In this courtroom sketch, Ghislaine Maxwell is seated at the defense table while watching the testimony of witnesses during her trial on Tuesday in New York. Elizabeth Williams/AP hide caption
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.
A man receives a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa. The omicron variant, first identified in South Africa, has now spread to at least a dozen other countries. On Friday, scientists presented evidence that the variant spreads twice as fast as the delta variant. Denis Farrell/AP hide caption
The Glorietta Mall in Makati City in metro Manila was transformed into a mass vaccination site on December 1 during a government-sponsored campaign to increase the number of people vaccinated across the country. Ella Mage/NPR hide caption
A memorial outside of Oxford High School, where four students were killed in a mass shooting Tuesday. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, accused of killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in March, is led into a courtroom for a hearing on Sept. 7, in Boulder, Colo. David Zalubowski/AP hide caption
Lady Gaga stars as Patrizia Reggiani and Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci in Ridley Scott's House of Gucci. Fabio Lovino/MGM hide caption
More NPR content after sponsor message
Peter, Zelda, Thomas and Eva in City of Ghosts on Netflix. Courtesy of Netflix hide caption
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, seen here on Thursday, signed a law that took effect this week that bans "squatted" trucks and SUVs, which have an unusually high front end and a low rear end. Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
An October 2017 file photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Force Investigation Team Report shows a number of guns in the interior of mass shooter Stephen Paddock's 32nd floor room of the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department via AP hide caption
A 3D-generated image of the coronavirus variant of concern known as omicron. The little bumps are spike proteins (see definition below). Uma Shankar Sharma/Getty Images hide caption
President Biden on Friday signed legislation to avoid a partial government shutdown but Congress still has a long to-do list before the end of the year. Jose Luis Magana/AP hide caption
A remote-controlled RC surfer riding a king tide wave during the astronomical event last year, in Huntington Beach, Calif. The National Weather Service says the California coast will see unusually high and low tides over the weekend. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption
The Thanksgiving Text will follow the unlikely friendship that came from a mistaken text message between Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton. Netflix hide caption
Kenesha Kirk Siegler for NPR hide caption
The Portland Trail Blazers fired Neil Olshey on Friday, after workers reportedly accused him of creating a hostile work environment. He's seen here sitting near Damian Lillard in 2019. Steve Dykes/Getty Images hide caption
Alec Baldwin and anchor George Stephanopoulos talk during the ABC News special Alec Baldwin Unscripted. Jeffrey Neira/ABC News hide caption
Lil Nas X's "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" is NPR Music's best song of 2021. Charlotte Rutherford/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
A driver for the ride-sharing company Didi follows a map on his smartphone in Beijing on Oct. 18, 2018. Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A top Chinese ride-hailing company delists from the NYSE just months after its IPO
The death of Jelani Day, a 25-year-old medical student who went missing on Aug. 24, was ruled by local officials as a drowning. "None of it adds up," said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is pressing federal authorities to step in. Bloomington, Ill., Police hide caption
David Oyelowo plays Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2014 film Selma, pictured here in a still from the film. Selma film hide caption
What three films and their Black characters reveal about America's ideas on race
Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), Phoebe (McKenna Grace) and Podcast (Logan Kim). Kimberley French/Sony Pictures hide caption
With 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife,' fans welcome a new generation to their ranks
Audio for this story is unavailable.
Tom Daley said his work on knitting projects helped him stay calm between events at the Tokyo Olympics, where he won a gold medal. He recently launched an online store, selling knitting kits. Clive Rose/Getty Images hide caption
Comet Leonard shot from Savannah, Ga., between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Wednesday. Patrick Prokop/HeavenlyBackyardAstronomy hide caption
A commuter walks past information boards displayed to remind the public on how to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Seoul on Wednesday. Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Retired Special Forces Maj. Ian Fishback, seen in December 2019, deployed four times to Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2005, he blew the whistle on U.S. troops who were torturing people in Iraq. New America/Flickr hide caption
The final, anguished years of a warrior-scholar who exposed torture by U.S. troops
Vice President Harris and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tour electric vehicle operations at a Charlotte Area Transit System bus garage on Thursday. The two were in North Carolina to promote the new infrastructure law. Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Tracking the coronavirus around the U.S.: See how your state is doing
Where are hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients? Look up your state
WATCH
MORE VIDEOS- 00:07:21
Tierra Whack and J Melodic make the leap from 'Whack World' to something otherworldly
- 00:11:06
Westside Gunn and Conductor Williams are perfecting rap's most refined aesthetic
- 00:07:02
Smoke and Fire: How Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist cooked up a no-compromise classic
- 00:08:11
Isaiah Rashad and Kal Banx lit up the darkness to make 'The House Is Burning'
- 00:09:43
How Rico Nasty and Kenny Beats became the loudest, unlikeliest duo in rap
The Formula: Season 2 Trailer