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Hegseth says the U.S. will reposition military amid threat from China

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers an address at the Shangri-La Dialogue Summit in Singapore on Saturday.

At an international forum in Singapore, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. is refocusing its strength and policies on deterring China, and coaxed China's neighbors and U.S. allies to help.

(Image credit: Mohd Rasfan)

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Opinion: A new statue for an old tyrant

Commuters pause walking past the newly unveiled high relief depicting Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in a passage at Taganskaya metro station in Moscow on May 15, 2025.

Soviet leader Josef Stalin's legacy includes mass purges and executions. Statues of him in Russia came down decades ago, but in recent years new statues have cropped up, including one this week.

(Image credit: Alexander Nemenov)

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Trump pardons drug kingpins even as he escalates U.S. drug war rhetoric

While addressing the Libertarian Party national convention in 2024, President Donald Trump promised to free Ross Ulbricht, a former tech entrepreneur incarcerated for creating a dark web site called Silk Road that was used by drug traffickers.  "If you vote for me, on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht," Trump said, sparking applause.

President Trump has promised to attack drug gangs and called for the death penalty for street dealers. But he has also pardoned more than 20 people serving time for serious drug crimes some involving violence.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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A disabled mom's message to parents: We all need help, and it's OK to ask for it

Jessica Slice with her two children.

Raising two kids while living with an autonomic nervous system disorder taught Jessica Slice to embrace interdependence. Her story is a reminder to parents of the power of asking for help.

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Worth playing for? An NPR producer recreates 'Survivor' with friends every year

<!-- raw HTML omitted -->All Things Considered<!-- raw HTML omitted --> producer Mia Venkat holding up the "buff" her friends made for their <!-- raw HTML omitted -->Survivor <!-- raw HTML omitted -->games.

After All Things Considered producer Mia Venkat became a fan of Survivor, she and her friend group play their own version every year.

(Image credit: Dave Maser)

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Meta plans to replace humans with AI to assess privacy and societal risks

People talk near a Meta sign outside of the company

Current and former Meta employees fear the new automation push comes at the cost of allowing AI to make tricky determinations about how Meta's apps could lead to real world harm.

(Image credit: Jeff Chiu)

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Memory cafes offer camaraderie and fun for people with dementia — and their caregivers

Paula Baille leads the group of Sharon Hannamaker, Joe Edwards, Barb Edwards, and Murray Small in a playing of the bells.

'Memory cafes' are small social gatherings for individuals with dementia — and their caregivers, too. As public health funding shrinks, memory cafes are cheap to run and can offer measurable benefits.

(Image credit: Aimee Dilger)

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Trump's deals with law firms are like deals 'made with a gun to the head,' lawyers say

President Trump speaks after signing executive orders in the Oval Office in March 2025, including terminating the security clearances of those who work at the law firm Perkins Coie.

The White House said it's reached deals with nine law firms to provide about $1 billion in pro bono services. But the details of those agreements remain murky.

(Image credit: Alex Wong)

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CDC recommends parents talk to a doctor about getting COVID-19 shots for kids

The CDC

RFK Jr. announced this week that the federal government is removing the recommendation that kids and pregnant women get routine COVID-19 vaccines. But CDC advice is more nuanced.

(Image credit: kamon_saejueng/iStockphoto)

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Ultramarathon runner breastfeeds her baby 3 times on her way to a surprise win

Stephanie Case won an ultramarathon race in Wales, running more than 60 miles over rough terrain — and stopping three times to breastfeed her 6-month-old baby, Pepper.

The extreme sport of ultrarunning is known for seemingly impossible feats. But Stephanie Case's recent performance — six months after giving birth — is making waves far beyond the running community.

(Image credit: Rich Gill)

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Here's the science behind the COVID vaccine in pregnancy

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Existing evidence on the safety and efficacy of getting a COVID vaccine in pregnancy all points the same way: the shot is important for maternal and fetal health.

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Food for Gaza decays in Jordan warehouses as Israel restricts aid

Displaced Palestinians, including women and children living in tents, receive food distributed by aid organizations in al-Mawasi district of Khan Younis, Gaza, on May 30. In Jordan, tens of thousands of boxes of food aid for Gaza are moldering in warehouses.

Food aid is moldering in warehouses in Jordan, the main hub for humanitarian aid to Gaza. Other foods and medicines are loaded on trucks that have waited for months at Israeli border crossings.

(Image credit: Abed Rahim)

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PBS and Minnesota public TV station sue Trump White House

President Trump issued an executive order directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television stations to withhold funds from PBS. On Friday, PBS — led by Paula Kerger (right) — and Lakeland PBS of Minnesota sued.

PBS and Lakeland PBS in rural Minnesota are suing President Trump over his executive order demanding that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting kill all funding for the public television network.

(Image credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images, Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Remembering a Ballet Legend in Russia; a Monkey Census in Nepal

Russians remember the longtime artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, who died recently. Yuri Grigorovich held the position for the last three decades of the Soviet Union and staged productions that were wildly popular at home and projected soft power overseas.

And in Nepal, people have complained of monkey's stealing food from their property for years. Now, the government is holding its first-ever monkey census to understand exactly how bad the problem is.

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Trump nominates official with ties to antisemitic extremists to lead ethics agency

Paul Ingrassia, who is currently serving as the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, has been nominated to the lead the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.

President Trump nominated Paul Ingrassia to lead the Office of Special Counsel, a government agency that enforces ethics law and protects whistleblowers, despite Ingrassia's links to extremists.

(Image credit: Tia Dufour)

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Billowing smoke from Canadian wildfires wafts into the U.S.

Clouds of wildfire smoke like this one in Flin Flon, Manitoba, are wafting into the Northern Plains and Midwest.

The Manitoba wildfires have forced 17,000 people to flee the province. Plumes of heavy smoke are expected to drift into the United States over Friday and Saturday, affecting millions of Americans.

(Image credit: Government of Manitoba)

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Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams wins libel case against BBC over spy murder claim

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams leaves the court in Dublin on Friday after winning one of Ireland

Adams sued over an allegation in a 2016 documentary that he sanctioned the 2006 killing of a British spy in Ireland. A jury in Dublin's High Court awarded Adams damages of 100,000 euros ($113,000).

(Image credit: Charles McQuillan)

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French health ministry extends smoking ban

A man smokes a cigarette outside a brasserie, in front of a sticker on a window reading: "Smoking is forbidden."

France to ban smoking at beaches, parks and outside schools from July 1st to protect children

(Image credit: JACQUES BRINON)

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Supreme Court allows Trump administration to end humanitarian status for some migrants

The U.S. Supreme Court

The move to grant a stay in the case means that the Cubans, Haitian, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who were granted temporary parole under the program known as CHNV would lose their temporary legal status to be in the U.S.

(Image credit: Drew Angerer)

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Russell Brand pleads not guilty to rape, sexual assault charges in U.K.

Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court on Friday in London.

On Friday, Brand pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape and assault that date back more than 25 years. He says the charges are politically motivated. His trial is set for 2026.

(Image credit: Jeff Spicer)

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Can this nasal spray slow down Alzheimer's? One couple is helping scientists find out

Joe Walsh, who has Alzheimer

Joe Walsh is the first Alzheimer's patient to be treated with an experimental nasal spray designed to reduce inflammation in the brain.

(Image credit: Jodi Hilton)

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Trump to celebrate US Steel-Nippon Steel deal in PA even as the details remain murky

President Trump will travel to Pennsylvania on Friday to celebrate a deal he brokered between US Steel and the Japanese company U.S. Steel, even as the details of what the agreement actually entails have yet to be released.

President Trump travels to Pittsburgh Friday to celebrate a deal between U.S. Steel and the Japanese company Nippon Steel — a deal he helped broker after campaigning that he would block it.

(Image credit: DOMINIC GWINN)

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Trump to celebrate U.S. Steel deal with Japan. And, what's next for DOGE

The logo of Japan

President Trump is heading to Pittsburgh today to celebrate U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel's partnership. And, what's next for DOGE after Elon Musk's exit.

(Image credit: Kazuhiro Nogi)

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Oil companies face a wrongful death suit tied to climate change

The sun begins to set beyond an oil refinery in California.

Julie Leon died of hyperthermia in Seattle on June 28, 2021 — the hottest day in the city's history. A lawsuit claims she was a victim of oil companies' "misrepresentations" about climate change.

(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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Are you smarter than a 13-year-old? Take our Scripps Spelling Bee test and find out

Faizan Zaki won the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee, held in National Harbor, Md.

If you weren't playing along at home during Thursday night's final, take our mini-Bee quiz, which uses words from the real thing.

(Image credit: Kayla Bartkowski)

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A 30-year Dungeons & Dragons game gets upended by politics

For more than 30 years, a group of friends gathered each week to play Dungeons & Dragons — until politics broke up their game in 2020. Two players talked about it with StoryCorps.

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Will I get refunds? Small businesses wonder as courts rule on Trump tariffs

A federal court blocked President Trump

Court rulings against President Trump's tariffs could spell relief for many American importers — if the decisions hold. For now, the uncertainty remains.

(Image credit: Jim Watson)

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Elon Musk is leaving the federal government. What's next for DOGE?

Elon Musk listens during a bilateral meeting between President Trump and South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on May 21, 2025. Musk announced this week that he was leaving the Trump administration and returning to focus on his businesses.

Elon Musk is leaving the Department of Government Efficiency effort. His 130 day tenure was marked by legal setbacks, overstated savings claims and little evidence DOGE made things more efficient.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

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AI-enabled "vibe coding" lets anyone write software

A screenshot of the website for Chloe Samaha

You no longer need to be a software engineer to build software — you can "vibe code" it by prompting chatbots to build apps and websites. Could that put programmers out of a job?

(Image credit: bondapp.io)

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Which Biden-era case is the FBI NOT reexamining? Find out in the quiz

From left: Julie Chrisley, Kermit the Frog, Brigitte Macron.

This week, vaccines took a hit from the Trump administration, some reality TV stars got pardoned, and there was a media frenzy around a certain French interaction. Were you paying attention?

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