Nation Jul 13 Oregon Bootleg Fire, nation’s largest, keeps doubling in size National Interagency Fire Center reports more than 65 major fires in Western U.S. states that have burned close to a million acres so far. Thousands have fled their homes. The largest fire in the country is in Southern Oregon, and…
Health Jul 12 Is the Pfizer booster shot necessary to beat the delta variant? An expert weighs in Pfizer's recent push to add a booster shot to its COVID-19 vaccination protocol seems to be at odds with what many people understood about the drug's effectiveness. And, as William Brangham reports, it has also prompted real concern among healthcare…
Health Jun 30 Deaths from drug overdoses surge in some Black communities amid COVID-19 As the pandemic filled American hospitals and brought life to a near standstill in 2020, the longstanding opioids epidemic was only intensifying, essentially out of sight. As Amna Nawaz reports, the death toll from that epidemic, once centered on rural,…
Nation Jun 28 Here’s where search and rescue efforts stand 5 days since Surfside condo collapse The confirmed death toll from a tragic condo building collapse in Surfside, Florida rose to 11 people Monday. More than 150 others are still missing. While rescue teams have been searching the rubble for the better part of five days,…
Health Jun 24 U.S. life expectancy sees ‘massive’ decline, especially in Black and brown communities A new study found that between 2018 and 2020, U.S. life expectancy decreased by the biggest margin since World War II. The pandemic took an outsized toll in America compared to other countries, with life expectancy as a whole dropping…
World Jun 14 Are the G-7 pledges to combat climate change enough? An expert weighs in As carbon emissions build up in the atmosphere more than ever before in human history, western leaders at the Group of Seven summit pledged to reduce their use of coal, lower their overall emissions, and help nations most impacted by…
Health Jun 10 After 40 years of AIDS, progress has been made but major problems remain Four decades ago this past week, the first ever cases of the HIV/AIDS epidemic were publicly noted, and hardly noticed. But soon after, cases exploded around the world. It's estimated that roughly 35 million people have died from AIDS in…
Nation Jun 07 Pipeline battle brews in Minnesota between Indigenous tribes and a major oil company A protracted stand-off between a major oil company and northern Indigenous American tribes intensified this week over the construction of a pipeline in Minnesota. Tara Houska, an attorney, founder of the advocacy organization Giniw Collective and a member of the…
Nation Jun 04 U.S. Border Patrol is increasingly dropping off migrants in rural areas lacking resources A surge in crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent months has led U.S. Border agents to drop some migrants off at sites in rural American towns, to begin their wait for court hearings. But these towns often lack the…
Nation May 27 How ATF’s culture of leniency, lack of oversight allows ‘wayward’ gun shops to stay open A new investigation by USA Today and The Trace finds that the ATF, the federal body policing the gun industry, is "frequently toothless and conciliatory," goes easy on "wayward dealers" and sometimes allows guns to "flow into the hands of…