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Greetings from Jaffa, Israel, where a salon is a welcoming space for Palestinians and Jews

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Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.

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When porch pirates steal medicine instead of holiday gifts

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Mail theft can happen around the holidays, but sometimes, instead of getting a new iPad, the thief swipes a mail order medicine. Here's what to do about it.

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In the snow, these salamanders get supercool

While blue-spotted salamanders can be sighted on warm, sunny days, they also seem to be able to venture out on cold, snowy ones, too.

Blue spotted salamanders have been seen walking across snow and new research suggests how they get by in the cold.

(Image credit: Peter Paplanus)

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New Epstein files mention Trump. And, SCOTUS rules on National Guard in Chicago

Donald Trump and his girlfriend at the time, Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at the Mar-a-Lago on Feb. 12, 2000.

The DOJ released tens of thousands of new documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And, the Supreme Court ruled that the National Guard must stay out of Chicago.

(Image credit: Davidoff Studios)

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U.S. and Ukraine reach consensus on key issues aimed at ending the war

Ukraine

The United States and Ukraine have reached a consensus on several critical issues, but sensitive issues around territorial control in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland remain unresolved.

(Image credit: Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

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What does climate change look like? This year's hurricane season is one example

Residents gather amid debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa on a street in Jamaica in October 2025.

The Atlantic hurricane season produced a normal number of storms, compared to more frequent storms in recent years. But the storms that did form were huge.

(Image credit: Matias Delacroix)

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Despite Vatican-Israel tensions, Catholics and Jews work to build trust in Haifa

Rabbi Na

Religious leaders started getting together after Oct. 7, 2023, in the hope of preventing a repeat of Arab-Jewish violence that erupted after a previous conflict in Gaza two years earlier.

(Image credit: Jerome Socolovsky/NPR)

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The strangers who guided her home — and returned with Christmas dinner

Mary Klein today.

Mary Klein had just moved to a new city when she got lost. A couple stopped to help and guided her home. They returned the next day with Christmas dinner.

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At this museum, the tide brings in odd treasures that become a lasting lesson

Corinn Flaherty holds the first doll head she found washed ashore in 2015. It propelled her "descent down the flotsam rabbit hole" and was her inspiration for the Plum Island Museum of Lost Toys & Curiosities.

At the Plum Island Museum of Lost Toys and Curiosities, one-time treasures bring back memories and are a reminder of the eternal life of plastic waste.

(Image credit: Tovia Smith)

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How cozy Yuletide traditions got their start with raging parties and animal sacrifice

A family at their Victorian-era Christmas dinner, circa 1840.

Today, people consider "Yule" synonymous with "Christmas." But centuries ago, Yule meant something different — a pagan mid-winter festival, dating back to pre-Christian Germanic people.

(Image credit: Hulton Archive)

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35 years after ADA, people with disabilities still find hotels unaccommodating

Clockwise from top left: Eileen Schoch, Cory Lee, Kelly Mack and Karen Lohr are wheelchair users who

AN NPR survey finds that people with disability still find hotels unaccommodating, even 35 years after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

(Image credit: Richard Beaven for NPR, via Cory Lee, Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR and via Karen Lohr)

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ICE officer accused of excessive force, then sent back to work despite active probe

A federal agent pushes the wife of the detained man from Ecuador to the ground on September 25, 2025 in New York City.

DHS's handling of the incident raises questions about the department's oversight mechanisms to investigate employee misconduct.

(Image credit: Stephanie Keith)

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Crime in the U.S. fell in 2025. Will the trend continue?

A police officer stands guard as demonstrators marched through downtown Chicago this fall, protesting President Trump

Crime rates dropped across much of the U.S. in 2025. That was true for both property and violent crime. And it declined nearly everywhere: In big cities and small towns, and in red and blue states.

(Image credit: Scott Olson)

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Most people say cash for Christmas is a good gift, poll finds

Still looking for a last-minute Christmas gift? A new poll finds that most people find cash or gift cards an acceptable holiday gift.

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After the flames, a New York church returns to Christmas -- and to itself

Senior Pastor Rev. Jacqueline J. Lewis poses overlooking the rubble of Middle Collegiate Church in New YorkMorning Edition about marking Christmas this year with the church's first in-person Christmas Eve service since the fire,'/>

NPR's Michel Martin checks in with Middle Collegiate Church in Manhattan as it celebrates its first Christmas service since a devastating fire in 2020.

(Image credit: Mary Altaffer)

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Powerball's $1.7B jackpot could make Christmas Eve unforgettable for a lucky winner

A convenience store employee grabs a Powerball lottery ticket for a customer on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Portland, Ore.

A Christmas Eve Powerball drawing could add new meaning to holiday cheer as millions of players hope to cash in on the $1.7 billion prize.

(Image credit: Jenny Kane)

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U.S. bars Europeans it says pressured tech firms to censor American viewpoints online

Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens as President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago club, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla.

The State Department announced Tuesday it was barring five Europeans it accused of leading efforts to pressure U.S. tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.

(Image credit: Alex Brandon)

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19 states sue HHS over a move that could curtail youth gender-affirming care

Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., speaks during an event on prescription drug prices in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington.

A coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday sued the Department of Health and Human Services over a declaration that could complicate access to gender-affirming care for young people.

(Image credit: Evan Vucci)

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Explosion at a Pennsylvania nursing home kills at least 2, governor says

First responders work at the scene of an explosion and fire at Bristol Health & Rehab Center on Tuesday in Bristol, Pa.

The explosion collapsed a part of the building and happened just as a utility crew had been on site looking for a gas leak at Bristol Health & Rehab Center in Bristol Township, just outside Philadelphia.

(Image credit: Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer)

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In Israel, some Jews and Christians seek to build trust between their communities

Despite tensions between the Vatican and Israel's government over the Gaza war, some Jews and Christians living in Israel are trying to build trust between their communities.

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Supreme Court rules against Trump in National Guard case

The U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against President Trump on Tuesday, refusing to reinstate, for now, Trump's ability to send National Guard troops into the state of Illinois over the objections of the governor.

(Image credit: Andrew Harnik)

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A diplomat's tears, 200 snake bites, drone pix: Goats and Soda's top stories in 2025

Clockwise from top left: Michael Gonzales, U.S. ambassador to Zambia, at the May press conference when he announced a cut of $50 million in aid for medications and medical supplies to the country. After 29 minutes, he was wiping away tears: "I

Our most popular global health and development stories in 2025 covered the human impact of the upheaval in U.S. foreign aid, surprising news about familiar diseases and the beauty of earth captured by drone cameras.

(Image credit: Clockwise from top left: U.S. Embassy Zambia; Mohammad Ataei Mohammadi; Claire Harbage/NPR; Tommy Trenchard for NPR)

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Student loan borrowers in default may soon see their wages garnished

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About 5.5 million borrowers are currently in default. They haven't risked wage garnishment since the beginning of the pandemic, when policymakers paused the practice.

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Justice Department releases more Epstein files and some mention Trump

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Dec.15, 2025 in Washington, D.C.

The Department of Justice has been publicly posting files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation since Friday.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

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Vince Zampella, video game pioneer behind megahit Call of Duty, dies at 55

Three versions of Activision

One of Vince Zampella's crowning achievements was the creation of the Call of Duty franchise, which has sold more than half a billion games worldwide.

(Image credit: Paul Sakuma)

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Scientists learn more about how human embryos implant using artificial wombs

Microscopy image of a day 14 human embryo that has implanted in the new artificial womb.

Scientists have developed an experimental way to study how human embryos implant in a uterus, which may provide new insights into why miscarriages occur and how they can be prevented.

(Image credit: Matteo Molè at the Babraham Institute.)

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2025: The images that stayed with us

Cookie Jones (left) sits with her mother, Valerie (right), in Cookie

Photographs help us look back on the moments that defined the year. Taken by NPR photojournalists nationwide, this collection goes beyond the headlines to reveal quietly powerful human stories.

(Image credit: Tyler Russell)

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The U.S. economy grew robustly as Americans continued to spend

Consumer spending has been a key engine of the U.S. economy, but polls show Americans are getting more concerned about their finances.

The data, which was delayed from October by the government shutdown, comes as the economy takes center stage for voters and the Trump administration.

(Image credit: Spencer Platt)

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Trump's plans for warship fleet. And, deported Venezuelans must receive due process

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens to President Trump announce the U.S. Navy

President Trump has announced the Navy will begin building a new fleet of warships. And, a federal judge has ruled the deportations of more than 100 Venezuelan men to El Salvador were illegal.

(Image credit: Andrew Canallero-Reynolds)

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It's the 'gold standard' in autism care. Why are states reining it in?

Just months ago, Gaile Osborne (left) didn

Budget shortfalls and nearly $1 trillion in looming federal Medicaid cuts have prompted states to rein in spending on a widely embraced autism therapy, pinching families who depend on the services.

(Image credit: Katie Shaw for KFF Health News)

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