Here and Now on PRE News And Ideas

The country at the center of the impeachment inquiry, Ukraine, has long been caught between Russia and the U.S.

Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson looks at some of that recent history with Serhii Plokhii, professor of Ukrainian history and director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

A recent study backs up what many parents of children with disabilities already know: It’s tough to find quality child care for kids with special needs.

Georgetown University students joined inmates in the District of Columbia for a college-level music class focusing on incarceration in the U.S.

WAMU’s Mikaela Lefrak (@mikafrak) reports.

Ski industry giant Vail Resorts aims to finalize its purchase of Crested Butte Mountain Resort soon — a remarkable turn of events for the central Colorado ski area that’s prided itself on being anti-corporate.

In a hospital, Do Not Resuscitate means staff aren’t supposed to give CPR if a patient’s breathing or heart stops. It’s an order doctors put into a patient’s chart at the request of the patient.

Aretha Franklin died Thursday the age of 76 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. The undisputed “Queen of Soul” sang with matchless style on classics like “Think,” “I Say a Little Prayer” and her signature song, “Respect.”

President Trump called former aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman a “lowlife” and a “dog” on Twitter Tuesday after she claimed that he used the N-word during his tenure as a reality TV host on “The Apprentice.” The attack came as she released secretly recorded tapes from her time at the White House.

Here & Now‘s Robin Young talks with NBC senior politics editor Beth Fouhy (@bfouhy) about Manigault-Newman’s tapes, and White House reaction.

At least 22 people are dead after a highway bridge collapsed in Genoa, Italy, during a storm. About a dozen cars were likely on the bridge at the time and rescue workers are searching through piles of debris for survivors.

Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson gets the latest from NPR senior European correspondent Sylvia Poggioli (@spoggioli1).

A federal judge in Seattle has blocked a Texas group from publishing blueprints for 3D-printed guns. The ruling, which came down Tuesday night, was in response to a lawsuit from eight states and the District of Columbia. Their suit called the release of the gun blueprints “a bell that cannot be un-rung.”

No matter where you live in North America, someone has lived there before you. Now, there’s an app to tell you who.

The app, called Native Land, started with one goal: help right the wrongs of injustice experienced by indigenous people of North America. The Northwest News Network’s Emily Schwing (@EmilySchwing) has more.

Facebook announced that it has identified a coordinated and inauthentic political influence campaign ahead of the November midterm elections. The company said it removed at least 32 accounts and pages after an initial investigation.

Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson speaks with Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8), senior editor of social media at Recode, about the announcement.

The Senate on Tuesday voted to renew the National Flood Insurance Program hours before it was set to expire during the height of hurricane season. The House passed a temporary extension for the program last week, authorizing it only through November, and the Senate followed suit Tuesday. Critics of the National Flood Insurance Program say it needs structural changes, not short-term extensions.

The equipment manufacturer Caterpillar reported record profits per share in the second quarter, but the company also said it will have to raise prices because of new tariffs.

Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson discusses the latest with CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger (@jillonmoney), host of “Jill on Money” and the podcast “Better Off.”

Parents whose children who are addicted to drugs are routinely advised to be tough with their kids — even cut them off, if necessary. But a new video produced by the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids promotes compassion and understanding instead of punishment.

WBUR’s Martha Bebinger (@mbebinger) reports.

The Substation fire in northern Oregon burned more than 78,000 acres, most of it prime farmland for wheat. As Molly Solomon (@solomonout) of Oregon Public Broadcasting reports, it’s often farmers who are on the front lines fighting the blaze.

The hot weather many Americans are experiencing is actually happening across four continents.

Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson and Peter O’Dowd talk with The Weather Channel meteorologist Mark Elliot (@twcMarkElliot) about the extreme heat, as well as torrential rains along the Eastern Seaboard on Monday.

President Trump tweeted Sunday that Iranian aggression would be met with “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before.” He also continued to question allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, writing, “it is all a big hoax.”

NPR’s Sarah McCammon (@sarahmccammon) talks with Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd from the White House.

In Illinois, prisoners with disabilities may end up staying behind bars, long after their release date has passed. Most inmates are put on mandatory supervised release, which requires a person to have stable housing before they can leave prison. An analysis by WBEZ in Chicago found many facilities on the department’s housing directory could not take people who use a wheelchair.