News

People enjoy drinks at a restaurant overlooking the Marina district in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2019. The country is loosening its liquor laws and other restrictions.

World News

Why United Arab Emirates is relaxing laws on sex, marriage, liquor, vapes and more

3:34pm January 11, 2022

by Ruth Sherlock

The UAE is overhauling laws on an array of business, cultural and social norms. On paper, it makes the emirate one of the region's most progressive countries, but critics say the reality is complex.

Queue Listen Now

The new Barbie doll of journalist and activist Ida B. Wells.

Journalist Ida B. Wells is commemorated with a Barbie doll for fearless activism

3:33pm January 11, 2022

by Elizabeth Blair

Wells was a writer and anti-lynching campaigner who edited and co-owned the Memphis Free Speech. Other role models the toy company has honored include Rosa Parks, Sally Ride and Maya Angelou.

A woman arrives at an American Red Cross blood drive held to help alleviate a blood supply shortage as a result of the coronavirus pandemic at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2020 in Las Vegas.

The Red Cross says there's a blood shortage nationwide. Here's how you can help

3:14pm January 11, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

A combination of the pandemic and severe weather have disrupted planned blood drives and caused a drop in donations.

A 2020 email from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's private secretary shows that 10 Downing Street hosted a private party, at a time when the country was under lockdown. Johnson is seen here visiting a pharmacy in his home constituency of Uxbridge, E

Boris Johnson is in hot water for hosting a BYOB party during the U.K.'s 2020 lockdown

2:04pm January 11, 2022

by Bill Chappell

On the date of the prime minister's party, the country's COVID restrictions meant that people were required to remain in their homes and away from others unless they had a "reasonable excuse."

The Justice Department building on a foggy morning in 2019 in Washington, D.C.

Politics & Government

The Justice Department will create a domestic terrorism unit to counter rising threats

1:10pm January 11, 2022

by Ryan Lucas

The announcement was made Tuesday by Matthew Olsen, the head of the department's National Security Division, and comes as the nation faces a constellation of extremist threats on the home front.

Capital One has become the nation's largest bank to end overdraft fees for all of its customers. Federal regulators are taking a hard look at bank overdraft fees, which hit customers with lower incomes the hardest.

People hate overdraft fees. Banks are ditching or reducing them

1:10pm January 11, 2022

by Chris Arnold

Capital One says it will stop charging overdraft fees and Bank of America is reducing them. These hefty fees hit people with low incomes the hardest.

Queue Listen Now

A graphic shows how a child can get trapped in the small space between a residential elevator car door and the exterior landing door.

National

A potentially deadly risk to kids prompts 3 companies to recall in-home elevators

1:03pm January 11, 2022

by Joe Hernandez

Bella Elevator, Inclinator Company of America and Savaria Corporation recalled about 69,000 elevators that pose a risk of pinning children between the elevator car door and the exterior landing door.

Voting rights groups speak out ahead of Biden and Harris' trip to Georgia

12:43pm January 11, 2022

Nsé Ufot, CEO of the New Georgia Project, speaks with NPR's Ailsa Chang about her view of Democrats' voting rights efforts ahead of the president and vice president's visit to Georgia this week.

Queue Listen Now

A Los Angeles home featured in Wes Craven's 1984 horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street has sold for almost $3 million.

The house from 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' just sold for nearly $3 million

12:39pm January 11, 2022

by Bill Chappell

Even Freddy Krueger might be frightened by today's hyper-competitive housing market.

Sure a goldfish can mingle in a tank, but some have taken their movement to the next level by operating robotic vehicles on land as part of an animal behavior experiment.

Israeli scientists have trained goldfish to drive, in a scene out of a Dr. Seuss book

12:11pm January 11, 2022

by Rachel Treisman

An experiment involving a robotic tank on wheels and six trained goldfish may offer insights into animals' ability to navigate unfamiliar environments.