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Rep. Zooey Zephyr talks to reporters at the Montana State Capitol in Helena, Mont., in 2023.

Openly transgender Rep. Zooey Zephyr, pictured at the Montana State Capitol in Helena, Mont., in 2023, was reelected last month. This week, her colleagues debated a rule that would have blocked her from the women's restroom at the capitol. Tommy Martino/AP hide caption

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Tommy Martino/AP

National

Montana lawmakers cross the aisle to block a trans bathroom ban in the state capitol

Some Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting the measure, which would have restricted bathroom access. Rep. Zooey Zephyr, Montana's first openly transgender legislator, won a second term last month.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Defense, and his wife Jennifer Rauchet walk through the Russell Senate Office building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 3, 2024.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Secretary of Defense, and his wife Jennifer Rauchet walk through the Russell Senate Office building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 3, 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption

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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Politics

Trump’s Defense pick Hegseth is under scrutiny. But he says he's 'not going anywhere'

Pete Hegseth is fighting to keep his nomination on track after a series of negative reports about his past behavior — including a damning email his mother sent him during his second divorce.

Trump’s Defense pick Hegseth is under scrutiny. But he says he's 'not going anywhere'

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Research about the degenerative brain disease known as CTE in athletes has largely focused on American football. But a new study of ice hockey players has found a link between the length of a player's career and their risk of developing the condition.

Research about the degenerative brain disease known as CTE in athletes has largely focused on American football. But a new study of ice hockey players has found a link between the length of a player's career and their risk of developing the condition. Patrick Smith/Getty Images hide caption

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Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Sports

Longer careers in ice hockey are linked to a greater risk of CTE, a new study finds

A new Boston University study of 77 deceased male ice hockey players found that their chances of developing the degenerative brain disease known as CTE increased with each year they played the sport.

Longer careers in ice hockey are linked to a greater risk of CTE, a new study finds

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Rescue workers continue to search on Wednesday for Elizabeth Pollard, who is believed to have disappeared in a sinkhole while looking for her cat, in Marguerite, Pa.

Rescue workers continue to search on Wednesday for Elizabeth Pollard, who is believed to have disappeared in a sinkhole while looking for her cat, in Marguerite, Pa. Gene J. Puskar/AP hide caption

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Gene J. Puskar/AP

National

Police say searchers in Pennsylvania don't expect to find woman in sinkhole alive

The search for a woman who is believed to have fallen into a sinkhole in western Pennsylvania is moving into a recovery effort after two days of searching produced no signs of life, authorities said.
Paul Atkins, left, talks to then SEC Chair Christopher Cox during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 26, 2007. Atkins was then an SEC commissioner, and he has now been picked by President-elect Trump as the next head of the agency,

Paul Atkins, left, talks to then SEC Chair Christopher Cox during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on June 26, 2007. Atkins was then an SEC commissioner, and he has now been picked by President-elect Trump as the next head of the agency, Mark Wilson/Getty Images/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Mark Wilson/Getty Images/Getty Images North America

Business

Trump picks crypto backer Paul Atkins as new Securities and Exchange Commission chair

Trump picked Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, to head the agency. Known for his support of cryptocurrencies, Atkins could help shape regulations for the industry.

WATCH

Old Crow Medicine Show: Tiny Desk Concert

The band performs its revved-up take on roots music at the Tiny Desk.
Elon Musk attends a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13. A federal judge this week ruled that Musk's $50 billion pay package from Tesla cannot be reinstated.

Elon Musk attends a House Republicans Conference meeting at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill on November 13. A federal judge this week ruled that Musk's $50 billion pay package from Tesla cannot be reinstated. Allison Robbert/Getty Images hide caption

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Allison Robbert/Getty Images

Business

Elon Musk's more than $50 billion pay deal at Tesla was rejected again. Here is why

A judge in Delaware has for the second time struck down a compensation package for Elon Musk after a Tesla shareholder filed suit.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump on Nov. 1, 2024 in Warren, Mich. Kennedy has been named to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in the incoming Trump administration. Kennedy is on leave from leading Children's Health Defense, a nonprofit that has filed more than 30 lawsuits challenging vaccines and public health mandates.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump on Nov. 1, 2024 in Warren, Mich. Kennedy has been named to lead the Department of Health and Human Services in the incoming Trump administration. Kennedy is on leave from leading Children's Health Defense, a nonprofit that has filed more than 30 lawsuits challenging vaccines and public health mandates. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Untangling Disinformation

Inside RFK Jr.'s nonprofit's legal battles over vaccines and public health

The nonprofit Children’s Health Defense that Kennedy led has filed nearly 30 federal and state lawsuits since 2020, many challenging vaccines and public health mandates.

CHD LAWSUITS

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Lawmakers and members of the South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party (DP) demonstrate against the country's president at the National Assembly on Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea.

