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And the Oscar goes to — wait, why is it called an Oscar?

An Oscar statue appears outside the Dolby Theatre ahead of the 2015 ceremony. But who is he really?

The Academy Awards officially adopted the "Oscars" nickname in 1939. But who is Oscar, and who started calling them that? We may never know. But here are four enduring legends to consider.

(Image credit: Matt Sayles)

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TSA workers miss a full paycheck, while travelers keep paying airport security fees

Travelers and staff walk through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., on Friday. U.S. Transportation Security Administration security officers missed their first full paycheck Friday as a partial funding shutdown of the government approached the one-month mark.

Many TSA workers received no money in their paychecks Friday as the partial DHS shutdown drags on. Fees paid by airline passengers keep piling up, even as airport security officers work without pay.

(Image credit: Annabelle Gordon)

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How Italy became the darlings (and contenders, too) of the World Baseball Classic

With espresso shots, kisses on the cheek, and Andrea Bocelli singalongs, Team Italy has charmed at the World Baseball Classic. But their mission is more ambitious: Turn Italy into a bona fide baseball factory.

With espresso shots, kisses on the cheek and Andrea Bocelli singalongs, Team Italy has charmed the baseball world. But their mission is more ambitious: Turn Italy into a bona fide baseball factory.

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After firings, funding cuts, and a shooting, can a demoralized CDC workforce recover?

Demonstrators protest staffing cuts outside the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on April 1, 2025. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid off thousands of HHS employees across multiple agencies, as part of an overhaul announced in March, 2025.

It's been a year since mass firings began at the CDC, the federal public health agency. Then came a shooting, and the government shutdown. Atlanta is still feeling the economic and emotional effects.

(Image credit: Elijah Nouvelage)

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Giant robots battle it out in Detroit's Robowar

The fighters at the Interactive Combat League are more than nine feet tall, wear suits of steel and shoot exploding projectiles toward each other.

Fighting robots is a cultural fantasy going back at least to Richard Matheson's 1956 story "Steel." One Detroit impresario is now bringing the idea to the stage — and real audiences.

(Image credit: Timothy Chen Allen)

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FBI investigates attacks in Michigan and Virginia. And, Senate passes housing bill

Law enforcement responded near Temple Israel following reports of an active shooter on March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield, Michigan.

The FBI is investigating two separate attacks, one in Michigan and the other in Virginia, that happened yesterday. And, the Senate has passed the largest housing bill in decades.

(Image credit: Emily Elconin)

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Countries are negotiating rules to mine the deep sea. The U.S. is pushing ahead alone

Thousands of feet deep, parts of the seafloor are covered in polymetallic nodules. The potato-sized formations are being targeted by mining companies because of the metals they contain.

With growing interest in mining critical metals from the seafloor, countries are now negotiating international rules. The Trump administration is forging ahead on its own, speeding up environmental review for mining the fragile ecosystem.

(Image credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration)

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4 confirmed dead after U.S. military aircraft goes down in Iraq

People inspect the site of a destroyed branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a non-bank financial institution run by Hezbollah, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut on Thursday.

The U.S. Central Command confirmed that at least four of six crew members on the KC-135 aircraft were dead, after the refueling plane went down in western Iraq on Thursday.

(Image credit: Hussein Malla)

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It's Chalamet vs. ballet in this week's news quiz. Are your answers en pointe?

From left: Kai Trump, Bam Adebayo, Timothée Chalamet (or his reclusive twin, Tomothée).

Meanwhile, if you've been paying attention to medicine, basketball and the British Parliament, you'll get at least three questions right this week.

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At the Winter Paralympics, some athletes have found business opportunities

Zach Williams, a U.S. para alpine skier, lowers himself into his molding rig. Williams was already a licensed prosthetist when he was introduced to his sport: skiing in a seated position. A double amputee, he

At the Winter Paralympics, athletes with prosthetics often modify them to fit their bodies more precisely. That has led to some competitors starting their own businesses to help fellow amputees.

(Image credit: Emily Chen-Newton)

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Egg prices have taken a beating. What's behind the drop?

"Easter is our Super Bowl," says Emily Metz, who leads the American Egg Board. With a glut of eggs on the market, she

A year ago, eggs were scarce and prices were sky-high. But avian flu took a much smaller toll on America's egg-laying chickens this winter than last, and egg prices have tumbled 42%.

(Image credit: American Egg Board)

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Medicaid can share data with ICE. Here's how that 180-degree change spreads fear

Dr. Acklema Mohammad checks a patient at El Nuevo San Juan Health Center in the Bronx in New York City in 2024. Community health clinics, like this one, are often located in immigrant communities and rely on Medicaid.

When Medicaid began sharing personal data with federal immigration authorities last year, it upended decades of explicit promises to patients. Now, even eligible immigrants fear getting the health coverage.

(Image credit: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

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Bucking stigma, more places turn to factory-built for affordable housing

Two halves of a four-bedroom factory-built home are pushed together in Petersburg, Virginia. It

Mobile homes have long been zoned out of cities and suburbs. But with updated designs and a housing shortage, they're increasingly being welcomed as more-affordable starter homes.

