HOLIDAYS WEEKENDS

The president visited U.S. forces who are part of the fight against ISIS, amid criticism of a sudden decision to pull troops from Syria. It’s his first such trip since taking office.

Ginsburg underwent surgery last Friday for early stage lung cancer. At 85, she is the oldest justice on the Supreme Court and a stalwart of the court’s liberal wing.

The president caused a stir when he asked a 7-year-old caller to the Santa tracker hotline whether she still believed in Saint Nick.

More than 14,000 donors were tricked into paying for a couple’s vacations and handbags by a heartwarming story featuring a homeless veteran. Now GoFundMe has returned their money.

Japanese prosecutors say three top TEPCO executives didn’t do enough to protect the nuclear plant, despite being told in 2002 that the Fukushima facility was vulnerable to a tsunami.

In 2018, the Trump administration made good on its promises to unwind long-standing U.S. commitments to guarantee global security and prosperity, writes Ted Piccone of the Brookings Institution.

As drought has deepened across the West, much attention is paid to a colorful map that shows the hardest-hit areas. The scientists who update the map each week face enormous pressure to get it right.

Japan is leaving the International Whaling Commission, which put a moratorium on commercial whaling in the 1980s. The country will allow commercial hunts for the first time in 30 years next July.

Even after buying employer-provided health insurance, an Arizona couple incurred a mountain of medical debt since a new baby was born.

Teachers used social media this year to let the world into their classrooms. What did we see? A lot of crying, hugging and learning.

The Catholic Church has been roiled by revelations about clergy abuse in dioceses across the country in 2018. It began with a Pennsylvania grand jury report in August that detailed decades of abuse.

The tsunami that battered coastlines along the Sunda Strait over the weekend follows a similar wave that pounded the island of Sulawesi in September, killing an estimated 2,100.

President Trump, holed up in the White House, issued a series of angry tweets blaming Democrats for the impasse, which will affect some 800,000 federal employees.

On Monday, the Dow logged a nearly 3 percent loss — breaking a 100-year-old record for the worst Christmas Eve performance. After a day off for Christmas, trading resumes Wednesday.

Officials appear to have resumed coordinating with local shelters after days of dropping off hundreds of mostly Central American migrants without any plan.

Director Karyn Kusama has a history of films where women fight back. But Destroyer, despite its transformation of Nicole Kidman, fails to develop a compelling story to support that transformation.

What’s your preference: hagiography or demonization? A biopic about Ruth Bader Ginsburg is blandly positive, while another about Dick Cheney offers an extended, if entertaining, screed.

The president relishes speaking off the cuff but on Christmas Eve it may have led to a regretful blunder when he insinuated a girl was too old to believe Santa is real.

The Guatemalan child died after midnight on Tuesday in Alamogordo, N.M. He’s the second child to die in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody this month.

In the Holy Land, Santa doesn’t come down the chimney or wait till kids are asleep to deliver presents. “Baba Noel” or Father Christmas hops out of a red van and makes house calls while they’re awake.

The pope, an outspoken advocate for refugees and migrants, urged the international community to set aside its differences and turn its attention to crises around the world.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing and hours-long standoff with police in Kabul on Monday. Most of the people who died were government employees.

It can cost more to ship a pie than the price of the pie itself, and causes bakers a lot of headaches. So why does business boom over the holidays? Well, that’s personal.

Their former homeland was a U.S. testing site for nuclear bombs, but they can’t get Medicare or Medicaid in Oklahoma. A resident of Enid, Okla., who was born in the islands is trying to change that.

Rhode Island is among a growing number of states allowing children with autism to be treated with medical marijuana. The benefits are unproved and the full extent of the risks are unknown.

Wildfires destroyed thousands of homes across California this year. Fire scientists are discovering that most homes burn down from blowing embers, sometimes long after the the fire has passed.

Evangelicals in 2018 had to defend their views on sexual sin, given their willingness to overlook Donald Trump’s infidelity and reports of sexual misconduct by their own pastors.

About 40 percent of the Food and Drug Administration employees will go on unpaid leave starting Wednesday. The remaining staffers will respond to emergencies and continue work funded by user fees.

Angel Etchecopar, commonly known by his nickname “Baby Etchecopar,” was charged with sexist discrimination. Now, he must host experts on gender — and let guests speak uninterrupted.

Lawmakers planned to extend the law, but it expired on Friday. Payment requests from VAWA-funded programs will be delayed until the law is reauthorized, but grants already given will not be affected.

I had gone home to rural Zimbabwe for the holiday. In the village shop, two skinny young boys came in to buy cooking oil and bread. They hoped to use any leftover change to buy treats.

After President Trump’s decision to pull out U.S. troops, residents of northeastern Syria tell NPR they feel betrayed. Syrians, led by Kurdish fighters, have lost thousands in the fight against ISIS.

The Empress of the Seas was headed for Cuba, but changed its course for Jamaica due to weather. That’s how it ended up in the path of two fishermen from Costa Rica who had been adrift for 20 days.

Nawaz Sharif, who was removed from office over a separate corruption case last year, claims that the charges against him are politically motivated.