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Trump allies could weaken historic preservation rules to fast-track federal projects

A mock-up of President Trump

A council packed with Trump appointees is poised to rewrite historic preservation rules. Critics say that could help him build his D.C. arch faster — and endanger important sites across the country.

(Image credit: Jen Golbeck)

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For a 2nd time, House approves resolution to end the war in Iran in a rebuke to Trump

The U.S. Capitol is seen from the Cannon House Office Building on July 22.

Four Republicans joined Democrats to approve the measure. And while it is not legally binding, the resolution represents growing frustration inside Congress over the war.

(Image credit: J. Scott Applewhite)

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In a first, Chinese woman wins the prestigious Fields Medal

Wang Hong is the third woman—and first from China—to be awarded the world

Despite criticisms of a brain drain from China to the U.S., the awards come at a time when several high-profile Chinese scholars have returned home, some citing an increasingly hostile academic environment in America.

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Republicans in Congress Urge Justice Department to Investigate Former Prosecutor Jack Smith

Former US special counsel Jack Smith leaves after testifying before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigations into President Donald Trump, on January 22, 2026.

The former special counsel led two criminal investigations of President Trump and has been a frequent target of Trump's ire on social media.

(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/via Getty Images)

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Get into med school in the graphic memoir 'See One, Do One, Teach One'

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Grace Farris' book brings readers behind the med school scenes — documenting anxiety over loans, bouts of impostor syndrome, friendships forged in stress, and the ever-impossible work-life balance.

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U.S. signs nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia. And, Nolan Wells' independent autopsy results

President Trump shakes hands with Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman at the US-Saudi Investment Forum at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 19, 2025.

The U.S. has signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. And, the independent autopsy results of Nolan Wells fuel more questions surrounding his cause of death.

(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski)

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This AI tool promises a 'second sight of eyes' to clinicians. Did patients benefit?

Medical workers in a Nairobi clinic used an AI tool to check their work. A new study evaluates the result.

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This AI tool promises a 'second pair of eyes' to clinicians. Did patients benefit?

A health worker measures the blood pressure of a woman at Penda Health Clinic Umoja II in Nairobi, Kenya, where researchers have tested an AI tool that can check out the notes taken by clinicians.

Medical workers in a Nairobi clinic used an AI tool to check their work. A new study evaluates the result.

(Image credit: Patrick Meinhardt/AFP)

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Why health officials do not have a good handle on the current Ebola outbreak

Health investigators in the Democratic Republic of Congo interview individuals as part of their contact tracing — seeking to find those who came into contact with people infected with Ebola.

To get slightlyahead of the virus, health officials need to quickly identify people at risk of infection, a practice known as contact tracing. That's a challenge in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

(Image credit: Michel Lunanga)

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U.S. nuclear power deal with Saudi Arabia faces criticism in Israel

With a photograph of himself on the wall as part of "The Presidential Hall of Fame," U.S. President Donald Trump (R) gives Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia a tour of the White House on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.

The nuclear power deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia was met with alarm in Israel as it deepened concerns that Israel, a major American ally, and Trump are increasingly diverging on foreign policy and security.

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla)

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A town renamed its festival 'AI Love Irondale Day.' Then came the comments

Festival-goers sit outside Irondale, Alabama

The online outcry over the renaming of a summer festival illustrates the unease over the data center boom in the South.

(Image credit: Stephan Bisaha)

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After deadly shootings, police experts question how well ICE officers are vetted

An FBI official places an evidence card in Biddeford where a man was killed in a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on July 13, 2026.

The recent fatal shootings by ICE officers in Texas and Maine come at a time when the federal agency has hired a huge number of officers quickly. Some law enforcement experts worry that this kind of a hiring spree can lead police agencies to cut corners in vetting new hires.

(Image credit: Gregory Rec)

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FDA panel considers easing peptide restrictions

A panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will vote on recommendations for seven popular peptides.

Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration are weighing the evidence for seven different peptides. Favorable votes would pave the way for easier access.

(Image credit: Sarah Silbiger)

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The White House pushes healthy eating. It cut a landmark nutrition education program

Kate Feurtado, a medical assistant at Spectrum Health, browses for produce at a farmers market in Philadelphia on July 15. The Food Trust, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, uses SNAP-Ed funding to support its farmers markets.

Nutrition advocates and public health experts are mystified by the decision to eliminate SNAP-Ed, given the Trump administration's embrace of the Make America Healthy Again agenda.

(Image credit: Rachel Wisniewski for NPR)

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DOT cranks up its campaign to strip bike lane references from federal websites

Cycling activists protest against the federal government

Transportation officials have removed a growing list of safety materials that mention bike lanes from federal websites. Safety advocates warn that's undermining proven measures for reducing crashes.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)

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These Catholic sisters want to start a new order with a difficult mission: helping clergy abuse survivors

Sister Danielle Lussier and Sister Theresa Alethia pose for a portrait on the front porch of their home in Mt. Sterling, Ky., in April.

Sisters Theresa Alethia and Danielle Lussier call themselves the Sisters of the Little Way of Beauty, Truth and Goodness. Their order plans to help victims of abuse.

(Image credit: Natosha Via for NPR)

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How predominantly Black areas in 6 states have been split up by redistricting

When new congressional maps were enacted for each state, according to Ballotpedia

These maps show that the redistricting battle President Trump initiated has so far had a particular impact on largely Black congressional districts in Republican-led states.

(Image credit: Rahul Mukherjee)

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'New York Times' alleges White House abuses legal system to intimidate reporters

President Trump steps out of the new Air Force One, gifted to him by Qatar, in a hangar at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland in June. <!-- raw HTML omitted -->The New York Times<!-- raw HTML omitted --> reported earlier this month that security concerns had led the Secret Service to urge Trump to fly home from Turkey on a different jet.

The New York Times will argue in court Thursday that the White House is abusing the justice system to intimidate reporters over a story that angered President Trump.

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

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Morning news brief

Trump administration signs nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, Trump ramps up aggression against Iran despite declining support, House passes Pentagon funding bill.

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OpenAI blamed a hacking event on its AI models gone rogue. Here is what to know

FILE - The OpenAI logo is displayed on a cell phone in front of an image generated by ChatGPT

The incident is stirring debates over the need for stronger AI guardrails and the extent to which AI agents are capable of acting on their own.

(Image credit: Michael Dwyer)

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House passes Pentagon funding and limits on stock trades in a last dash before recess

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol Building on Tuesday.

Republicans passed more than $1 trillion for the Pentagon alongside a budget blueprint that would let them bypass Democrats to unlock new funds for the Iran war and Trump's election overhaul bill.

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker)

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In South Dakota, public media endures a year after federal funding was wiped out

We check in on one state public broadcasting network a year after President Trump signed a law ending federal funding of public media.

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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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