© 2026 WKNO FM
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

3 dead in mass shooting in Seattle. And, U.S. and Iran pause fighting

Good morning. You're reading the Up First newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

Today's top stories

A mass shooting at a Seattle food festival yesterday has left three people dead and four injured. The shooting occurred at the base of Seattle's Space Needle, around 6:00 p.m. Police have arrested one suspect, whom Seattle Police Acting Chief Tyrone Davis described as a "young person." Two guns were recovered at the scene. Authorities say another suspect may be at large, but they do not believe there is an immediate danger to the public.

Seattle Police officers secure the scene of a mass shooting Sunday evening at the Seattle Center.
Casey Martin
/ KUOW
/
KUOW
Seattle Police officers secure the scene of a mass shooting Sunday evening at the Seattle Center.

  • 🎧 Hundreds of people attended the event, which is one of Seattle's biggest food festivals and a popular event for families, Casey Martin of NPR Network station KUOW tells Up First. Chaos erupted after people heard gunshots, and attendees scrambled to flee the area to safety. Some of the people Martin spoke with described the situation as akin to a stampede. One carnival game worker said they helped children and adults leap over a fence to escape. Now, police are asking the public for help with video footage of the shooting, because there were no surveillance cameras where the shooting happened. Martin says the lack of camera footage will spark ongoing discussions about public safety.

The U.S. and Iran have paused attacks after nearly two weeks of intense strikes and counterattacks in the Middle East. An Iranian army spokesperson confirmed yesterday that Iran halted attacks at the same time as the U.S. had. Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that the U.S. and Iran are exchanging messages through mediators, but Iran has not requested talks or engaged in negotiations with the U.S.

  • 🎧 Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels recently shut down the Bab el Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping lane in the Red Sea. This action caused oil prices to hit a two-month high, signaling that the conflict is expanding beyond its original scope of the U.S. and Israel fighting Iran, NPR's Jane Arraf says. Iran has insisted that achieving a real ceasefire with the U.S. hinges on reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel is fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Israel has committed to withdrawing from some test areas, but the process is moving slowly, according to Arraf.

With fewer than 100 days until Election Day in November, a key question remains for many people: Will Democrats be able to flip the Senate? Democrats must flip four seats to gain control, while Republicans believe they can hold the majority, though it may be a narrow one. Here are the races to watch for the U.S. Senate.

  • 🎧 Midterm elections often serve as a referendum on the party in power, NPR's Mara Liasson says. With President Trump's approval rating below 40% and growing voter dissatisfaction over how he's handled the economy, it seems like a potential Democratic wave could be coming, she adds. Democrats face a few challenges in flipping the Senate. Much like their counterparts, their brand is unpopular. Republican organizations like the national party have significant fundraising advantages, and Trump's recent gerrymandering efforts could bolster GOP chances.
  • ➡️ This weekend, Maine Democrats formally nominated Troy Jackson as their new U.S. Senate candidate. He replaces Graham Platner and will challenge Republican incumbent Susan Collins in a highly anticipated midterm election race.

Police have shot and killed the person suspected of driving a vehicle into a crowd at a Pride event in Berlin on Saturday. At least one person died in the attack, and 29 others were injured. Germany's interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, identified the suspect as 21-year-old Abdul Ballout, a German national with Lebanese heritage. Ballout fled the scene, brandishing a bladed weapon. Police found him at a community garden on the outskirts of Berlin on Sunday evening, after a nearly 24-hour search. Prosecutors are treating the incident as an act of Islamist terrorism. They say that last year, Ballout attempted to join ISIS during a trip to Lebanon.

Living better

Nicole Xu for NPR /

Living Better is a special series about what it takes to stay healthy in America.

For decades, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has primarily been viewed as a childhood disorder affecting boys, and they were the focus of most research. ADHD often presents differently in girls, which can make symptoms easier to overlook. Girls frequently receive diagnoses much later than boys, often not until adulthood. Many women spend years questioning their struggles and receiving treatment for anxiety or depression without addressing the root cause. Here's what research now knows about how ADHD affects women, and the risks of going untreated:

  • 👩 Girls and women with ADHD are more likely to face abuse from romantic partners and teen pregnancy than their male counterparts, says Julia Schechter, a clinical psychologist.
  • 👩 Women with ADHD see a higher incidence of obesity, eating disorders, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease compared to their peers without the condition.
  • 👩 One survey of more than 3,000 women with ADHD found that the vast majority were diagnosed for the first time during their menopausal years. Emerging evidence suggests that fluctuating estrogen levels can exacerbate ADHD symptoms.
  • 👩 Medication is only one part of the treatment puzzle. Dr. Patricia Quinn says hormone replacement therapy can also help women with ADHD who are in perimenopause. Because many women have dealt with demoralization and shame for years, cognitive behavioral therapy can also help.

Picture show

Illustrations copyright © Phoebe Wahl 2026 / Courtesy of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers /

In Story Rug, a second-grade class embarks on a creative adventure braiding old shirts, baby blankets and curtains into a rug. As class 203 dives into a braiding craze, Noah finds himself without anything to braid until his teacher hands him a torn whiteboard rag. Inspired, he starts braiding everywhere from the bus to the bath, and soon his classmates bring in their own fabric scraps. By the end, the whole class joins in, weaving their own stories into the rug and sharing tales as they craft together. Take a look at some images from the picture book.

3 things to know before you go

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, rides during the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race with start and finish in Paris, Sunday, July 26, 2026.
Thibault Camus / AP
/
AP
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, rides during the last stage of the Tour de France cycling race with start and finish in Paris, Sunday, July 26, 2026.

  1. Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia won the annual Tour de France race for the fifth time yesterday.
  2. Wildfires raging across Spain and France have forced more than 300,000 people to evacuate their homes. Local officials say at least one person has died due to the fires in Spain.
  3. Moved by how quickly language can be lost in Indigenous communities, Danielle Boyer invented the SkoBot, a toy robot that helps inspire Indigenous children to learn and preserve their endangered languages. Boyer has mentored hundreds of Native American children nationwide, teaching them to build SkoBots of their own.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.

Copyright 2026 NPR

Brittney Melton