NPR National News

A coal hauling truck with 240 tons of coal drives to the surface at the Buckskin Coal Mine in Gillette, Wyo., May 5, 2004.

U.S. coal production is up sharply after hitting a 50-year low last year

Kayla Desroches

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As the Biden administration prepares to negotiate reductions in fossil fuel use at the Glasgow climate summit at the end of the month, U.S. coal production is actually up significantly this year.

Alec Baldwin fires prop gun on movie set killing a film crew member

Scott Detrow

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Baldwin discharged a prop firearm on the set of Rust near Sante Fe, killing the film's director of photography and injuring the director, according to the sheriff's office of Santa Fe County, N.M.

Nitin Bajaj and Nimisha Lotia stand with their kids inside the empty and damaged apartment unit where two tenants stayed without paying rent in Los Angeles, Calif., on Saturday, October 2, 2021.

They refused to pay rent and stole the fridge. Landlords deal with pandemic squatters

Chris Arnold

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Some landlords got hurt by squatters who took advantage of eviction bans during the pandemic. Now they can't get any help from a massive $47 billion federal rental assistance program.

A major gathering of anti-vaccine activists will take place this weekend at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. While the hotel, seen here, encourages guests to wear masks, they are not mandatory.

While COVID still rages, anti-vaccine activists will gather for a big conference

Paige Pfleger

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Among the attendees are people who also spread misinformation about 2020 presidential election and other conspiracy theories.

Menari, the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan, is seen climbing in her enclosure at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. The zoo announced Thursday that Menari is pregnant with twins.

An endangered Sumatran orangutan at the New Orleans zoo is expecting twins

Jonathan Franklin

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The births will be the first for Menari, zoo officials say. She is expected to give deliver the twins sometime this winter.

A helicopter hovers over a remote area northeast of the town of Mariposa, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 18. According to the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office, the area is reported to be where a family and their dog were found dead.

Heat stress likely caused the deaths of a California family while they were hiking

Eric Westervelt

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The case of the family found dead on a hiking trail in August had perplexed investigators and the public. On Thursday, Sheriff-Coroner Jeremy Briese confirmed the cause of death.

Adil Dghoughi, 31, was parked in a car in a rural neighborhood late at night. According to local reports, Dghoughi was shot through the window of the car and died on the scene.

A Moroccan man was shot to death in Texas while sitting in a car

Deepa Shivaram

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The Council on American Islamic Relations is calling for a complete and independent investigation of the killing in Caldwell County, about 40 miles from Austin.

Boo! Where are the Halloween costumes?

Danielle Prieur

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Add Halloween costumes to the list of items that are hard to find this year. Parents are scrambling and coming up with creative ideas to try to get their families decked out for the spooky day.

Black children make up more than half of the incidents of police using force on kids

Sarah McCammon

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NPR's Sarah McCammon talks with Kristin Henning of Georgetown University on why Black children are more likely to be handled forcibly by police.

Karen Watkins is vice chair of the school board of Gwinnett County, a suburban county north of Atlanta. She is surprised that she has become a target for a political culture war. "I just didn't realize that it would impact the local school board," Watkins says. "Our main focus is towards student achievement and ensuring that we are producing children that are thriving."

What it's like to be on the front lines of the school board culture war

Anya Kamenetz

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Karen Watkins ran for her local school board because she wanted to be involved in her children's education. Since her election in 2020, she's been yelled at, threatened and followed to her car.