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A construction crane falls onto a moving train in Thailand, killing at least 29 people

A construction crane fell onto a moving passenger train, causing a fiery derailment that killed at least 29 people Wednesday in northeastern Thailand. Another 64 people were injured.

China’s trade surplus surges 20% to a record $1.2 trillion, even with Trump’s tariffs

China's trade surplus surged to a record of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, the government said Wednesday, as exports to other countries made up for slowing shipments to the U.S. under President Donald Trump's onslaught of higher tariffs.

Vance to meet Danish and Greenlandic officials in Washington on Wednesday

U.S. Vice President JD Vance will meet Denmark's foreign minister and his Greenlandic counterpart in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the Arctic island, at the center of a geopolitical storm.

Claudette Colvin, who refused to move seats on a bus at start of civil rights movement, dies

Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin has died. She was 86. Her 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus helped spark the modern civil rights movement.

Claudette Colvin, who refused to move seats on a bus at start of civil rights movement, dies at 86

Colvin, at age 15, was arrested nine months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for also refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus.

Republicans say Clintons risk contempt of Congress for not testifying on Epstein

House Republicans are seeking testimony as part of their investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Clintons say they've already provided in writing what little they know.

FTC accuses AI search engine of ‘rampant consumer deception’

Federal officials say a company that operates hundreds of landing pages for AI answers is running an operation that has duped thousands of users, who were unable to stop costly monthly charges.

How Minnesota faith communities are resisting aggressive immigration operations

As immigration enforcement actions have ramped up in Minnesota, people of faith have been at the forefront of the response to ICE detentions and the killing of Renee Macklin Good by a federal agent.

‘My role was making movies that mattered,’ says Jodie Foster, as ‘Taxi Driver’ turns 50

Foster was just 12 years old when she starred in the 1976 film. "What luck to have been part of that, our golden age of cinema in the '70s," she says. Her latest film is Vie Privée (A Private Life).

Supreme Court appears likely to uphold state bans on transgender athletes

To date, 27 states have enacted laws barring transgender participation in sports.

Keep an eye out for these new books from big names in January

The new year begins with a host of promising titles from George Saunders, Julian Barnes, Jennette McCurdy, Karl Ove Knausgaard and more. Here's a look ahead at what's publishing this month.

Want to play a Tiny Desk concert? The 2026 Contest is now open for entries

The 2026 Tiny Desk Contest, our annual search for the next great undiscovered artist, is now officially open for entries.

Scott Adams, the controversial cartoonist behind ‘Dilbert,’ dies at 68

Adams announced in May that he was dying of metastatic prostate cancer. Thousands of newspapers carried his strip satirizing office culture from the '90s until a controversy in 2023.

As Iran’s protests continue, Israelis and Palestinians watch closely

There is broad support for the protests among Israeli officials, but Palestinians say they hope the Iranian regime stays in place and the protests die down soon.

Murrow Awards 2026 — Continuing Coverage entry

Alabama congressman pushes to block federal funding from NPR — Feb. 10, 2025 Trump’s efforts to defund NPR and PBS playing out in Congress and the courts — June 12, […]

The EPA is changing how it considers the costs and benefits of air pollution rules

The EPA won't consider the economic costs of harms to human health, at least for now. Legal and health experts are concerned that the change could make it easier for the agency to roll back rules.

California fire victims say fighting with insurance companies has delayed rebuilding

Wildfires last January destroyed communities around Los Angeles. Homeowners say recovery has been slowed by fights with insurers to get their claims paid.

‘Fly, Wild Swans’ is Jung Chang’s painfully personal tribute to her mother

A historian of modern China, Jung Chang turns the lens back on herself in her newest book to understand how she sees the world and why she writes about China today.

What to know about Trump’s ugly feud with the Federal Reserve

A Justice Department probe of the Federal Reserve marks the latest escalation in the Trump administration's effort to bend the independent central bank to the president's will.

A conservative Supreme Court tackles the question of trans women in school sports

The first case involves an Idaho student barred by state law from trying out for the track team; the second was brought by a West Virginia middle schooler barred by state law from competing.

Trump heads to Detroit to give a speech refocusing on the American economy

The speech at the Detroit Economic Club comes after major foreign policy moves have overshadowed domestic policy.

Trump administration to shutter an immigration court, adding to judges’ backlog

The planned closure of the San Francisco Immigration Court comes as immigration judges spent the last year facing pressure to move through their caseloads faster and streamline deportations.

Today is the Smithsonian’s deadline to give thousands of documents to the White House

The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology."

People in Iran describe heavy security and some damage in first calls to outside world

Iranians could call abroad on Tuesday for the first time since communications were halted during a crackdown on nationwide protests in which activists said at least 646 people have been killed.

Pentagon is embracing Musk’s Grok AI chatbot as it draws global outcry

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that Elon Musk's artificial intelligence chatbot Grok will join Google's generative AI engine in operating inside the Pentagon network, as part of a broader push to feed as much of the military's data as possible into the developing technology.

Offshore wind developer prevails in U.S. court as Trump calls wind farms ‘losers’

A federal judge ruled Monday that work on a major offshore wind farm can resume, handing the industry at least a temporary victory as President Trump seeks to shut it down.

Minnesota officials sue to block Trump’s immigration crackdown as enforcement intensifies

More than 2,000 federal immigration agents are in Minnesota, and that number is expected to increase. On Monday, an NPR reporter witnessed multiple instances where immigration agents drove around Minneapolis — and in parking lots of big box stores — and randomly questioned people about their immigration status.

In photos: A week of protests against ICE

People across the country gathered to protest against ICE over the past week.

Elon Musk’s X faces bans and investigations over nonconsensual bikini images

After the social media app's AI chatbot started generating sexualized images of women and children, two countries have blocked it and several more have launched investigations.

Trump administration tells states to end ‘orphan tax’ on foster kids

There's a growing move to end what some call "the orphan tax" and stop states from taking benefit checks from children and youth in foster care.

Flu shot recommendation for kids dropped just as the illness rages

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped its advice that kids get an annual flu shot at a time when flu cases and hospitalizations are surging.