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The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled ambitious new emissions rules this week. The agency estimates car makers would need up to 67% of their new vehicle sales to be electric by 2032 in order to comply with the stricter standards. Michelle Krebs, executive analyst with Cox Automotive says the changes "reinvent the vehicle" and will require a reinvention of the auto industry. In the face of t...

Syria is buckling under the stresses caused by civil war, a brutal dictatorship, punishing international sanctions, and most recently the devastation caused by earthquakes in the region last February. At the same time, the effectiveness of sanctions meant to hurt and isolate the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad is being questioned. Recently, a group of former U.S. officials and Syria experts urg...

Millions of Ukrainian children had their schooling interrupted by Russia's invasion. The war has also shaped their childhood in lasting ways. NPR's Elissa Nadworny visited a kindergarten classroom in Kharkiv, Ukraine, that was hit by Russian artillery last August. She set out to find out what happened to the children who had been students there. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local n...

Democrats and Republicans disagree on a lot of issues. But there's a growing consenus in both parites that China represents a threat to the U.S. And some worry that the rise in anti-China rhetoric could pave the way for xenophobia against Asian-Americans. Congresswoman Judy Chu, D-Calif., is concerned about that. She herself has been accused of disloyalty by a fellow lawmaker, and she says she wor...

A majority of the Nashville Metro Council supports reappointing former state Representative Justin Jones to the seat he was expelled from last week. Jones was one of two Democrats ousted by the Republican-controlled Tennessee state legislature after taking part in protests calling for stricter gun control in the state. NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Nashville Council Member-At-Large Zulfat Saura ab...

Whether you're a politician, a mental health expert, or a parent, it seems everyone has a problem with TikTok. Some concerns stem from the social media platform's addictive qualities or its effects on one's mental health. Critics have also noted dangerous video trends. Members of Congress in both parties are calling for a ban over fears that the Chinese government could harvest Tik Tok user inform...

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, a 19th century abortion ban took effect in Wisconsin and forced those practicing and seeking reproductive healthcare to travel across state lines. Earlier this week, voters elected Judge Janet Protasiewicz to become a justice on Wisconsin's Supreme Court, flipping control of the court to liberals for the first time in 15 years. That could h...

2023 is on track to beat last year's record when it comes to book bans. The free speech group PEN America counted 2,500 instances of book bans in U.S. schools during the 2021-22 academic year. Author Judy Blume has had a number of her books banned. She spoke to NPR ahead of the release of a documentary about her life, "Judy Blume Forever," streaming on Amazon Prime April 21. And NPR's Tovia Smith...

Black Americans are killed by police at more than twice the rate of White Americans. And there's a growing number of Black families who have to live with the pain of losing a loved one at the hands of police. NPR's Juana Summers speaks with two women who have been living that reality for years. In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going o...

The legal and political worlds officially moved into uncharted waters when former President Donald Trump was arraigned on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. NPR's Carrie Johnson breaks down the case against Trump, and the difficult path to conviction for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. And Peter Skinner, an attorney who worked alongside Bragg for several years in the Souther...

The FDA has approved over-the-counter sales of Narcan, a nasal spray version of the life-saving medication naloxone. The medication is known for its ability to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. The FDA's move will make Narcan more widely available than ever before. But experts say this is just one step in the right direction, when it comes to preventing overdose deaths. NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks...

In the twenty-five years since the Japanese media franchise Pokémon launched in the US, it has become a staple of American culture — from trading cards to t-shirts, from action figures to videogames, from Oreo cookies to McDonald's Happy Meals. And of course, the animated series. Since the launch of that series the biggest stars have undoubtedly been aspiring Pokémon Master Ash Ketchum and his ado...

Former President Trump has been indicted by a New York grand jury, making him the first former president in American history to face criminal charges. The case involves hush money paid by Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump. NPR's Andrea Bernstein says the lengths Trump's company went to cover up the hush money payment...

It's been another month of impressive and unsettling AI breakthroughs. And, along with excitement, these breakthroughs have also sparked concerns about the risks AI could pose to society. Take OpenAI's release of GPT-4, the latest iteration of its ChatGPT chatbot. According to the company, it can pass academic tests (including several AP course exams) and even do your taxes. But NPR's Geoff Brumfi...

Some officials in Democratic-led jurisdictions around the country are pushing to use involuntary commitment as a tool to tackle a surge in homelessness. We hear what officials in New York City, California and Portland, Oregon are proposing - and some of the pushback they are getting. Ailsa Chang speaks with April Dembosky with KQED in San Francisco and Amelia Templeton with Oregon Public Broadcast...

The United Nations says time is running out to avoid the worst effects of climate change. At the same time, countries like Bangladesh have no choice but to adapt to an already changing climate. Bangladesh is prone to flooding from rising sea levels and melting glaciers. And it is in the path of some of the world's most powerful cyclones. NPR's Lauren Frayer reports from northern Bangladesh on how...

A task force set up by the California state legislature is studying how the legacy of slavery has harmed the state's Black residents. This summer it will submit recommendations for how the state legislature should compensate African-Americans for that harm. The task force has to answer thorny questions like who should qualify for reparations, how to measure the suffering that Black people have end...

Donald Trump was the first president in American history to be impeached twice. Now, he may be the first modern president, current or former – to be charged with criminal conduct. The New York investigation into hush money paid to adult entertainment actor Stormy Daniels is just one of several criminal probes currently faced by Donald Trump, And it's the one that is closest to issuing charges. Ami...

On March 24, 2018, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Washington, D.C. to demand an end to gun violence. That was also the start of the March For Our Lives movement, which continues to call on young people to make their voices heard through the ballot box. Survivors of a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida organized that first march. One of them was David Hogg....

PIMCO founder and legendary investor Bill Gross was known as the "Bond King." People all over the finance world listened to his market calls. He helped change a sleepy bond market into the highly competitive and profitable world we know today. His story is also the story of how American financial markets work, how people game them, and what happens when they implode. NPR's Mary Childs wrote about...

School districts across the country are struggling to fill vacancies among their teaching staff. In addition to stepping up their recruitment efforts, some districts are looking to turn more of their existing staff into teachers. NPR's Cory Turner reports on the Mississippi Teacher Residency program, and on the impact it is having in the state's capital, Jackson. In participating regions, you'll a...

The Cherokee Nation has been hit hard by opioid addiction and fentanyl-related overdose deaths. But the tribe has a plan to heal. Like many communities around the country, the Cherokee Nation received settlement money from big drug companies and pharmacy chains accused of fueling the opioid crisis. The tribe is investing that $100 million in programs to support treatment, harm reduction and a figh...

On March 20, 2003, the United States launched its invasion of Iraq. We recall how the war started, and the trauma it left behind. NPR's Eric Westervelt was embedded with the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division as it pushed north from Kuwait. He describes what he saw in the first days of the war. We also hear reporting from NPR's Ruth Sherlock, who spoke to young Iraqis who grew up in the years sin...

Today, when we hear the word pandemic, most people think of COVID-19. But by 2003, while rates of HIV infections and deaths from AIDS had stabilized and fallen in the US, in sub-Saharan Africa, the rates were at epidemic proportions. In his State of the Union address that January, President George W. Bush announced a massive investment in the global fight against HIV –The President's Emergency Pla...

When it comes to TV ratings, women's college basketball is trending upward - even as the men's game is losing viewers. When it comes to resources and media coverage? There's still a wide gap between the men and women. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Chantel Jennings, senior writer covering women's basketball for The Athletic , about the factors that contribute to that gap and how the women's g...