U.S. News and National Top Stories NPR coverage of national news, U.S. politics, elections, business, arts, culture, health and science, and technology. Subscribe to the NPR Nation RSS feed.

Sunday

Coursera founders Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller are computer science professors at Stanford University. Jeff Chiu/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Jeff Chiu/AP

Vice President Richard Nixon listens as Sen. John F. Kennedy talks during their televised presidential race debate. This photo was made from a television screen in New York, Oct. 21, 1960. AP hide caption

toggle caption
AP

President Obama speaks during a campaign event at University of Colorado Boulder Sept. 2. He and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, will have their first debate at the University of Denver on Wednesday. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Saturday

President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney both campaigned in the battleground state of Ohio this week. AP hide caption

toggle caption
AP

Ohio County A Historic Predictor Of State's Vote

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/162019588/162020241" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Archbishop John J. Myers stands outside Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, N.J. The archbishop has urged followers to assess the presidential candidates for their views on abortion and gay marriage. Mel Evans/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Mel Evans/AP

New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger in his office in 1973. Anthony Camerano/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Anthony Camerano/AP

Thirty years ago this weekend, seven people died from ingesting Tylenol that had been poisoned. Since then, Johnson & Johnson has overhauled its packaging. iStockphoto.com hide caption

toggle caption
iStockphoto.com

Mia Love, the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, addresses the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Aug. 28. She's running for Congress against incumbent Democrat Jim Matheson. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

toggle caption
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Utah's Democratic Congressman Faces A GOP Anomaly

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/161996502/162006003" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

County Sheriff Lee Baca faces what may be the toughest fight of his 14-year political career. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Damian Dovarganes/AP

Friday

Polar bears in the Beaufort Sea in northern Alaska. Scientist Charles Monnett caused a stir with a 2006 report on polar bears that were drowning, apparently owing to a lack of ice. Steve Amstrup/Fish and Wildlife Service hide caption

toggle caption
Steve Amstrup/Fish and Wildlife Service

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during a roundtable discussion on manufacturing this Wednesday in Bedford Heights, Ohio. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

A worker separates tomatoes at a market in Mexico City. The Commerce Department says it might act to end a 16-year-old trade deal governing fresh Mexican tomatoes sold in the U.S. Gregory Bull/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Gregory Bull/AP

President Obama and Mitt Romney campaign in August: Obama in Leesburg, Va.; Romney in Waukesha, Wis. AP hide caption

toggle caption
AP

In Presidential Ads, A Shared Strategy For Connection

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/161970101/161974451" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Shepard Smith apologized to viewers Friday afternoon, after his show aired live footage of a man who fled police and then shot himself. Fox News hide caption

toggle caption
Fox News

Linda McMahon (center) visits a senior center in Naugatuck, Conn., this month. Jessica Hill/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Jessica Hill/AP

In Blue-Leaning Connecticut, Tight Senate Race Has Democrat On Offense

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/161952788/161982750" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript