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Trump administration signs commercial nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia

Energy Secretary Chris Wright at an Oval Office meeting earlier this month.

The agreement gives American companies priority access to nuclear reactors and fuel to Saudi Arabia. It's expected to last decades and be worth billions of dollars.

(Image credit: Andrew Harnik)

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African countries are facing rising rates of cancer. What's being done about it?

Cancer diagnoses are on the rise in sub-Saharan Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean regions, but care lags behind.

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What to know about Ukraine's military shakeup

Protests erupted in Kyiv on Friday as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Mykhailo Fedorov as Ukraine

After a week of nationwide protests over the direction of Ukraine's military strategy in the ongoing war with Russia, the Ukrainian military has a new commander, Mykhailo Drapatyi. Here's what to know.

(Image credit: Paula Bronstein for NPR)

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A strange transmissible cancer is spreading through the catfish in this lake

University of Cambridge professor Elizabeth Murchison and Peter Emerson of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department scoop up catfish for testing in Newport, VT. Emerson was one of the researchers to publish a new paper in the journal <!-- raw HTML omitted -->Nature<!-- raw HTML omitted --> describing the first known transmissible cancer in fish.

For more than a decade, there's been something fishy going on in a lake that straddles Vermont and the province of Quebec. It involves cancer, a kind of catfish, and — possibly — clues about how tumors metastasize.

(Image credit: Joshua Brown)

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In pursuit of 'Instagram face,' are we losing the imperfections that make us human?

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Plastic surgery is becoming so normalized and undetectable, it's changing our relationship to reality. The New Yorker staff writer Jia Tolentino considers how beauty standards have dovetailed with AI.

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People are watching the Reflecting Pool like reality TV. What does that say about us?

The reflecting pool resurfacing has had many dramatic twists and turns, from algae to arrests to a second draining.

It's not just watching paint dry. The twists and turns of the Reflecting Pool repairs, originally a two-week project, have kept bloggers and viewers busy all summer.

(Image credit: Jackie Lay)

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Independent autopsy "inconclusive" on cause of death for 18-year-old Nolan Wells in Mississippi

Elmore Wonsley, center, speaks next to attorney Ben Crump, left, and Rev. Al Sharpton during a memorial service for Nolan Xavier Wells on Monday.

An independent autopsy of the body of Nolan Wells shows that the cause of death is undetermined pending an investigation, according to attorney Ben Crump.

(Image credit: Gerald Herbert)

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Greetings from Jerusalem, whose holy sites host some of the oldest colonies of nesting swifts

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The scythe-winged birds have nested in the cracks of the Western Wall and other holy sites in Jerusalem for thousands of years.

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Trump to attend dignified transfer of fallen soldiers. And, Hegseth testifies on Iran

President Trump speaks at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit at the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on July 15, 2026, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth looks on.

Trump will attend the dignified transfer of U.S. service members killed in the Middle East. And, Pete Hegseth is requesting billions from Congress to help with the rising cost of the war in Iran.

(Image credit: Saul Loeb)

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Her son was killed by ICE at a traffic stop. She says she's still waiting for justice

Rachel Reyes, holds a photo of her son, Ruben Ray Martinez, a U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a traffic encounter in Texas.

Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was fatally shot by an ICE agent two months into President Trump's second term. His mother says her family has yet to receive justice.

(Image credit: Brenda Bazán for NPR)

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U.S. and Iranian attacks continue as tensions mount on a key waterway in the Red Sea

Commuters walk past a wall mural along the street in Tehran on July 21, 2026.

The attacks overshadowed diplomatic efforts in Pakistan, one of the conflict's mediators, where a senior Iranian official held talks potentially aimed at reviving a collapsed ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

(Image credit: Atta Kenare)

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What forecasters expect this hurricane season, as Tropical Storm Bertha edges along

This NOAA satellite image taken at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 21,  shows Tropical Storm Bertha moving along the Gulf of Mexico

The El Niño weather pattern could limit how many Atlantic storms form this year. But unusually warm waters temperaturesmean the risk of destructive storms is still high.

(Image credit: NOAA via AP)

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Tropical Storm Bertha makes landfall but damage appears limited

This NOAA satellite image taken at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 21,  shows Tropical Storm Bertha moving along the Gulf of Mexico

Storm damage is expected to be limited because the El Niño weather pattern will counter its worst effects. But unusually warm waters in the Atlantic means the risk of destructive storms is still high.

(Image credit: NOAA via AP)

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States want to bring Medicaid behind bars. Federal changes make that harder

Cody Coughenour of Port Angeles, Wash. is a beneficiary of a bipartisan policy experiment that allowed him to receive Medicaid before being released from incarceration.

Funding cuts and program changes required by President Trump's big budget law are forcing states to rethink bipartisan efforts to bring Medicaid into jails and prisons.

(Image credit: Ramon Dompor for Tradeoffs)

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Trump has campaigned more so far in 2026 midterms than he did at this point in 2018

In this file photo from May 2026, President Trump delivers remarks during a campaign and economic policy event in Suffern, New York. Trump traveled to the Hudson Valley to help bolster the campaign of Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) as he seeks reelection in what is expected to be one of the nation

Heading to Georgia on Wednesday, President Trump is campaigning more often this year than he did in the same period for 2018 and has already rallied for a dozen candidates in toss-up races.

(Image credit: Roberto Schmidt)

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Peptides get their regulatory closeup

In this image taken from video, an IV infusion is administered at Pure Alchemy Wellness in Chula Vista, Calif., in November 2025.

A panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will meet this week to make recommendations on whether specialized pharmacies should be allowed to make some popular wellness peptides.

(Image credit: Javier Arciga)

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Trump-backed candidates, 2020 election deniers, win Arizona primaries

A poll worker assists an Arizona voter at a polling location in Phoenix as people cast their ballots on Tuesday.

The primaries set the field for what are expected to be heated contests for Congress and governor in a swing state this fall.

(Image credit: Ross D. Franklin)

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Mamdani says New York City can't arrest Netanyahu but the federal government should

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers a speech to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States at City Hall on Friday July 3, 2026 in New York.

New York Mayor Mamdani said the city would not be able to execute an arrest warrant issued by the top war-crimes court for Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, but urged the federal government to do so.

(Image credit: Anna Connors/Anna Connors)

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French lawmakers approve a sweeping social media ban for children under 15

FILE - Phones are kept for charging at a Doctors Without Borders informal camp in Mardyck, northern France, Wednesday, July 2, 2025.

The move makes France the first country in the European Union to pass a blanket ban on platforms as concerns grow worldwide over the harmful effects of digital content on kids.

(Image credit: Nicolas Garriga)

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Staying in a job for the health insurance? About 1 in 4 Americans do, a survey says

A new study from West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America finds "job lock" is even more prevalent for people with chronic conditions, 41% of whom report staying in a job to keep health insurance.

About 24% of U.S. employees stay in unwanted jobs just for health insurance, a report out Wednesday finds. Up significantly since 2021, the uptick in "job lock" is a concerning sign for the U.S. economy.

(Image credit: Creative Images Lab)

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House votes to extend government funding, aiming to avoid an election year shutdown

The U.S Capitol is seen on July 17, 2026.

Lawmakers are hoping to avoid a third shutdown since last September. The stopgap funding measure now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.

(Image credit: Mariam Zuhaib)

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Smithsonian too focused on 'oppressors and the oppressed,' say House Republicans

Anthea Hartig, director of the National Museum of American History, appears in front of the House DOGE subcommittee on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

In a House DOGE subcommittee hearing, GOP representatives excoriated the director of the National Museum of American History, following a White House report earlier this month that also criticized her.

(Image credit: Andrew Harnik)

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Ukraine's Zelenskyy fires his military chief after protests and names a new one

Activists hold a portrait of Ukraine

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi as commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces following days of protests demanding his removal. Zelenskyy appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi as the new army chief.

(Image credit: Efrem Lukatsky)

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Nicaragua's President Ortega says no more elections, extending his 20-year rule

President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, lead a rally in Managua, Nicaragua, Sept. 5, 2018.

The announcement effectively canceled Nicaragua's next elections, originally scheduled for November 2027.

(Image credit: Alfredo Zuniga)

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Is that food really made with 100% avocado oil? Likely not

Research into any health benefits of avocado oil lags behind the studies of other oils, such as olive and seed oils.

A new study finds that consumers who are paying a premium for foods advertised as made with avocado oil are probably not getting what they think they're buying.

(Image credit: fcafotodigital)

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The best games of 2026 so far, picked by NPR's staff

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Titans like Resident Evil Requiem and Crimson Desert dominated in the first half of the gaming year, with early-access sequels like Slay the Spire 2 and Subnautica 2 not far behind.

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India's youth-led Cockroach movement vows to continue protest after police crackdown

Supporters gather at the camping site of the Cockroach Janta Party at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Tuesday, July 21, 2026.

The movement, which began as a satirical protest, has evolved into a nationwide challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

(Image credit: Shekhar Yadav)

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Iran-backed Houthis announce blockade. And, Cyclospora source remains unknown

Yemeni supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi movement gather during a rally against what the group says are restrictions imposed by the Saudi-led coalition on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, in Sanaa on July 17, 2026.

Iran-backed Houthis say they will blockade a waterway on the Red Sea. And, the FDA continues to investigate Taylor Farms lettuce as a source of the Cyclospora outbreak despite a retracted test.

(Image credit: Mohammed Huwais)

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth goes to the Hill with nearly $90B funding request

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth will appear on the Hill on Tuesday. He's looking for a nearly $90 billion funding boost, as the Iran war once again flares.

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Trump imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods

Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a media availability in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, July 9, 2026.

President Donald Trump on Monday imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, declaring that Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products.

(Image credit: Adrian Wyld)

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