WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Strikes A Plea Deal With The U.S. | NPR News Now

In 2013, whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed the existence of STELLARWIND, the US government’s mass surveillance program. Until Snowden revealed the program, the US government was recording the phone and computer activities of nearly everyone in the world.

In Permanent Record, Snowden explains how he became involved with the government, how he learned about the mass surveillance program, and how he ultimately made the decision to speak up—a decision that would change his life, and the lives of everyone who uses the Internet, forever.

Millions are cheering President Biden’s plan to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt—while others call it unfair, illegal, or inadequate. Here’s what you need to know about who’s eligible for debt relief, how to get it, and why some are criticizing it.

More than 43 million US students leave college with federal student loan debt—a crushing burden that forces many to forego buying homes and delay key life milestones like having children. President Joe Biden’s income-driven student loan repayment program, SAVE, aims to bring borrowers relief by lowering monthly payments, reducing interest accrual, and speeding up loan forgiveness.

The end of the federal student loan payment pause on October 1 could significantly impact borrowers’ personal finances, spending, and the broader US economy. The long-term burden of student loan debt is expected to influence major life decisions for millions of borrowers, including homeownership, family planning, and retirement savings.

A year after a catastrophic train derailment in Ohio led to a massive chemical spill, clean-up efforts are nearing conclusion—but health concerns linger and derailments are on the rise across the nation. While government officials assert that the environment is safe, some East Palestine residents remain concerned about ongoing and potential future health problems they attribute to the chemicals.

On February 3, a 150-car, Norfolk Southern freight train carrying vinyl chloride—a hazardous, flammable chemical—derailed in Ohio, sparking a massive, days-long fire and sending toxic gasses into the air. For years, rail unions have sounded the alarm that freight rail companies’ profit-focused, “speed over safety” mentality and drastic workforce cuts would lead to disaster. But whether Congress will hold big carriers more accountable remains to be seen.

In the wake of the Norfolk Southern freight train derailment on February 3, the EPA insists that neither the public water supply nor the air poses any danger to local residents. East Palestine residents, however, have been reporting symptoms consistent with chemical exposure, leading to tension between these residents and government officials.

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is the story of the 2002 Oakland Athletics and their general manager, Billy Beane. Beane assembles a winning team on a shoestring budget, by using an analytical and scientific approach to evaluate each player’s contributions. Although the A’s have many players with atypical physical attributes and unusual hitting or pitching styles, they excel in overlooked statistical categories, like on-base percentage, that were typically dismissed by baseball traditionalists. This enables Beane to get maximum efficiency from his team, earning wins at a fraction of the price paid by the rest of the league.

Our Iceberg Is Melting is a fable about a colony of penguins who realize that their home might be destroyed soon, and that they need to move the entire colony to a new iceberg. The fable teaches the necessary steps in making major changes to your company or your personal life.

In this guide, we’ll explore these topics in greater detail and present alternative theories or points of view; we’ll provide the kind of in-depth study that a short story like Our Iceberg Is Melting has to forego in favor of simplicity and clarity in its lessons.

Before the White House and The Apprentice, Donald Trump was a real estate mogul whose large-scale projects made him one of the most well-known developers in New York City.

In this autobiography, Trump recounts his early life and career—from building low- and middle-income housing with his father in NYC’s outer boroughs to erecting luxury apartments in Manhattan. Trump outlines the eleven principles that guide his business decisions, and how they played out in the deals that defined his early career, including projects such as Trump Tower in New York, his first casino ventures in Atlantic City, and his gamble on the United States Football League.