Author: rpnadmin

You’re reading the Code Switch newsletter, written by Leah Donnella. You can subscribe here to get the newsletter delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Code Switch podcast to hear about all the messy and meaningful ways race shows up in all of our lives. I’ll be honest, it didn’t take long for the fresh, excited energy I was trying to bring into 2026 to be quashed. (But maybe that’s on me — I forgot to put “attack a foreign country and seize its leader with only the murkiest of communications about what might come next” on my “out” list this year.) But this week, I…

NATO allies don’t want to confront Trump’s aggression. But they may ultimately not have a choice. Ad Policy President Donald Trump hosts a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders at the White House on August 18, 2025.(Win McNamee / Getty Images) On Tuesday, European leaders met in Paris to try and solve their two biggest foreign-policy challenges. They were happy to talk openly about one of them: ways to strengthen Ukraine as it fends off a Russian invasion. But there was also another problem—one they are not nearly as eager to tackle in public:the fact that their…

A relative of a political prisoner waits outside the Rodeo I prison in Guatire, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, after National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the government would release Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. Matias Delacroix/AP hide caption toggle caption Matias Delacroix/AP GUATIRE, Venezuela — Venezuela released a number of imprisoned high-profile opposition figures, activists and journalists — both citizens and foreigners — Thursday in what the government described as a gesture to “seek peace” less than a week after former President Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces to face drug-trafficking charges. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been…

Politics / January 9, 2026 The Trump administration is once more invoking upside-down alibis of state to conjure the bogus specter of imminent threat. Ad Policy A sign in Minneapolis commemorates the killing of Renee Good. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images) There was the one in Ferguson. The one in Minnesota where the licensed gun owner was not reaching for his gun. The one shot in the back for the brake light. The one with the knee on the neck. The one with the “loosies.” We informally title each law enforcement killing of a citizen like it’s a Friends episode.…

This is a locator map for Iran with its capital, Tehran. AP hide caption toggle caption AP DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iranian protesters shouted and marched through the streets into Friday morning after a call by the country’s exiled crown prince for demonstrations, despite Iran’s theocracy cutting off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls. Short online videos shared by activists purported to show protesters chanting against Iran’s government around bonfires as debris littered the streets in the capital, Tehran, and other areas. Iranian state media broke its silence Friday over the protests, alleging “terrorist agents” of…

In a rare rebuke to President Trump, five Republicans joined with Democrats on Thursday to advance a measure that would require congressional authorization for future military action in Venezuela. JUANA SUMMERS, HOST: Five Senate Republicans joined with Democrats to advance a resolution to stop President Trump from ordering new unilateral military action against Venezuela. Here is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer following that vote.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)CHUCK SCHUMER: It’s a clear rejection of the idea that one person can unilaterally send American sons and daughters into harm’s way without Congress, without debate.SUMMERS: It marks the largest Republican rebuke of Trump’s…

FILE – New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during a press conference with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani Tuesday, Jan. 6 in New York. Yuki Iwamura/AP hide caption toggle caption Yuki Iwamura/AP New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s ambitious campaign pledge to offer universal child care took a significant step forward Thursday. Appearing together, Mamdani and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a plan to increase spending on child care starting this year with the goal of eventually providing universal child care throughout the state for kids under 5. In an interview with All Things Considered, Mamdani said the announcement…

Activism / January 8, 2026 An ICE agent shot dead Renee Nicole Good. Residents are ready to fight back. Ad Policy People demonstrate against ICE during a vigil honoring Renée Nicole Good, who was shot dead by an immigration officer earlier in the day in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 7, 2026. (Kerem Yucel / AFP via Getty Images) Minneapolis—At the base of a barren tree in south Minneapolis, candles flickered in the night. The vigil held for Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother and poet shot in the face by a federal agent yesterday morning, was over, but congregants remained.…

Investigators say a shooting outside a church building in Salt Lake City that killed two people and injured six others grew out of a dispute between people who knew each other and were attending a funeral. No arrests have been made in Wednesday’s shooting in the parking lot of a house of worship for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church. Authorities say they do not know whether the shooting was gang-related and that they are having trouble getting witnesses to cooperate. Five people remained hospitalized Thursday, with police protection at those facilities.…

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus speak outside the U.S. Capitol in October after the Supreme Court heard arguments about the Voting Rights Act. Matt Brown/AP hide caption toggle caption Matt Brown/AP The United States could be headed toward the largest-ever decline in representation by Black members of Congress, depending on how the Supreme Court rules in a closely watched redistricting case about the Voting Rights Act. For decades, the landmark law that came out of the Civil Rights Movement has protected the collective voting power of racial minorities when political maps are redrawn. Its provisions have also boosted the…