged
Thanks, Asma. Happy holidays.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy in London, Gaza Ceasefire Status, Judicial Accountability
Well, we're going to have to see whether hugs and cheers outside and words of shock and support translate into action. After this summit, I hopped on the phone with Lord Peter Ricketts. He's a member of the House of Lords, a former UK ambassador to France and NATO. And I asked him to gauge the mood among leaders.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy in London, Gaza Ceasefire Status, Judicial Accountability
Well, Britain and France say they're working with Ukraine on their own ceasefire plan, which they'll present to the U.S. It may entail deployment of British peacekeepers. Here's what Prime Minister Starmer said last night.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy in London, Gaza Ceasefire Status, Judicial Accountability
And by heavy lifting, he means funding Europe's defence. You know, since World War II, the US has basically guaranteed Europe's security. But if that's no longer the priority under President Trump, European leaders say they're going to have to step up. Starmer has hiked British defence spending. He said other countries have pledged to do the same.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy in London, Gaza Ceasefire Status, Judicial Accountability
Yesterday, Starmer also announced another $2 billion in financing for Ukraine to buy more air defence missiles. But can Europe do that without U.S. support? Well, Europe has already actually given more aid to Ukraine than the U.S. has. But in terms of ending the war, they're using the phrase coalition of the willing and they want it to be backed by the U.S.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy in London, Gaza Ceasefire Status, Judicial Accountability
Prime Minister Starmer is really trying to sell Trump on security guarantees. And I asked Lord Ricketts what that could mean.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy in London, Gaza Ceasefire Status, Judicial Accountability
So that's a big question mark. You know, what role the U.S. would play on the ground or in the air over Ukraine, if any, and whether it would be enough for Europeans to feel secure in sending peacekeepers. OK, Lauren, so what happens next? Well, there is a European Union summit later this week. A top EU official, Ursula von der Leyen, says she'll unveil plans there for the rearming of Europe.
Up First from NPR
Zelenskyy in London, Gaza Ceasefire Status, Judicial Accountability
You know, as you know, there's no Europe-wide military. Countries have their own armies. Most are also part of NATO. But coordination among them could be a challenge. And leaving London last night, von der Leyen said the goal is to turn Ukraine into a, quote, steel porcupine that is indigestible for potential invaders. And by invaders, of course, she means Russia.