NPR News

The country is braced for a verdict in the murder trial against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. The in-court portion will finish on Monday and closing arguments will be made later in the day.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is renewing a push that failed during the previous administration to extend the deadlines for reporting 2020 census results after the pandemic and Trump officials' interference disrupted the count.

Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly are pushing a measure that would require schools to provide free menstruation products in both girls’ and boys’ bathrooms for grades 4 through 12.

Advocates of the proposal argue it would allow for transgender students who also menstruate to be able to access needed resources.

Idriss Déby Itno, the president of Chad and one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, was killed in the country's north, where he had traveled to observe the fight against rebel insurgents, state media reported Tuesday.

The announcement came just hours after election officials in Chad certified that Déby, 68, had carried nearly 80% of the vote in April 11 polls, setting him up for a sixth five-year term as president.

When Armya Williams heard last week that a Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer had shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, she knew she needed to do something.

"After Daunte Wright, I was like, 'Really? It hasn't even been a year since George Floyd died,' " Williams said. "I was just like, we need to do something. So I started brainstorming, getting ideas from other students and I came about a walkout. That's one way we can get our voices heard."

The panel of 12 jurors weighing the case against the fired Minneapolis police officer charged with murdering George Floyd has resumed deliberations.

The jury, who are sequestered in a nearby hotel under the supervision of Hennepin County Sheriff's deputies, are considering three charges against former officer Derek Chauvin: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Writer Lauren Hough grew up in a nomadic doomsday Christian cult called the Children of God. She says she remembers being taught animals could talk to Noah — that's how he was able to get them on to the ark — and that heaven was located in a pyramid in the moon.

"I had problems with [the teachings] pretty early on, but I couldn't express those," she says. "Probably the earliest thing I learned is just keep your mouth shut — and I couldn't, which was a problem."

The American ambassador to Russia is returning to Washington, D.C., for "consultations" after President Biden imposed a new round of sanctions on Moscow last week, including the expulsion of 10 diplomats — a move quickly followed by reciprocal measures from the Kremlin.