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Action must follow Trump's 'remarkable shift' on Russia, says Sen. Richard Blumenthal

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House on July 14 in Washington, DC.

A bipartisan bill in Congress would enable President Trump to slap "bone-crushing sanctions" on Russia, says Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)

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Planet Money Summer School tackles political economy

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In this season of Planet Money Summer School, our free economics course for your ears is tackling the biggest economic player of them all: the government.

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A million veterans gave DNA for medical research. Now the data is in limbo

A research project run by the Department of Veterans Affairs that analyzes genetic data has led to medical breakthroughs.  Yet critical steps to keep the research going are stalled out.

Retired service members donated genetic material to a DNA database to help answer health questions for all Americans. The Trump administration is dragging its heels on agreements to analyze the data.

(Image credit: Billy Schuerman/Virginian Pilot/Tribune News Service)

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4 astronauts splashdown on SpaceX capsule to end Axiom Space's private Ax-4 mission

This image provided by NASA shows Axiom Space crew members from the Ax-4 mission from second left, Poland

The private crew included Ax-4 mission commander and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. It was her fifth trip to space and extended her record-setting duration to 695 days, the most of any American.

(Image credit: AP)

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Heavy rains and flash flooding sweep across Northeast

This image made from video shows cars submerged in floodwaters in Rahway, NJ., on July 14.

Flash flood watches and warnings were in place in parts of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and surrounding areas as downpours moved through the region.

(Image credit: AP)

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Thousands continue search for those missing following deadly floods in central Texas

Recent storms have slowed recovery efforts in central Texas following the July 4 floods that killed more than 130 people. About 14,000 volunteers are searching for at least 100 people still missing.

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Wildfire destroys historic Grand Canyon Lodge

Arizona's governor is demanding answers about how the National Park Service handled a wildfire burning out of control in Grand Canyon National Park. The fire destroyed a historic lodge there.

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Man arrested for allegedly firebombing election equipment in Colorado clerk's office

A man who once ran for county sheriff in Colorado was arrested for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail into a county clerk's office, appearing to target the county's voting machines.

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Will Congress cut funds to NPR/PBS and foreign aid this week?

Sun shines on the U.S Capitol dome on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 9, 2022.

The Trump Administration has asked Congress to rescind funds for NPR/PBS and Foreign aid. Congress has until the end of the week to approve the cuts.

(Image credit: Patrick Semansky)

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Why there's so much excitement around a cryptocurrency called stablecoin

An illustration picture taken in London on May 8, 2022, shows a souvenir Tether (USDT) coin, which is one of the world

Stablecoins are meant to be a safer type of cryptocurrency. Now, Congress is preparing some rules around it.

(Image credit: Justin Tallis)

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This family wants to have more babies, but not in a hospital

Megan and Stephen Alger, photographed at home with their children in Augusta, Georgia. They have eight children and are expecting their ninth in December.

The Trump administration is encouraging people to have more children, with baby bonuses and tax breaks. But some families who are practicing pronatalism want alternatives to hospital births.

(Image credit: Kendrick Brinson)

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Her love life was in chaos. The solution? Giving up sex

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After a bad breakup, writer Melissa Febos decided to abstain from sex and dating for a year. She didn't realize how much it would change her life. She tells her story in a new book, The Dry Season.

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Republicans renew a bid to remove noncitizens from the census tally behind voting maps

GOP Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky, left, poses during a ceremonial swearing-in with House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, at the U.S. Capitol in January. On Monday, Rogers led Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee in releasing one of the latest bills in Congress that call for excluding millions of people living in the states without U.S. citizenship from a set of census counts that the 14th Amendment says must include the "whole number of persons in each state."

GOP lawmakers are trying again to exclude millions of non-U.S. citizens living in the states from census counts that the 14th Amendment says must include the "whole number of persons in each state."

(Image credit: Jacquelyn Martin)

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Power prices are expected to soar under new tax cut and spending law

A view of high-voltage transmission towers in Houston. The law President Trump signed on July 4 ends tax incentives for wind and solar projects and is expected to drive up electricity bills across the U.S., according to a nonpartisan think tank.

In states without policies to drive renewable energy, power prices could surge as federal tax incentives for clean energy disappear, according to Energy Innovation, a think tank.

(Image credit: Justin Sullivan)

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With temporary protections for some Afghans set to expire, appeals court steps in

Afghan refugees who returned after fleeing Iran to escape deportation and conflict line up at a UNHCR facility near the Islam Qala crossing in western Herat province, Afghanistan, on Friday, June 20, 2025.

An appeals court late Monday stepped in to keep in place protections for nearly 12,000 Afghans that have allowed them to work in the U.S. and be protected from deportation.

(Image credit: Omid Haqjoo)

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Trump threatens Russia over Ukraine. Will it make a difference?

President Trump has made some big shifts in U.S. policy on Russia's war with Ukraine lately.

In the course of two weeks, Trump halted and reinstated weapons to Ukraine and he began openly showing frustration with Russian president Vladimir Putin's continued military escalations.

