From Taylor Swift tickets to social media bans, here are new 2025 state laws It’s almost the new year, which means states across the country will enact thousands of new laws from new tax structures to first-in-country prenatal leave. Read more on NPR

Reporters’ notebook: revisiting Afghan refugees starting anew in the U.S. NPR reporters revisit Afghans who fled their home country after Taliban’s takeover in the summer of 2021. Read more on NPR

Should you be worried about bird strikes during your next flight? Bird strikes occur daily for commercial flights, costing airlines millions in damages each year. Although rare, these incidents can result in injuries and fatalities. Read more on NPR

What to know about Finland, Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ and a severed undersea cable Finland says a ship affiliated with Russia’s “shadow fleet” is linked to a 60-mile-long anchor drag mark on the seafloor. A power cable in the Baltic Sea was severed last week. Read more on NPR

Why do we drop a ball on New Year’s Eve? The Times Square tradition, explained Watching a huge ball descend down a pole in Times Square has been a beloved New Year’s Eve tradition for over a century. Here’s how the spectacle started and what’s changed over the years. Read more on NPR

Tiger-cats, sea squirts and beetles, oh my! Meet some species identified in 2024 From charismatic macrofauna to tiny sea squirts, here are some species formally identified by scientists in 2024. Read more on NPR

8 questions for President Biden, if he’d take them Here’s what NPR’s White House correspondents would ask Biden at a press conference as his presidency comes to a close. Read more on NPR

Transit systems turn to AI-powered cameras to catch drivers who block bus lanes The nation’s biggest transit systems are using AI-enhanced cameras to keep bus lanes clear of illegally parked cars. That’s making buses move faster, but the rollout has hit a few speed bumps. Read more on NPR

South Korea to inspect Boeing aircraft as it struggles to find cause of plane crash Many worry how effectively the South Korean government will handle the disaster as it grapples with a leadership vacuum after the impeachments of the country’s top two officials. Read more on NPR

Treasury says Chinese hackers remotely accessed documents in ‘major’ cyber incident The revelation comes as the U.S. grapples with a massive cyberespionage campaign that gave Chinese officials access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans. Read more on NPR