HOLIDAYS WEEKENDS

A key witness described how a political operative hired by the Republican candidate flouted the state’s election laws as part of an absentee ballot operation.

The president is prepared to veto any congressional resolutions of disapproval on his declaration of a national emergency over border security, White House adviser Stephen Miller says.

The former acting director of the bureau also tells NPR that he and Justice Department leaders were so rattled following the dismissal of James Comey they struggled with how to respond.

Bennett College, a historically black women’s college, could lose accreditation due to financial instability. President Phyllis Worthy Dawkins tells NPR’s Michel Martin how the school raised millions.

Almost 3,000 people painted their bodies blue and gathered in Germany in hopes of setting a world record on Saturday.

Researchers say this number could be much higher, and that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime carried out 98 percent of them, dropping chlorine gas, sarin and sulfur mustard gas on civilians.

The mayor of Cremona, Italy, blocked traffic during five weeks of recording and asked residents to please keep quiet so master musicians could play four instruments — note by note — for posterity.

Kindergartners from Georgetown Day School in Washington D.C., help NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro field questions to McClain, who’s an astronaut serving on the International Space Station.

Public records requests to the office of the Secretary of the Interior have increased by over 200 percent since 2016. Critics say that proposed rule changes to limit those requests will hamper access.

The Camp Fire in November 2018 incinerated roughly 90 percent of the homes in Paradise, Calif. Owners of the few remaining homes may find it more difficult to keep their home insured.

College students across the country have re-created campus versions of CBS’ Survivor — all while juggling classes and homework. The challenges are popular online and have earned a devoted following.

The living-history museum in Virginia re-creates 18th-century recipes in its restaurants using ingredients grown in the traditional way onsite. But some modern palates aren’t too keen on the taste.

The fund is reducing awards as it faces a surge in claims before the fund’s 2020 expiration date.

Ganz portrayed more than 100 film roles starting when he was 19. His most notable were as an angel in Wings of Desire and Adolf Hitler in Downfall.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel received a standing ovation for a speech that critiqued U.S. foreign policy. Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President Pence defended U.S. global leadership.

Theodore McCarrick rose to power as a cardinal and archbishop of Washington, D.C. He became the most senior Catholic Church official in modern times to lose clerical status.

Some aid workers are being denounced as opposition activists and there are fears that all aid could be blocked. The situation could soon resemble a “medieval siege,” warns an analyst in Caracas.

Also in this week’s education roundup, a new study suggest that a high-crime neighborhood can have an effect on student attendance.

The recent controversies embroiling some of Virginia’s top Democratic officials have the party reconsidering their leadership.

The parent company of the Hartford, Conn., newspaper has agreed to recognize a new union representing nearly 60 journalists. The move comes just four days after they petitioned to unionize.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released new rules for officers to identify visa petitions in which spouses are minors. No minimum age requirement for such requests currently exists.

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee sent letters to the Center for Public Interest, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department asking for information about meetings with Russians in 2015.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson said that lawyers and others in the case must refrain from statements that risk creating “material prejudice” but neither they nor Stone must keep completely silent.

Five civilians and the shooter were killed, officials said Friday. The incident occurred at the Henry Pratt Co., about 40 miles outside Chicago, where the man apparently was fired.

Amazon canceled plans for a New York City HQ after meeting stiff opposition over big tax breaks and other incentives. A California mayor refused to offer similar incentives but landed Google anyway.

When President Trump declared a national emergency on the Southern border on Friday, he claimed the move was routine — even as he acknowledged the administration is likely to face legal challenges.

Women’s rights groups have welcomed the declaration, but are concerned whether the new policies can impact the lives of the country’s women and girls.

An attorney for the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback tweeted that after discussions, the “parties have decided to resolve their pending grievances.” The terms are not public.

“I saw that you guys are speaking Spanish, which is very unheard of up here,” an agent told two women in a convenience store. The two friends were born in California and Texas.

The high court agreed to a speedy review of a lower court’s ruling that stopped Trump administration plans to use the census to ask whether every person living in the country is a U.S. citizen.

In Africa’s most populous country, current President Muhammadu Buhari is trying to hold on to his position, and opposition leader Atiku Abubakar is his fiercest challenger.