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What to know about nationwide protests in India over voter list changes

A protester wears a mask depicting Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar with the words "vote theft" during a protest organized by Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena , demanding his resignation and the suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026.

The campaign is led in part by India's "Cockroach" youth movement, which previously forced the education minister to resign.

(Image credit: Rafiq Maqbool)

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Vietnamese police arrest 12 suspected of prowling city streets at night, snatching cats for meat

A cat is being cared for at a rescue facility of an animal rights group after police raided an operation that steals and resells cats for meat in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, Sept.17, 2026.

State media cited investigators who said the network recruited people to ride motorcycles through neighborhoods at night, trapping up to 10 cats a night.

(Image credit: Humane World for Animals)

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Ex-spy chief is arrested in Germany on suspicion of trading state secrets and treason

August Hanning, the former president of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), appears as a witness before the NSA investigative committee at the German parliament Bundestag in Berlin on Oct. 1, 2015.

A former head of Germany 's foreign intelligence service was arrested on suspicion that he had passed state secrets to a foreign intelligence service, the federal prosecutor's office said.

(Image credit: Michael Kappeler)

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Dems have edge in midterms, poll shows. And, Paramount-Warner Bros. merger to close

A voter casts their ballot inside the Arlington County Courthouse on Sept. 18, 2026, in Arlington, Virginia.

Polls are showing that Democrats have a clear advantage heading into the midterms, but that doesn't tell the whole story. And, today, a mega merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. is set to close.

(Image credit: Tom Brenner)

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What voters in 6 key states could tell us about the 2026 midterms

Voters cast their ballots inside the Arlington County Courthouse in Arlington, Va., on Sept. 18, which was the first day of early voting in the state for the midterm elections.

Morning Edition is heading to Maine, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio and Michigan to hear what voters say is shaping their choices ahead of the midterm elections.

(Image credit: Tom Brenner)

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A history of presidents naming things after themselves (It's short. They rarely do)

In December 2025, President Trump

While Trump pushes to get his name on the Kennedy Center and other public sites, history shows that sitting presidents have almost always avoided putting their brands on government assets.

(Image credit: Alex Wroblewski)

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Francis Halzen wins Nobel Prize in physics for work on high-energy neutrinos from space

FILE - A Nobel diploma and medal are displayed, Dec. 8, 2020, during a ceremony in New York.

The 82-year-old scientist, originally from Belgium, is affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research into capturing neutrinos at the South Pole dates back to the 1980s.

(Image credit: Angela Weiss)

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Disney, ABC battle Trump's FCC in court over free speech protections

A demonstrator waves a "Protect Free Speech" sign following a protest against the suspension of the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show, held near the theater where the show is produced in Hollywood, on September 22, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

President Trump has repeatedly called for Disney's ABC to fire late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, for mocking him. Trump has also routinely denounced ABC's The View, accusing it of being unfair.

(Image credit: Mario Tama)

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Wildfire smoke affects animals in unique ways. Scientists are trying to understand it

Olivia Sanderfoot of Cornell University is trying to understand how the smoke billowing off of wildfires is bothering birds — and what can be done to prevent that harm.

The new field of "smoke ecology" examines how wildfire smoke perturbs wild places and animals — and what might be done to prevent its worst mayhem.

(Image credit: Ari Daniel)

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Democrats' advantage is clear with less than a month to go in the midterm elections

The U.S. Capitol stands on Sept. 23 in Washington, D.C.

President Trump is facing low approval ratings, and voters are blaming him for rising costs. Republicans are likely to pay the price at the ballot box next month.

(Image credit: Finn Gomez)

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Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey's new Pentagon roles raise ethics worries

Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced "Project Meridian: The Future of Warfare," a study of automated and AI-powered weaponry.

Musk's company, SpaceX, and Luckey's company Anduril, could potentially benefit from recommendations made in the study about future autonomous weapon systems.

(Image credit: Carolyn Kaster)

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FBI's spy hunting squads hit with deep cuts even as foreign espionage threats soar

FBI Director Kash Patel testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in September 2026 in Washington, D.C.

The cuts come as a consequence of President Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel's focus on violent crime and immigration, leaving other priorities understaffed.

(Image credit: Win McNamee)

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'We could all hear her breathing': Witnessing the failed execution of Christa Pike

Public radio reporter Catherine Sweeney, one of the media witnesses, recounts the moments before the execution of Christa Pike was halted last Wednesday, Sept. 30.  (AP Photo/George Walker IV)   Flanking the podium are two photos of Colleen Slemmer, Pike

Catherine Sweeney was in the witness room when Tennessee attempted to execute Christa Pike on Sept. 30. An attempted execution in May had also failed. Here's what Sweeney saw and heard.

(Image credit: George Walker IV)

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New Hollywood era begins with an epic mega merger between Paramount and Warner Bros.

David Ellison officially takes over as CEO of Skydance, the new mega merger combining Paramount and Warner Bros.

The Paramount and Warner Bros. merger has survived court challenges, public protests and regulatory scrutiny. Now, the Hollywood heavyweight, named Skydance, begins operating.

(Image credit: David Becker)

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Morning news brief

With just weeks to go, a look at where the midterm elections stand, Saudi-backed forces in Yemen launch a major counter-offensive, Paramount and Warner Bros. begin operations after merger.

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Jim Bakker, who built 'PTL Club' televangelism empire, has died at 86

FILE - Television evangelist Jim Bakker poses in front of the Water Park in Columbia, SC, one of the attractions at his Heritage USA, March 19, 1987.

