Sudan war; Grocery store prices : NPR

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

Sudan, one of Africa’s largest countries, is facing the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis after fighting erupted almost 18 months ago. Millions of people have been displaced as the ruling Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group that once supported them, fight for control of the country. With the world’s attention focused on conflict elsewhere, the war in Sudan has struggled to get attention for the disaster, which has been made worse by how hard it is to access the country.

• 🎧 The scale of destruction is hard to believe. In places, it’s almost apocalyptic, NPR’s Emmanuel Akinwotu, who managed to enter Sudan, tells Up First. The streets are littered with people’s belongings, chairs are covered in bullet holes and a once iconic, vibrant market is a ghost town. The scale of need is immense. Half of the population is acutely hungry and parts of the country are facing famine. People are not getting aid largely because of the lack of safe routes. But even if there were routes, the amount of aid isn’t enough. Akinwotu says there is a common feeling from people that the world doesn’t care and they have to rely on themselves.
• 🎥 Married couple Somaya and Mustapha evacuated their children from Sudan but stayed behind to feed tens of thousands of people. Akinwotu visited their community kitchen. You can watch his video here.

A Memphis jury heard opening statements yesterday in the federal trial of three former police officers involved in the deadly arrest of a Black man last year. The officers, who are also Black, are charged with violating the civil rights of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, who died after a traffic stop turned violent. They are also accused of conspiring to cover up their involvement. Surveillance and body camera footage captured officers restraining, kicking and punching Nichols. Three days later, he died in the hospital.

• 🎧 This group of officers would inflict punishment known as the “Run Tax” on people who ran from them. U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Rogers surfaced the term for the first time yesterday, Katie Riordan of NPR network station WKNO says. The prosecution wants to convince jurors the officers failed to tend to Nichols’ serious medical needs after being beaten. Each defendant, Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Demetrius Haley, have their own attorneys. During their opening statements, all three attorneys mentioned that their clients work in dangerous cities and have dangerous jobs, urging jurors to keep an open mind.

Many shoppers believe greedy companies are to blame for higher prices at grocery stores and there’s a reason for that. From February 2020 to this July, grocery prices grew a cumulative 25.6%. But are these companies to blame for inflation? NPR looked at the data. Here’s a closer look at the findings.

• 🎧 NPR’s Alina Selyukh says the project started with three facts no one seems to dispute: many consumer brands and supermarkets have reported record profits, companies almost always pass on their costs to shoppers and those costs rose a lot during the pandemic. Many economists argue higher wages for workers are a key driver of grocery inflation. Most of the data sets analyzed from corporate reports of several companies painted a similar picture, Selyukh says. Grocery stores’ profitability has climbed more slowly than other types of stores, but they’ve also been slower to give up gains, meaning the grocery industry has kept a slightly bigger share of sales over time. Food manufacturers were much more profitable during the pandemic, but profit margins have now dropped close to pre-pandemic levels.
• ➡️ Looking to spare your wallet at the store? Here are 10 clever ways to save on groceries.

Climate solutions week

Climate change is affecting our food, and our food is affecting the climate. NPR is dedicating a week to stories and conversations about the search for solutions.

Hilery Gobert, owner of Driftwood Farm, harvests white bush scallop squash on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Iowa, Louisiana. Gobert, a Southern University Small Farmer Agriculture Leadership Institute graduate, practices sustainable farming by focusing on creating an agriculturally productive ecosystem that replicates the diversity, sustainability, and resilience of a natural ecosystem.

Leslie Gamboni

hide caption

toggle caption

Leslie Gamboni

Across the Gulf South, small Black-owned farms are finding ways to grow crops using climate-friendly practices while addressing long-standing injustices. Hilery Gobert owns one of these farms and has been trying to improve soil since he started farming in 2020. To do that, he rotates and uses cover crops to keep nutrients in the ground. He also grows rice by using drip irrigation instead of flooding the fields with water, producing methane, a potent planet-warming gas. Here’s what impacts climate-smart agriculture has on the climate.

Picture show

Christie Dashiell sings, and Antonio Hart plays saxophone, on opening night of DC Jazzfest with the DC Jazz All-Stars at the Hamilton Live in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, August 28, 2024. Photo by Cheriss May, for NPR.

Cheriss May/Cheriss May, for NPR

hide caption

toggle caption

Cheriss May/Cheriss May, for NPR

For its 20th anniversary, the DC Jazz Festival featured jam-packed performances across several venues at The Wharf in Southwest Washington, D.C. The festival’s lineup illustrated the wide expanse of jazz and improvised music, with performances from Dianne Reeves, Ron Carter, Bill Frisell, Terri Lyne Carrington, Billy Hart, Christie Dashiell, Allyn Johnson and more.

3 things to know before you go

The Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture capital firm, will shutter its grant program for Black women as part of a settlement, ending a year-long affirmative action battle. Here, co-founders and CEOs of The Fearless Fund Arian Simone (center left) and Ayana Parsons (center right) speak to journalists outside federal court in Miami on Jan. 31.

Rebecca Blackwell/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Rebecca Blackwell/AP

1. The Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture capital fund, announced it will permanently close its grant program for Black women business owners after a battle over racial discrimination.
2. The morning after the Trump-Harris debate, shares in Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Trump’s Truth Social network, plunged more than 16% to a record low. Investors broadly appear to think the vice president improved her chances of a November victory, according to several closely-watched stock market indicators.
3. An Israeli court rejected a request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to block The Bibi Files, a documentary film about his legal troubles, from screening at a Canadian film festival.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.