From the Top

The Trump administration has made clear in recent weeks that it intends to maintain a U.S. presence in Syria even though the government of Syria doesn't want that. From Raqqa, a look at how people in the city are putting their lives back together and what the U.S. is doing.

In a video posted by Birdwatch Ireland, a murmuration of starlings dips and dodges a predator with grace. The scene was just one of many such spectacles filling the skies of southern Ireland lately.

(Image credit: Birdwatch Ireland West Cork Branch via Facebook)

The pope said it was only after he accused sexual abuse victims of slander and demanded proof of an alleged coverup that he realized his words were like "a slap in the face" to those who had suffered.

(Image credit: Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

At the second Women's March in New York, the pop singer shared a series of stories, in poem and with deeply affecting intensity, about sexual assault and violence.

(Image credit: Brian Ziff/Courtesy of the artist)

The World Economic Forum in getting underway in the Davos, Switzerland. Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson checks in on what to expect from Bloomberg's Tom Keene.

For decades, beginning in World War II, Swedish households received pamphlets advising how to handle a crisis. They were discontinued with the Cold War's end — but now, they're getting an update.

(Image credit: Kungliga Inrikesdepartementet/Wikimedia Commons)

The recent deaths of two skiers leave some asking whether the risks of some winter sports are at best unreasonable and at worst immoral.

Pence said the American Embassy will be moved to Jerusalem next year, earlier than expected.

Many communities don't have enough homes for new workers and ignoring the issue could result in fewer jobs in the long run.

The new album by British songwriter and performer Charli XCX features collaborations with Carly Rae Jepsen, Tove Lo and others. Rock critic Ken Tucker says Pop 2 is highly enjoyable.

Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt are experts in what makes democracies healthy — and what leads to their collapse. They warn that American democracy is in trouble.

The world's largest importer and recycler of plastic, paper and scrap metal placed restrictions on imports of 24 kinds of solid waste from other countries.

"We oppose, we oppose, we oppose," shouted protesters as North Korea's advance team arrived. Thousands signed petitions against a joint women's hockey team. The president's approval rating has fallen.

(Image credit: Ahn Young-joon/AP)

Last year, Trump's companies sold more than $35 million in real estate. According to USA Today, most of that property was bought anonymously, through secretive shell companies.

NPR's Brian Naylor joins Here & Now's Robin Young to discuss the news of the day on the shutdown.

The declaration coincides with the birthday of the outsider folk artist Daniel Johnston and is in part inspired by his own, well-documented struggles with mental illness.

(Image credit: Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images)

Cam O'bi has produced tracks for Vic Mensa and SZA. Hear the first single from his forthcoming debut Grown Ass Kid.

(Image credit: David Silverstein/Courtesy of the artist)

Leila Slimani's taut new novel centers on a nanny who kills her two young charges. Critic Maureen Corrigan says despite its retrograde message, The Perfect Nanny is a guilty pleasure.

(Image credit: Eslah Attar/NPR)

Many federal workers wrote in and expressed dismay at Congress using them, especially the military, as "bargaining chips."

… for any office, as a member of any party, or no party at all.

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)