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Conductor Julian Wachner charged with possession of child sex abuse material

Julian Wachner conducts the choir of Trinity Wall Street and the Bang on a Can All-Stars at Lincoln Center in New York in 2014. Wachner, who was dismissed from his position at Trinity in 2022, has been charged with possession of child sex abuse material in Indiana.

Once a prominent musician in New York City, Wachner was working as a grade school teacher in Indiana. Prosecutors have accused him of possessing sexual abuse imagery of young children.

(Image credit: Carolyn Cole)

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With no federal facial recognition law, states rush to fill void

A 2022 file photo demonstrating Clearview AI

Nearly two dozen states have passed laws regulating how tech companies collect data from our faces, eyes and voices. It comes as Congress has yet to pass any facial recognition technology.

(Image credit: Seth Wenig)

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Florida's 'Alligator Alcatraz' detention facility to be empty 'within a few days'

Beds are seen inside a migrant detention center, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," located at the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, in Ochopee, Florida on July 1, 2025.

The immigration detention center in Florida's Everglades will soon be empty. State officials expect the facility to have no detainees "within a few days."

(Image credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)

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Israel increasingly bars foreign doctors who want to volunteer in Gaza

Palestinian hospital staff inspect the destruction inside Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, following an Israeli strike on May 13.

Foreign doctors have been serving as medical volunteers, but must be approved by Israel to enter Gaza. The World Health Organization says denial rates have increased by 50% since March.

(Image credit: Eyad Baba)

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Fed governor Lisa Cook sues Trump over firing

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, the first Black woman to sit on the Board of Governors, has filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump

Lisa Cook is challenging the president's attempt to remove her from office based on what she says is "an unsubstantiated allegation" of mortgage fraud prior to her Senate confirmation as governor.

(Image credit: Drew Angerer)

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How U.S. policy failed Gaza. And, the latest info on the Minneapolis school shooting

TOPSHOT - Children gather by a fence as they try to get rice from a charity kitchen providing food for free in the west of Gaza City, on August 28, 2025, as the war between Israel and the Hamas militants movement continues. The UN declared a famine in Gaza governorate last week, blaming "systematic obstruction" of humanitarian deliveries by Israel. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP) (Photo by BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive interviews with NPR reveal how U.S. policy during Biden's administration impacted Gaza. And, a shooter opened fire on a Minneapolis church yesterday, killing two children.

(Image credit: Bashar Taleb)

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North Korea's Kim will meet with Xi and Putin at Chinese military parade

FILE - In this June 20, 2019, file photo provided by the North Korean government, Kim Jong Un, right, poses with Xi Jinping for a photo at Kumsusan guest house in Pyongyang, North Korea.

With Russia's Vladimir Putin also coming for the parade, the event will underline the three-way alignment among Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang in the face of a U.S. push to bolster its alliances with South Korea and Japan.

(Image credit: 朝鮮通信社/AP)

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Denmark summons U.S. envoy over claims of interference in Greenland

FILE - A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, Sunday, June 22, 2025

Denmark's foreign minister summoned the top U.S. diplomat in the country for talks after the main national broadcaster reported that at least three people with connections to President Donald Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland.

(Image credit: Kwiyeon Ha)

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70 years after Emmett Till's murder, Mississippi museum acquires gun used to kill him

A statue of Emmett Till is unveiled on October 21, 2022, in Greenwood, Miss., in memory of 14-year-old Emmett Till. His 1955 lynching is considered the spark that ignited the civil rights movement.

It's been 70 years since Emmett Till, a Black teenager visiting relatives in Mississippi, was killed by white men because he whistled at a white woman. Now the gun used in his death is in a museum.

(Image credit: Scott Olson)

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What will the end of the 'de minimis' rule mean for U.S. consumers?

Dozens of packages are lined up along a Manhattan street as a FedEx truck makes deliveries on Dec. 6, 2021, in New York City.

On Friday, the U.S. is ending its de minimis rule that made it easy for cheap goods to reach consumers. The change will affect roughly 4 million such packages processed each day.

(Image credit: Spencer Platt)

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Amtrak's flagship Acela trains get a long-awaited upgrade

Amtrak

The NextGen Acela trains, as Amtrak calls them, are faster and lighter than the current fleet. They're scheduled to start revenue service along the Northeast Corridor on Thursday.

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The road to famine: How U.S. policy failed Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians, including children, receive hot meals, distributed by charity organizations, as people struggle to access food due to Israeli food blockade in Gaza City, Gaza on Aug.

As famine plagues Gaza, NPR exclusive reporting looks at the U.S.'s role in the humanitarian crisis. Many former officials NPR interviewed share a common refrain: Did we do enough to prevent this?

(Image credit: Khames Alrefi)

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Minneapolis Catholic school shooting: What we know so far

A police officer carries flowers outside the Annunciation Church

Local authorities recovered additional firearms at three residences in the Minneapolis area that are linked to the shooter.

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Speaker Johnson slashed Medicaid. His constituents could lose health services

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson delivers remarks during an enrollment ceremony for H.R. 1, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act at the U.S. Capitol on July 3.