Lawmakers and members of the South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party (DP) demonstrate against the country's president at the National Assembly on Wednesday in Seoul, South Korea. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images hide caption

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Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

Asia

South Korea’s president faces calls to resign or be impeached

Opposition parties have filed a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol and plans for rallies in major cities are underway.

The president of South Korea is facing calls to resign or be impeached

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A general view of the Chinese mining company COMMUS (Musonoïe Mining Company Global SAS), downtown Kolwezi.

A general view of the Chinese mining company COMMUS (Musonoïe Mining Company Global SAS), downtown Kolwezi. Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images

Africa

Congo’s mining capital is at the heart of Biden's bid to counter China in Africa

Kolwezi has some of the world's largest copper and cobalt reserves and that makes it a key location at the heart of the U.S. and China's jostle for mineral supremacy on the African continent.

Congo's mining capital is at the center of U.S. bid to counter China in Africa

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Time of the Child

Time of the Child Bloomsbury Publishing hide caption

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Bloomsbury Publishing

Review

Book Reviews

'Time of the Child' is a marvelous blend of despair and redemption

Set in a small Irish village in the weeks leading up to Christmas 1962, Niall Williams' latest novel avoids cliché by investing specificity and life into characters and places.

'Time of the Child' is a marvelous blend of despair and redemption

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Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova in Moscow, May 31.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova in Moscow, May 31. Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik via Reuters hide caption

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Alexander Kazakov/Sputnik via Reuters

Ukraine invasion — explained

Putin's planes took Ukrainian kids into 'coerced' Russian adoptions, a Yale report says

Russia’s president and senior Kremlin officials financed and facilitated the transport of at least 314 Ukrainian children into "coerced" foster care and adoptions, a new Yale University report says.
People line up to vote at a polling station at Greater Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Charlotte on Nov. 5.

People line up to vote at a polling station at Greater Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Charlotte on Nov. 5. Grant Baldwin/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Grant Baldwin/AFP via Getty Images

2024 Election

After years of legal fights, North Carolina’s voter ID law gets its first major test

 WFAE

For more than a decade, North Carolina has seen a bitter back-and-forth over voter identification rules. The requirement finally got its first major test in last month’s presidential election.

North Carolina voter ID

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Journalists for the British newspapersThe Guardian and The Observer, voted to strike for several days this week and next to protest the planned sale of the Observer. The Observer was founded in 1791 and is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. Guardian Media Group executives say the title is on track to be unprofitable in coming years.

Journalists for the British newspapersThe Guardian and The Observer, voted to strike for several days this week and next to protest the planned sale of the Observer. The Observer was founded in 1791 and is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. Guardian Media Group executives say the title is on track to be unprofitable in coming years. Oli Scarff/Getty Images hide caption

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Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Media

'Guardian' journalists strike to protest the sale of sister paper 'Observer'

Nearly 500 journalists have walked out of the Guardian and its sister paper, the Observer, to protest what they see as a betrayal of the paper’s values: the planned sale of the Observer to a startup.
Wicked author Gregory Maguire said that while writing Elphaba's character was not an analog to his experience as a gay man, it did give him an example of "how to be brave and strong in this world.”

Wicked author Gregory Maguire said that while writing Elphaba's character was not an analog to his experience as a gay man, it did give him an example of "how to be brave and strong in this world." Rachel Armany/GBH News hide caption

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Rachel Armany/GBH News

How ‘Wicked’ author Gregory Maguire’s own story helped him channel Elphaba’s

 WGBH Radio

Member station WGBH visited Maguire at his home outside Boston to go back to where it all began — both for his own life and for his trip into the world of Oz.
Teachers Emily Brisse, Mitchell Rutherford and Abbey Osborne have competed with smartphones for students' attention.

Teachers Emily Brisse, Mitchell Rutherford and Abbey Osborne have competed with smartphones for students' attention. Emily Brisse, Mitchell Rutherford and Abbey Osborne/Compiled by NPR hide caption

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Emily Brisse, Mitchell Rutherford and Abbey Osborne/Compiled by NPR

National

Teens can't get off their phones. Here's what some schools are doing about it

Teens spend much of their days on their phones — many of them during school. Here’s how schools and teachers are trying to fix that.
Liz Koziol works with the world’s largest collection of a category of soil fungus that benefits many plant species, the International Collection of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi. She and other experts in these fungi have tested commercial products with what they say are concerning results.

Liz Koziol works with the world's largest collection of a category of soil fungus that benefits many plant species, the International Collection of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi. She and other experts in these fungi have tested commercial products with what they say are concerning results. Celia Llopis-Jepsen/Kansas News Service hide caption

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Celia Llopis-Jepsen/Kansas News Service

Soil health is big business, but researchers say many fungal products don't work as promised

 KCUR 89.3

There’s no shortage of products designed to grow beneficial fungi that will help your crops or garden. Whether they actually do that, though, is a different matter.
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