For-sale signs are posted in front of condominiums for sale in July in Los Angeles. A new analysis from the Center for Responsible Lending finds that the average renter household now needs 16 years to save for a down payment and closing costs. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
October 22, 2026 • A new analysis finds that the average renter household now needs 16 years to save for a down payment and closing costs. Rising rents and other costs have consumed a growing share of household budgets.
People walk by a polling place at Denver's Central Library on June 30, 2026. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images hide caption
October 21, 2026 • The department has long deployed election monitors, but the Trump administration's unprecedented steps to try to wrestle control over elections have led to new concerns about DOJ monitoring this year.
Employees raised the alarm about minors appearing in sexual content on the app, which viewers could pay to access and the company would profit from — a potential financial crime. They also flagged that users under 18 were using loopholes to bypass age-restricted content and to block parents and guardians from reviewing their activity on the app. Imen Ben Youssef/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
October 20, 2026 • The warnings surfaced in a trove of unreported court records. "I have been fighting about fixing this for months with people who didn't think the harms are severe enough," wrote one executive.
October 14, 2026 • Free samples, high-pressure pitches and $50,000 bills: An NPR investigation reveals how a network of mall skincare stores systematically targeted older adults and people with disabilities across the U.S.
Sean Fern, a former FBI agent, is joining the prediction market platform Kalshi to lead the company's efforts in fighting money laundering. Provided by Kalshi hide caption
October 9, 2026 • The prediction market company says it wants to prevent its platform from being abused by criminals. The company is facing mounting pressure over market manipulation and insider trading on the site.
FBI Director Kash Patel testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in September 2026 in Washington, D.C. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption
October 6, 2026 • The cuts come as a consequence of President Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel's focus on violent crime and immigration, leaving other priorities understaffed.
Robert Prevost is seen in the Vatican's St. Peter's Square as he attends the funeral of Pope Francis on April 26, 2025. The next month, Prevost would be elected the first American pope, becoming Pope Leo. Franco Origlia/Getty Images hide caption
October 3, 2026 • When the 2025 conclave began, no one expected an American pope. But by its end, Cardinal Robert Prevost had become Pope Leo. Here's a look behind the scenes.
During the last strong El Niño in 2015, South Carolina experienced catastrophic flooding, driven by record-breaking rain. Forecasters say the super El Niño now developing is likely to be even stronger. Sean Rayford/Getty Images hide caption
October 1, 2026 • A powerful El Niño is already influencing extreme weather around the planet. During the last strong El Niño, federal agencies ramped up research in the hope of improving weather forecasts. This year, they won't be matching that effort.
A Valar Atomics microreactor is seen on a C-17 aircraft, without nuclear fuel, at March Air Reserve Base in California on Feb. 15. The reactor was transported from March Air Reserve Base to Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Matthew Daly/AP hide caption
September 30, 2026 • Valar Atomics wants to place over 450 reactors on more than 9,500 acres in Utah to power a huge data center project.
Jaimie Bethea, a 21-year-old mass communication specialist, had been deployed on the USS Fort Lauderdale for more than 11 months. She died by suicide in June, a month before the ship finally returned to Norfolk, Va. Arianna Calderon hide caption
September 29, 2026 • Jaimie Bethea, a 21-year-old mass communication specialist, had been deployed on the USS Fort Lauderdale for more than 11 months. She died by suicide in June.
Experts say that though the National Institutes of Health's total budget suggests that little has changed for the agency and its grantees, that top line masks deeper disruptions. Eva Revolver for NPR hide caption
September 24, 2026 • Stories of science funding being cut, labs shutting down and scientists losing jobs have flooded the media under Trump's administration. These six graphics show how those changes have affected U.S. biomedical research.
Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour at his home in Jerusalem, surrounded by his paintings on Nov. 18, 2025. Afif Amireh for NPR hide caption
September 23, 2026 • Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour spent his life painting the faces and landscapes of Israeli occupation. His sons say NPR was the last media to meet him before he died in August.
The U.S. Capitol is pictured on Sept. 14, 2026. Allison Robbert/AP hide caption
September 23, 2026 • While Senate offices have access to chatbots like ChatGPT, they are not authorized to use any of the more advanced tools that are at the center of regulatory talks and public debate about AI safety.
Cynthia Montoya sits in the living room of her home in Thornton, Colo., where photographs and memories of her daughter, Juliana, surround her. Juliana was 13 years old when she started using AI chatbots, and within a year she died by suicide. Jimena Peck for NPR hide caption
September 18, 2026 • As states push to regulate chatbots, tech companies are trying to write safety rules in ways that exempt some of their key products.
Signage directs voters at a polling place in White Bear Township, Minn., on Aug. 11. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images hide caption
September 18, 2026 • A heavily redacted email from last year, reported first by NPR, reveals that DHS personnel shared a list of jurisdictions that offer election materials in non-English languages. It's unclear why.
A voter casts her ballot in Colorado's primary election at the Central Library on June 30 in Denver. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images hide caption
September 18, 2026 • The latest lawsuit, first reported by NPR, argues the Trump administration's repeated suggestions that federal officers could be at polling sites is a form of illegal voter intimidation.
A nurse displays a set of birth control pills at Pima County Health Department's Northwest Clinic, which offers free reproductive health services for all ages through federal funding from Title X, in Tucson, Ariz., on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. Anna Watts for NPR hide caption
September 16, 2026 • Because of a data lag, the current reality of access may be even worse.
Observers film ICE agents in Minneapolis in February. A new lawsuit alleges that the federal government is trying to intimidate observers who monitor immigration enforcement operations. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images hide caption
September 10, 2026 • The sweeping lawsuit brought by Common Cause argues federal agencies are illegally surveilling and intimidating people who try to peacefully observe federal immigration enforcement activity.
In this file photo from 2024, Pennsylvania poll workers demonstrate how ballots are are received, processed, scanned and securely stored. Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images hide caption
September 9, 2026 • The idea of law enforcement taking possession of ballots in the middle of an active election used to be considered impossible. Now, it's a scenario voting officials — and judges — are training for.
Retired New York City Fire Department Captain Rocco Fertoli pauses near a reflecting pool at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan on Aug. 10. He visited the site with his daughter, reporter Annmarie Fertoli, as he shared his memories of 9/11 for the first time. Olga Ginzburg for NPR hide caption
September 5, 2026 • A captain with the New York City Fire Department 25 years ago on Sept. 11, 2001, tells his daughter for the first time what he experienced that day.
People line up before their hearings at the New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court in October 2025. Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
September 4, 2026 • The new effort appears to be another tactic in a broader Trump administration strategy to short-circuit immigrants' already limited due process options in order to speed deportations.
A voter casts their ballot at a polling station in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood as New Yorkers head to the polls on Primary Day on June 23 in New York City. Laura Brett/Getty Images hide caption
September 3, 2026 • The lawmakers wrote that they share "grave concern that time is running out … to assist state and local election officials in protecting our elections from cyber and mis-and disinformation threats."