Trump Eases Russia Sanctions, Midterm Campaign Money, Violent Protests In France

About this episode

President Trump is easing pressure on Russia by waiving new sanctions as Ukraine continues striking Russian energy targets and tensions deepen between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<br>Democratic candidates are outraising Republicans across many competitive midterm races, while Elon Musk pours hundreds of millions into GOP super PACs.<br>France is facing one of its biggest political crises in years after nationwide protests erupted into violence, with thousands arrested and the unrest already shaping a presidential election six months away.<br/><br/><em>Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? </em><a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/news"target="_blank" >Subscribe</a><em> to the Up First newsletter.</em><br/><br/>Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org</a>.<br/><br/>Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Tina Kraja, Padma Rama, Miguel Macias, Mohamad ElBardicy and Lindsay Totty.<br/><br/>It was produced by Iman Maani and Nia Dumas.<br/><br/>Our director is Christopher Thomas.<br/><br/>We get engineering support from Carleigh Strange.<br/><br/>Our technical director is Zac Coleman.<br/><br/>(0:00) Introduction<br>(1:56) Russia Ukraine U.S.<br>(5:33) Campaign Finance Latest<br>(9:29) France Protests <br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>