National

Senate Passes $1.1 Trillion Spending Bill

12:18pm December 14, 2014

The Senate voted late Saturday to pass a bill that will fund the government through the end of the fiscal year. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to NPR's Mara Liasson about the rare Saturday session.

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National

Thousands March Across U.S. Protesting Police Brutality

12:18pm December 14, 2014

by Laura Sullivan

Tens of thousands gathered in cities across the country on Saturday to draw attention to several high-profile deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police.

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The Geminid meteor shower above Skopje, Macedonia, on Saturday.

Geminid Meteor Showers Light Up Both Hemispheres

11:24am December 14, 2014

by L. Carol Ritchie

Pieces of gravel and dust from a "rock comet" called 3200 Phaethon are still shooting across the sky, dazzling the Earthlings below.

A boy lies on a mattress on the floor of Redemption Hospital, a holding center for Ebola patients in Monrovia, Liberia.

A Michel Du Cille Disciple Remembers His Late, Great Boss

4:18pm December 13, 2014

by Marc Silver

NPR's Ben de la Cruz worked for du Cille at the Washington Post. Stunned by the news of the photographer's death in Liberia, de la Cruz tells what he learned from the man with the gentle soul.

Outrage On The Left And Right As Senate Delays Spending Vote

2:21pm December 13, 2014

by Ailsa Chang

The Senate is poised to pass the trillion-dollar spending bill that narrowly cleared the House this week, but anger about the measure from both parties has delayed the proceedings.

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National

Holder Won't Force NYT Journalist To Reveal Source

2:21pm December 13, 2014

The Justice Department has decided not to make journalist James Risen reveal a source. Correspondent David Folkenflik tells NPR's Scott Simon about a case that became a flashpoint for press freedom.

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Levin, Harkin, Coburn Among Senators Bidding Adieu

2:21pm December 13, 2014

by Don Gonyea

The end of the 113th Congress means a lot of goodbyes for retiring members and for those who lost in November. That means, at least for a moment, partisanship took some time off on the Senate floor.

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Ollies Barbecue was a Birmingham, Ala., landmark where where white plumbers and electricians sat next to white doctors and bank presidents, but in 1964, blacks weren't allowed to eat there.

National

Forced To Seat Blacks, Ala. Restaurant Complied With History

2:21pm December 13, 2014

by Andrew Yeager

Fifty years ago Sunday, the Supreme Court told Ollie's Barbecue in Birmingham, Ala., that the government had a right to order it — and all restaurants — to seat African-Americans.

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Government Funding Bill Rolls Back Trucker Rest Requirements

2:21pm December 13, 2014

by Brian Naylor

One of the many policy riders tucked inside the trillion-dollar spending bill reverses a rule that long-haul truckers take two nights off for every 70 hours they drive. Safety groups are angry.

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National

Dispatches From D.C.'s 'March For Justice'

1:32pm December 13, 2014

by Scott Neuman

Demonstrators gather in the nation's capital to protest the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of white police officers. Here's a look at reports from social media.