NPR News Headlines

Former special counsel Jack Smith spoke with lawmakers behind closed doors in December. That testimony is now public.

In recent years, mobile crisis response teams respond to 911 calls about people in mental crisis, to avoid involving police. But some crisis units have now closed for lack of consistent funding.

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., says he thinks the Senate can pass a "retroactive" Affordable Care Act subsidy extension, but "we need President Trump."

(Image credit: Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Every new year, public media reporters across the country bring us some of the new state laws taking effect where they are. Here are six in 2026.

(Image credit: Patrick T. Fallon)

From building your strength to tackling credit card debt, NPR's Life Kit has a newsletter journey to help you tackle your New Year's resolution.

Dozens of people are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, following a fire at a Swiss Alps bar during a New Year's celebration, police said Thursday.

(Image credit: Alessandro della Valle /AP)

For most of 2025, cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin surged as President Trump vowed to make the U.S. a crypto leader. But now, a severe sell-off has shaken the sector.

(Image credit: Vernon Yuen)

The legendary 95-year-old investor spent decades building his company into one of the world's largest and most powerful. Now Greg Abel is taking it over.

(Image credit: CHANDAN KHANNA)

Mayor Zohran Mamdani took the oath of office in New York City after midnight Thursday. The city's first Muslim mayor, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has promised to focus on affordability and fairness.

(Image credit: Pool)

Survivors of the Eaton and Palisades Fires find healing and community working on a Rose Parade float to honor the lives and communities lost in last year's wildfires.

(Image credit: Kirk Siegler/NPR)

The city shut down the station in 1945 on New Year's Eve. Eighty years later, it's a symbolic venue choice for the incoming mayor's private swearing-in ceremony.

(Image credit: Felix Lipov)

The U.S. military says it struck five alleged drug-smuggling boats over two days. The attacks killed eight people, while others jumped overboard and may have survived. U.S. Southern Command did not reveal where the attacks occurred.

(Image credit: Alex Brandon)

Former special counsel Jack Smith also described President Trump as the "most culpable and most responsible person" in the criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results, according to a transcript of Smith's closed-door interview with the House Judiciary Committee.

(Image credit: House Judiciary Committee)

Courts blocked troops from deploying in Chicago and Portland, Ore., and the Los Angeles deployment effectively ended after a judge blocked it earlier this month.

(Image credit: Etienne Laurent)

The final episode of fifth season of the Netflix series Stranger Things is out this week, and the concept of a wormhole figures largely into it. While the show is a work of fiction, theoretical wormholes have making appearances for decades not only in science fiction but in actual science.

(Image credit: KTSDESIGN)

As fireworks light the sky and crowds count down together, communities around the globe welcome 2026.

(Image credit: Izhar Khan)

A bumpy snailfish, Andean mouse opossum and ancient sea cow were just some of the many species described in 2025.

(Image credit: Alex Boersma)

Shirley is a 23-year-old self-described "independent YouTube journalist" who made prank videos in high school before pivoting to politics. He participated in a White House roundtable in October.

(Image credit: Adam Gray)

Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.

The flu is spreading rapidly across the U.S. this season, and it is expected to get worse. And, protests have erupted across Iran over the country's troubled economy.

(Image credit: Quentin Top/Hans Lucas)