News

Cardinal Bernard Law, former archbishop of Boston, celebrates Mass in April 2005 inside St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.

Fallen Kings: How Cardinal Law's Reign Cemented The Church's Fading Power

12:14pm December 23, 2017

by Tovia Smith

In the old days, the Catholic Church was almighty and the cardinal was closer to king. The sexual abuse scandal and church's rigidity on social issues changed that.

Work crews remove debris at the site of a home destroyed by fires in the Coffey Park area of Santa Rosa, Calif., last month. Thousands of homes and other structures were destroyed by wildfires in the area.

National

Calif. Fire Victims Put Up Christmas Trees Where Homes Once Stood

8:43am December 23, 2017

by April Dembosky

Fire victims are putting up Christmas trees in lots where their homes used to be in Santa Rosa, Calif. The working-class neighborhood was razed by the Wine Country fires earlier this year.

A pot of rajma, a bean stew from the north of India, cooks on the stove. It's one of the recipes included in the new cookbook Bollywood Kitchen.

'Bollywood Kitchen': A Celebration Of Indian-American Cuisine

8:11am December 23, 2017

by Adhiti Bandlamudi

A new cookbook aims to capture the blended cuisine of second-generation Indian-Americans. It pairs recipes with Bollywood movies, for an added taste of home.

President Trump celebrates after his speech during the presidential inauguration on Capitol Hill.

Politics & Government

Comey, Spicey, Fake News And Biden: The Most Popular Politics Stories Of 2017

7:01am December 23, 2017

by Miles Parks

These are the politics stories that drew in the most readers this year. And the top story is not about President Trump.

A missile struck the Badr family home in Iraq in 2006.

See Dioramas Of Refugee Homes, Each Re-Created In An Old-Fashioned Suitcase

7:00am December 23, 2017

by Diane Cole

The miniatures, each displayed in a piece of luggage, capture telling details — a blooming plant in a flowerpot, a kid's tricycle covered in dust, holes punched by bombs.

Protesters hold signs near the White House during a protest about President Trump's immigration policies. A proposed presidential action would freeze immigration from mostly Muslim countries.

World News

10 International Stories You Loved In 2017

6:01am December 23, 2017

by Hannah Bloch

Some of the most-read NPR Parallels stories looked at how North Korean nuclear tests could get even more terrifying, a disastrous speech by Britain's Theresa May and the popularity of Uighur models.

Education Under The Tax Bill, For-Profit Colleges And More Women In Med School

6:00am December 23, 2017

Graduate students can breathe easier, a potential mixing of church and state in Louisiana, and for-profit students will get less money back than anticipated. It's the last weekly roundup of the year!

(Left to right) Donald Trump, Abraham Lincoln and then vice presidential-candidate Richard Nixon

Why Mental Health Is A Poor Measure Of A President

5:00am December 23, 2017

by Jon Hamilton

Presidents from Lincoln to Nixon appear to have suffered from a range of psychiatric disorders. But mental health professionals say that doesn't mean they were unfit for the office.

In this photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, CAL FIRE Inmate Firefighting Hand Crew members hike through the charred landscape on their way to work east of Gibraltar Road above Montecito, Calif., earlier this wee.

National

Thomas Fire Is Now California's Largest Wildfire In History

3:29am December 23, 2017

by Doreen McCallister

State fire officials say the fire burning in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties is bigger than the previous record holder — the 2003 Cedar fire in San Diego County that killed 15 people.

An Army team at Dover Air Force Base, Del., carries a transfer case containing the remains of Sgt. 1st Class Hughton O. Brown on Nov. 16.

The Delicate And Draining Task Of Tending To America's Fallen Troops

6:30pm December 22, 2017

by Greg Myre

Sgt. 1st Class A.G. Shaw has been a military mortician throughout America's long wars. Now he says it's time for him to move on. "It's not like the movies. We don't die pretty," he says.

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