News

How psychiatric patients get caught in a cycle of homelessness and spotty care

Montana is investing $300 million to help those with severe mental illness from cycling through ERs, state psychiatric facilities, jails and homelessness. Advocates say they also need stable housing.

Families say school civil rights investigations have stalled after federal cuts

The U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights investigates discrimination in schools. It recently lost more than 40% of its staff.

Why is Alabama’s workforce participation rate so low? And what’s being done to improve it?

While Alabama boasts an unemployment rate that is among the lowest in the country, its workforce participation rate consistently lags the national average, meaning a large portion of Alabamians are neither employed nor actively seeking work. This has raised concerns both about barriers to employment for individuals and about the state’s economic future.

Wink Martindale, the genial game show host and early interviewer of Elvis, dies at 91

The legendary TV host of game shows "Tic-Tac-Dough" and "Gambit" died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. He had been battling lymphoma for a year.

U.K. Supreme Court to rule on landmark challenge over legal definition of a woman

The court is scheduled to rule whether a transgender person with a certificate that recognizes them as female can be regarded as a woman under equality laws.

Hong Kong post office will stop shipping parcels to the U.S. over tariffs

Hong Kong is caught in the middle of the trade disputes between the U.S. and China despite being a free port. The former British colony has trade and customs policies different from mainland China's.

Records show Gene Hackman’s wife researched symptoms of illness days before her death

Photos, hours of footage and other documents were made public Tuesday after a recent court order that mandated any depictions of the deceased couple would be blocked from view.

Judge demands to know if White House is helping return wrongly deported Maryland man

The hearing is the first about Abrego Garcia's case since El Salvador's president told reporters he is not going to "smuggle a terrorist into the United States."

Trump signs executive action to lower drug prices

The action is intended to build upon the existing program for Medicare drug price negotiations, which was created by the Inflation Reduction Act that passed during the Biden administration.

Top House Democrat says DOGE data access at NLRB may be ‘technological malfeasance’

A top House Democrat is asking independent agency watchdogs to investigate after NPR reporting revealed DOGE may have taken sensitive data from the National Labor Relations Board.

New Israeli ceasefire offer demands Hamas discuss disarming, but group rejects it

Hamas is rejecting a new Israeli proposal to pause the war in Gaza, a Hamas official told NPR. Earlier, officials mediating talks had expressed optimism that a deal could be reached within weeks.

Higher ed war heats up as Trump threatens Harvard’s tax-exempt status

The president's comments came after the administration froze $2 billion in federal grants for Harvard after the university rejected what it saw as illegal government demands.

U.S. Army libraries target books with a focus on DEI or ‘gender ideology’ for removal

Books "overtly promoting DEI, gender ideology, and critical race theory" are under new scrutiny following a memo issued by acting Assistant Secretary of the Army Derrick Anderson.

When an earthquake struck San Diego, these elephants formed an ‘alert circle’

When a 5.2 earthquake hit near San Diego yesterday, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park caught its elephants on video taking action to protect their young, forming what experts call an "alert circle."

A colossal squid is filmed in its natural habitat for the first time

Colossal squid are known to be elusive and likely avoid the bright and loud research equipment used underwater.

Mark Zuckerberg defends Meta in court against monopoly claims

In Zuckerberg's second day of testifying in the federal antitrust trial, he defended Meta's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The U.S. government wants Meta to bust up the two companies.

Trump moves to speed up asylum cases without court hearings

The memo could result in immigration judges deciding someone is not eligible for asylum without a hearing, and based solely on a lengthy and complex asylum request form.

Photos: Two years of war in Sudan

Images of Sudan, after two years of civil war have led to the world biggest humanitarian crisis.

Melinda French Gates on what billionaires with ‘absurd’ wealth owe back to society

In a new memoir, French Gates writes about the end of her marriage to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and her ongoing philanthropic work, directing funds and attention to women's health initiatives.

Trump plans order to cut funding for NPR and PBS

President Trump and GOP members of Congress have accused the public broadcasters of biased and "woke" programming. The president plans a rescission, which would give Congress 45 days to approve the directive or allow funding to be restored.

Sudan’s war is 2 years in and shows no signs of slowing, as talks take place

As "pathway to peace talks" are held in London - minus the main protagonists - Sudan tips into a third year of catastrophic civil war, as violence surges in the Darfur region of the west of the country and activists warn of an unfolding genocide.

Bill would give give non-violent, aging prisoners a chance at freedom

Should the Second Chance Act be enacted, judges could review certain cases where an individual was sentenced to life without parole under the Habitual Offenders Act for potential resentencing. 

States push Medicaid work rules, but few programs help enrollees find jobs

Some lawmakers are pushing to require that Medicaid recipients work in order to get or keep coverage, and some states already try to help them find jobs. But the effects of those efforts are unclear.

How Trump’s cuts to U.S. foreign aid are imperiling Syria’s war crimes investigations

When former leader Bashar al-Assad fell, new Syria war crimes investigations began. But U.S. budget cuts have halted some work. For families of the disappeared, it means justice delayed or denied.

DOGE cut a CDC team as it was about to start a project to help N.C. flood victims

The National Center for Environmental Health was hollowed out in the cuts of 10,000 federal health workers on April 1. That's the same day an assessment of people hurt in floods was set to begin.

Bipartisan senators rebuke White House move to end legal aid for unaccompanied minors

The letter obtained by NPR marks a rare bipartisan critique from Capitol Hill of the administration's immigration policy.

Europe deplores America’s ‘chlorinated chicken.’ How safe is our poultry?

President Trump wants European countries to start buying U.S. chicken and eggs. But the U.K. and E.U. think American poultry is gross and chemically washed. Turns out, chlorine isn't really the issue.

After delays, first vaccine advisory meeting under RFK Jr. set to start

For the first time since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became health secretary, vaccine advisers to the CDC are meeting to discuss vaccines for RSV, HPV, COVID and more.

Once again, Harvey Weinstein goes on trial for sex crimes in New York today

Weinstein's New York conviction was overturned last year. The new trial will retry the case alongside a brand new charge.

The man accused in the attempted assassination of Donald Trump to appear in court

Ryan Routh, accused in the golf course attempted assassination of Donald Trump, will appear in a Florida federal courtroom Tuesday for a hearing involving evidence that will be presented in the case.

Climate activists were hacked. There was a link between the victims and an alleged attacker

Prosecutors say the operation was aimed at gathering information to foil lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry over damage communities have faced from climate change.

As special ed students are integrated more at school, teacher training is evolving

General education teachers are more likely than ever to be working with students who have special needs.