Dr. Lawanda Jim, Chair of Internal Medicine, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Northern Navajo Medical Center on Tuesday in Shiprock, N.M. Micah Garen/Getty Images hide caption
U.S. News and National Top Stories NPR coverage of national news, U.S. politics, elections, business, arts, culture, health and science, and technology. Subscribe to the NPR Nation RSS feed.
National
The Department of Justice announced that a Texas man convicted last year of fraud and money laundering was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Rodney Mesquias owned a company that falsely told people they would die within six months in order to sell them hospice care. Alex Edelman/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A pedestrian walks past a sign reading "Take Out And Delivery Only" on the door of a restaurant in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan on Thursday, Dec. 17. Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
With 100,000 Restaurants Already Closed, Owners Left Wondering If Help Is Coming
Rep. Deb Haaland would be the country's first Native American Cabinet secretary. She opposed many Trump environmental rollbacks on public lands and considers climate change "the challenge of our lifetime." Juan Labreche/AP hide caption
The Department of Homeland Security is one of several federal agencies that have been part of a hack that hinged on a vulnerability in SolarWinds' Orion network monitoring products. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A federal grand jury has charged six men with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The suspects are (from top left) Kaleb Franks, Brandon Caserta and Adam Fox, and (from bottom left) Daniel Harris, Barry Croft and Ty Garbin. Kent County, Mich., Sheriff via AP hide caption
California Gov. Gavin Newsom holds up a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week at a Los Angeles medical facility. Coronavirus cases continue to soar in the state as hospitals struggle to keep up with the surge. Jae C. Hong/AP hide caption
Evening light illuminates the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino earlier this year in Atlantic City, N.J. The city's mayor, Marty Small, says that the right bid will buy one lucky person the right to activate the casino's planned implosion next month. Mark Makela/Getty Images hide caption
Cleavon Gilman, an emergency room physician and former combat medic, says three colleagues have died from the coronavirus. "You can actually die at your job now, and that's never really been an issue before," he says. Cleavon Gilman hide caption
Cornwall's Tavern's owners Pam and John Beale are in survival mode. They're thinking a short-term pause in business, as COVID-19 infections surge, could allow them to reopen strong next year. Tovia Smith/NPR hide caption
Tufts employee Gabe Ryan removes the Sackler family name from a building at Tufts University, the first major university to strip the Sackler name from buildings and programs. Boston Globe via Getty Images hide caption
Sacklers Deny Wrongdoing During House Panel Over Purdue Pharma Oxycontin Sales
Hospitalizations and deaths from the coronavirus continue to increase this month, with the number of Americans who died in a single day from the illness surpassing 3,600. Jae C. Hong/AP hide caption
Former Google researcher Timnit Gebru says she was unexpectedly fired after a dispute over an academic paper and months of speaking out about the need for more women and people of color at the tech giant. Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP hide caption
Health care workers have been throwing out the excess vaccine, fearing it would be against FDA rules to use it. Rogelio V. Solis/AP hide caption
Twitter says it will work with global health experts to enforce new rules prohibiting conspiracy-based misinformation about the coronavirus. NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images hide caption
Dr. Joseph Varon prepares to enter the COVID-19 unit at Houston's United Memorial Medical Center in May. With him are nurses Tanna Ingraham (left) and Jerusha Harshman (right). Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images hide caption
Tyson Foods has fired seven managers at its plant in Waterloo, Iowa, who were allegedly involved in a betting pool guessing how many workers there would get COVID-19. Charlie Neibergall/AP hide caption
A "Stay Home" sign is taped to a driver's vehicle as she passes Christmas lights during a car caravan of nurses calling for people to remain home amid a coronavirus surge last month in El Paso, Texas. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption
'What Real Friends Do': How to Navigate Tough Conversations About COVID-19
MacKenzie Scott, seen here in 2018, has given more than $4 billion to charitable organizations in the last four months. Her gifts target groups that fulfill basic needs for those struggling economically during the pandemic as well as those that work to fix systemic inequities. Evan Agostini/Invision/AP hide caption
Negro Leagues baseball veteran Jim Robinson and ESPN/ABC correspondent Ryan Smith attend an event celebrating 100th anniversary of the league in New York in February. Donald Traill/AP hide caption
Albert Corado (right), the father of Melyda Corado, seen in a portrait with her brother Albert Corado Jr. His daughter, assistant manager of a Trader Joe's in Los Angeles, was killed by a police bullet when an armed suspect fled into the store in July 2018. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption