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With new cuts at CDC, some fear there's 'nobody to answer the phone'

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff and supporters protested cuts to the agency outside its headquarters in August. Over this past weekend, hundreds more employees were fired.

More than 1,300 staffers at the health agency got notices they were fired — but more than half were reinstated. The cuts will hobble some divisions, employees say.

(Image credit: Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg)

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Trump awards the Medal of Freedom posthumously to Charlie Kirk

Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk speaks during a campaign rally for now-President Trump in Glendale, Ariz., in August 2024.

President Trump presented the award to Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, in the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday.

(Image credit: Rebecca Noble)

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In new memoir, John T. Edge explores Southern identity and a troubled family history

John T. Edge, at home in Oxford, Miss., has written extensively about the South and its food culture. Now he has turned his pen to his family

Writer John T. Edge has spent much of his career telling stories about a changing American South filtered through the lens of food and culture. Now he's talking about his troubled family's history.

(Image credit: Debbie Elliott)

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Afghan earthquake triggers contradictory Taliban tactics on rescuing women

Afghan women and their children at Mazar Dara village after a 6-magnitude earthquake on August 31. More than 800 people have died and over 2,700 were injured in eastern Afghanistan from the quake and aftershocks.

The Taliban responded with contradictory stances in the effort to rescue women and girls who were wounded and left homeless. That's a reflection of tensions between hardliners and pragmatists.

(Image credit: Wakil Kohsar/AFP)

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Military seizes power in Madagascar following anti-government protests

CAPSAT military unit commander Col. Michael Randrianirina, center, reads a statement saying that the armed forces are taking control of the country from the steps of the Presidency in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025.

The army in Madagascar seized power on Tuesday, days after the president fled the African island nation saying he feared for his life after several weeks of massive anti-government protests.

(Image credit: Brian Inganga)

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Israel and Hamas' ceasefire appears to hold after Gaza hostage and detainee exchanges

A person pastes a heart-shaped sticker on a banner with pictures of Israeli hostages during a a gathering at a plaza known as hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday.

The tenuous ceasefire in the two-year Israel-Hamas war appears to be holding even as complex issues remained ahead.

(Image credit: Oded Balilty)

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What's next for Gaza. And, ICE tactics are reportedly becoming more violent

One of the Palestinian prisoners released under the prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas gestures as he and others disembark from their bus upon arrival at Ramallah Cultural Centre in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, on Oct. 13, 2025, coming from Ofer military prison in the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories. The initial phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal includes the release of 47 Israeli hostages, living and deceased, taken on Oct. 7, 2023, in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 Gazans held by Israel since the outbreak of the war.

With the first phase of a ceasefire holding, eyes are on what is next for Gaza. And, ICE agents are ramping up arrest operations in several cities and raising concerns about their tactics.

(Image credit: Mosab Shawer)

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Maine Gov. Janet Mills enters crowded Democratic race to unseat Susan Collins

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills delivers her State of the State address, Jan. 30, 2024, at the State House in Augusta, Maine. Mills has announced a run to unseat Susan Collins in the U.S. Senate.

Mills was reportedly recruited by Democratic Senate leaders after her high-profile confrontation with President Donald Trump in February, in which she told the president she'd "see you in court."

(Image credit: Robert F. Bukaty)

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A Nobel Prize for explaining when technology leads to growth

From left: A screen shows photos of American-Israeli Joel Mokyr, France

The 2025 Nobel Prize in economics was awarded to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt.

(Image credit: Jonathan Nackstrand)

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GOP 'afraid to do anything' unless Trump approves, says Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine

Sen. Tim Kaine,D-VA, leaves a Senate Democratic meeting at the U.S. Capitol Building on October 3 in Washington.

Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia says shutdown can end if Trump engages more earnestly in negotiations.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)

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Data centers are booming. But there are big energy and environmental risks

Volunteers hand out yard signs in June against a data center complex in West Virginia.

How tech companies and government officials handle local impacts will shape the industry's future in the U.S.

(Image credit: ULYSSE BELLIER/AFP via Getty Images)

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In reading, the nation's students are still stuck in a pandemic slump

A student raises their hand in a classroom at Tussahaw Elementary School in 2021 in McDonough, Ga.

New 2025 testing data shows third- through eighth-graders scored far below 2019 levels in reading. In math, some grades have made gains, but all are lagging compared to before the pandemic.

(Image credit: Brynn Anderson)

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Opinion: Why I'm handing in my Pentagon press pass

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L), accompanied by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine (R), speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in June in Arlington, Va.

Tom Bowman has held his Pentagon press pass for 28 years. He says the Pentagon's new media policy makes it impossible to be a journalist, which means finding out what's really going on behind the scenes and not accepting wholesale what any government or administration says.

(Image credit: Andrew Harnik)

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Move over James Bond: A new service lets anyone share secrets with Britain

A view of the headquarters of Britain

Afraid to sneak into a British embassy? MI6's new dark web portal Silent Courier lets you share secrets online.

(Image credit: Kin Cheung)

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Death toll from torrential rains in Mexico rises to 64 as search expands

A rescue worker, part of the volunteer brigade known as the Topos, works near a car hanging over a fence by a damaged house in Poza Rica, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, after torrential rains.

