NPR - Breaking News, Analysis, Music, Arts & Podcasts Top stories in the U.S. and world news, politics, health, science, business, music, arts and culture. Nonprofit journalism with a mission. This is NPR.

Latest Stories

Watch

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama presides over an event celebrating his 90th birthday according to a Tibetan calendar at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India on Monday. Ashwini Bhatia/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Ashwini Bhatia/AP

The Dalai Lama announces plans for a successor, signaling China won't have a say

The Dalai Lama said he will be reincarnated after he dies, and no one can interfere with the matter of succession. The Chinese government, however, claims authority over the his succession.

Dalai Lama says successor will be named after his death

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5453083/nx-s1-5512653-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sean Combs reacts as the jury foreperson and courtroom deputy read verdicts of the five counts against him during Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City in this courtroom sketch. The music mogul was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution but acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. Jane Rosenberg/Reuters hide caption

toggle caption
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

Sean Combs is found guilty on two counts, but is acquitted on the most serious charges

The music mogul was found guilty of transportation to engage in prostitution, but the jury found him not guilty on three counts related to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.

Sean Combs found guilty on two counts, but acquitted on most serious charges

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5446128/nx-s1-5514218-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

The Wisconsin Supreme Court listens to arguments during a redistricting hearing at the state Capitol, Nov. 21, 2023, in Madison, Wis. The court decided Wednesday, July 2, 2025, on the state's 176-year-old law that some say bans abortion. Ruthie Hauge/AP/Pool The Capital Times hide caption

toggle caption
Ruthie Hauge/AP/Pool The Capital Times

Wisconsin's 1849 law does not ban abortion, the state Supreme Court rules

WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR

After years of litigation following the Dobbs decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court justices, with their liberal majority, ruled that the state's 176-year-old law does not ban abortion in the state.

WATCH

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings: Tiny Desk Concert

The duo's music leans into small moments in order to make the outsized ones seem surmountable.

Timothée Chalamet, Donald Glover and Benson Boone sporting just a mustache, no beard. Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Dia Dipasupil and Michael Tran/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Dia Dipasupil and Michael Tran/Getty Images

Are we in the midst of another mustache renaissance?

Mustaches are having a moment. Here's what it's like living with one.

Are we in the midst of another mustache renaissance?

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5443648/nx-s1-5505745-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Alexis Radcliff, 19, (right) moved into her own apartment this week after living in a North Carolina hospital since she was 13. She was a baby when a car accident left her with significant disabilities. Alex Schwindt/DWC hide caption

toggle caption
Alex Schwindt/DWC

The disabled teen stuck in a hospital for six years finally gets her own home

When a disabled young woman moved out of a hospital to her own apartment, the Trump administration celebrated — even though it's ending the federal program that made it possible.

A disabled teen stuck in a hospital for six years finally goes to her own home

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5413356/nx-s1-5474309-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

In a high-contrast, black-and-white comic drawing, one person kicks another lying on the ground outside a store's doors, framed by two silhouettes in the foreground observing the scene. Subtle red shading radiates from the point of impact. Connie Jin/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Connie Jin/NPR

How to intervene when someone is harassed or attacked

If you find yourself in a situation where you sense someone needs help and you'd like to intervene, follow the "5Ds" to safely deescalate a situation.

The United States is gearing up for a big birthday: July 4, 2026, is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Above, Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the declaration was debated and adopted. Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Eric Baradat/AFP via Getty Images

America has a major birthday coming up — here's what to expect for the big 2-5-0

It's the nation's semiquincentennial! July 4, 2026, is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Here's how the United States of America is planning to party.

America has a major birthday coming up — here's what to expect for the big 2-5-0

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5437962/nx-s1-5513462-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

"Ghost guns" seized in federal law enforcement actions are displayed at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) field office in Glendale, Calif. on April 18, 2022. Former President Joe Biden imposed a host of restrictions on gun sellers. Some of those will be eased or eliminated as the Trump administration restructures the ATF. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Trump administration targets ATF, with plans to cut jobs and ease gun restrictions

DOGE staffers have been working on changes at the ATF that would roll back dozens of gun restrictions. The DOJ wants to downsize the agency — a move some fear will hinder criminal investigations.