In Mike Johnson's district, not only could thousands of Louisianians lose coverage, health centers are bracing for a financial hit. They're hoping for additional funding to make up for Medicaid cuts.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)

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'AI slop' videos may be annoying, but they're racking up views — and ad money

Screenshots of two videos about an adventurous kitten created by Mark Lawrence I Garilao using generative AI for his "FUNTASTIC YT" YouTube channel.

Critics say that "slop" videos made with generative AI are often repetitive or useless. But they get millions of views — and platforms are grappling with what to do about them.

(Image credit: @funntastic_AI/Youtube)

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These investigators patrol Las Vegas looking for one thing: water waste

Las Vegas Valley Water District Water Waste Investigator Devyn Choltko puts a water waste violation into the computer system outside a home in north Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 25, 2024.  Choltko is one of more than a dozen investigators who patrol Las Vegas neighborhoods looking for water being wasted during irrigation times.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority has investigators who patrol Las Vegas neighborhoods in search of wasted water.

(Image credit: RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group)

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Two children among dead in Russian drone attack on Kyiv, dozens injured

Firefighters work on the site of a burning building after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025.

A mass Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine's capital, including a rare strike in the center of the city, early Thursday killed at least 10 people and wounded 48.

(Image credit: Efrem Lukatsky)

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Denmark summons US envoy over claims of interference in Greenland

FILE - A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, Sunday, June 22, 2025

Denmark's foreign minister summoned the top U.S. diplomat in the country for talks after the main national broadcaster reported that at least three people with connections to President Donald Trump have been carrying out covert influence operations in Greenland.

(Image credit: Kwiyeon Ha)

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CDC director is out after less than a month; other agency leaders resign

Susan Monarez, President Trump

"Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," the Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a social media post. Her lawyers said she had neither resigned nor been told she was fired.

(Image credit: J. Scott Applewhite)

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Colleges see significant drop in international students as fall semester begins

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Delays and increased screenings for visas mean that many students didn't make it to campus on time – and that has some big implications for the economy.

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The latest COVID vaccines come with new FDA limits

The Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration approved the next round of COVID-19 vaccines, but is restricting them to people at high risk for COVID complications.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle)

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Brands are loving Taylor Swift's engagement. Do they need to calm down?

Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift celebrated publicly after the Kansas City Chiefs won the 2024 Super Bowl. They announced their engagement on Tuesday.

Companies from Pillsbury to Invisalign to Olipop are cheering — and trying to cash in on — the couple's engagement. Experts spoke to NPR about how brands can strike a better balance.

(Image credit: Ezra Shaw)

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Greetings from the Negev desert, where traces remain of a vanished ancient civilization

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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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2 children are dead, 17 people injured in Minneapolis school shooting

Law enforcement officers gather outside the Annunciation Church School in response to a reported mass shooting on Wednesday in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the shooter fired through the windows of Annunciation Catholic Church during Mass on Wednesday. The gunman was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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Take The Planet Money Summer School Quiz In Political Economy

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Think you have what it takes to successfully manipulate the market and build a domestic industry from the ground up? If so, these eight questions stand between you and your Summer School diploma in Political Economy.

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Whatever happened to our sibling series? It's back! And guess who's the heir apparent

Abdul Wahid Khan, the youngest son in his family (right), with his older brother Abdul Wajid Khan. Abdul Wahid says the fact that the youngest child is the heir doesn

When parents die, sibling tensions can arise over inheritance. In many traditions, the oldest child used to get it all. In a part of Pakistan, there's a surprise twist: The youngest is the chosen one.

(Image credit: Shayan Ali Khan)

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Fed governor fights for her job. And, the DNC has a message for Democrats

The Federal Reserve building is seen as it goes under construction on July 17, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook plans to fight to keep her job with a forthcoming lawsuit challenging President Trump. And, the DNC addresses the Democratic Party's challenges.

(Image credit: Michael M. Santiago)

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A 6-year-old girl from Gaza, a missing limb and a doctor's mission

Six-year-old Kenzi Madhoun from Gaza outside the American University of Beirut Medical Center. She arrived with her father, Adam Madhoun, to begin treatment after losing an arm as a result of an Israeli air strike on Oct. 21, 2023. She is among nearly 35 Palestinian children so far that the Ghassan Abu-Sittah Children

How do you heal the wounds of war? That is the mission of Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a reconstructive and plastic surgeon at the American University of Beirut Medical Center.

(Image credit: Diego Ibarra Sanchez for NPR)

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The GOP is shying away from town halls. This Missouri congressman is doing 15 of them

Republican Rep. Mark Alford addresses attendees at a town hall, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Bolivar, Mo.

At a time when Congressional Republicans are generally opting against town halls, Missouri Rep. Mark Alford is embarking on a four-day, 15-stop tour to meet with constituents.

(Image credit: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel))

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Are you a new grandparent? NPR wants to hear from you for National Grandparent's Day

Eileen and Doug Flockhart look at a chalkboard announcing the birth of their seventh grandchild on the porch of their home in Exeter, N.H., Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2011.

National Grandparents Day is Sep. 7. NPR wants to hear from new grandparents about how your life has changed.

(Image credit: Elise Amendola)

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