U.S.

A GAO report questions the quality of a number of Medicare Advantage plans after large numbers of sicker enrollees dropped them.

As Seniors Get Sicker, They're More Likely To Drop Medicare Advantage Plans

5:10pm July 05, 2017

by Fred Schulte

Medicare Advantage plans say they offer good value and aim to keep patients healthy, but sicker people are far more likely than others to drop out because of lack of access to specific doctors.

In Afghanistan, U.S. Senators Urge Trump To Define Policy

4:29pm July 05, 2017

A bipartisan delegation of senators are in Afghanistan, calling for a new strategy from the Trump administration to address Taliban insurgency and define the U.S. role in the country. NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, about what the strategy should be and what action he believes the administration should do next.

National

Volvo Moves To Phase Out Combustion Engine For Electric Motors Starting In 2019

4:29pm July 05, 2017

by Sonari Glinton

With a pledge to move on from the internal combustion engine, Volvo announced Wednesday that it's going all electric. The company says all the vehicles it makes will be electric or hybrid starting in 2019. The development comes as Tesla prepares to sell its first mass market electric car later this month.

U.S. Military Planners Consider Game Theory In Possible North Korea Response

4:29pm July 05, 2017

NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies about the options for a military strike on North Korea and how military planners might be applying game theory to new tensions with the regime.

Greta Elliott, who manages a health clinic in Canby, Calif., says she didn't buy health insurance for herself because she thinks it's too expensive.

In A Conservative Corner Of California, A Push To Preserve Obamacare

4:29pm July 05, 2017

by April Dembosky

A coalition of health clinics in northeast California is asking local officials to defend the Affordable Care Act. And some are, despite the area's conservative politics.

The Frederick Douglass Statue in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol in 2013. On July 3, the National Archives hosted a reading of Douglass' essay about the Fourth of July.

'What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July?' Frederick Douglass, Revisited

3:23pm July 05, 2017

by Abigail Censky

Two readings, 165 years apart, addressed to a nation at a precarious political moment. Why Frederick Douglass' famous 1852 anti-slavery speech is still read — and still resonates — in 2017.

Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams is President Trump's nominee for U.S. Surgeon General.

Trump's Surgeon General Pick Built Reputation Fighting HIV And Opioids In Indiana

2:41pm July 05, 2017

by Emily Forman

Dr. Jerome Adams is credited with persuading then-Gov. Mike Pence to authorize syringe exchanges in the state. If confirmed, public health advocates are hopeful he'll have sway in Washington.

President Trump boards Air Force One before departing from Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey over the weekend. Trump is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, among other heads of state, at the G-20 summit.

Amid Gathering Of World Leaders, Trump's Meeting With Putin Stands Out

2:33pm July 05, 2017

by Scott Horsley

President Trump is scheduled to have a face-to-face with Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit. Trump has said he'd like closer ties between the countries, but Russia is under fire for election meddling.

In his short tenure as North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un has done a lot to put far richer and stronger nations in an increasingly difficult spot.

After North Korea's ICBM Launch, Now What?

12:04pm July 05, 2017

by Elise Hu

Kim Jong Un's moves have succeeded in putting the rest of the world in a tough spot. Possible responses include further isolation of North Korea, military moves or greater engagement. None are ideal.

Numbers mark a crime scene near the site where a police officer was fatally shot in the Bronx early Wednesday.

New York Police Officer Killed In 'Unprovoked Attack' On Patrol Car

11:06am July 05, 2017

by Amita Kelly

The NYPD described the killing as an assassination "on cops assigned to keep NYers safe."