National News
National News
![Contractors working for Cyber Ninjas, the company hired by the Republican-led Arizona state Senate, examine and recount ballots from the 2020 general election on May 3. Courtney Pedroza/The Washington Post via Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/gettyimages-1232896906_wide-830b20c3eb285a8558cea5a115bab27480fb126a-500x500.jpg)
Experts Call It A ‘Clown Show’ But Arizona ‘Audit’ Is A Blueprint For Future Disinformation Campaigns
At a basic level, it’s a victory for those looking to sow doubt in the 2020 election results just to have them still being litigated six months after Election Day. To be clear, Maricopa County’s election results have already been audited multiple times by companies with experience in the field, with no problems being uncovered.
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Amazon Will Stop Testing Job Seekers For Marijuana And Now Backs Legalizing Weed
Amazon will no longer test most job applicants for marijuana use in the latest sign of America’s changing relationship with pot. Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the U.S., also says it now backs legalizing marijuana nationwide.
![Pope Francis prepares to leave after celebrating a special Mass for the Myanmar faithful last month at the Vatican. On Tuesday, Francis issued new canon law focused on sexual abuse, fraud and the attempted ordination of women. Remo Casilli/Pool via AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/pope-francis-myanmar-mass-edf945bb444830620e428185a3307806280ed2f5-500x500.jpg)
The Pope Is Toughening Church Laws On Sex Abuse, Fraud And The Ordination Of Women
Pope Francis on Tuesday issued a major revision of Catholic Church laws regulating clerical sex abuse, fraud and the attempt to ordain women. It is known as an apostolic constitution with the title, Pascite Gregem Dei, or “Tend the Flock.”
![For years, New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (left) has sought approval of her bill to reform the military's criminal justice system. This year, Gillibrand joined forces with Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, seen here, a sexual assault survivor herself before she became a combat company commander. Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/gettyimages-1232594681_custom-eea477f786a5108b36dd21e808c0e906afab33e4-500x500.jpg)
The Effort To Reform The U.S. Military’s Justice System Faces A New Fight
In the military, commanders who are not lawyers get to choose which serious criminal cases go to trial. That means leaders who are pilots, infantry officers and hold other positions can be tasked with making weighty legal decisions with little to no experience.
![Tulsa, Oklahoma - so-called Black Wall Street before 2021 massacre](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/gettyimages-1264513498_custom-05c8842d8e6e88747e888459f5e4130d022abf13-500x500.jpg)
Artist’s Black Wall Street Project Is About Tulsa 100 Years Ago — And Today
Artist Paul Rucker is fearless when it comes to taking on terrible moments in American history. One of them, in Tulsa, Okla., was destroyed by a white mob 100 years ago, on May 31, 1921. The catastrophic attack on what was known as Black Wall Street might be the worst single episode of racial violence in American history, with 35 city blocks of Black community destroyed and flattened.
![Ralph "AK" Angkiangco spent just under a decade in the United States Navy as a hospital corpsman. He deployed to Afghanistan twice and served alongside the Marines. Courtesy Ralph Angkiangco](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ak-selfie_wide-8436c491cf26cf5db115d1301a95d0963ac35704-500x466.jpg)
A Path To Peace: How A Former Navy Corpsman Honors His Fallen Friends On Memorial Day
BY DUSTIN JONES Ralph “AK” Angkiangco enlisted in the Navy in April 2008 one year after graduating high school. He was an 18-year-old kid uncertain about what he wanted in
![A couple embrace Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020, while touring an area devastated by the Almeda Fire in Phoenix, Ore. John Locher/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ap_20255126343359-6c3621ef394728fb4c7dd5bbb84263acae4f6139-500x500.jpg)
‘Nothing Looks Good.’ Across The West, Firefighters Prepare For A Potentially Bad Fire Season
Severe drought has turned forests and grasslands into dry fuels, ready to ignite from a careless camper or a lightning strike. More people are building in areas bordering wildlands, expanding the so-called wildland-urban interface, an area where wildfires impact people the most. Invasive, highly flammable vegetation is spreading uncontrolled across the West.
![An artist’s rendition of the NuScale nuclear power project planned for construction in Idaho. Courtesy of NuScale Power](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NuScale-Nuclear-plant-Idaho-artist-rendition-NUSCALE-POWER-500x500.jpg)
More Nuclear Energy Could Be Coming To Central Washington, As Grant County Explores Small-Scale
Washington’s Grant County is exploring nuclear generation in an effort to generate more carbon-free electricity. The county’s Public Utility District recently signed a deal with Oregon-based NuScale Power to figure out if a partnership might work.
![Capitol Attack on January 6, 2021](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/gettyimages-1230457438-3bf0df4434da4809c51b9b4f557d55852934c5da-500x500.jpg)
Senate Republicans Block A Plan For An Independent Commission On Jan. 6 Capitol Riot
Bipartisan legislation to establish an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has failed in the Senate, as Republicans staged their first filibuster since President Biden took office to block the plan.
![File photo. Idaho Gov. Brad Little puts on a face mask before a public meeting earlier this year. So far he has resisted calls for a statewide mandate. On Sunday, Nov. 8, the governor of Utah, Idaho's southern neighbor, imposed a mask mandate. CREDIT: Idaho Education News](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Brad-Little-face-mask-CREDIT-IdahoEdNews-500x500.jpg)
Idaho Governor Overturns Mask Ban From His Own Lt. Governor, Calls It ‘Self-Serving Political Stunt’
Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Friday issued an executive order repealing a mask mandate prohibition put in place while he was out of the state by the lieutenant governor, describing her actions as a tyrannical abuse of power and an “irresponsible, self-serving political stunt.”
![West Virginia's Shelley Moore Capito and fellow Senate Republicans unveiled a new counteroffer to President Biden's infrastructure package during a news conference Thursday. CREDIT: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/gettyimages-1233138094_custom-4af368f574d572305fc6dd3488aca7461a140489-500x500.jpg)
Senate Republicans Release $928 Billion Infrastructure Counteroffer
A group of Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled a $928 billion infrastructure proposal to counter President Biden’s plan for a nearly $2 trillion bill.
![Four-cell embryo. Light micrograph of the blastomeres of a four-cell human embryo. The blastomeres are the rounded cells, here formed after two divisions of the fertilized egg. An envelope, the zona pellucida, is seen surrounding the embryo, and the heads of some sperm are visible still attached to it. The fertilized ovum is composed of a single cell, the zygote, containing the genetic material of both spermatozoid and ovum. It then divides repeatedly, producing a cluster of cells that embed themselves in the uteral lining. During the first 8 weeks the child in the womb is called an embryo. At the 2 or 4-cell stage, embryos produced by in vitro fertilization are either embedded in the uterus or frozen for later introduction.](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/sciencesource_ss299805-973b3f7857b1d26dfd7b4923203b400395a09fe3-500x500.jpg)
Controversial New Guidelines Would Allow Experiments On More Mature Human Embryos
For decades, scientists have been prohibited from keeping human embryos alive in their labs for more than 14 days. The prohibition was aimed at avoiding a thicket of ethical issues that would be raised by doing experiments on living human embryos as they continue to develop.