Chinese manufacturing weakens amid COVID-19 outbreak
Chinese manufacturing contracted for a third consecutive month in December, in the biggest drop since early 2020, as the country battles a nationwide COVID-19 surge.
Business
Why one NPR correspondent finally ditched DVDs for streaming
It was once cutting edge to get DVDs in the mail for a low monthly subscription. Then came the fragmented world of streaming. But what about the last holdouts who are all about the disc?
In Afghanistan, coal mining relies on the labor of children
Since the return of the Taliban, Afghanistan's coal exports have increased — and so has child labor. At a coal mine in Baghlan province, boys earn between $3 and $8 for a day's work.
California offshore wind promises a new gold rush while slashing emissions
A federal offshore wind lease auction in December off California's coast promises to kickstart a work boom on the state's northern and central coasts.
Encore: Rising interest rates plunge the housing market into a deep freeze
With interest rates creeping up month after month, many buyers and sellers have put their plans on hold, and that's plunged the housing market into a deep freeze.
For 3 big Alabama newspapers, the presses are grinding to a halt
The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and Mobile's Press-Register will soon go all-digital. In Birmingham, where people have been reading the paper since the late 1800s, the news hasn't been easy.
Flight fare prices skyrocketed following Southwest's meltdown. Was it price gouging?
Passengers who looked for last-minute tickets encountered sky-high prices — in some cases, triple or quadruple the rate for the same route in the last few months. Experts say it's fairly normal.
Epstein's sex trafficking was aided by JPMorgan, a U.S. Virgin Islands lawsuit says
The U.S.V.I. says JPMorgan Chase didn't report Jeffrey Epstein's suspicious financial activities and provided him banking services after his 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor.
Pritzker-winning architect Arata Isozaki dies at 91
The Japanese architect was known as a post-modern giant who blended culture and history of the East and the West in his designs. He won the Pritzker Prize, the highest honor in the field, in 2019.
New York opens its first legal recreational marijuana dispensary
The first legal dispensary for recreational marijuana in New York rung up its first sales on Thursday, opening up what is expected to be one of the country's most lucrative markets for cannabis.