Michelle Martin

NPR's Ruth Sherlock is a Rome correspondent and she's with us now to tell us more about this.

Good morning, Ruth.

Good morning.

So what can you tell us about the latest information?

We've been hearing from people who were in or near the bar that night.

What are they saying?

So you were telling us earlier that the officials don't believe that this was deliberately said.

So what do we know about the cause of the fire?

Ruth, thank you.

And that's up first for Friday, January 2nd.

I'm Michelle Martin.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Louise Clemens, Dana Farrington, Miguel Macias, Mohamed Elbardisi, and Alice Wolfley.

It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas.

We get engineering support from Nisha Hainas, and our technical director is Carly Strange.

Our executive producer is Jay Shaler.

We hope you'll join us again on Monday.

Really?

It feels like the continuation of a long 2025, but happy new year to you.

Yes, and thank you also to our NPR Plus supporters.

Thank you again for your continued support moving into 2026 and beyond.