Trump administration targets ATF, with plans to cut jobs and ease gun restrictions

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5440343/nx-s1-5512609-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Swimmers including Penn's Lia Thomas, lane 4, dive into the water at the start of a qualifying heat of the 200 yard freestyle at the Ivy League Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at Harvard University, Feb. 18, 2022, in Cambridge, Mass. Mary Schwalm/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Mary Schwalm/AP

Penn updates its swimming records to settle with the feds on a transgender athletes case

The U.S. Education Department and Penn announced the voluntary agreement of the high-profile case that focused on Lia Thomas, who last competed for the Ivy League school in 2022.

There's an uprising among Tiny Chef fans who are angry Nickelodeon has canceled his show. Rachel Larsen/The Tiny Chef hide caption

toggle caption
Rachel Larsen/The Tiny Chef

Can Tiny Chef fans get his show back on Nickelodeon?

Tiny Chef began as a passion project. Now, fans are rallying to revive it after Nickelodeon canceled the show.

Fans protest Nickelodeon’s decision to cancel 'The Tiny Chef Show'

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5451718/nx-s1-5513451-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Love Island is hitting a little too close to home. Vadmary/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Vadmary/Getty Images

'Love Island' and modern dating: why romance is dead

This season of Love Island USA is making some viewers feel exasperated. Is it a reflection of today's dating scene?

Our love lives have gone full Love Island.

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5449054/1269558294" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A Lululemon store is seen in New York City on April 3. The athleisure brand has filed suit against Costco, accusing the warehouse chain of copying its designs. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

In a lawsuit, Lululemon accuses Costco of selling knockoffs of the athleisure brand

The athleisure brand is accusing Costco of selling knockoffs of several of its signature designs and offering them at a lower price under the wholesale club giant's Kirkland Signature brand.

KISUMU, KENYA - APRIL 24: Pharmacist Joseph Njer Airo inspects boxes of antiretroviral drugs labeled "USAID," from the last donation before the funding cuts inside the medical stockroom of Migosi Sub-county Hospital on April 24, 2025 in Kisumu, Kenya.Kisumu has one of the highest HIV rates in Kenya, with around 17.6% of the adult population are living with the virus, nearly five times the national average of 4.5%. In 2025, Kisumu has become a focal point of a growing healthcare crisis, as funding cuts from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ripple through the local health system. USAID sent KES 84.1 billion (around USD 600 million) to Kenya to support a range of sectors, including health, education, and economic development. KES 18.8 billion was allocated to HIV/AIDS programs, which served as a critical lifeline for high-burden regions like Kisumu. What appeared at first to be a bureaucratic adjustment as Donald Trump became president has translated to severe disruption of life-saving services. Clinics are shutting down, access to essential medicines is diminishing, and some mothers have been forced to ration antiretroviral treatments (ARVS), risking both their health and that of their children. Thousands of lives now hang in the balance, and without urgent, sustained intervention, the progress made in HIV prevention and treatment over the past two decades risks being rapidly undone. Michel Lunanga/via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Michel Lunanga/via Getty Images

A study finds that 14 million lives could be lost because of Trump's aid cuts

A new study looks at lives saved by USAID in the past and what the future without the agency will look like.

An Indian nurse (L) administers pentavalent vaccine to a child during the launch of the immunisation programme in Hyderabad on June 3, 2015. The single shot of pentavalent vaccine will provide protection to infants from five life-threatening ailments, including diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus (DPT), hepatitis B and pneumonia due to Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b). Launched under the universal immunisation programme of the Government of India in the southern state of Telangana, the pentavalent vaccine will benefit close to 6.31 lakh people annually, according to health authorities. Noah Seelam/AFP/via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Noah Seelam/AFP/via Getty Images

RFK Jr. singled out one study to cut funds for global vaccines. Is that study valid?

When RFK Jr. announced he would cut funds from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, he cited "vaccine safety," referring to a 2017 study from Guinea-Bissau. We asked vaccine researchers to assess the study.

A resident of Altadena, Calif., tried to protect property during wildfires in January 2025. Wildfires are getting more extreme because of climate change. The Trump administration has taken down the website for the National Climate Assessment, which is the most comprehensive and authoritative source of information about how climate change is affecting all parts of the U.S. Ethan Swope/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Ethan Swope/AP

The White House took down the nation's top climate report. You can still find it here

The National Climate Assessment is the most influential source of information about climate change in the United States.

The White House took down the nation’s top climate report. You can still find it here

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5453501/nx-s1-5513481-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
more from