U.S.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter announces new rules allowing transgender individuals to serve openly in the U.S. military, during a news conference at the Pentagon on Thursday.

National

Pentagon Says Transgender Troops Can Now Serve Openly

4:58pm June 30, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

"Transgender Americans may serve openly, and they can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military just for being transgender," Secretary of Defense Ash Carter told reporters.

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When mental health professionals don't take insurance, only the wealthy can afford their help.

How Therapy Became A Hobby Of The Wealthy, Out Of Reach For Those In Need

4:33pm June 30, 2016

by April Dembosky

Therapists are in such demand they can bypass insurance companies, so the wealthy are more likely to get treated. A historian explains how this came to be the norm in the U.S. health care system.

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Olympic Hopeful High Jumper Vashti Cunningham Sets Sights On Rio

4:26pm June 30, 2016

by Melissa Block

Lots of Olympic hopes are riding on 18-year-old, 6-foot-1-inch high jumper Vashti Cunningham. She just graduated from high school and went pro, signing a deal with Nike. She's coached by her father, former star NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham.

Prohibition-Era Gang Violence Prompted Congress To Act On Gun Control

4:26pm June 30, 2016

In the 1930s, the United States government was absorbed with a different kind of gun violence: prohibition-era gangsters using fully automatic weapons of war, with civilians often caught in the crossfire. NPR looks back at how the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, passed the nation's first firearms legislation, which still holds today.

Encore: 'Future Shock' 40 Years Later

4:26pm June 30, 2016

by Martin Kaste

Future Shock by Alvin Toffler was a huge sensation when it was published in 1970. The book perfectly captured the angst of that time and prepared society for more changes to come.

The 270 Project: Dem/GOP Election 2016 projections

The 270 Project: Try To Predict Who Will Win The Election

3:23pm June 30, 2016

by Asma Khalid

Demographics give Clinton an edge. But Trump says he can break the traditional mold. An NPR analysis — and new demographic tool — lets you create your own path to victory for either candidate.

Sal Khan, founder of the Khan Academy, sits in the main room of his laboratory school in Silicon Valley.

From YouTube Pioneer Sal Khan, A School With Real Classrooms

2:14pm June 30, 2016

by Eric Westervelt

Sal Khan, a pioneer of online tutorials with his successful Khan Academy, has established a private brick-and-mortar laboratory school in Silicon Valley. He plans to share its lessons with educators.

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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie fields questions at a news conference in March at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J.

Missing From 'Bridgegate' Investigation: Chris Christie's Personal Email Account

1:32pm June 30, 2016

The governor has insisted that his personal and government accounts were searched by investigators, but new court documents indicate that a personal account he shared with his wife was never searched.

Futurist and writer Alvin Toffler is seen with his wife and longtime writing and research partner, Heidi Toffler, in 2002.

National

'Future Shock' Author Alvin Toffler Dies at 87

1:25pm June 30, 2016

by Chris Arnold

Toffler's warnings about 'information overload' and the accelerating pace of change in modern society made his seminal 1970 book a best-seller in the U.S. and around the world.

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch speaks at a June 22 news conference in Washington.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Bill Clinton Met Amid Email Investigation

1:01pm June 30, 2016

by Carrie Johnson

It was a passing encounter on her government plane, but the whiff of impropriety while the Justice Department investigates Hillary Clinton's private email server could set Republicans howling.

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