(Image credit: Anusha Mathur)

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Democrats set a turnout record in Texas, so is this the year it turns blue?

People gather at a campaign rally for Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico on March 2 in Houston.

Latinos helped Texas Democrats set the new record for a primary, but the state has been a white whale for the party for decades.

(Image credit: Danielle Villasana)

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Trump wants more apprenticeships. An Arkansas manufacturer is giving it a try

Apprentice Caleb Moss uses high-precision machinery at Virco Manufacturing in Conway, Ark.

President Trump has touted apprenticeships as part of his promise of a golden era for American workers. But are his administration's investments enough?

(Image credit: Joshua Danquah Asante for NPR)

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Morning news brief

Israel launches strikes in Beirut, FBI investigating two unrelated attacks in Michigan and Virginia, Senate passes bipartisan housing bill to ban large investors from buying up single-family homes.

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Bucking stigma, more places turn to factory-built for affordable housing

Manufactured homes have long faced stigma and been confined to trailer parks. But with updated designs – and zoning codes – more suburbs and cities are turning to them for affordable housing.

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Cuba will release 51 people from prison in an unexpected move

Cuba

The announcement was made just hours before Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel is scheduled to speak early Friday "to address national and international issues."

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A record number of political parties register for Haiti's first election in a decade

Members of the EDE (Committed to Development) political party arrive to register the party at the Provisional Electoral Council in the Petion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, March 12, 2026.

A record 280 political parties had registered by Thursday's deadline to participate in Haiti's first general election in a decade, hopeful for a chance to help ease their country's multiple crises.

(Image credit: Odelyn Joseph)

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NYC's Mamdani condemns Tuberville's anti-Muslim posts as "bigotry"

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks to city workers during a Ramadan iftar meal at the Museum of the City of New York on Thursday, March 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Speaking at a public iftar dinner, held to break the daily Ramadan fast, New York City Mayor Mamdani described Sen. Tuberville's anti-Muslim rhetoric as "bigotry" and "hatred."

(Image credit: Andres Kudacki)

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China slams Trump's trade investigation, as it approves a 5-year economic plan

Delegates including Chinese President Xi Jinping (center) stand as the national anthem is sung during the closing session of the National People

China's Foreign Ministry criticized the Trump administration's trade investigation as a "pretext" for tariffs. Meanwhile, China is moving ahead with a five-year plan that may rankle trade partners.

(Image credit: Ng Han Guan)

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NASA targets Artemis II crewed moon mission for April 1 launch

NASA employees brief the media on Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. about the delayed Artemis II mission. The news conference focused on revisions and fixes being done to the rocket components.

A six-day launch window opens on April 1 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The lunar orbital mission would be the first time humans have returned to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

(Image credit: Gregg Newton)

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Fear of Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz could further slow the flow of oil

A handout photo taken on March 11, 2026 and released by the Royal Thai Navy shows smoke rising from the Thai bulk carrier

Attacks by Iran have already nearly halted the flow of oil through the vital waterway as commercial ship crews fear being hit by missiles, drones or mines.

(Image credit: Handout/Royal Thai Navy)

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Suspect in attack at Michigan synagogue is dead, ATF official says

Law enforcement respond near Temple Israel following reports of an active shooter on Thursday in West Bloomfield, Mich.

Security officers at Temple Israel had "engaged the threat" that apparently started with a vehicle ramming into the building, according to Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.

(Image credit: Emily Elconin)

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Suspect in attack at Michigan synagogue is dead, officials say

Law enforcement responds near Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., following reports of an active shooter on Thursday.

Security officers at Temple Israel had "engaged with the suspect" after a vehicle rammed into the building, according to Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.

(Image credit: Emily Elconin)

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This tale of a Chicago school book ban was inspired by true events

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Librarian Jarrett Dapier's graphic novel tells a fictionalized account of real-life events in 2013 that restricted access to Marjane Satrapi's memoir Persepolis in Chicago Public Schools.

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Medicare Advantage 'dark money' group tries to win higher payments for insurers

Medicare Advantage Majority has spent more than $3.1 million on hundreds of Facebook ads since September 2024, according to Facebook

What appeared to be a surge of grassroots support for higher Medicare Advantage payments was actually driven by a pro-industry group.

(Image credit: Eric Harkleroad/KFF Health News)

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Senate passes bipartisan housing bill targeting large investors and easing regulations

Committee Chairman Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) chats with ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifies before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs during a hearing to "examine the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress" on Capitol Hill on June 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. The senators are cosponsors of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would ban large investors from buying up single-family homes.

(Image credit: Kent Nishimura)

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This reporter went bust while covering America's sports betting boom

Americans are betting on sports, elections, award shows and even military actions. The Atlantic writer McKay Coppins bet $10k from his employer in his investigation of this gambling world.

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Chilean Smiljan Radić Clarke wins architecture's highest honor

Teatro Regional del Bío-Bío, 2018, Concepción, Chile

The Pritzker Prize was awarded Thursday. "In every work, he is able to answer with radical originality, making the unobvious obvious," said fellow Chilean architect and prize chair Alejandro Aravena.

(Image credit: Iwan Baan)

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