News

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.

Queue Listen Now

Retired American photographer Tom Haley, 66, portrays Santa during a pageant in Normandy.

World News

How An American Became Santa In A Little Town In France

5:55pm December 22, 2017

by Eleanor Beardsley

An American with a home in the French town of Vimoutiers, in Normandy, looks so much like Santa that the locals want him to play the part.

The 58 fatalities in October's mass shooting in Las Vegas were all caused by gunshot wounds, the county coroner and medical examiner said Thursday. A makeshift memorial on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip a few days after the shooting has photos of so

Coroner Releases Causes Of Death For All 58 Victims Of Las Vegas Shooting

5:33pm December 22, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

Nearly all of the fatalities were caused by a single gunshot wound, though six died from multiple wounds. The deaths were all ruled homicides.

After a long history of civil war and corruption, many Liberians didn't trust their government's attempts to control Ebola.

Radio Replay: Don't Panic!

5:00pm December 22, 2017

Chaos is a part of all of our lives. Sometimes we try to control it. And other times, we just have to live with it. On this week's Radio Replay, we explore different strategies for coping with chaos.

National

Bruce McCandless, First Astronaut To Fly Untethered In Space, Has Died

4:47pm December 22, 2017

by Russell Lewis

He helped develop the jet-powered backpack that allowed him to float away from the shuttle and safely back again. He said he wanted to inspire people to say, "I can do better than that."

Queue Listen Now

World News

Myanmar Bans U.N. Official Investigating Human Rights Abuses Against Rohingya

4:34pm December 22, 2017

Myanmar has banned Yanghee Lee, a United Nations official assigned to investigate human rights abuses in the country. NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Lee about her findings on Myanmar's treatment of it's Rohingya minority.