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Weakened public health powers raise outbreak risks

Demonstrators at a rally with truckers protest against COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates in Adelanto, Calif., in February 2022.

Some jurisdictions have weakened their public health authorities in response to criticism of lockdowns, school closures, mask mandates, vaccine requirements and other COVID-era restrictions.

(Image credit: PATRICK T. FALLON)

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NTSB says United jet was too slow and too low in Newark landing accident

United Airlines aircraft are seen at the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey in 2023.

Federal investigators say the captain flying the United 767 from Italy was too slow and too low before landing last month at Newark, N.J. The jet struck a light pole, damaging a truck on the turnpike.

(Image credit: Joshua A. Bickel)

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New York City reshapes mass transit system to handle World Cup, NBA finals crowds

FIFA World Cup signage is seen at the PATH train station at the World Trade Center transportation hub in New York on May 27, 2026. The 2026 FIFA World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19.

New York transit officials are preparing to handle up to 100,000 extra travelers a day as fans arrive in New York and New Jersey for FIFA World Cup matches.

(Image credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

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North Korea unveils a new plant to produce fuel for nuclear weapons

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, front right, visits a new facility to produce nuclear bomb fuels at an undisclosed place in North Korea Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

State media photos on the place showed it is likely a plant to produce weapons-grade uranium.

(Image credit: 朝鮮通信社)

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Embedded: "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times

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In the summer of 2020, sixteen-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. traveled a thousand miles to join the racial justice movement of his generation. He arrived in Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, known as CHOP. Less than a week later, he was shot and killed there. The case remains unsolved.

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What will it take to get a vaccine for the Ebola strain driving the current outbreak?

A health worker from the Guinean Ministry of Health prepares to administer an anti-Ebola vaccine in Gueckedou, Guinea, on February 23, 2021, following an outbreak.

There is an effective vaccine for Ebola — but not for the variety spreading rapidly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Trials are going on for several candidates. How long will it take?

(Image credit: CArol Valade/AFP)

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Gun control group sues ATF over records release

Glock and Walther Arms semi-automatic pistols are displayed for sale in a gun store in Arizona on Sept. 17, 2025.

Brady, a nonprofit gun control advocacy group, is suing the ATF and the DOJ over their refusals to release documents and other information about who the largest sellers of crime guns in the U.S. are.

(Image credit: Charly Triballeau)

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Israel and Lebanon reach agreement, but ceasefire stalls

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon close to the Beaufort Castle as seen from a position across the border in the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel on June 4, 2026. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said on June 4 that an agreement on implementing a ceasefire announced in Washington after talks with Israel was the "last chance" to reach a comprehensive truce.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission for Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said Thursday one peacekeeper was killed and others were wounded when they came under mortar fire in southeastern Lebanon.

(Image credit: JALAA MAREY)

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Senate to start debate on ICE funding. And, Israel and Lebanon agree to ceasefire

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks during a news conference following a weekly policy luncheon with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol on June 2, 2026 in Washington, D.C. Republican leadership spoke on a range of topics, including the reconciliation bill.

Senate Republicans are moving forward on a bill to fund immigration enforcement through the end of Trump's term. And, Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a ceasefire that could aid in ending the war in Iran.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

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A handful of American households pay for AI. Is the future free — or a subscription?

A woman uses a laptop as she lies on the grass in a park in the Manhattan borough of New York City on April 24, 2026.

Just 3% of U.S. households pay for AI for personal use. Sign ups are growing — even though Americans have subscription fatigue.

(Image credit: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU)

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More than 1 in 3 World Cup matches face dangerous heat risk, NPR analysis finds

More than one-third of 2026 World Cup matches are at high risk for dangerously hot, humid conditions, NPR found. In June 2024, assistant referee Humberto Panjoj fainted during a Copa América professional soccer match in Kansas City, Kan., which is near Kansas City, Mo., one of the host cities for this summer

Dangerously hot, humid weather is likely at many of the 2026 World Cup soccer venues. We crunched the numbers to see which matches are most at risk.

(Image credit: Ed Zurga)

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Some students with disabilities rely on screens at school. What happens if they're banned?

Ninth grader Soraya Martin, left, has dyslexia, but using her cellphone and other technologies allow her to excel at school. Her mother, Heather Martin, says students with disabilities aren

Some students with disabilities rely on assistive technology to learn, and they worry it could be swept up in the movement to get screens out of schools.

(Image credit: Jonaki Mehta)

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How cellphone carriers prepare for hurricane season with AI, drones and 'cows'

Residents make phone calls in their neighborhood after heavy rains from hurricane Helene caused record flooding and damage on September 28, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina.

Hurricane season is expected to be milder than usual this year. But that's not stopping cell phone companies from pulling out all the stops.

(Image credit: Melissa Sue Gerrits)

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National Guard has done little to reduce violent crime in D.C., a new study finds

National Guard members stand watch near the Lincoln Memorial on the morning of Memorial Day in Washington, DC, May 25, 2026.

