Bill Chappell

"More than anything, I believe he would want others to know they are capable of great things," Alexander's friend Christopher Ulmer told NPR.

What do UFOs, Fireball Cinnamon and a dead snowshoe hare have in common? They all made the list of NPR.org's top stories of the year.

Santa Luke has been a Baltimore institution for nearly 40 years.

When many of us take time off from our jobs, we can forget basic stuff, like computer passwords. So when ski season starts, how does Mikaela Shiffrin click back into scorching slalom courses?

It's not unusual for countries to restrict satellite images of sensitive locations. But in the case of Israel, a U.S. law seeks to protect an entire — and separate — country.

The preservation group Historic England says it passed news of its analysis on to Northumbria Police, which has now made at least four arrests linked to the case.

"We just wanted to give back to the city with all they have gone through," Tegra Mbele, who scored the winning goal for the Lewiston Blue Devils, told a local newspaper.

At its best, Omegle allowed strangers to connect and share ideas. But, its founder admits, "some people misused it, including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes."

Cirque du Soleil is trading in its trademark worldbeat vibes for banjos and country two-step, for a new show to be unveiled next summer.

What if the song "Baby Shark" stopped after just two stanzas? There's no Daddy Shark in sight at a Chicago-area zoo where an epaulette shark pup hatched this summer.

Ten months after his horrifying collapse halted an NFL game, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin returned to Cincinnati with surprises for the medical staff who worked to save him.

Both the attorney general and the doctor have now been separately reprimanded over the case, which ignited a media firestorm after abortion rights were overturned at the federal level.

For months, a real murder case has been playing out in a small Australian town, where three people died after eating a family meal that was suspected to contain death cap mushrooms.

Hundreds of Americans appeared on a list of passport holders approved to leave the territory, as President Biden called for a "pause" in hostilities to allow for the release of hostages held by Hamas.

Interest in cut-resistant neck guards is surging: "That could be one of the positive things that might come out of this terrible tragedy," said Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan.

It's the first time people have been allowed to exit the Palestinian territory since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Ambulances took dozens of seriously wounded people to hospitals in Egypt.

Messi has now won 12% of all men's Ballon d'Or trophies. Both of this year's winners are midfielders who led their national teams to long-awaited World Cup victories.

The attack on northern Gaza's Jabalia camp caused widespread damage, injuries and deaths, Gaza officials say. Israel describes Jabalia as a Hamas stronghold and says it was targeting a Hamas leader.

When are kids too old to go trick-or-treating? In some U.S. towns, it's illegal for teenagers to indulge in the sweetest part of Halloween – one even threatened jail time.

Part of Halloween's charm is that the normal rules are suspended. When else can kids dress up and demand candy from strangers? But some rules do apply.