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Crews battle wildfires in western U.S. and Canada

This undated photo provided by the U.S. Forest Service on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, shows the Widemouth 2 wildfire burning near Richfield, Utah.

There have been 183 new wildfires, including eight large ones, across the U.S. since Saturday, the National Interagency Fire Center reported on Sunday.

(Image credit: U.S. Forest Service/Fishlake National Forest)

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Demi Vollering wins Tour de France for the 2nd time

Netherlands

Vollering, who first won the competition in 2023, finished the stage more than a minute ahead of Spaniard Paula Blasi Cairol and 2024 champion Polish rider Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney.

(Image credit: Philippe Magoni)

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Nearly 30 years after Tupac's death, the trial over his murder will finally begin

In 2023, police charged Duane Davis, also known as "Keefe D," with organizing Tupac Shakur's murder in 1996. Author Ben Westhoff discusses Davis' trial that begins Monday.

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Netanyahu rejects Trump's Gaza Peace Plan, demands Hamas disarm first

President Donald Trump listens as Israel

Netanyahu's comments come just over a week after President Trump said his Board of Peace had reached a "historic" agreement with Hamas to give up its weapons.

(Image credit: Alex Brandon)

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Haunted by Hoover, Trump searches for an endgame in Iran

US President Donald Trump arrives to participate in a roundtable on the American mining industry at the US Department of State in Washington, DC.

President Trump is confronting a question that has haunted presidents throughout history: how a war - that has gone on longer than predicted - can reshape a presidency.

(Image credit: KENT NISHIMURA)

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Can birth control trends explain the rise in abortions? It's complicated

A chorus of influencers on social media in the MAHA and "trad wife" communities emphasize the downsides of hormonal birth control. Research shows few of them have medical expertise.

The number of abortions is up in the United States. Is it because fewer people are using birth control pills?

(Image credit: Jim Watson)

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This rising painter reimagines Renaissance art in a cocoa plantation in Cameroon

Marc Padeu, a painter from Cameroon, draws inspiration from Renaissance art brought into an African landscape. The above painting is title "Sous le poids de la coupe" — under the weight of the cup.

A new gallery show in London features the paintings of Marc Padeu, playing with themes from Renaissance art and bringing them to his homeland of Cameroon.

(Image credit: Copyright The Artist)

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Yemen's Houthis claim attack on Aramco oil facility in Saudi Arabia, and other Middle East news

People walk in Tehran

Meanwhile, Iran has made new demands about the restart of negotiations and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the Pentagon is pressing the U.S. defense industry to accelerate production of weapons.

(Image credit: Vahid Salemi)

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Solar eclipse to occur next week. Here is what to know

The Moon crosses in front of the Sun during a total solar eclipse at Lake Monroe on April 08, 2024 in Indiana, United States.

It will be visible in parts of the U.S. on Wednesday.

(Image credit: Edward M. Pio Roda)

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Meet the man circumnavigating the Arctic Ocean, alone

Sailor Matt Rutherford at the helm of a sailboat. He hopes to be the first to circumnavigate the Arctic Circle alone.

Matt Rutherford is sailing 10,000 nautical miles, through ice floes and gales, to try and accomplish a world first. He spoke with NPR from the cabin of his boat.

(Image credit: Matt Rutherford)

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Tanker sailors still face danger in the Strait of Hormuz

An agreement over the Strait of Hormuz is still far away. Tim Wilkins, who works for a tanker industry group, says the ships stuck around the waterway are in limbo, and transiting is still dangerous.

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Ukraine mourns "collector of souls" Oleksiy Yukov, killed recovering war dead

Ukrainian military members carry the coffin of Oleksiy Yukov, head of the Ukrainian platsdarm search unit, during his funeral at the St. Volodymyr

Oleksiy Yukov spent two decades recovering the bodies of soldiers – including many Russians. He was killed during a recovery mission after stepping on a landmine.

(Image credit: Roman PILIPEY)

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K-pop's global wave inspires Chile's next pop stars

Members of Q_ARE, a Chilean K-pop-inspired boy band, pose for a photo in Santiago, Chile.

K-pop conquered the world — now Chile's young creatives are remixing the movement and making it their own.

(Image credit: Rony Curifuta)

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Opinion: Europe's summer of heat

Children cool off as they play football under a fountain next to the Manzanares river on June 23, 2026 in Madrid, Spain.

Europe is in another brutal heat wave. The summer's earlier record-breaking weather already damaged crops, sparked wildfires and led to increased deaths.

(Image credit: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)

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Switzerland is a neutral nation but has more nuclear bunkers than any country in the world

A tunnel leading from the entrance of the Sonnenberg nuclear bunker in Lucerne, Switzerland, leads to a complex deep underground. The bunker is the world

Instead of scrapping its network of bomb shelters after the Cold War, Switzerland kept building them. The country has more than 370,000 nuclear bomb shelters. Some are now used to house migrants.