A new study has found that the National Guard's presence in Washington, D.C. had no effect on violent crime in the city. The Guard has been deployed since last August as part of a federal task force to fight crime, and their numbers are set to double in the coming weeks.

(Image credit: Alex Wroblewski)

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In photos: a preview of the Obama Presidential Center

An exterior view of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

The Obama Presidential Center opens later this month in Chicago. We take a look inside.

(Image credit: Lucy Hewett for NPR)

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How having zero points in tennis — or 'love' — came to sound so sweet

The scoreboard shows the results of the women

There are theories that "love" in the tennis context has French, English or Dutch origins. But like many words, historians and language experts say it's hard to pin down the "right" answer.

(Image credit: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

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The $13 billion carrier with a plumbing problem is home. Now come the costly repairs

Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Naval Station Norfolk on May 16 in Norfolk, Va. The USS Gerald R. Ford returned home to Virginia after an 11-month deployment, the longest since the Vietnam War.

With 4,600 sailors finally home, USS Gerald R. Ford will finally receive some much needed repairs and an upgrade to its beleaguered sewage system.

(Image credit: Mike Kropf)

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Morning news brief

Some Republicans' growing frustrations with Trump is beginning to show, Trump and Netanyahu have a tense call over Israel's actions in Lebanon, Russia's economic forum opens.

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Plans for a Trump family-linked resort spark protests in Albania

Police officers block a street during a demonstration in Tirana, Albania, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, opposing a luxury coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump over concerns about environmental impacts and transparency.

A coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner is facing resistance in Albania. The government says the project will transform the nation, but environmental campaigners and critics oppose it.

(Image credit: Hameraldi Agolli)

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President Trump says he will nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testifies before the House Appropriations Committee, Tuesday, June 2, 2026 in Washington.

Trump said at a dinner at the White House that he plans to nominate Blanche formally, according to a video of the event posted on social media by a White House aide.

(Image credit: Allison Robbert)

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House passes war powers resolution directing Trump to end hostilities with Iran

The U.S. Capitol is seen Tuesday, June 2, 2026.

The vote marked a rare bipartisan rebuke of the war, but is mostly symbolic. Democrats have been unable to pass a war powers resolution in the Senate, and even if they could it would likely be vetoed.

(Image credit: Mariam Zuhaib)

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Senate Republicans start debate on ICE funding package

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks during a news conference following a weekly policy luncheon with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol on June 02, 2026 in Washington, D.C. Thune was joined by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK), U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).

The Senate voted along party lines to start debate on a Republican bill to fund immigration enforcement through the end of President Trump's term.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Supreme Court's Alabama redistricting decision could encourage more chaos, experts warn

The U.S. Supreme Court

The court's repudiation of a lower court decision was only the latest case in which it has played a role in changing the congressional maps for Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, and California.

(Image credit: Kent Nishimura)

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Trump strips job protections from 8,000 federal workers

President Trump talks to reporters in the Oval Office at the White House on Jan. 30, 2025.

President Trump signed an executive order that puts some 8,000 high-ranking civil servants into a new category of employees who can be fired for any reason.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

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Trump confirms calling Netanyahu 'crazy,' says they still get along

President Trump speaks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Israel

The president also acknowledged that he cursed at the Israeli leader in a heated phone call in which he told Benjamin Netanyahu not to bomb the Lebanese capital Beirut.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

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People with cancer or HIV could lose Medicaid under new work rules, advocates say

Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, explained the new work rules coming to Medicaid on Tuesday in the  White House briefing room.

Adults on Medicaid will be required to work 80 hours per month. The Trump administration says people who are sick will have to prove they are too sick to work to be exempt from the new work rules.

(Image credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

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Michael Jackson's shadow of doubt

AMichael Jackson: The Verdict, a docuseries on the late artist's 2005 abuse trial, arrives on Netflix this week, his music continues to climb the charts following renewed interest from his biopic.'/>

A sanded-down biopic about the King of pop and propaganda has resurfaced his music on the charts — along with questions about how his enduring magic became make-believe

(Image credit: Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)

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Firings at CBS' '60 Minutes' reflect the fight for media control in the age of Trump

Correspondents of CBS

The show's new leader says he fired star Scott Pelley for insubordination. Pelley says he was defending the integrity of the show's journalism after three top executives and two reporters were fired.

(Image credit: CBS Photo Archive/CBS via Getty Images)

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How a single decision made a century ago split a family in half by race

Pope Leo's Black family roots inspired journalist Susan Saulny to research her Creole great-uncle who moved to Chicago, became white and didn't return. She describes her journey to reunite her family.

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Greetings from Porto, whose lanes are lined with colorful textiles

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Linen scarves, cotton aprons and dishtowels adorn the entrances to souvenir shops, many of which are run by Bangladeshis whose home country shares Portugal's rich tradition of textile manufacturing.

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