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Dredging waterways for navigation is a centuries-old practice, but this project is controversial because the mud being dug out of the channel is put into other parts of Mobile Bay.

(Image credit: Blake Jones for NPR)

Al Jazeera's Anas al-Sharif and five of his colleagues at the network were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting Gaza's most recognized television journalist.

(Image credit: Anas Baba)

Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was unlikely to be included in talks he described as a "feel out meeting" to better understand Russia's demands for ending its war in Ukraine.

(Image credit: Aurelien Morissard, left and center, Pavel Bednyakov, right)

Insulin needles. Sleeping bags. Nutella. These are items Arwa Damon’s charity — International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance — has tried to send to Gaza and Israel has rejected. It’s a glimpse into the harsh reality of a humanitarian crisis with no end in sight. Today on the show, we talk to Damon about the economics of running a humanitarian nonprofit and what’s stopping more aid from reaching Gaza. 

Related episodes: 
Why Israel uses diaspora bonds 
Why the U.S. helps pay for Israel’s military 
What could convince Egypt to take Gaza’s refugees? 

For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. 

Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. 

(Image credit: Mohammed Abed)

A Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, made a shocking announcement to the world in 2018: He had secretly engineered the birth of the first gene-edited babies. The birth of the twins was seen as reckless and unethical by the scientific community. That’s because, among other things, the CRISPR gene-editing technique Jiankui used was so new. NPR science correspondent Rob Stein has been following the controversial world of gene-editing and human reproduction, including some companies’ recent quests to push gene-editing technology forward.

Read more of Rob Stein’s reporting on the topic here.

Interested in more science news? Let us know at shortwave@npr.org. 

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

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The Trump administration has pressured China to have the Hong Kong-based operator of ports at either end of the canal sell those interests to a U.S. consortium.

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Miguel Uribe was shot three times while giving a campaign speech in a park and had since remained in an intensive care unit in serious condition with episodes of slight improvement.

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President Trump plans to tap an economist from the conservative Heritage Foundation to oversee the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He fired the previous leader after a disappointing jobs report.

(Image credit: Jim Watson)

She recorded a magical debut album on Blue Note and was later named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment of the Arts.

EU foreign ministers meet ahead of Friday’s Trump-Putin talks in Alaska, with Brussels insisting any peace deal must include Ukraine. And Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif was killed in an Israeli airstrike that also took out the broadcaster's crew in Gaza City.

Ford announced it will retool its Louisville Assembly Plant to focus on electric trucks. Its goal: to bring down prices for U.S. buyers and compete with Chinese EV makers on the global market.

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President Trump says he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to end his war on Ukraine, but will use a Friday summit to "feel out" his counterpart.

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The president said Nvidia would pay the government in exchange for easing export restrictions — and that he'd initially asked for a larger cut.

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President Trump called for the release of the grand jury transcripts after growing pressure to divulge more information about Jeffrey Epstein's case, but the judge on the case said there is nothing new to release.

(Image credit: New York State Sex Offender Registry)

President Trump has deployed federal agents in the nation's capital to crack down on crime and homelessness. And, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to meet Friday in Alaska.

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Steve Inskeep speaks with author and conservative commentator Max Boot about the changing world order.

Social media is full of videos saying hormonal contraception can hurt you and promoting natural alternatives. How did the treatments get such a bad reputation and do alternatives work?

President Trump's new tariffs are pouring in. But it's still only a fraction of overall government revenues — and falls short of new spending in the recent Republican megabill.

(Image credit: Jim Watson)

The library is launching a project in collaboration with Harvard Law School and OpenAI this summer to digitize the materials and make them more fully searchable.

(Image credit: Aram Boghosian for Boston Public Library
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Trump campaigned on helping American workers through his immigration policies. Now that he's revoked work authorization for thousands of immigrants, those left behind are feeling taxed by their absence.

(Image credit: Andrea Hsu)