U.S. News and National Top Stories NPR coverage of national news, U.S. politics, elections, business, arts, culture, health and science, and technology. Subscribe to the NPR Nation RSS feed.

Tuesday

The U.S. Justice Department filed a brief in federal appeals court Tuesday to overturn a federal judge's decision that declared the government mask mandate on planes, trains and buses unlawful. Here, a sign stating that masks are required at San Francisco International Airport stands in a terminal after the federal mask mandate was overturned. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A back door at Robb Elementary School, where a gunman entered through to get into a classroom in last week's shooting, is seen in Uvalde, Texas, on Monday. Jae C. Hong/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Jae C. Hong/AP

Korean band BTS appears at the daily press briefing with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, to discuss Asian inclusion and representation, and addressing anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Justice of the Peace Eulalio Diaz, Jr., was called to identify the bodies of the 21 victims of the shooting at Robb Elementary, last week. Vanessa Romo/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Vanessa Romo/NPR

Special counsel John Durham, center, the prosecutor appointed to investigate potential government wrongdoing in the early days of the Trump-Russia probe, leaves federal courthouse in Washington, Monday, May 16, 2022. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Special Counsel Durham fails first courtroom test in his three-year probe

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1102150260/1102335429" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

The federal Bureau of Prisons announced in 2018 that it was moving a special unit that had been plagued with violence to a new federal prison complex in Illinois. Some hoped it would be a fresh start and a chance to improve conditions. But things only got worse. Charles Rex Arbogast/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

Bobby Everson and a letter he wrote to his family while he was incarcerated in the Special Management Unit at the new U.S. penitentiary in Thomson, Ill. Aaron Marin for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Aaron Marin for NPR

How the newest federal prison became one of the deadliest

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1100954134/1102260655" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript