Arizona indicts Trump allies in 'fake elector' scheme; bird flu remnants found in milk

By Suzanne Nuyen

Published April 25, 2024 at 7:56 AM EDT

Rudy Giuliani speaks during a news conference after his defamation trial

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Today's top news

A grand jury in Arizona has indicted 18 of former President Donald Trump's closest advisors — including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The defendants are accused of being involved in a "fake elector" scheme that sought to keep Trump in office despite his loss in the 2020 election. The indictment alleges that after President Biden won the 2020 election, Trump's allies conspired to give Arizona's 11 electoral votes to Trump anyway.

The 11 fake electors named in the indictment are a "who's who of Arizona Republicans from the Trump wing of the party," Wayne Schutsky of NPR network station KJZZ in Phoenix, Ariz., tells Up First. The average person might not be familiar with their names, but they're important people who "control the direction of party activities in the state, especially during elections."

The FDA has found genetic material from the bird flu virus that infected dairy cows in tested samples of commercially available pasteurized milk. Federal officials say that the risk to the public remains low, as efforts to grow the virus from these samples indicated that the virus was inactive and no longer able to cause an infection. Further evaluation of the milk samples will be done. The FDA says those results will be released in the coming days or weeks. In the meantime, here's what consumers should know.

More than one-third of Americans routinely breathe in unhealthy air, according to the State of the Air report from the American Lung Association. This number is higher than in years past, despite long-term efforts to clean the nation's air. The passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970 helped improve air quality significantly by reducing pollution from human-controlled sources like coal-powered plants and diesel trucks. Scientists say the challenge now will be to address climate change, as the biggest climate-fueled pollution challenge of today comes from wildfire smoke.

Today's listen

Nimer Saddy al-Nimer, 12, was shot five times by Israel's military on April 1 while gathering food from aid dropped by parachute that landed in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza. Israeli soldiers took the boy into Israel for surgery, and, according to Nimer, placed him in a prison for four days while he recovered. He is now in a refugee camp in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

More than 25,000 children in Gaza have been killed or injured since October 2023, according to the United Nations. That's one child every ten minutes. From Tel Aviv, NPR's Rob Schmitz brings us the story of Nimer Saddy al-Nimer. The 12-year-old boy speaks with an NPR producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, about how he was shot by Israeli forces while trying to get food aid. He now lives in a refugee camp in Rafah.

Listen to Nimer tell his story, or read it here. Editor's note: This story contains descriptions of violence.

Check out npr.org/mideastupdates for more coverage and analysis of the conflict.

Life Advice

For poetry lovers, the art form can help process anger, sadness or fear. It can also prompt joy and wonder. Others may not "get" poetry, and it can feel less accessible than other forms of writing. For National Poetry Month, try these tips from Life Kitfor meaningfully connecting with a poem.

Don't treat it like a school assignment.
You don't have to unlock the author's meaning. Think about how the poem makes you feel.
Try reading the poem out loud and visualize it. You can doodle the images the poem evokes for you.
Read more poetry! There are many different types of poems — find one that connects with you.

How has poetry affected your life? Is there a poem you love that brings you joy? Share your answers with NPR, and you may be featured in an upcoming edition of the Up First newsletter.

3 things to know before you go

In the 1960s, Edward J. Dwight Jr. was poised to become America's first Black astronaut, but his dream was never realized. Now at age 90, he's finally making a trip into space.
Taylor Swift has broken her own record for the most vinyl albums sold in a week—and it only took her three days to do it.
Five military horses got loose in central London yesterday, galloping through rush hour crowds, smashing into vehicles and injuring several people before being captured.

This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi.