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Ukraine and Russia begin the largest prisoner-of-war exchange since the invasion

Two-hundred and seventy Ukrainian military personnel and 120 civilians are returned to Ukraine after the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday that Moscow and Kyiv had exchanged that amount of prisoners each in the first round of a large-scale swap on Friday.

Ukraine and Russia have begun the exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war, the largest such swap since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

(Image credit: Military Administration of Kyiv City)

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Insurance costs are soaring around Tornado Alley. Hail is the big problem.

A person walks through a house in the community of Sunshine Hills outside of London, Kentucky. A tornado struck the neighborhood just after midnight on May 17.

While tornadoes can obliterate communities, hailstorms cause damage across much larger areas.

(Image credit: Michael Swensen/Getty Images)

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Memorial Day Weekend travel could break records. Here's how to prepare for your trip

Traffic crosses the Oakland San Francisco Bay Bridge in California on Thursday, kicking off what

AAA predicts a record-breaking 45.1 million Americans will travel between Thursday and Monday, mostly by car and plane. Here's what to know if you're one of them.

(Image credit: David Paul Morris)

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Trump threatens steep tariffs on trade with the European Union -- and on iPhones

President Trump departs the White House on May 22, 2025.

Trump said on social media that he had recommended 50% tariffs on European Union products starting June 1 — and warned Apple's CEO to move manufacturing of iPhones to the United States.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)

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Kim Kardashian robbery trial: verdict expected in Paris

Kim Kardashian leaves the justice palace after testifying, regarding a robbery of millions of dollars in jewels from her Paris hotel room in 2016, in Paris, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.

A verdict is expected in the Paris trial of 10 people accused of robbing Kim Kardashian at gunpoint in 2016. French media nicknamed them "the Grandpa Robbers" — most were in their 60s when the heist took place.

(Image credit: Aurelien Morissard)

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Harvard's ability to enroll international students revoked. And, summer book releases

Handwritten notes are left at the site of the recent shooting outside the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum on May 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C..

The Trump administration has revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll international students. And, 17 books releasing this summer that NPR critics are excited about.

(Image credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

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A federal judge further halts Trump's radical transformation of government

Demonstrators raise signs during a rally outside the National Institutes of Health on May 10, 2025 in Bethesda, Maryland.

In her order, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said the president may not initiate large-scale executive branch reorganization without approval from Congress.

(Image credit: Kayla Bartkowski)

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9 things to know about the big, private-school voucher plan in Republicans' tax bill

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NPR asked researchers, advocates, tax experts, a parent and a public school leader for their thoughts on this first-of-its-kind national voucher plan. Here's what they said.

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Electric grills are a climate-friendly option to fossil fuel grills

Stoio Kachev and Doanh Nghiem cook dinner on their electric grill. The couple says convenience is the main reason they switched from a propane grill — no need to refill tanks. Switching to electric also reduces their contribution to climate change.

Grilling usually involves burning fossil fuel. But some manufacturers are offering electric grills and citing climate change and convenience as reasons to switch.

(Image credit: Jeff Brady)

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Kristi Noem couldn't define habeas corpus. Can you? Find out in the quiz!

From left: Vice President Vance, an orange cat, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem

Tush pushes, prison breaks, luxury jets and orange cats: This week's quiz is the usual potpourri of the silly and sublime. Actually, not the latter.

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Why you should fight to keep old friends

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Nina Badzin, host of a friendship podcast, explains why staying friends with people from our past matters — and how to nurture relationships with old friends across time and distance.

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Graphics: Here's what it will take to transform the Qatari jet into Air Force One

A Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after President Trump toured the aircraft on Feb. 15. The aircraft is now in San Antonio and needs extensive overhauling to become the next Air Force One.

The U.S. has officially accepted a luxury jetliner from Qatar as a gift, and slated it to become a new Air Force One. Experts say that overhaul could take years and cost hundreds of millions.

(Image credit: Roberto Schmidt)

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NPR wants to hear from interracial couples to commemorate Loving Day

Loving Day is on June 12. The day commemorates the landmark case that overturned U.S. state laws against interracial marriage.

Loving Day, the landmark case that overturned U.S. state laws against interracial marriage, is on June 12. NPR wants to hear from people who celebrate this day.

(Image credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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A new theory on gun violence

People blame gun violence on different things depending on their political leanings. But Jens Ludwig, an economist at the University of Chicago, has found a different reason behind it. Today, we bring you a story on solutions to gun violence.

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A secret in a garden after a winter of grief

Today's StoryCorps is about a love that lasted through the seasons. Patrice Hudson was apprehensive about online dating until she met Byron Ball, a high school science teacher who, like her, was a single parent and had been married before.

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'Leap together,' Kermit the Frog says in address at University of Maryland graduation

Kermit the Frog speaks during University of Maryland

"Rather than jumping over someone to get what you want, consider reaching out your hand and taking the leap side by side," the beloved Muppet told graduates Thursday evening.

(Image credit: Riley Sims)

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Record floodwaters in eastern Australia leave 4 dead and 1 missing

In this photo provided by the New South Wales Police, emergency workers wade through floodwaters as they prepare inflatable boats to effect rescues near Taree, Australia, Thursday, May 22, 2025.

Some 50,000 people have been isolated by the flooding in New South Wales, after days of heavy rain. Four bodies have been retrieved from floodwaters since Wednesday.

(Image credit: AP)

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Music talent agent among dead after jet crashes into San Diego neighborhood

Debris covers the ground after a small plane crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, setting homes and cars on fire and forcing evacuations early Thursday, May 22, 2025.

Six people, including music talent agent Dave Shapiro, were on board a private jet that crashed into a San Diego neighborhood on Thursday.

(Image credit: William Liang)

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Trump's Harvard visa threat could wipe out several of the school's sports teams

Members of Yale crew, left, and Harvard crew, right, greet one another after the 4-mile course along the Thames River for the 146th Harvard-Yale Regatta, in New London, Conn., on May 28, 2011.

Some of Harvard's sports teams could be wiped out by a Trump administration decision that would make the school with the nation's largest athletic program ineligible for international student visas.

(Image credit: Jessica Hill)

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In reversal, Trump administration restores classes at the National Fire Academy

The National Fire Academy sits inside this complex in Emmitsburg, in western Maryland. Thousands of firefighters come here for training each year, but the Trump administration canceled in-person classes in early March, seemingly to cut costs.

The academy in Emmitsburg, Md., is often described as the national war college for firefighting. It offers training that ranges from leadership to how to conduct fire, arson and blast investigations.

(Image credit: Justin T. Gellerson for NPR)

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Lawsuit challenges USDA demand for food stamp data as some states prepare to comply

The federal government wants states to turn over data about tens of millions of people who received food assistance benefits since 2020. A new lawsuit challenges that data request.

The suit claims that efforts to get sensitive information about food aid recipients from states violates federal privacy laws.

(Image credit: Spencer Platt)

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Proposed Muslim development in Texas brings inquiries by DOJ and state officials

The Plano EPIC mosque is seen behind a row of homes in Plano. Many muslims like to live near their mosque to facilitate practicing their faith daily.

The project, known as EPIC City, has yet to break ground, but members of this Muslim community feel stereotyped.

(Image credit: Yfat Yossifor)

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Voice of America's prospects appear grim after appeals court order

A sign outside of the Voice of America headquarters in Washington, DC, US, in March, shortly after President Trump signed an executive order aimed at reducing the scope of eight federal agencies as part of his campaign to downsize the US government, including the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America.

A federal appeals court said it would not intervene — at least for now — to thwart the Trump administration's plans for the near-total dismantlement of Voice of America.

(Image credit: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Two Israeli embassy staffers killed amid a rise in antisemitism

Handwritten notes are left at the site of the recent shooting outside the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. Two Israeli Embassy staff members, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, were gunned down Wednesday evening after an event at the museum by a man shouting slogans in support for Palestine.

Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim worked for the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.

This weekend, they were slated to go to Jerusalem — Milgrim was to meet Lischinsky's family for the first time. According to Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter, Lischinsky had bought a ring and was planning to propose.

Instead, they were gunned down outside an event at the Capitol Jewish Museum on Wednesday night.

The killing comes aside a rise in antisemitic incidents. Daniel Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, reacts to the news.

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Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

(Image credit: Tasos Katopodis)

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The U.K. hands Chagos Islands over to Mauritius but says it will secure a U.S. base

This image released by the U.S. Navy shows an aerial view of Diego Garcia, a remote island in the Indian Ocean.

The Chagos Islands are in the middle of the Indian Ocean and home to a strategic military base on Diego Garcia.

(Image credit: U.S. Navy)

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Proposed Muslim development in Texas brings inquiries by DOJ and state officials; community members feel stereotyped

The Plano EPIC mosque is seen behind a row of homes in Plano. Many muslims like to live near their mosque to facilitate practicing their faith daily.

The project, known as EPIC City, has yet to break ground, but political leaders say this development could lead to religious discrimination

(Image credit: Yfat Yossifor)

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White House agrees to keep migrants in Djibouti for now, blasts federal judge's ruling

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt talks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC.

The judge says the administration "unquestionably" violated his earlier order, which stated migrants cannot be deported to a country other than their own without having adequate notice and a chance to object.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Texas Muslim community's proposed new development prompts investigations

The U.S. Department of Justice and top state officials are investigating a proposed Muslim housing development in North Texas known as EPIC City for potential religious discrimination. The project's developers say they're years away from breaking ground.

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Why did university police chase a student and his baby across a graduation stage?

Jean Paul Al Arab and his son, 6-month-old Mtanos, celebrate the elder Al Arab

Jean Paul Al Arab and his 6-month-old led police on a brief foot chase during a University at Buffalo ceremony. The school said the grad violated rules about who can participate in the commencement.

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Supreme Court allows Trump to fire members of independent agency boards — for now

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide next term  whether to reverse a 90-year precedent that bars presidents from firing politically appointed agency board members and commissioners.<!-- raw HTML omitted --><!-- raw HTML omitted -->OR <!-- raw HTML omitted --><!-- raw HTML omitted -->The U.S. Supreme Court declined to reverse a 90-year precedent that bars presidents from firing politically appointed agency board members and commissioners.

At issue is President Trump's firing of NLRB member Gwen Wilcox, who still has three years left on her term, and Cathy Harris, who still has four years left on her term as a member of the MSPB.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

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