Category: International

In China, huge numbers of people are expected to travel and gather with family this weekend for the start of the Lunar New Year, just as the country experiences a major surge in COVID infections.

NPR’s Emily Feng reports that the holiday may be bittersweet for some. We also hear reporting from NPR’s Wynne Davis, who collected recipes to help ring in the Lunar New Year.

And in Ukraine, many Orthodox Christians marked the feast of the Epiphany on Thursday by plunging into the frigid waters of the Dnipro River. NPR’s Elissa Nadworny talked to some of the brave swimmers, who said that this year the ritual felt like a needed respite from the ongoing war.

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The Justice Department is investigating the mishandling of classified documents linked to President Biden and to his predecessor, former President Trump. Both cases raise questions about how classified information should be handled.
NPR’s Greg Myre explains how classified material is handled at the White House, and how that compares to other government agencies.
And we speak to Yale law professor and former special counsel at the Pentagon Oona Hathaway, about the issue of “overclassification” of documents.
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If you could change one thing in your life to become a happier person — like your income, a job, your relationships or your health — what would make the biggest difference?

That’s the question Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Robert Waldinger has been attempting to answer through decades of research. He’s the director of “the world’s longest-running scientific study of happiness,” and he spoke with Ari Shapiro about the factor that appears to make the biggest difference in people’s lives.

Waldinger is a co-author of The Good Life: Lessons from the world’s longest scientific study of happiness.

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The U.S. will hit its borrowing limit on Thursday, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and her department will need to take “extraordinary measures” to avoid default.

That means the clock is ticking for Congress to take action to raise the debt ceiling. For the moment, though, Democrats and Republicans are in a staring match.

House Republicans say they won’t raise the limit without significant spending cuts. The White House says it won’t negotiate over it.

Juana Summers talks with two people who’ve been here before: Jason Furman, who was an economic advisor to then-President Obama during the 2011 debt ceiling stalemate, and Rohit Kumar, who was then a top aide to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

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The soccer world was shocked by the death of renowned U.S. soccer journalist Grant Wahl at the World Cup in Qatar. Then came the conspiracy theories claiming his death was caused by the COVID vaccine.

Wahl died from an aortic aneurysm. His wife, epidemiologist Dr. Céline Gounder, gave multiple interviews and released Wahl’s autopsy results to combat the disinformation.

We ask Gounder about her decision to speak out about her husband’s death, and about his legacy.

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The start of a new year can push us to think about how we take care of ourselves – our bodies or our minds. And for some people that can mean seeking help for mental health issues like depression and anxiety.

In some ways, being open about pursuing treatment for mental health concerns is becoming more commonplace. But for men who are socialized not to express vulnerability and keep emotions in check, seeking therapy may feel taboo.

Black men must also contend with the long history of neglect and abuse that has influenced how generations of African-Americans feel about health services, a lack of Black mental health professionals, and the understanding that shielding emotions are a way to face the pressures and dangers of racism.

Host Michel Martins talks with writer Damon Young, author of What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays, and psychologist Earl Turner of Pepperdine University, on making therapy more accessible for Black men.

This is a pivotal moment in the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian forces continue to have the upper hand on the battlefield, but there are real questions about what comes next and what an acceptable end to this war could look like.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmyrto Kuleba provides his assessment on the state of the war and the path ahead.
And former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice argues for a dramatic increase in military aid to Ukraine.
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People sometimes object when Aubrey Gordon describes herself as fat. It’s not that they’re disputing her size, she says. Rather, they’re acting out on their assumptions about what it means to be a fat person.

Gordon is the author of “‘You Just Need To Lose Weight’ and 19 other Myths about Fat People.” In the book, she explores and debunks pervasive societal myths about fat people.

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Destructive flooding caused by torrential rains has created a deadly disaster in California. The death toll rivals the worst wildfires and points to a common cause for both: drought.

Brian Ferguson with California’s Office of Emergency Services explains how a “weather whiplash” of dry years followed by heavy rain and snow can lead to dangerous outcomes. And NPR’s Lauren Sommer reports on how officials are hoping to store more storm water as a way to prevent future floods and fight the ongoing drought.

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The attack on Brazil’s congress and presidential palace Sunday was reminiscent of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Both are part of a broader transnational extremist movement.

We talk about that with Guilherme Casarões of the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Sao Paulo, and with NPR correspondents Shannon Bond and Sergio Olmos.

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