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.

The authorities' search for Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie's mother, Nancy Guthrie, has entered its second week. The people who took Nancy from her Arizona home sent a message to the Guthries. One TV station, KGUN, said it received a ransom note demanding $6 million by this evening. Here's what we know so far about the case.

This image provided by the Pima County Sheriff's Department on Feb. 2, 2026, shows a missing person alert for Nancy Guthrie. AP/Pima County Sheriff's Department hide caption

Ghislaine Maxwell is set to be deposed virtually behind closed doors by lawmakers on Capitol Hill today. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking minors for sex with Jeffrey Epstein. Republicans on the House Oversight Committee summoned Maxwell to answer questions about Epstein, his crimes and his powerful associates, including President Trump. Maxwell's testimony will come a week after the Justice Department's release of what it calls the final batch of Epstein-related documents.

The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 yesterday to win Super Bowl 60. It's the second time the team has won the NFL's title game. Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny gave a halftime concert filled with symbolism. During the show, he was seen handing a Grammy Award to a young Latino boy. Social media thought the child was Liam Conejo Ramos, who was detained by federal immigration agents last month. But NPR music confirmed it wasn't him.

The State Department is purging all social media posts on its public X accounts made before Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2025. The department confirmed to NPR that the posts will be archived internally. It informed staff members that anyone who wants to see older posts must file a Freedom of Information Act request, according to a department employee. This would be a sharp departure from how previous administrations have handled preserving their digital footprint.

Mehdi Mahmoudian, right, was arrested by the Iranian authorities in late January for denouncing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as being primarily responsible for the mass killing of Iranian protesters. He is a co-writer of It Was Just An Accident, a film by Jafar Panahi, left. Neon hide caption

Iranian screenwriter Mehdi Mahmoudian, co-writer of the Oscar-nominated film It Was Just an Accident, was arrested on Feb. 3, just weeks before the Academy Awards. The arrest came after he signed a statement holding Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, primarily responsible for the mass killing of Iranian protesters. Jafar Panahi, who directed the film, estimates that this arrest is Mahmoudian's eighth time in jail. Panahi and Mahmoudian met in prison in 2022. Panahi joined Morning Edition host Leila Fadel from France to discuss Mahmoudian's latest arrest and the powerful message behind their film. Listen to what he had to say or read the transcript of the interview.

Paleontologist Lazarus Kgasi in front of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History in Pretoria, South Africa, where he works as a laboratory manager and junior curator. Kgasi, who began working on fossil sites as a hired labourer with no knowledge at all of fossils, has over time emerged as a prominent figure in South African paleontology, and one of only a handful of Black South Africans in what remains an overwhelmingly White-dominated field. Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption

For many years, white researchers dominated paleontology in South Africa, often erasing the contributions of Black workers who unearthed fossils. Lazarus Kgasi is changing that narrative. After about two years of digging up fossils for researchers without knowing why, Kgasi began asking questions about why he was doing the work. Now, the respected Black paleontologist isn't just digging for others — he is coloring in the story of his own ancestors. Check out some of the fossils Kgasi has discovered and been credited for.

Sarah Kaplan, a Washington Post journalist, protests outside of the newspaper's headquarters on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. That same day, CEO Will Lewis was photographed at the NFL Honors in San Francisco. Allison Robbert/AP/FR172296 AP hide caption

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.