Jim Bakker, along with his first wife Tammy Faye built an evangelical empire around the hugely successful "The PTL Club" TV show, only to lose it all over a sex scandal and financial crimes.

(Image credit: Lou Krasky)

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The iconic Arthur Read made his TV debut 30 years ago

(From left) Dora Winifred "D.W." Read, Allen "The Brain" Powers, Arthur Read, Muffy Crosswire, Jane Read, and Sue Ellen Armstrong celebrating Arthur and Muffy

The animated series "Arthur" premiered on PBS Kids on Oct. 7, 1996.

(Image credit: WGBH Educational Foundation, WildBrain and Marc Brown Studios)

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Dennis Hastert, longtime Republican House speaker who went to prison, dies at age 84

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert departs the federal courthouse, in Chicago, June 2015.

ennis Hastert, whose political legacy as Congress' longest-serving Republican House speaker was later fouled by allegations that he had molested high school athletes during his prior career as a teacher and wrestling coach, has died, a coroner said Monday. He was 84.

(Image credit: Christian K. Lee)

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Drones buzz overhead, troops hunker underground in Ukraine's hellish Kill Zone

Ukrainian military medics treat a wounded Ukrainian soldier in the field hospital near the frontline in the southeastern reigion of Zaporizhzhia on Sept. 12. The vast majority of casualties take place in the so-called Kill Zone, a band about 10 to 20 miles wide on both sides of the frontline, which stretches more than 700 miles from north to south.

The frontline in the Russia-Ukraine war stretches more than 700 miles and has barely moved in four years. Yet straddling this line is the Kill Zone, dominated by constantly evolving drone technology.

(Image credit: Andriy Andriyenko/Ukrainian 65th Mechanized brigade)

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FBI arrests a woman accused of spying on Taiwan leader's family for China

The FBI and U.S. prosecutors say Wanying Zhang, also know as Heather, surveilled the Taiwanese president's son and his family.

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Imran Khan supporters march in Pakistan to demand his release after talks failed

Supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan

Talks between Khan's party and the government failed two days ago. Besides Khan's release, protesters demand his transfer to a hospital and family visits.

(Image credit: Maaz Awan)

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SCOTUS hears major climate change case. And, Brazil's presidential race goes to runoff

Flowers adorn a garden in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building on March 31, 2026 in Washington, D.C.

The Supreme Court is set to hear a blockbuster climate change case that could affect more than just climate issues. And, Brazil's presidential race is too close to call.

(Image credit: Roberto Schmidt)

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FlyDubai attacker intended to crash plane into Tel Aviv airport, ongoing investigation finds

An Israeli airline El Al aircraft is parked on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion Airport near the city of Lod on October 2, 2026.

The investigation has found the attacker intended to crash the plane into Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, a person familiar with the matter not authorized to speak publicly told NPR.

(Image credit: JACK GUEZ)

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Nobel medicine prize goes to 3 scientists for research into brain activity

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel are shown on the screen as they are awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, as announced during a press conference at the Nobel Forum at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 5, 2026.

The Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded Monday to three scientists working on the mechanisms the brain uses to switch on, or off, the activity of individual nerve cells.

(Image credit: Pontus Lundahl)

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Former Prince Andrew files legal action to quash warrants that led to residence searches

FILE - Britain

A judicial spokesperson confirmed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had filed a claim with the High Court in London and a hearing would take place Thursday.

(Image credit: Kirsty Wigglesworth)

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Spain's prime minister calls early elections as pressure mounts over housing crisis

People seen through a window inside a bar in La Cabrera, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, watch a televised speech by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez from La Moncloa Palace announcing national elections, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced early elections Monday after his government suffered a bruising legislative defeat last week on emergency measures related to the country's housing crisis.

(Image credit: Bernat Armangue)

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Republicans and Democrats find a unifying target: Pharmacy benefit managers

Amye and Charlie Joseph of Elizabethton, Tenn., are on opposite sides politically, but have a shared disdain for pharmacy benefit managers, known as PBMs.

Republicans and Democrats, both patients and politicians, seem united in their disdain for the healthcare companies known as pharmacy benefit managers. Tennessee and Arkansas are regulating them now.

(Image credit: Earl Neikirk)

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Super El Niño is here. What's so super about it?

In June 2026, Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures around the equator were already abnormally warm, an indicator of a developing El Niño. Since then, they

This year, federal forecasters say the planet could see the strongest El Niño event on record. Here's what you need to know.

(Image credit: NOAA Satellites)

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Supreme Court's new term kicks off with blockbuster climate change case

Louie Delaware walks through an open area near his rebuilt home in Louisville, Colo. The landscape includes areas where homes destroyed in the Marshall Fire have not been rebuilt. The costs of adapting to climate-related impacts are part of Boulder County

The case centers on whether local governments can hold giant energy companies accountable for the local harms of climate change, but it has repercussions beyond climate.

(Image credit: Jimena Peck for NPR)

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From floating saunas to clinical trials: How heat might help mental health

Tony Stepanow, from Finland, attends a sauna during the International Sauna Congress 2026 in Oslo, Norway, Sept. 25, 2026.

While scientists have a decent understanding of how sauna and other forms of heat exposure exercises our cardiovascular system, they know relatively little about its impact on mental health.

(Image credit: Siv Dolmen for NPR)

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