PBS News Hour

For the first time since he fled the country he ruled with an iron fist and a willingness to kill his own people to hold power, Bashar al-Assad was heard from. In a statement from exile in Moscow, Assad claimed he did not want to leave Syria but was evacuated by Russia after he left Damascus for his family's heartland near the coast. Special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen reports from Latakia.

Two people were killed and six others injured at a private school in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday. The suspected shooter, also found dead at the scene, was identified by officials as a 17-year-old female student at the school. Authorities are now investigating her motive as another American community is reeling from mass gun violence. Amna Nawaz reports.

In another sign of the climate crisis, 2024 is on track to be the hottest year ever on record. Last year, the Biden administration established the American Climate Corps to train people for green jobs and empower Americans to help combat climate change. With thousands of Climate Corps members dispatched across the country, we hear from some of them about their experiences.

Signs of normalcy are starting to return a week after life inside Syria was upended as rebels toppled President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. As the country’s new leaders begin to chart a path forward, the UN envoy to Syria called for a quick end to sanctions imposed by the West. Special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen reports from Aleppo.

Since Trump’s reelection, many women and health care providers across the U.S. have been stockpiling supplies of abortion pills and emergency contraception. One of the largest suppliers of abortion medication reported a 17-fold increase in requests the first 24 hours after Election Day. Ali Rogin speaks with Elissa Nadworny, who covers reproductive rights and abortion for NPR, for more.

In schools nationwide, educators are hoping to empower students with knowledge and inspire them to dream up ways to ensure a better climate future. At a high school in Bloomington, Indiana, students pitched their ideas to scientists this past spring. WFYI investigative education reporter Lee Gaines reports.

In our news wrap Sunday, dozens of people were killed in Gaza as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on, Israel said it wants to double the population of Israeli settlers in the Golan Heights along the border with Syria, and Trump named long-time foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell as his next envoy for special missions.

In our news wrap Saturday, medical teams in Gaza say an Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 people at a market, South Korean lawmakers voted to impeach their president, Pelosi underwent hip replacement surgery after a fall in Luxembourg, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to the Trump library to settle a defamation suit, and Arlington National Cemetery marked National Wreaths Across America Day.

The newest world chess champion is also the youngest ever to claim the title. Eighteen-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated defending titleholder Ding Liren at the World Chess Championship in Singapore on Thursday, has had a meteoric rise amid a surge in the game’s popularity in India. Author and content creator Levy Rozman, known online as GothamChess, joins John Yang to discuss.

Under the Assad regime, hundreds of thousands of Syrians were swept up by the government’s security apparatus, never to be seen again. Special correspondent Simona Foltyn gained access to one of the intelligence branches that orchestrated that brutal oppression and reports on what she found.

It’s been about three months since Hurricane Helene pummeled the mountains of North Carolina, but its effects are still being felt well beyond the storm’s path. After the hurricane flooded a manufacturing plant that produces about 60 percent of the nation’s supply of IV fluids, hospitals are feeling the squeeze. Ali Rogin speaks with Jackie Fortiér, a reporting fellow at KFF Health News, for more.

The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has revealed a simmering anger with the American healthcare system in the spotlight. William Brangham discussed more with Wendell Potter. He spent decades working for the health insurance company, Cigna, before leaving and dedicating his career to reform.