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Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday convened leaders from more than 60 countries to take part in the Trump administration's latest effort to quell what it calls "left wing" political terrorism, a marquee issue for Republicans heading into the midterm elections. This focus comes even as studies show that there are very few reported cases of such incidents in the U.S., especially compared to historically higher levels of far-right violence.

Japan's upper house of parliament has voted to pass controversial revisions to a law governing who can inherit the throne in the world's oldest continuous hereditary monarchy, just days after the lower house of parliament voted it through. The revision's stated aim is to secure the number of imperial family members, and maintain their public duties and activities, as the family's ranks dwindle and age.

Updated July 16, 2026 at 8:57 PM PDT President Trump, who for years has sowed doubt about the security of American elections, raised claims on Thursday that the country's voting systems are vulnerable to being "rigged and stolen," without providing new evidence of a single fraudulent vote cast in any election.

SHANGHAI — Development and governance of artificial intelligence should be a global effort, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday, while reiterating China's objections to what he called the "overstretching" of national security concerns. Speaking at a conference in Shanghai, Xi said AI should not be dominated by any single nation.

President Trump gave a primetime address Thursday night in which he spoke about the integrity of U.S. elections — a topic he has spread disinformation about for much of his political career.

Updated July 16, 2026 at 7:05 PM PDT The White House has released a series of documents that President Trump said in a primetime address reveals "shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure." Yet Trump, who for years has baselessly claimed the 2020 election was stolen from him, did not detail allegations of widespread illegal votes in that election. Numerous reviews have debunked his claims about that election.

AILSA CHANG, HOST: Speaking out against the war in Ukraine is rare in Russia, especially among politicians. NPR Moscow correspondent Charles Maynes recently spoke with one politician who's trying to change that. CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: In Russia's current political scene, Boris Nadezhdin would be the first to admit he's no flamethrower. BORIS NADEZHDIN: (Through interpreter) I'm not a guy calling for revolutions or for people to go into the street. That's not me.

Updated July 16, 2026 at 5:20 PM PDT Heavy smoke continues to spread across the Great Lakes region into New England and as far south as Maryland, leading to unhealthy and even hazardous air quality in a number of states. The combination of extreme heat and dry conditions in Ontario and northern Minnesota led to significant spread of wildfires on July 13. More than 800 wildfires are actively burning in Canada, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System.

Updated July 16, 2026 at 5:25 PM PDT (RNS) — Making daylight saving time permanent moved a step closer to reality this week, when the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass a measure to eliminate the annual clock-changing ritual. But some Orthodox Jewish organizations are fighting to prevent the bill from becoming law. The measure, called the Sunshine Protection Act, passed in a 308-117 vote in the House on Tuesday (July 14).

Dangerous floods are hitting South Central Texas — a region that just marked one year since more than 130 people died in catastrophic flooding. Gov. Greg Abbott says at least one person has died in the current emergency. More than 80 rescues have been made, the governor's office said at midday on Thursday, adding that more than 1,300 responders and 46 boats have been deployed. A wide swath of Texas is under flood alerts, from the Kerrville area south to Uvalde and beyond to Laredo.