A Sri Lankan government official says coordinated suicide bombings in the island nation on Easter Sunday, which killed more than 320 people, were carried out in retaliation for last month's mass shooting at mosques in New Zealand. The state minister for defense, Ruwan Wijewardene, said the attacks were carried out by two Islamist organizations. As NPR's Lauren Frayer reports, "it's not immediately clear how he knows that – whether the information comes from suspects being interrogated, or...

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Tuesday in a legal battle with lasting implications that could dramatically affect political representation and federal funding over the next decade. The justices are weighing whether to allow the Trump administration to add a question about U.S. citizenship status to forms for the upcoming 2020 census. In multiple lawsuits brought by dozens of states, cities and other groups , three federal judges at U.S. district courts have issued...

Cox's Bazar, a town in Bangladesh, has become the headquarters for the massive humanitarian operation to support the nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees who have fled from Myanmar. But Cox's Bazar is also home to what local tourism officials tout as the "longest sand beach in the world" –with 75 miles of unbroken sandy coastline. Once a month those two worlds come together as international humanitarian workers from the dozens of charity groups in Cox's Bazar volunteer in a beach cleanup. It...

Eric Lewis' plans of expanding his community hospital's reach have been derailed. As CEO of Olympic Medical Center, he oversees efforts to provide care to roughly 75,000 people in Clallam County, in the isolated, rural northwestern corner of Washington state. Last year, Lewis planned to build a primary care clinic in Sequim, a town about 17 miles from the medical center's main campus of a hospital and clinics in Port Angeles. But those plans were put aside, Lewis says, because of a change in...

As cities all over the world grow, they're struggling with crowded streets and polluted air. New York City has decided to try out one possible solution: congestion pricing. Drivers will soon be charged a toll to enter certain crowded neighborhoods. Officials hope it will cut down on traffic and bring in badly needed funds to help repair the city's public transportation system. Today on the show, Stacey Vanek Smith and Darius Rafieyan venture out into Midtown Manhattan during rush hour to see...

Updated at 9:53 a.m. ET Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton is joining the large 2020 Democratic presidential field, touting a record of military service, bucking his party and arguing for younger leadership. "The greatest generation saved our country from tyranny. It's time for our generation to step up and do the same," Moulton said in an announcement video posted early Monday. His opening message highlights issues from the economy, including advancing jobs to combat climate change, cutting...

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has issued another big policy proposal as part of her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. This one concerns higher education. Warren proposes that the federal government write off hundreds of billions of dollars in existing student loan debt. The amount of debt that would be eligible for forgiveness would vary by income, but an independent expert analysis submitted as part of her plan suggests that three-quarters of households would...

The Supreme Court has accepted three cases that ask whether federal anti-discrimination laws should apply to sexual orientation and gender identity in the workplace, putting the court on track to consider high-profile LGBTQ issues after its next term begins this fall. Two of the cases — Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia , and Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda — were consolidated because both include claims that employers discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation. A third — R.G. & G.R....

After high turnout in last year's midterm elections propelled Democrats to a new House majority and big gains in the states, several Republican-controlled state legislatures are attempting to change voting-related rules in ways that might reduce future voter turnout. In Texas, state lawmakers are considering adding criminal penalties for people who improperly fill out voter registration forms. Arizona Republicans are proposing new voting rules that could make it more complicated to cast an...

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. If you know someone struggling with despair, depression or thoughts of suicide, you may be wondering how to help. Most Americans say that they understand that suicide is preventable and that they would act to help someone they know who is at risk,...