Mexico has deployed some 10,000 troops in addition to civilian rescue teams. Helicopters have ferried food and water to the 200 some communities that remained cut off by ground.

(Image credit: Felix Marquez)

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SpaceX launches 11th test flight of its mega Starship rocket

SpaceX

Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, thundered into the evening sky from the southern tip of Texas.

(Image credit: Eric Gay)

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Madagascar's president flees country in fear for his life after military rebellion

President Andry Rajoelina addresses a state ceremony, Sept. 2, 2025, in Antananarivo, Madagascar.

Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina called for dialogue "to find a way out of this situation" and said the constitution should be respected.

(Image credit: Alexander Joe)

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In Marc Maron's last 'WTF' podcast episode, Obama offers advice on closing chapters

Marc Maron attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Apple TV+ New Series "Stick" at AMC Century City 15 in Los Angeles, Calif. on May 29.

In the final episode, Marc Maron and former President Barack Obama spoke about the legacy of the podcast, politics and moving on.

(Image credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin)

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Ecuador: La reinvención andina de la cumbia

Celebration of San Juanes in Cotacachi, province of Imbabura, Ecuador.  The Cumbia Andina is a mixture of indigenous rythms from the north of the country, such as San Juanitos played and danced to during the celebrations, and Colombian cumbia.

Uno de los géneros más escuchados en las Américas, los fotógrafos Karla Gachet e Iván Kashinsky documentan la cumbia en Colombia, México, Ecuador, Perú, Argentina y Estados Unidos.

(Image credit: Karla Gachet)

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Ecuador: The Andean reinvention of cumbia

Celebration of San Juanes in Cotacachi, province of Imbabura, Ecuador.  The Cumbia Andina is a mixture of indigenous rythms from the north of the country, such as San Juanitos played and danced to during the celebrations, and Colombian cumbia.

Photographers and storytellers Karla Gachet and Ivan Kashinsky document cumbia music in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and the United States.

(Image credit: Karla Gachet)

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Tackles, projectiles and gunfire: Many fear ICE tactics are growing more violent

Federal officers detain a person while members of the community and activists protest near the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue, Oct. 4, in Chicago.

Videos taken by eye witnesses of federal agent encounters with immigrants in Chicago and elsewhere have shown increasingly tense incidents. Immigrant advocates and observers say they're indicative of a larger trend of aggression among federal immigration officers.

(Image credit: Armando L. Sanchez)

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As the ceasefire begins, a look at the Gaza war by the numbers

People walk amid the destruction in Gaza City on Oct. 11, 2025, a day after a ceasefire took effect. Israel pulled back its forces on Oct. 10, and tens of thousands of Palestinians made their way back to their devastated homes.

With start of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and release of hostages and prisoners, here are some key figures related to the Gaza war and the Hamas-led attack on Israel that sparked it.

(Image credit: AFP)

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Palestinians celebrate as prisoners are released by Israel under Gaza ceasefire deal

A Palestinian prisoner who was released from an Israeli prison as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, upon his arrival in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday.

Among the 2,000 Palestinians freed in the Gaza ceasefire deal were 250 serving life terms for attacks on Israelis dating back decades.

(Image credit: Majdi Mohammed)

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Kids who use social media score lower on reading and memory tests, a study shows

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Data from a large, ongoing study of adolescents shows a link between increasing social media use and lower cognition and memory in teens.

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This wedding photographer now removes landmines for a group that's won a top prize

Mofida Majzoub oversees a demining operation in Lebanon. A former wedding photographer, Majzoub switched careers to help people living in areas contaminated with landmines.

The Mines Advisory Group has been removing landmines for more than three decades. This year, it received the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, a prestigious award with a $3 million prize.

(Image credit: Sean Sutton)

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Natural gas prices are low, but your monthly gas bill is up. Here's why

A gas pipeline construction crew in Wyncote, Pa., replaces older pipes that are prone to leaking climate-heating methane. Projects like this are increasing gas customers

Gas utility bills are rising even though natural gas prices are down. That's because a much larger share of your gas bill now goes to infrastructure instead of fuel.

(Image credit: Jeff Brady)

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Highlighting Indigenous stories from across NPR's network

Karen Little Thunder and her cousin Phil Little Thunder greet attendees of a memorial ceremony in Nebraska

NPR is highlighting Indigenous stories from across its network in celebrations of Indigenous Peoples Day.

(Image credit: Jessica Wade / Nebraska Public Media)

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Media companies thought late night TV was irrelevant. Kimmel proved them wrong

JimmThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, September 30, a week after Kimmel's return to ABC.'/>

Jimmy Kimmel's return to airwaves might just point the way forward for late night TV to prove its relevance to American audiences — and to itself.

(Image credit: Scott Kowalchyk)

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Amid shutdown, Trump administration guts department overseeing special education

A person walks past the U.S. Department of Education  in Washington, DC.

Multiple sources tell NPR that, as part of the Trump administration's latest reduction-in-force, the U.S. Department of Education has gutted the office that handles special education.

(Image credit: Win McNamee)

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She was about to drop out of college, but then her professor stepped in

Silvana Clark

Midway through her first semester of college, Silvana Clark realized she didn't have enough money to finish the year. Then, her drama professor stepped in.

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