Now, Trump has announced a deal with NATO to try to pressure Russia toward a ceasefire deal in just 50 days by threatening stiff tariffs and increased military aid to Ukraine.

President Trump seems to be taking a tougher stance against Russia, but will it make a difference, and will it last?

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A wildfire destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge. It burned down once before

The view from the rebuilt Grand Canyon Lodge, the sole hotel on the canyon

The Grand Canyon Lodge is the only hotel on the park's North Rim, which is closed for the rest of the season due to wildfire risk. The hotel was already rebuilt once, after a kitchen fire in 1932.

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Why the Federal Reserve's building renovations are attracting the White House's ire

Construction work is done around the Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17, 2024. The estimated cost of the project has jumped more than 30% in recent years, drawing criticism from the Trump administration and its allies.

The Fed's $2.5 billion headquarters renovation is attracting mounting criticism from the Trump administration, which had been already attacking the central bank for not cutting interest rates.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

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Supreme Court says Trump's efforts to close the Education Department can continue

The Washington, D.C., headquarters of the U.S. Department of Education shown in March.

The Trump administration had appealed a decision that had directed it to stop gutting the U.S. Education Department and to reinstate many of the workers the government had laid off.

(Image credit: Win McNamee)

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Trump tells supporters not to 'waste time' on Epstein files. They're not happy

President Trump in profile at  MetLife Stadium on July 13 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

President Trump is facing backlash from his supporters and opponents alike for how his administration has handled the release of evidence surrounding the death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

(Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)

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24 states sue Trump admin to unfreeze more than $6 billion in education grants

A teacher gives a tour of Nora Sterry Elementary School to students in Los Angeles in January. California is one of 24 states suing the Trump administration over frozen education grant funding.

The lawsuit comes two weeks after the Trump administration first notified states it was withholding previously approved funds for migrant education, before- and after- school programs and more.

(Image credit: Chris Delmas)

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Syrians in Turkey Decide Whether to Return Home

Bushra Ajaj and Hasan Ajam hold the Syrian flag in Gaziantep, Turkey.

Millions of Syrians fled their country during the civil war that lasted more than a decade. Now the dictator has been deposed and the country is trying to recover. Many ex-pat Syrians, including a large number in Turkey, are looking at what they have left in Syria and deciding whether to return.

This reporting was sponsored by the Pulitzer Center

(Image credit: Rebecca Rosman)

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More immigration judges are being fired amid Trump's efforts to speed up deportations

In this file photo, a sign shows the location of an immigration court in New York City. In July, 16 more immigration judges were fired.

Several more immigration judges have been fired, even as the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement, and after Congress gave the Department of Justice $3 billion, in part to hire judges.

(Image credit: Adam Gray)

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Why the health care lobby failed to stop cuts to Medicaid funding

U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by Republican lawmakers, signs the One, Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. The law includes cuts to funding for Medicaid, food assistance and other social safety net programs.

The powerful health industry lobby couldn't persuade GOP lawmakers to oppose big Medicaid cuts in President Trump's tax and spending bill. What's behind the lobbying failure?

(Image credit: Samuel Corum)

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South Africa's president creates commission to look at police corruption allegations

South Africa

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has suspended the police minister and launched a sweeping inquiry into alleged sabotage at the highest levels of law enforcement..

(Image credit: Eraldo Peres)

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Wrongly convicted, he became 'The Jailhouse Lawyer' — and helped free himself

Calvin Duncan is the founder and director of the Light of Justice program in New Orleans.

While serving a life sentence for a murder he was eventually exonerated of committing, Calvin Duncan studied law and helped many wrongfully convicted prisoners. His memoir is The Jailhouse Lawyer.

(Image credit: Zack Smith Photography)

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Trump announces weapons for Ukraine and threatens Russia with tariffs

President Trump meets with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday.

President Trump threatened to punish Russia with heavy tariffs on countries that trade with Moscow if the Kremlin fails to reach a ceasefire deal with Ukraine, while promising Kyiv weapons.

(Image credit: Evan Vucci)

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European trade ministers meet to forge strategy after Trump's surprise 30% tariffs

The European Union flag stands inside the atrium at the European Council building in Brussels, June 17, 2024.

The EU is America's biggest business partner and the world's largest trading bloc. The U.S. decision will have repercussions for governments, companies and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.

(Image credit: Omar Havana)

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Shackled for weeks: Federal report finds abuse of restraints in prisons

A screenshot from a video of officers at the U.S. penitentiary in Thomson, Ill., holding an incarcerated person in a four-point restraint.

The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General found widespread abuse of shackles in federal prisons. One prisoner was held in restraints so tight that he had to have a limb amputated.

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Trump's Brazil tariffs are 'grotesquely illegal,' says Nobel Prize-winning economist

Protesters hold up an effigy of U.S. President Donald Trump in response to Trump

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman believes tariffs President Trump has threatened to impose on countries, including Mexico and Brazil, are here to stay and will cost U.S. consumers.

(Image credit: Andre Penner)

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