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A high altitude balloon floats over Billings, Mont., on Wednesday. The U.S. is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted over U.S. airspace.

Blinken postpones his Beijing trip after a Chinese balloon is spotted over Montana

9:33pm February 03, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

China's foreign ministry described the balloon as "a civilian airship" for meteorological research that had blown far off course by winds. The Pentagon suspects it's collecting sensitive information.

Immunity Americans acquired through vaccination or via prior infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus may account for the lighter than expected COVID surge in the U.S. this winter, researchers say.

Health & Safety

This winter's U.S. COVID surge is fading fast, likely thanks to a 'wall' of immunity

2:42pm February 03, 2023

by Rob Stein

The main reason the surge is ebbing now, pandemic experts suspect, is the significant immunity many people in the U.S. have acquired from prior infections and COVID vaccinations many received.

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Tires of a truck are pictured at a gas station in Frankfurt, Germany, Jan. 27. A European ban on imports of diesel fuel and other products made from crude oil in Russian refineries takes effect Feb. 5. The goal is to stop feeding Russia's war chest, but fuel costs have already jumped since the war started and they could rise again.

World News

Europe is set to ban Russian oil products, the latest strike on the Kremlin war chest

2:07pm February 03, 2023

by Jackie Northam

Starting Sunday, the EU will prohibit imports of Russian gasoline, diesel and other products from Russian refineries used throughout Europe.

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'Let it Be Morning' is the story of Sami (Alex Bakri), a Palestinian citizen of Israel living in Jerusalem who receives an invitation to his brother's wedding forcing him to return to the village where he grew up.

World News

Let It Be Morning shines light on Palestinians' unease with the status quo in Israel

1:44pm February 03, 2023

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Israeli filmmaker Eran Kolirin and Palestinian actor Alex Bakri about the film 'Let it Be Morning'.

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Ill-informed TV correspondent Philomena Cunk (Diane Morgan) travels around the world in Cunk on Earth.

Arts

Clunky title aside, 'Cunk on Earth' is a mockumentary with cult classic potential

1:33pm February 03, 2023

by David Bianculli

An ill-informed TV correspondent travels the world — with hilarious results — in Netflix's new oddball show. Diane Morgan's delivery is deliciously dry, and her improv skills are formidable.

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Brandon Tsay is awarded the medal of courage by Alhambra Police Chief Kelley Fraser at the Alhambra Lunar New Year Festival in Alhambra, Calif., on Sunday, a little over a week after the Monterey Park mass shooting.

National

Brandon Tsay wants to use his celebrity to help heal his community

1:21pm February 03, 2023

by Emma Bowman

The 26-year-old, who wrested the gun from a shooter who killed 11 people, has been hailed as a hero. Now, he's using his platform to redirect the overwhelming support to Asian American communities.

Then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell holds up a vial that he said was the size that could be used to hold anthrax as he addresses the United Nations Security Council in February 2003 at the U.N. in New York.

20 years ago, the U.S. warned of Iraq's alleged 'weapons of mass destruction'

12:45pm February 03, 2023

by Jack Mitchell

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech to the United Nations Security Council in February 2003 came to define and undermine the Iraq War.

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A portrait of Pope Francis in South Sudan.

Pope Francis arrives in South Sudan in hopes he can revive the peace process

11:55am February 03, 2023

by Emmanuel Akinwotu

While there is excitement, the trip comes with a sense of urgency. Despite a peace deal, violence along political and ethnic lines has continued and millions are in the grip of famine.

The Great Salt Lake is roughly 8-9 feet lower than it should be. A snowy winter recently has helped lake levels some.

National

Climate change and a population boom could dry up the Great Salt Lake in 5 years

11:28am February 03, 2023

by Kirk Siegler

Utah leaders are under pressure to end water diversions and enforce tougher restrictions in order save the drying Great Salt Lake. A recent report predicted it will completely dry in five years.

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Molly Tuttle is right at home at The Station Inn in Nashville, Tenn.

In bluegrass, as in life, Molly Tuttle would rather be a 'Crooked Tree'

10:35am February 03, 2023

Molly Tuttle's new album is her third. But in many ways, it's a reintroduction – of her prodigious guitar talent, of her personal story, and to the Recording Academy that decides Grammy Awards.

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