News

The judge said Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had violated an order to stop collecting loans owed by students who had been defrauded by Corinthian Colleges.

DeVos Held In Contempt Of Court For Enforcing Loans On Defrauded College Students

2:59pm October 25, 2019

A federal judge has also fined U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for failing to stop collecting from former students of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges, which shut down in 2014.

Maria Butina, seen in this courtroom sketch, stands beside her attorney Robert Driscoll during a court hearing late last year in Washington, D.C. The Russian woman has been released from prison after serving a sentence for conspiracy.

Maria Butina, Convicted Russian Operative, Is Released From Federal Prison

2:45pm October 25, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

Butina cultivated connections with prominent U.S. conservatives. She pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as a clandestine foreign agent. Now she's expected to be deported back to Russia.

Elephants approach a road at Liwonde. Reid says the park hasn't lost a single high-value animal in 30 months.

World News

Elephants Under Attack Have An Unlikely Ally: Artificial Intelligence

1:14pm October 25, 2019

by Dina Temple-Raston

Conservationists are deploying audio recorders, neural networks and predictive analytics in a bid to save elephants from extinction.

Queue Listen Now

After regaining control of his number, Gregg Bennett says he received this automatic text message from the AT&T store in Boston that he believes was used by the SIM-swappers.

National

'SIM-Swap' Scams Expose Risks Of Using Phones For Secondary I.D.

12:47pm October 25, 2019

by Martin Kaste

Security experts say our growing reliance on cell phones to help confirm our identity online is motivating "SIM-swap" scams to highjack our numbers.

Queue Listen Now

Former classmates Natalie Guice Adams and Eli Brown reconnected at StoryCorps, in Birmingham, Ala., earlier this month, where they talked about their school integrating for the first time.

National

Their School Integrated But Racial Divisions Remained: 'We Missed Knowing Each Other'

12:16pm October 25, 2019

Eli Brown, who's black, and Natalie Guice Adams, who's white, were classmates when their Louisiana school integrated 50 years ago. "Our lives were so intertwined, but so separate," Adams said.

Queue Listen Now

This year the Drug Enforcement Administration is accepting electronic vaping devices (provided any lithium ion batteries are removed) during its annual National Prescription Drug Take Back Day event.

Want To Get Rid Of Your Vaping Device? The DEA Will Take It

12:02pm October 25, 2019

by Rachel Treisman

Amid growing concerns over e-cigarette health risks, the Drug Enforcement Administration says it will collect vaping devices and cartridges at National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday.

Joni Mitchell and Brandi Carlile at Joni 75: A Birthday Celebration in 2018. Carlile recently performed a tribute to Mitchell's Blue.

Music & Culture

'We Live In The Time Of Joni Mitchell': Brandi Carlile Turns 'Blue' Into Repertoire

11:25am October 25, 2019

by Ann Powers

Carlile's tribute concert established a new approach to canonizing Mitchell's work. And in a video produced for the concert, musicians and friends share their favorite lyrics by Mitchell.

President Trump's Twitter feed had more than 66 million followers as of October 2019.

As President Trump Tweets And Deletes, The Historical Record Takes Shape

11:24am October 25, 2019

by Rachel Treisman

Trump's tweets are considered part of the presidential record, which federal law says must be preserved. His deleted posts are alarming experts and prompting grassroots archival efforts.

Tim Olson, the Census Bureau's associate director for field operations, says the bureau is trying to recruit job applicants who speak the languages of the neighborhoods where 2020 census workers will be collecting information.

Census Bureau Confirms Noncitizens To Be Hired For 2020 After Uncertainty

10:19am October 25, 2019

by Hansi Lo Wang

The federal government plans to hire eligible noncitizens as census translators and door knockers if it can't recruit U.S. citizens with needed language skills, continuing a practice from 2010.

Ja'Ron Smith is President Donald Trump's Deputy Director of the Office of American Innovation. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Politics & Government

Trump To Tout Law That Helps Prisoners, But Advocates Worry About Details

9:45am October 25, 2019

by Ayesha Rascoe

The First Step Act calls for new programs to help prisoners prepare to re-enter society, but some advocates have raised concerns that key risk assessment tool may reinforce racial disparities.