HOLIDAYS WEEKENDS

Earlier this year, Japan unsuccessfully lobbied members of the International Whaling Commission to drop the organization’s ban on commercial whaling.

NPR asked teachers for stories of standout gifts — and they delivered. From laugh-out-loud funny to touching and thoughtful to just plain weird, here are a few of our favorites.

In a year of big headlines, Fresh Air dove deep on topics ranging from the magnificent to the microscopic. Listen back to our conversations with scientists, comedians, authors, journalists and more.

Democrats will hold 12 presidential primary debates. The Democratic National Committee says it will have about one a month through the process.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Thursday that migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico — regardless of country of origin — must wait in Mexico while their claims are heard.

The two men are accused of being part of a vast government effort to transfer American trade, technology and defense secrets into Chinese hands, but are unlikely to face trial.

Facing a crowded primary in 2020, Democratic presidential candidates may not be able avoid identity issues in a Democratic party that is increasingly the party of nonwhites and white liberals.

The Agriculture Department wants to limit states’ ability to apply for exemption waivers. It wants more able-bodied people to work in exchange for federal food benefits.

The measure would fund about a quarter of the government but included no money for the border wall demanded by President Trump.

Under rules inherited from British colonial times, jokes, slurs or accusations against the head of state are unlawful. An “insult” carries a hefty fine and a brief jail sentence.

California-based chef and forager Pascal Baudar is a master of wildcrafted cuisine, creating visually stunning, palate-pleasing recipes from foraged ingredients — including insects.

Scholars at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum say that mass killings follow predictable patterns. They’re using a computer model to track where the next genocide is likely to occur.

Passengers who had been expecting to land near London were instead flown to a range of cities, from Liverpool and Manchester in Britain to Paris, Bordeaux, and Amsterdam.

The explosion in online holiday shopping is resulting in billions of packages needing to be delivered and stressing companies like UPS, FedEx and Amazon like never before.

If the decision of a judge in Texas to invalidate the federal health law holds up, expect broad effects on your health care — from insurance coverage to Medicare payments to pre-existing conditions.

Weinstein’s legal team unsuccessfully attempted to throw out charges of rape and sexual assault. Allegations against Weinstein from a multitude of women boosted the #MeToo movement.

Claas Relotius, who has admitted to faking some of his reporting, had written dozens of articles for Der Spiegel.

The agreement, negotiated over years, represents the first time since Cuba’s revolution that baseball players can sign with U.S. teams without defecting.

The 23-year-old became an Olympic sensation as a teen during the 2012 London games, where she broke a world record and became the first woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympics in any sport.

The Port Orchard twister was extremely rare, especially for December, says the National Weather Service. No serious injuries were reported, but homes and other buildings were affected by the storm.

The amendment stirred controversy on the island. The National Assembly said this week that eliminating a definition of matrimony was “a way of respecting all opinions.”

As efforts to get farmers to stop growing coca in favor of legal crops falter, some farmers feel abandoned. But one man says he’ll stand by them, helping farmers shift to cacao for high-end chocolate.

Police say the woman “attempted to elicit funds … in return for protection from some form [of] potential danger.” The law was scrubbed from Canada’s criminal code last week.

A New England Journal of Medicine study looks at death rates for children in the U.S. and compares them to rates from countries around the world.

Built in 1936, it was one of only a handful of Bay Area projects by the renowned architect Richard Neutra.

Court watchers weren’t shocked when Reed O’Connor, a U.S. district judge in Texas, ruled the Affordable Care Act invalid. Critics say he usually sides with Republicans on ideological cases.

Zimbabwe’s former first lady allegedly beat a model with an extension cord, though for nearly a year she had diplomatic immunity. That shield was dropped, and authorities say they’re back on the case.

An attempt to bring a little Christmas cheer has grown to capture the imagination of the Ohio city.

Biologic drugs, often made with the help of living organisms, are especially lucrative because they have scant competition from biosimilars, drugs akin to generics. It’s a different story in Europe.

U.S. troops have been in Syria since late 2015. The move is a reversal of U.S. policy: Earlier this month, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said troops would stay to stabilize the country.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is raising the benchmark borrowing rate to a range of 2.25 percent to 2.50 percent, a move that would put it at the highest level in a decade.

An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds that 52 percent don’t want the country to become more politically correct and are upset there are too many things people can’t say anymore.

A key step in running for president: laying out a foreign-policy vision showing he or she can command the military and keep the country safe. Several likely candidates are hard at work on this front.

As the number of people who inject drugs and share needles has soared, the rate of infection with hep C has climbed, too. Yet many drug treatment patients aren’t tested for the liver-damaging virus.

New research shared exclusively with NPR suggests that Pyongyang is refining its weapons technology through open scientific research. China leads the way in scientific collaboration with North Korea.