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The federal debt topped $40 trillion for the first time this week. Investors who buy government bonds are demanding higher interest rates to finance the growing debt load.

3 things to know about the $40 trillion federal debt

The U.S. federal debt hit a record $40 trillion this week. The debt has doubled since 2017, and just paying interest on the accumulated debt now costs the government more than $1 trillion a year.

Dr. Heidi Overton speaks during an Aug. 10 press conference during which President Trump signed an executive order about the childhood vaccination schedule.

What to know about Dr. Heidi Overton, Trump's pick to lead the FDA

Dr. Heidi Overton is currently working as a White House policy aide. If confirmed, she would lead an agency of 18,000 staffers who study and regulate food, drugs, medical devices, tobacco and more.

A 14-foot-tall blue rooster sculpture overlooks the racetrack from the roof of the National Gallery of Art's East Building in Washington, D.C.

D.C.'s IndyCar race will zoom past museums. Some worry it could harm the art inside

Sunday's course takes high-speed cars right past the National Gallery of Art and three Smithsonian museums. Art experts worry about the works inside, but organizers say they don't expect damage.

fata morgana is multi-instrumentalist and composer Taja Cheek's fourth album as L'Rain.

An art-rock illusionist rewrites pop in her own image

Taja Cheek's psychedelic project L'Rain has always been tagged as experimental. On fata morgana, she asks what separates music like hers from the mainstream.

U.S. Army soldiers try to dismantle a floating bridge during a training exercise on a river in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026.

North Korea fires a suspected missile toward the sea, Japan says

The suspected launch on Thursday comes a day after North Korea shrugged off a U.S. decision to scale back military drills with South Korea in an apparent bid to resume diplomacy.

"Weird Al" Yankovic performs a Tiny Desk concert.

'Weird Al' Yankovic: Tiny Desk Concert

"Weird Al" Yankovic returns to the Tiny Desk with a couple parodies, a Weezer pastiche and the Emmy-losing closing-credits blues-rock jam to Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.

The samples of jollof rice at the festival in Washington, D.C., were prepared by chefs from the D.C. metro area hailing from six countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Liberia and — for the first time since the competition began in 2017 — the United States.

Which country makes the best jollof rice? D.C. foodies put it to a blind test

One of the most famous dishes across West Africa is jollof rice — fragrant rice cooked down with spices, tomatoes and meat. But which version is best? A traveling festival aims to find out.

Kaleigh and Cody Brendle spend time together at their parents' New Jersey home before Kaleigh's move across the country for law school. They say they have helped each other navigate life as two blind people.

They grew up with disability rights. Now, they're fighting to keep them

Siblings Cody and Kaleigh Brendle have grown up with the right to community integration. Now, they worry those protections for people with disabilities like them are being eroded.

Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, N.J., on June 3. An NPR review has found that the grievance system in immigration detention, originally designed as a way to report violations of detention standards, is now barely operational.

The system meant to protect ICE detainees has collapsed

Critics say it is the reason why more detainees are risking their lives to protest inhumane conditions and legal rights violations, in the form of widespread hunger strikes.

An automatic license plate reader (ALPR) camera monitors traffic on Wednesday in Silver Spring, Md.

Privacy advocates call on Maryland to investigate data brokers

Maryland has one of the strictest data privacy laws in the country. But privacy advocates allege that data brokers are violating the law by selling data to police and federal immigration agencies.

Bond markets have tumbled over economic concerns — even as stocks have hit record highs recently.

The bond market is signaling trouble ahead. This is why you should pay attention

Many people don't pay attention to bond markets, but they should — especially now. This is why they matter and why the drop in bond prices is signaling investor concerns about the U.S. economy.

Healthcare workers and other supporters with the Billionaire Tax Now coalition hold placards during a media briefing in Los Angeles on April 27, 2026. The initiative would levy a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires.

Proposed California wealth tax sparks debate: Will billionaires leave the state?

A proposed first-of-its kind tax would target California's nearly 250 billionaires in an effort to fund health care. If voters pass it, will the state's economy suffer?

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