NPR News: 09-02-2026 10PM EDT

0:00Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Janine Herbst. Oil giant Chevron says it's doubling production in Venezuela over the next five years, this nearly nine months after the U.S. seized and arrested President Nicholas Maduro and his wife. Energy Secretary Chris Wright was in Caracas today to oversee an oil deal between Washington and the Venezuelan private company. NPR's Julia Simon has more. Today, acting President Delcio Rodriguez and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, they were up there, seated at these pink and gold chairs. There were U.S. and Venezuelan flags and Chevron CEO Mike work stood before them and he said that the company will be investing more than $7 billion. Doubling their Venezuelan oil production over five years to 600,000 barrels of oil a day, everyone has been in Venezuela for over a century and they say they want to help build its future. NPR's Julia Simon, Venezuela is sitting on some of the biggest oil reserves in the world,

1:02but it will take years to ramp up production. The cost of health benefits keeps going up as a new survey of employers find that 2027 is going to see the biggest increase in decades. NPR Sydney Lupkin has more. Every year, the consulting firm Marsh conducts the national survey of employer-sponsored health plans. And this year, it found that the cost of health benefits per employee is expected to go up by an average of 8 percent next year. That's the biggest increase in 24 years and it's well above inflation. To save money, employers will be looking to cut benefits and make changes like adding higher deductibles to employee plans. The situation will likely also result in higher premium costs for employees. According to the survey, the rise in health benefit costs is partially driven by the fact that more people are taking GLP1 drugs for weight loss. And while the cost of those drugs could decline some in the future, some employers are dropping coverage now. Sydney Lupkin and PR News.

2:03New Jersey has asked the Supreme Court to step in to resolve a case involving prediction market site Calche. As impuars Bobby Allen reports, comes as 20 states are involved in litigation with the popular betting service. New Jersey has asked the High Court to decide who exactly should regulate the booming prediction market industry. States like New Jersey that rely on gambling site tax revenues say they should oversee companies like Calche and its rival polymarket. But the companies counter that the federal government should regulate them not as gambling operators, but as a type of financial investment. On the line is an industry that sees billions of dollars traded every week on everything from elections to wars to the outcome of criminal trials. The New Jersey case is focused on sports betting, which makes up about 80% of Calche's total volume. Bobby Allen and PR News. All Street Hire by the Closing Bell, all three major indices up around a half percent. You're listening to NPR News from Washington. The NBA is slapping the Los Angeles Clippers with major penalties for a scheme to circumvent

3:07the salary cap to pay forward a quiet Leonard. The Clippers will lose five years worth of first round picks and pay tens of millions of dollars in fines. Impires Becky Sullivan has more. Back in 2021, the Clippers signed their start to a four-year extension worth over $170 million. Then, away from the public eye, the team also arranged four pretend endorsement deals that paid Leonard millions more without his having to do actual endorsement work. That's according to a new investigation by a law firm just released by the NBA. The scheme was first reported on last year by the investigative journalist, Pablo Torrey, who won a Pulitzer Prize for it. As punishment, the Clippers must pay a $30 million fine and they'll have no first round draft picks for five years. Several team officials will be suspended from all league activities for one year, including owner Steve Balmer. Becky Sullivan and PR News. The Clippers deny any wrongdoing and plan to appeal the league's decision. In Texas, authorities rescued dozens of people from stranded cars, homes surrounded by floodwaters and and assisted living facility as former tropical storm Edward lingered over rural parts

4:13of the state. The now-tropical depression has dumped nearly two feet of rain in some places. The National Weather Service says that heavy rains are possible in the eastern part of the state through tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, a burst of tropical weather persisted in the Pacific, where two hurricanes, Karina and Lowell and a strengthening tropical storm, Marie, are churning in open waters. I'm Janine Herbst, NPR News in Washington. Canada and tariffs, Venezuela and oil, the war in Iran, these are big complicated stories and they're changing fast. To stay ahead, start your day with Up First from NPR. New episodes are available each week day when you wake up, so when new shifts overnight, you always have the latest info. Up first on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.