(Image credit: Rob Schmitz)

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The Women's Professional Baseball League makes its historic debut

Brittany Apgar (from left), Maggie Foxx and Mo

The Los Angeles Queens, the New York Heights, the Boston Hunters and the San Francisco Firebells take the field in Springfield, Ill., as the Women's Pro Baseball League kicks off its inaugural season.

(Image credit: Jaclyn Licht for NPR)

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Private prisons announce $1.4 billion in revenue as immigration detentions climb

The CoreCivic, Inc. California City Immigration Processing Center stands in the Kern County desert awaiting reopening as a federal immigrant detention facility under contract with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in California City, California on July 10, 2025.

That revenue does not include net proceeds of $1.6 billion made by CoreCivic after the recent sale of four of their facilities to the Department of Homeland Security.

(Image credit: Patrick T. Fallon)

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Federal funds can't be used to give test strips to drug users, raising overdose fears

A drug user uses a test strip on Aug. 22, 2018, in New York, to see if fentanyl has been added to heroin, which could increase the risk of overdose.

Drug addiction groups are reeling after Trump officials said federal grants cannot be used to hand out test strips to drug users. The strips help users check street drugs for dangerous adulterants.

(Image credit: Bebeto Matthews)

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Data centers are a political issue crossing party lines, driving voters to candidates

An aerial view of a data center on April 14 in Vernon,  Calif. A surge in demand for AI infrastructure is fueling a boom in data centers across the country and around the globe.

Wisconsin Democratic candidate for governor Francesca Hong called for a moratorium on data centers. So did Ohio Republican governor hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, as data centers begin to dominate campaigns.

(Image credit: Mario Tama)

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Senate votes to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general

Todd Blanche appears at his confirmation hearing for attorney general in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on July 15, 2026 in Washington, D.C.

The Senate narrowly confirmed Todd Blanche as U.S. attorney general early Saturday morning, elevating President Trump's former personal lawyer to head the Justice Department.

(Image credit: Eric Lee)

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Staff at the CDC in Atlanta remember victim of shooting a year ago as RFK jr. attends

It's been a year since a gunman opened fire on the CDC and killed a police officer. RFK Jr. visited the CDC today to remember the victim.

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Women in Maine may choose the victor in this year's Senate race

The race between Susan Collins and Troy Jackson is one of the nation's most high-profile Senate contests this year -- and may ultimately be decided by an especially powerful voting bloc: Maine women.

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Trump renews push to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook

President Trump has once again warned Fed Governor Lisa Cook that he wants to remove her from the central bank

Trump is once again threatening to fire Cook over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud after an earlier effort to remove Cook was struck down by the Supreme Court.

(Image credit: Kevin Dietsch)

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Another court blocks White House ballroom work, teeing up a Supreme Court review

Construction has continued on the White House ballroom all summer, as seen on Wednesday.

A federal appeals court says above-ground construction cannot continue without approval from Congress, siding with historic preservation advocates.

(Image credit: Tierney L. Cross)

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Monty Roberts, who trained horses through trust, dies at 91

The internationally acclaimed horseman defied the conventional method of breaking horses and developed his own gentler approach — based on horses' non-verbal language. Roberts spoke with Fresh Air in 1997.

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Senate passes Russia sanctions bill that was long championed by Lindsey Graham

Before his death, Lindsey Graham was one of the most vocal advocates in Congress for new sanctions on Russia. The South Carolina Republican helped champion legislation that was passed by the Senate on Friday.

The bill is meant to stifle Russia's economy by allowing for tough new tariffs against major importers of Russian energy. The legislation was led by Lindsey Graham before his unexpected death in July.

(Image credit: Heather Diehl)

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Colombia's new president vows to remake the country — and challenge its fragile peace

Colombia

A new political era for Colombia: a hard-right president promises order, growth and confrontation.

(Image credit: John Vizcaino)

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Murkowski will oppose Blanche nomination, narrowing his path to confirmation

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is seen here during a Senate hearing on July 21, 2026. Murkowski has said she will oppose President Trump

The Alaska Republican said the country needs an Attorney General who will "check the worst impulses of this administration," adding that she doesn't have confidence that Todd Blanche can achieve that.

(Image credit: Bloomberg)

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Employers unexpectedly cut 23,000 jobs in a sign of a wilting labor market

The U.S. labor market softened in July as employers cut 23,000 jobs. Construction companies and factories continued to add workers, but retailers and restaurants shed jobs.

U.S. employers cut 23,000 jobs in July, and job gains for the two previous months were weaker than initially reported, according to a report Friday from the Labor Department.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle)

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A new vaccine could vanquish a major cause of deadly diarrheal disease

A medical illustration depicts the Shigella bacteria, a leading cause of diarrheal disease.

Over 1 million people a year die from diarrheal disease. Nearly half are kids under age 5. A new vaccine in trials offers great hope.

(Image credit: Smith Collection)

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