National News

It's a classic Washington power move — the late-on-Friday news dump. This past Friday, at 4:30pm, start of a long holiday weekend, about half the staff of the National Security Council got emails asking them to leave by 5pm. Dozens of people abruptly dismissed. The restructuring of the NSC as Secretary of State and National Security advisor Marco Rubio has characterized it — continues a trend in this second term for President Trump, of radical downsizing. The Trump administration plans to cut thousands of intelligence and national security jobs across the government. The US Government has long relied on scores of intelligence officials across the government to keep America safe. Trump wants many of them gone – what could that mean for security at home and abroad? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Lewis Pugh wants to change public perceptions and encourage protections for sharks — which he said the film maligned as "villains, as cold-blooded killers."

Schools in Maine have been at the center of a political battle with the Trump administration. Now, many fear after-school programs, critical for low-income communities, could be lost.

NPR and three Colorado public radio stations are suing the Trump administration over the president's executive order seeking to ban the use of federal money for NPR and PBS.

New manufacturing has come to Worcester in recent years — but many businesses rely on the global supply chain to survive.

Experts in psychiatry, law enforcement and diversity, equity and inclusion talk about the continuing effects of George Floyd's murder.

Everyone has a list of so-called "red flags" when they're dating. And for some, especially younger Americans, different political views is a relationship deal breaker.

The movie Sinners takes place in Clarksdale, Miss., but its residents can't watch it without leaving town. Now the movie is coming to them.