Benin's interior minister says a coup announced earlier has been foiled Earlier, a group of soldiers had appeared on Benin 's state TV Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in an apparent coup, the latest of many in West Africa. The Associated Press
National parks fee-free calendar drops MLK Day, Juneteenth and adds Trump's birthday The Trump administration, which has railed against what it describes as "woke" policies, removed MLK Day and Juneteenth from next year's list of fare-exempt days for visitors at dozens of national parks. Alana Wise
Week in Politics: Defense Secretary Hegseth; gerrymandering; birthright citizenship Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is under scrutiny over strikes in the Caribbean and Yemen, and the Supreme Court sided with Republicans in a case over gerrymandering in Texas. Eyder Peralta
Takeaways from the latest special election and what it means for control of the House There was yet another sign this week of a potential 2026 wave that could hand control of the House of Representatives to Democrats. Domenico Montanaro
Trump official signals potential rollback of changes to census racial categories Trump officials are reviewing changes to racial and ethnic categories that the Biden administration approved for the 2030 census and other federal government forms, a White House agency official says. Hansi Lo Wang
This week in Washington It was a busy week in Washington, from foreign policy to Congressional redistricting and another special election. NPR's Domenico Montanaro and Tamara Keith break down the big news of the week. Domenico Montanaro
HHS changed the name of transgender health leader on her official portrait Admiral Rachel Levine was the first transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate to serve in the federal government. Her official portrait at HHS headquarters has been altered. Selena Simmons-Duffin
Some colleges scrap diversity questions from admissions essays. Will it change how students talk about themselves? Starting this year, some colleges have changed or removed essay prompts that referenced diversity from their admissions applications. Freddy Monares/KNKX
Appeals court hands Trump a victory, OK'ing firings of two independent agency heads The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2 to 1 that President Trump's firings of Democratic members of the Merit Systems Protection Board and the National Labor Relations Board were lawful. Andrea Hsu
The Kennedy Center Honors are coming up. This year's event will be different President Trump has made major changes at the Kennedy Center this year, ousting the board chair and president, and naming himself host of the organization's yearly awards show. Elizabeth Blair